Project “Polar Bear”: 1989 V2500 Suburban

[Larry]

I really like the look of the Polar Bear Larry. The old school `Burb´is the way to go in my my books. What do you think of the idea od sliders that are mounted to the frame as a structural addative to reduce the noodle like flex on old GM trucks? Heard any pros or cons? Cheers, Chilli....:ylsmoke::ylsmoke:

Thanks Chili! It’s turning out nice. Don’t worry about the frame flex. People worry more about the frame flex of old trucks than they ever need to. Don’t bother trying to stop it or something will give someplace else.

 

[Bojak]

I can tell you the n-fab ones mount to the pinch weld, and they are in fact for crawling of the malls only. I personally like the n-fab style but not the installation design. I bought mine and mounted them per design through pinch weld. Since then i have modified them to be frame mounted and no connection to the body. My truck is currently at paint ( painter is filling holes in pinch weld also ) and when it is back i am actually going to follow through and do a build thread. I will get some photos of how i changed my n-fabs and post them. Not really fancy or technical but it was a way to run the ones that looked how liked but worked bettter. As always, your truck is super sick Mr. Larry and we love followig it and your other builds too.

 

[Todd McLaughlin]

Hey Larry you still available for some questions?

 

[Larry]

It’s been a while since I’ve posted up any updates on the ole Polar Bear. As I have written in the past, I wasn’t real happy with the 8.1L fitted with the RayLar cam. Nothing against Raylar, but finding a local talented tuner to perform the ECM tuning turned out impossible. I feel this cam would be better matched to an engine backed by an automatic trans as well as fitted with electronic throttle (in order to use the throttle cracker instead of working the IAC to death) and VSS. I did not want to add any of that to make this cam run smoother without any of the horrible side-affects.

Anyway after 6 months of screwing around I removed the engine over Christmas break and replaced the cam with a new stock GM cam. I am finally a completely satisfied camper! It runs identical to the K10 just as I had hoped! Tons of power with Cadillac drivablity manors. No more idle flares, hunting idle, dying, jerky jerk operation…. blah, blah blah…. Ah, and having the low-end grunt to let it lug itself around is so nice. Best of both worlds. Sucks it took 6 months to get here but it was worth it in the end.

You’re all probably tired of pictures but these are the latest pictures with the final hose/harness routing and clipping. It is now DONE under the hood with respect to the 8.1L swap. Speaking of the hood, that is the last thing that needs attention….the hood needs adjusted badly! I’ll try to get some videos soon.

Engine out for the cam swap, day after Christmas. Here is the story on the Blazer next to it if anybody wants to read up on that project

Made stand off brackets for the hydroboost hose from the pump to the booster. This is a GMT400 booster hose (those hose with the blue clamp).

Made another stand off bracket for the hose going to the pump. It has a p-clip holding to the stud to prevent the metal portion of the hose from vibrating resulting in fatigue cracks

Might have a leak at the p/s pump that I need to keep my eye on. It didn’t leak over night after I wiped it off. Never mind the antifreeze, that is just overspill from topping it off

Final Final!

This should be the end of the engine swap reporting for a while. Next up I need to adjust the hood, driver’s door and get after the horrible driveline angles causing major highway vibrations. Aiming to take it on a long roadtrip in May to the Overland Expo

 

[justcuz]

Larry,

What is the application for the Spectra radiator? Also are the upper radiator brackets and fan shroud easily found, or did you order new pieces from GM?
I also like the intake plumbing solution on the Blazer.

 

[Larry]

Larry,

What is the application for the Spectra radiator? Also are the upper radiator brackets and fan shroud easily found, or did you order new pieces from GM?
I also like the intake plumbing solution on the Blazer.

The Spectra Premium CU774 radiator is just an 81-91 square body uplevel radiator used on pickup trucks and Suburban’s with 7.4L and 6.2L diesels, although not all BB pickup trucks used this big radiator however Suburban’s, chassis cabs and anything with a diesel usually did.

……Aaaah, no! The radiator hold down brackets, upper and lower shrouds are NOT easy to come by these days. Neither LMC nor any of the other typical suppliers are repopping those pieces. You pretty much have to scour the boneyards searching for them. After searching a few yards around here I happen upon a mid-80’s C10 with 6.2L diesel badges on the fenders. Sure enough, the little 5 lugger half ton 2wd truck had the correct brackets and shrouds for the beastly CU774 radiator. Best of all it they were only like $15 for everything and they were in pristine shape. I’ve been keeping my eyes open for more every time I visit a yard just to keep in stock. Some of this stuff is getting hard to find as boneyards get greedy and start selling off old iron for scrap prices.

 

[justcuz]

Thanks, now I know what to look for.
I have a similar radiator but I'm sure a different shroud with the 400 small block on my 76 truck.

 

[MTCK]

Good intel, thanks Larry.

 

[jscusmcvet]

Wow. Beautiful install. Really enjoying your thread.

 

[chilliwak]

Larry I am happy you finaly got a cam installed in the Polar Bear that you like. Tuning and all that stuff is like you said a specialized form for work that might, or might not work. Your buddys old K5 looks like fun, as does you rig too. I am just looking forward to when the first wheeling pics of the season start rolling by... Cheers, Chilli...

 

[Larry]

Thanks Chili! I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. I’m so glad to have it operating perfectly where I can tolerate driving it. With the big cam it had horrible drivability habits and was flat out annoying to drive unless I drove it wide open where it ran like getting shot out of a canon. Now it drives better than a brand new Suburban, outside of the driveline vibration I need to get on next week.

 

[Bojak]

Just outstanding work. I have followed your builds and have read enough about you to know you probably have a very successful career. If not I would say you could probably have a good career performing these transplants for others. I would pay well for this level of execution. I can't find a decent regular mechanic in Atlanta, pretty much just parts changers here. Just for grins, what would you charge someone to perform a nv4500/8.1 swap on the side with you also sourcing the parts?

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

 

[Nosferatu49534]

It’s been a while since I’ve posted up any updates on the ole Polar Bear. As I have written in the past, I wasn’t real happy with the 8.1L fitted with the RayLar cam. Nothing against Raylar, but finding a local talented tuner to perform the ECM tuning turned out impossible. I feel this cam would be better matched to an engine backed by an automatic trans as well as fitted with electronic throttle (in order to use the throttle cracker instead of working the IAC to death) and VSS. I did not want to add any of that to make this cam run smoother without any of the horrible side-affects.

Anyway after 6 months of screwing around I removed the engine over Christmas break and replaced the cam with a new stock GM cam. I am finally a completely satisfied camper! It runs identical to the K10 just as I had hoped! Tons of power with Cadillac drivablity manors. No more idle flares, hunting idle, dying, jerky jerk operation…. blah, blah blah…. Ah, and having the low-end grunt to let it lug itself around is so nice. Best of both worlds. Sucks it took 6 months to get here but it was worth it in the end.

You’re all probably tired of pictures but these are the latest pictures with the final hose/harness routing and clipping. It is now DONE under the hood with respect to the 8.1L swap. Speaking of the hood, that is the last thing that needs attention….the hood needs adjusted badly! I’ll try to get some videos soon.

Engine out for the cam swap, day after Christmas. Here is the story on the Blazer next to it if anybody wants to read up on that project

Made stand off brackets for the hydroboost hose from the pump to the booster. This is a GMT400 booster hose (those hose with the blue clamp).

Made another stand off bracket for the hose going to the pump. It has a p-clip holding to the stud to prevent the metal portion of the hose from vibrating resulting in fatigue cracks

Might have a leak at the p/s pump that I need to keep my eye on. It didn’t leak over night after I wiped it off. Never mind the antifreeze, that is just overspill from topping it off

Final Final!

This should be the end of the engine swap reporting for a while. Next up I need to adjust the hood, driver’s door and get after the horrible driveline angles causing major highway vibrations. Aiming to take it on a long roadtrip in May to the Overland Expo

In the third picture did you use red rtv silicone for the header gasket?

 

[Larry]

Just outstanding work. I have followed your builds and have read enough about you to know you probably have a very successful career. If not I would say you could probably have a good career performing these transplants for others. I would pay well for this level of execution. I can't find a decent regular mechanic in Atlanta, pretty much just parts changers here. Just for grins, what would you charge someone to perform a nv4500/8.1 swap on the side with you also sourcing the parts?

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

Thanks Bojak! I sure wouldn't want to do this stuff for a living that is for sure. That is why I went to college so I wouldn't have to live by twisting wrenches. I grew up in a family automotive repair business and swore I would never do that for a living. LOL While my career doesn't stray far from this hobby at least I am not always twisting wrenches everyday as a factory service rep for a truck manufacturer. I actually get to ATL a few times a year as UPS is my main account. As you probably know, the UPS Corporate Headquarters are in ATL. One of these trips that way I drop you a line and we can met up. I'd love to check out your truck. I was actually in ATL yesterday but only for a Delta layover this time.

To answer your question, I don't even have a dollar figure to $hit or grin at. I guess if the Corporate America ride ever ends this is something I could fall back on for extra cash. Right now, I don't have the time or room to take on projects other than my own and even that is getting harder to do between work and having a 2 year old.

In the third picture did you use red rtv silicone for the header gasket?

Yeah, sort of. Weird, huh? Sanderson Headers recommends Permatex Ultra Copper Maximum between the headers and cylinder head and that's it. So far so good. Almost 900 miles and no leaks (I did not remove the headers from the engine when I had the engine out last week).

G.R., MI huh? I used to live in Rochester and a buddy and I painted my K10 in a barn somewhere in the outskirts of G.R. back in 1998. My buddy still lives there. A Ferris State grad. Family name is Brower, not sure if you know any of them...

 

[Nosferatu49534]

If it lasts that's what matters to me. I've used it to seal a flange from the y-pipe to the catalytic converter on my ranger. It held up until I took it off to remove the tranny. I've read a lot of the k-10 story on the other forum. Quite an adveture you guys have had so far.



I've lived here for about three years, grew up about 10 miles outside of gr in Hudsonville. I went to high school with a couple Browers. I know one is in excavating and the other has green houses.