Project “Polar Bear”: 1989 V2500 Suburban
- Thread starter Larry
- Start date
Larry
Bigassgas Explorer
Thanks guys!
After a slight delay acquiring a new/used RH exhaust manifold I was back in action Wednesday night (I gave up on trying to dig the broken studs out of the old manifold). Last night I got the routing and clipping done and engine fired up. Aside from the dizzy being a tooth off the first time, all went without a hitch. I took it for a test drive today and she runs great! What a difference a new/used clutch, new sensors, tune up, belts, hoses and fixing the intake vacuum and coolant leaks make! After the shake down run it feels like the clutch needs to be bleed a bit more and I need to do some more work on the throttle cable as the 1” throttle body spacer puts the cable at an angle where it doesn’t like to return to well. Of course, the only aftermarket equipment on the truck is what is causing issues. Typical. Also waiting on a battery cable.
Tuesday night. Just about ready to go back in.
On the hook ready for stabbing. The clutch is a used Centerforce Dual Friction from my K10. When I did the NV4500 swap in the K10 last year it got a fresh clutch. This Suburban is the low buck build so it gets as many hand me downs from the K10 as possible.
TA-dah………
One new item the Sub got was a new Denso starter motor. These are awesome and will be the last starter motor you ever buy. I run this same exact part number starter on the 8.1L in the K10. Sounds cool when it starts too. Never mind the green stuff on the battery cable. A new cable is on order through Napa.
Now that his portion is out of the way the next step is to get it to the exhaust shop to have the tailpipes redone as the current pipes will interfere with the rear ORD shackle flip coming shortly. 4” lift up next!
After a slight delay acquiring a new/used RH exhaust manifold I was back in action Wednesday night (I gave up on trying to dig the broken studs out of the old manifold). Last night I got the routing and clipping done and engine fired up. Aside from the dizzy being a tooth off the first time, all went without a hitch. I took it for a test drive today and she runs great! What a difference a new/used clutch, new sensors, tune up, belts, hoses and fixing the intake vacuum and coolant leaks make! After the shake down run it feels like the clutch needs to be bleed a bit more and I need to do some more work on the throttle cable as the 1” throttle body spacer puts the cable at an angle where it doesn’t like to return to well. Of course, the only aftermarket equipment on the truck is what is causing issues. Typical. Also waiting on a battery cable.
Tuesday night. Just about ready to go back in.
On the hook ready for stabbing. The clutch is a used Centerforce Dual Friction from my K10. When I did the NV4500 swap in the K10 last year it got a fresh clutch. This Suburban is the low buck build so it gets as many hand me downs from the K10 as possible.
TA-dah………
One new item the Sub got was a new Denso starter motor. These are awesome and will be the last starter motor you ever buy. I run this same exact part number starter on the 8.1L in the K10. Sounds cool when it starts too. Never mind the green stuff on the battery cable. A new cable is on order through Napa.
Now that his portion is out of the way the next step is to get it to the exhaust shop to have the tailpipes redone as the current pipes will interfere with the rear ORD shackle flip coming shortly. 4” lift up next!
Sock Puppet
Adventurer
Excellent!
hillbillyjake
Explorer
how does the tbi 350/4 spd. do pulling around the burb? i would like to find a crew cab of teh same vintage and was wondering if the power from the small block is adequate for this size truck. looking at 35's or 37's. would you suggest 4.88's or 5.13's? something higher? thanks
Larry
Bigassgas Explorer
The L05 TBI 5.7L is adequate for this Suburban. Certainly no powerhouse but it is a dirt reliable engine. GM even used 5.7L engines in medium duty trucks from the 60’s right up to the late 80’s. Stuff the pigs with some low cogs and they do fine. They just don’t have the low end grunt for lugging around at low RPM's like a big block does. 4:56 or 4:88 should fit the bill for what you are talking about though. 5:13 would be better on the trail if you don’t mind the engine sounding like the pistons are swapping holes as you struggle to reach a top speed of 55 MPH on the highway. :ylsmoke:
hillbillyjake
Explorer
i want to leave a little room to breath on the freeway, so it sounds like 4.88's may be the way to go. i'm glad to hear the tbi 350's are as reliable as ever. this is what i wanted to hear. thanks larry.
Larry
Bigassgas Explorer
Thanks Day42!
Quick little upgrade to the interior today. Got the same Cabela’s Trail Gear seat covers that I have on the seats in my K10. They repel water, have a bunch of neat little storage pockets, etc. and when they get dirty….just toss them in the wash machine. Member Coloradobill’s sister turned me on to these a couple years ago. She has a set on her TJ. You can’t buy better pair of seat covers for $40! Also like the K10, I added two cheap Wal-Mart bicycle bottle holders to the front of the center console. Perfect for holding water bottles.
ps....why doesn't this forum allow for proper spacing!???? Errrr. One has to use the horizontal line to try to correct the spacing. That is kind of lame
K10 Seats before the Cabela's seat covers were installed. Funny, these are 1990 Suburban bucket seats and console too. Same cheap Wal-Mart bicycle bottle holders to boot :sombrero:
Quick little upgrade to the interior today. Got the same Cabela’s Trail Gear seat covers that I have on the seats in my K10. They repel water, have a bunch of neat little storage pockets, etc. and when they get dirty….just toss them in the wash machine. Member Coloradobill’s sister turned me on to these a couple years ago. She has a set on her TJ. You can’t buy better pair of seat covers for $40! Also like the K10, I added two cheap Wal-Mart bicycle bottle holders to the front of the center console. Perfect for holding water bottles.
ps....why doesn't this forum allow for proper spacing!???? Errrr. One has to use the horizontal line to try to correct the spacing. That is kind of lame
K10 Seats before the Cabela's seat covers were installed. Funny, these are 1990 Suburban bucket seats and console too. Same cheap Wal-Mart bicycle bottle holders to boot :sombrero:
hillbillyjake
Explorer
a light bulb just went on over my head. the wal-mart bottle holder are very nice idea. i'm stealing it.
