The Camp 4x4 Bus - 1973 Suburban 8.1 Swap & Build

[camp4x4]

Wrenchfest 2018 - The Wrenchening continued! Goals today were very aggressive: pull both axles, put the '73's axles under the '87 and pull the engine and trans from the '87 to sell on Craigslist. We got 2/3 done, plus a little extra.

We started out taking some of the accessories - batteries, steering reservoir, etc. - out and draining the engine thinking we'd start there.

My Dad, Getting Dirty


But, while we were doing that my buddy whose shop it is stopped by and said he might know someone who'd want it engine and all. So we switched to pulling the axles.

Front Axle Out


While we got after that, my buddy said he had a couple hours to kill, so he took out the windows that I want to swap.

Windows out


Pile of Parts Getting Bigger


Standing on Two of its Own Feet


Didn't snap any pics while the rear end was coming out. That one was pretty quick and easy, so it wasn't much to see.

It ended up that my buddy's buddy didn't have any interest in the truck, BUT I found someone else that wanted the carcass. We contemplated pulling the motor, but by that time we were pretty exhausted. So we wheeled it out into the parking lot, cleaned up and headed out. We'll get that out tomorrow.

 

[bknudtsen]

Awesome effort!

 

[heidiurs]

hi aaronvogel
this filler neck, lefthandrear,is this for gas??? and where is the tank situated? i just put a modified propanetank in the spare wheel well.[fuel for generator]but i fitted the fillerneck next to the lh upper barndoor hinge.i never expected that much sheetmetal in that d-pillar.and also get the hose in kinkfree.
cheers urs

 

[heidiurs]

This hard to fit fuelfiller.

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

 

[chilliwak]

Nice progress there Aaron! Good to see your dad in there helping out. Keep those pics coming. I am just curious what you can get for an old engine? Cheers, Chilli...

 

[camp4x4]

hi aaronvogel
this filler neck, lefthandrear,is this for gas??? and where is the tank situated? i just put a modified propanetank in the spare wheel well.[fuel for generator]but i fitted the fillerneck next to the lh upper barndoor hinge.i never expected that much sheetmetal in that d-pillar.and also get the hose in kinkfree.
cheers urs

My tank is centered in the frame just behind the rear axle, and yes, that's the fill cap in the last pic. I would imagine that area would have a ton of metal since it is supporting the barn doors and is the last roof support on the truck... Cool idea for using the spare tire area though!

 

[Oilbrnr]

Still so odd to see the truck I grew up with and learned how to drive back in '77. Glad to see process going forward again!

 

[camp4x4]

Still so odd to see the truck I grew up with and learned how to drive back in '77. Glad to see process going forward again!

Glad to be making progress again. The lack of progress was starting to weigh on me. I'm pretty confident you'll be pleased with your family truck's second life!

 

[Oilbrnr]

Yup! I'm going to want to drive her!

 

[camp4x4]

Wrenchfest 2018 - The Wrenchening continued. Was too pooped to post anything the last couple days so I'm gonna take some time this morning to do so.

Tuesday we started by wrapping up the rear axle install. I have 1 extra leaf in the new spring pack, so I had to pick up a new bolt to use with the ORD 0-rate blocks I have in the rear. Then we popped the rear wheels on and got it sat down on its own four feet. It was AWESOME to see it sitting with the lift and 37's on. Really looking like the wheeler I plan it to be! Big motivation to wrap it up now!





That went in very easily then the rest of the day was spent getting the engine, transmission and transfer case to come out. That always takes longer than expected and Tuesday was no different. Just finding and disconnecting everything that would hang it up took a fair amount of time. And of course we missed a few things along the way... But we did finally get them pulled. Removing the core support certainly helped the process move along.



BTW, this is my dad. He's awesome. He's a car nut too. His personal preference is Citroen's. 2CV's, DS's, H-Vans... but he also used to buy FJ40's down in AZ, bring them back up to IL, do a little work on them and flip them. One of my first vehicles was an FJ55 he bought, restored and let me drive for a while after getting my license.. Loved that pig...



Wednesday - our last day - was spent taking off the last of the things I wanted from the '87: doors, seals, steering column, brake booster, etc. We also started getting into the '73. Doors came off, glass came out, the rest of the trim and headliner came out and we started prepping to cover the inside with Lizard Skin sound deadener. I finally made a decision about what I'll be doing with the floor rust holes too. The guy in the shop next door - Rich - showed me an epoxy from Smart called Small Panel Adhesive. I'm going to punch out any of the remaining loose rust, wire brush it to get the flakes off, treat it with Corroseal - which I used on the frame and underbody as well - then glue on pieces of the fresh patch panels I have. I'll be drilling a drain hole in the body mount brace to make sure any water that might happen to get in there can get out. I think this is the best compromise between fixing and ignoring. Eventually (2 years maybe), I'll want to get it into a body shop to clean it up, properly repair the rust and give it a solid paint job. In the mean time the strength is still there, so if I can stop the rust from progressing further and plug up the holes I'm happy.

Constructive Deconstruction




Today I'm back at work, but I'll be down there the next couple evenings and over the weekend keeping the momentum going. The carcass is getting picked up by a local guy who happened to drop by Rich's shop and saw what we were doing. No idea what his plans are for it. I'm a little sad to see it so far from what it was, but I'm more excited to get the '73 built and take that further than the '87 ever could have gone.

If you know anyone in the Bay Area that needs a 350 TBI core or a recently rebuilt TH400 for cheap lemme know. Craiglist ads are up already:

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/pts/d/rebuilt-4wd-th400-and-stock/6488666461.html
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/pts/d/chevy-350-tbi-engine-runs/6488656768.html

 

[Oilbrnr]

Wow, I'm shocked about the rust. That's the front DS right? It always pointed uphill in our driveway, think that it came from the windshield down the A-pillar? I suppose after that many years, it could have been from snow off boots/shoes and it just got held by the carpet and backing...

 

[camp4x4]

Wow, I'm shocked about the rust. That's the front DS right? It always pointed uphill in our driveway, think that it came from the windshield down the A-pillar? I suppose after that many years, it could have been from snow off boots/shoes and it just got held by the carpet and backing...

All of the above probably. I believe this is one of the most, if not THE most common area to rust on these trucks. This one is front DS, the front PS is pretty much the same. :-/

The spare tire pocket is also rusted through. I’m gonna look into making a straigh-across panel to replace the tub there since it unbolts pretty easily.

All in all nothing unmanageable.

 

[FBJR]

Nice work and always better with help, much less pops!

I know its late but why not a body swap? It goes by chassis number anyway and its already been smogged for the transfer, right?

I may look into the fg panel stuff. I have a couple spots right above the doors.

 

[camp4x4]

Nice work and always better with help, much less pops!

I know its late but why not a body swap? It goes by chassis number anyway and its already been smogged for the transfer, right?

I may look into the fg panel stuff. I have a couple spots right above the doors.

Yeah, I considered a body swap, but two big factors that ultimately swayed me were timing and available shop space. Doing it this way let me keep using the '87 for trips last year while simultaneously getting work done on the '73. Doing a body swap would have meant that at some point both would be fully torn down for a fair amount of time and taken a fair amount of space while doing it. Space I don't really have.

Additionally, I believe there are some body mount differences between the early and later bodies. May not have been an issue... but may have been...

I also had the opportunity to fully seal and paint the frame, which would not have been an option doing a body swap.

Ultimately I'm happy I did it this way and would probably do it this way again.

 

[FBJR]

If it works for you, great. Just a thought I have gone through with two 91s outside. One is full power with rear AC the other isn't.

I think the only diff from 87 to 73 is the rad mount with the diff front clips. The 3/4 has a thicker frame too.