Project “Polar Bear”: 1989 V2500 Suburban

[zoomad75]

I do remember during my traveling times, a very large boneyard in Missoula Montana. I wandered through it in between one of my dealer visits. Seemed to have a pretty wide selection of stuff. It's been 10 or so years, but it's worth a shot. On the other side of the range in Billings is Hanser's. They were a dealer of mine and had a pretty large boneyard too. Not sure what they have for older stuff now, but they had a '57 Chevy convertible in the used parts sales area, so they are ok in my book!

One way to expand the search would be to use Car-part.com to look. They don't list the clutch pedal assembly but do list a clutch master cylinder in it's list to search for. That's close enough. Search for 1991-1985 K20 with interchange. Right now one is listed in Montana. Call the shop that has it and ask them if the the pedal box assembly is still in the truck. You can widen the search out if you need to as well.

Hope that helps!

On a side note, the boneyard Larry's speaking of sounds like it might have been sold recently. At least according to the local buzz in Canon City. No word on who bought it, when or if it will reopen. Keeping my ear to the ground as it's a hell of a cool place to wander around and pick parts from.

 

[stickshift4life]

Hey Larry,
I too have an 89 v2500 factory manual shifted 4x4. I also have a 92 dodge cummins that I converted to house an nv4500 out of a 94 1 ton in. It's 2wd but I think I can change the tail housing to a 4x4. If I do the swap on the nv4500, I think I have to change the output shaft to a chevy coarse spline. I'm not sure what exactly I have to do though and was a if you knew? Also, what transfer case would it have. For some reason I have the old style grille in mine as well. Didn't know if that meant it was built early in 89 and they used the rest of the 88 stuff or what? And finally, how do I figure out exactly what axles transfer case, transmission etc I have? Any help would be great. The end result is that I want to be able to drop a first generation cummins in a rig that is almost identical to yours but with the dodge nv4500 . Thanks for your help in advance. Bob

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[stickshift4life]

P.S. The 1 ton trans donor was a dodge cummins 2wd.

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[Larry]

Hello Bob,

To use the Dodge 2wd NV4500 in a GM you will need to change the mainshaft to convert it to 4x4 and to work with the GM transfercase. I could be wrong but I also thinking you would even need to replace the input shaft with a GM unit. In the end you would be better off trading your Dodge 2wd NV4500 for a GM 4x4 unit. You might want to call THESE guys as they will know for sure what all you need to replace to turn this into a GM 4x4 unit.

Second, if your Sub is a factory manual transmission the RH front output NP241 transfercase in it now will be a 32 spline input which will bolt right onto the NV4500 just like my Suburban. No adapters needed, no need to go shopping for a different transfercase.

You will also need a different bellhousing as your stock SM465 4 speed bell will not work with a NV4500. I’ve seen some people modify the SM465 bells to work with NV4500’s but it looks pretty hacky and I am suspicious of the long term durability. The advance adapter bellhousing can be purchased from Summit Racing for around $300 plus you would need the $40 hydro clutch bracket as well to work with your existing slave cylinder.

Good luck with the swap. NV4500’s are great in told rigs. You’ll love it!

 

[Todd McLaughlin]

Automatic Steering Column

Hello Todd,

I saw a thread somewhere else where you were looking for hydro pedals. Those pedals are hard to find these days. Luckily my Burb was a factory manual and already had them but I was in your boat a few years ago when I did the NV4500 in my K10.

There is a yard near me in Canon City that I know has at least 2 or 3 trucks with hydro pedal boxes still in them. I believe one even has hydroboost brakes too with the correct brake pedal if you are looking to do hydroboost while you are at it. The problem is one of the yard owner’s died a few months ago and the other brother closed the yard on 12-31-13. There are probably a thousand or more old and late model trucks just sitting waiting their fate. Either someone will buy the yard and reopen it or the current owners will bring in a portable crusher and start liquidating before long. That would be horrible news as this yard is stuffed with more trucks than any other yard I know of in CO. Trucks from the 50’s through current model.

It’s been killing me with this yard being closed. I’m doing a manual to auto swap on a ’93 GMT400 and have been combing the yards for parts which has been a huge hassle going from yard to yard for bits and pieces. What you going through with pedals is what I went through for several weeks trying to find an ’88 to ’94 tilt automatic steering column. The yard in Canon was always a one stop shop and had everything! With them closing is tearing the ******** out of me.

I always keep my eye out for squares with hydro pedals while I am out as one of my buddies needs a set for a ’75 Jimmy too. I’ll keep you posted if Canyon Truck in Canon City reopens or if I find a set on my journeys.

You might want to look at CL in Alaska (of all places) as there are a lot of square body crew cabs up there that ran sticks. Good chance to find hydo pedals there.

Good luck!

Hello Larry thanks for the heads up, Ill take a look in Missoula when i get a chance, I also have called spaldings in spokane washington which is the largest auto parts yard in the NW, LoL for about 5 months now they cannot come up with the Clutch assembly. Did I read your posting correctly do you still need a automatic steering column for a 80's series chevy if so let me know. Todd

 

[Larry]

Hello Larry thanks for the heads up, Ill take a look in Missoula when i get a chance, I also have called spaldings in spokane washington which is the largest auto parts yard in the NW, LoL for about 5 months now they cannot come up with the Clutch assembly. Did I read your posting correctly do you still need a automatic steering column for a 80's series chevy if so let me know. Todd

Thanks anyway Todd. I finally found a decent auto/tilt column for this little SS454 clone I am building.

Any luck in finding the hydro pedals you are looking for?

 

[Brad Ferrell]

Hi. I've got a question because I'm a little concerned. I've been reading in the thread that the TBI 5.7 is weak overall. I'm looking at an 88 K10 for mild trail duty. By mild I mean something that can get me through some medium difficulty trails. I've started an offroad video production company and want to build the right rig to shoot and travel with. Would I be okay with the 5.7 or is it just BAD? The one I'm looking at runs but is rusty. It'd need a lift, tires, gears and lockers. I'd like to run at least a 35. Am I right in now thinking this machine will be underpowered. I don't have a heavy foot and I prefer torque over HP. I drive the speed limit and offroad I am safe. I just want to get over the rocks and up the hills you know?

 

[Larry]

Hi. I've got a question because I'm a little concerned. I've been reading in the thread that the TBI 5.7 is weak overall. I'm looking at an 88 K10 for mild trail duty. By mild I mean something that can get me through some medium difficulty trails. I've started an offroad video production company and want to build the right rig to shoot and travel with. Would I be okay with the 5.7 or is it just BAD? The one I'm looking at runs but is rusty. It'd need a lift, tires, gears and lockers. I'd like to run at least a 35. Am I right in now thinking this machine will be underpowered. I don't have a heavy foot and I prefer torque over HP. I drive the speed limit and offroad I am safe. I just want to get over the rocks and up the hills you know?

A TBI 5.7L would be fine for what you plan to do. My recommendation would be to leave the engine stock and concentrate on gearing. For 33 to 35” tires I would recommend 4:10 to 4:56 gears. That will help drastically.

The reality is a TBI 5.7L felt like a powerhouse 20 years ago when there wasn’t much else on the road with more power at the time but now 20 years later and after getting used to driving modern sequential injected 5.3L on up to 8.1L engines the old TBI small blocks feel pretty slow. Think about how many millions of pickups and SUV’s the TBI 5.7L has propelled over the years. LOTS! And most are much larger than a little K5 Blazer. Like I say, I would concentrate on gearing more than anything else. Now, if you plan to make that K5 an 8,000 lb. beast…yeah, more engine would be a must.

 

[asmith]

Hey Larry I have a question. Did you have to lengthen your front drive shaft when you did your 4" lift?

Thanks Andrew

 

[Larry]

Hey Larry I have a question. Did you have to lengthen your front drive shaft when you did your 4" lift?

Thanks Andrew

No sir, the 4” lift on the Suburban didn’t require lengthening the shaft but there are some bump stops in the shaft that need to be clearanced. A 6” lift like on my K10 does require the shaft to be lengthened though.

 

[asmith]

No sir, the 4” lift on the Suburban didn’t require lengthening the shaft but there are some bump stops in the shaft that need to be clearanced. A 6” lift like on my K10 does require the shaft to be lengthened though.

Awesome thank you.

 

[Larry]

Well crap! I would like to be able to tell some elaborate story of how a Taxi cab bashed into me after it was highjacked by escapee spider monkeys from the local zoo but that didn’t happen. Ah, Nope! I backed into a pole a few weeks ago…. Errr!

I fixed the bumper the next day with a porta power and floor jack. It came out alright but it doesn’t look near as nice as the solid virgin GM step bumper that it once was. My buddy Coloradobill and I will be building a new one for it soon similar to what is on the K10.

The K10 felt sorry for the Polar Bear so it donated it’s tires to the Suburban for a while. It was time for a change as I am getting tired of the black steelies that were on it and the Super Swampers are not a realistic tire to run year around. I really like this tire and wheel combo on this truck more than any other. I'm actually thinking of leaving this set on the Burb and get a new set of wheels and tires identical to these to put back on the K10

Nothing new to report on the Burb other than I’ve been collecting a lot of 8.1L bits and pieces here and there. Hope to get the engine swap done this winter :sombrero:

 

[chilliwak]

I am sure you will have that bumper fixed in no time Larry. The `burb´ still looks great. Cheers, Chilli...

 

[Larry]

I am sure you will have that bumper fixed in no time Larry. The `burb´ still looks great. Cheers, Chilli...

Hehe, it is already fixed. I fixed it the next day. The two pictures of it with the new tires and wheels is the "after" bumper fix. LOL

 

[Chevrolado]

Sorry to hear about the pole mishap.. Glad you will be replacing it with a nice new better model bumper.
I really dig that wheel and tire combo too. It looks perfect on both your rigs. I'd also throw a vote at keeping this setup on the Burb and throw a new set of the same at the K10. Nice choice.