M1007 - CUCV Suburban Clone Build Thread

[Barrman]

I should back up a post. The GMT-400 over flow tank I had in hand last week cracked as soon as I started using soap and water to clean it up some. That is why I went with the Dorman tank.

The #8 injector is not fun to mess with in a truck with A/C. Pretty much the last 4 hours have been spent removing it, figuring out the rubber end cap had a pin hole leak, replacing that and putting it all back together again. I didn't have time to fire it up before lunch and will try that this afternoon.

I used the Blue Bomber to bring in the painted hood, front bumper, grill guard and bunch of other stuff yesterday. I think all the body parts are now at least in the same room for the Cowdog. I wanted to put the hood on today but held off until that injector is fixed.

I also brought in my trailer to take the '89 Gasser K10 Suburban back home. This is the truck that donated its interior, rear a/c, various fittings, wiring, steering column and what not to the Cowdog. I had 5 GEP 6.5 heads in the back along with a 2WD 4L80E. I went to push it off my trailer once home and couldn't. Very slight uphill grade. I got Jennifer to help me push it over the lip of the trailer ramps. Since the power windows have no power, I was standing in the door pushing with my back.


Once it went over the edge, I got tangled up with the trailer fender. The truck was going off the trailer and not wanting to be in the way, I dove off. I hit, rolled and was ready to chase the truck before it hit my fence. Instead, before I could get up the receiver hitch hit the ground and stopped the truck. How much force does it take to launch a 4L80E 6 feet and through a formerly closed Suburban rear hatch door? A cylinder head came out too. I was ok, Jennifer was ok and the parts looked to be alright. The truck was stuck half on the trailer though. I just locked down the parking brake and drove out from under it.


Always an adventure I guess.

 

[Barrman]

With the Gasser K10 home. My square body SUV "parts depot" is complete.

 

[Warthog]

They look
more at home at your place than mine....

 

[Barrman]

I think the only vehicle in that picture that didn't came from or through you is my flat bed car hauler.

Got the front bumper, grill surround, headlight surrounds, grill and grill guard on this morning. Now to track down why the washer pump is not getting any power.

 

[Barrman]

The washer isn't getting power because both the Gasser K10 wiper switch and the switch that was originally in the Cowdog are the wrong ones. Probably why the delay wipers don't work either. The proper 1987 with tilt, with pulse wiper switch seems to be made of unobtanium because I can't find one.

Well, we got the hood on along with all the front end stuff. Grill, grill guard, bumper, etc.... It looks done on the outside. I made some brackets to make a center console extension to put a radio, power plugs, ipad holder and such. Now that I have exact dimensions I can start trying to make the extension.

I also tried to charge the a/c yesterday. Sanden 508 compressor off one of the engines that came from Warthog. GM system with a new Delco cross flow condenser up front. The dual a/c sticker says 5.25 pounds of R-12. I put the green O-rings in every fitting and installed the blue Ford tube. I put in 4 pounds 5 ounces of R-134A. Compressor turned on but the low side didn't go low and the high side never went up. I could rev up the engine and get down to 44 or so on the low side and maybe 100 on the high side. I had put in 6 ounces of PAG oil already. While revving the engine at the IP I kept feeling an odd vibration in my hand. I was thinking push rod or rocker arm problem until the compressor started clunking every so often. Yeah, I get to not only buy a new compressor, but taking all that apart again will be such fun. Searching shows that rebuilding a Sanden is not much difference price was from buying a new one.

Every time I get down about the money being spent I think to myself what a new 4x4 3/4 ton turbo diesel 8 passenger SUV cost? Then I smile because there aren't any. The smile gets bigger when I think about how I am making this like I want it. Not spending $30K for a 300,000 mile worn out Excursion that will need new injectors every 3 years at several thousand each. That doesn't make the money to pay for this stuff magically appear, but it does make me feel better.

 

[Another Ahab]

Every time I get down about the money being spent I think to myself what a new 4x4 3/4 ton turbo diesel 8 passenger SUV cost? Then I smile because there aren't any. The smile gets bigger when I think about how I am making this like I want it. Not spending $30K for a 300,000 mile worn out Excursion that will need new injectors every 3 years at several thousand each. That doesn't make the money to pay for this stuff magically appear, but it does make me feel better.

I believe the marketing term for that feeling is called the "intangibles".

The value of a vehicle is not alone the price on the sticker.

Every good salesperson plays to the buyer's emotion, THAT'S where you make the sale.
In a nutshell that "feeling better" for you? It's priceless!

 

[srodocker]

I just got a DOA 3/4 suburban that the engine is claimed for my buddy and I get the rest. Going to make it my parts truck and fix on my 1/2 ton and make a 3/4 ton and redo the axles while there off. Cant wait BUT I gave myself a requirement of finishing the 5ton with all the parts I have the shelf for it. So who knows when my 1007 gets worked on lol.

 

[Barrman]

It is a new month so I can buy more parts. A/C compressor on the way.

The wiper washer was not working because I am an idiot. The entire wiper control system works off the switch controlling the ground. Not the power to the motor. The power plugs directly to the motor. The switch on the column just controls what gets grounded and to what extent. Wiper washer works now after changing one wire. I finally found a good used pulse control module so the pulse wipers work as well.

Mostly interior work the last week or so. It is almost done. I hope. I also figured out how I want to do the spare tire swing away rack. It should start getting built in the near future.

 

[srodocker]

im on my second wiper motor setup. Ive had 2 fail not sure why...

 

[Barrman]

I bit the bullet or actually, my credit card did and bought a Compushift II transmission control module. I got most of it wired up last week. Yesterday I started adding transmission fluid to the 4L80E. 2 gallons was all I could carry in for the 3/4 mile walk from the parking lot to my room. But, they go it full enough to make pressure and make the truck move. I got to drive it! Out of one bay and into another so I could clean the floor and check for overnight leaks.

Any conversation about AN fittings includes something about never, never, never over tighten them. I did all 6 AN end fittings on my transmission cooler set up to hand tight and just a touch with a wrench. They all seeped of course. Once I did a bit more with a wrench, I lifted up the rear wheels and gave it some throttle in gear. I never felt a single shift but the controller display showed the gears changing and says I got to 4th gear and 53 mph. Good enough for me to think it will go down the road. After I lug in some more fluid and put in the gauges.

A/C system should be tomorrow or next week. Then a huge list of little piddly things that will take lots of time. Plus the spare tire rack which will also hold my license plate. Then maybe I can get it on the road and see how it really does.

I did get the impression it is not going to drive or feel like the 2wd Suburban or my M1009 trucks. Just driving 50 feet it had a unique feel to it. Hopefully, that is a good thing.

 

[Another Ahab]

I bit the bullet or actually, my credit card did and bought a Compushift II transmission control module. I got most of it wired up last week.
I did get the impression it is not going to drive or feel like the 2wd Suburban or my M1009 trucks. Just driving 50 feet it had a unique feel to it. Hopefully, that is a good thing.

It all sounds real good. Sure hope it works out for you.

 

[86m1028]

Let's see some pics of it COMPLETE !!!
Yes, I know you have issues with getting a camera BUT we want PICS !!!
Great build by the way.

 

[Barrman]

I want pictures of it too. Colton keeps asking me for more. However, tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo. Which for most of the world means a foreign country holiday. To the 200 some students at my school it is a racial/gang/power thing. We have had lots of riot type events happen around this time of year in the past.

2008 I had the Gasser M35 in my class. I had just finished making all the brake lines and redoing front hubs with boots. That completed the 2 year project on it. I was at home when I get a call at 2300. "The students have rioted, they broke through the windows and have trashed vocational. Get to work and help figure out what tools and equipment they might have carried off." All I could think was "MY GASSER!" I got here and the students were on the roof of our building, but had not gotten into the shops. Other buildings had broken glass and such, but not mine.

The one camera education has this week is reserved for evidence use in case something pops off during school. Everything has been calm so far and I am off tomorrow taking Jennifer to the doctor. Hopefully, everything will be as I left it Monday.

The NA 6.5 with a broken starter mount I got from Joe had a Sanden 508 compressor on it. The ports were open to the air and the engine hung in a metal building for years before I got it last year. I could turn the compressor and feel suction so I put it on the Cowdog. A month or more ago I tried to charge the system and never got below 45 on the low side or above 75 on the high side. It also gave a menacing thunk every so often when it was turning.

Much research convinced me either the valve plate was bad or the metal piston rings were. I delved into the Sanden compressor world and convinced myself a 508 would work in a dual a/c system, figured out there are US made, Singapore made and Chinese made versions. Plus, lots of off brand copies. Summit had the best deal on a Sanden unit through Vintage Air. Singapore made with a warranty.

UPS brought it to me yesterday and I swapped the Q head onto it this morning, pulled a vacuum and charged it up. 70° outside temps had 28 low and 110 high side on the gauges with 38° from the front and 41° from the rear a/c. That was on low fan. High fan didn't change a thing. I can live with that all day long.

We started messing with parts for a swing away spare tire carrier too. Lots of math and angles involved. My students don't like to think so they are just doing the grunt work while I try and figure out how to do this.

Oh, one small thing turned into a hours long project. Jennifer really gets aggravated reaching for the front seat belt latch that always is laying on the floor. I have tried to think up a way to hold the thing next to the seat. I finally decided to drill a pair of holes in the side of the center console and thread Super Rope through them. Tight enough to hold the latch up and off the seat, yet flexible enough to contour to a persons hip without moving the center console. I might even do this on the M1009 trucks after it gets a few hundred uses without issues.

 

[Another Ahab]

Oh, one small thing turned into a hours long project. Jennifer really gets aggravated reaching for the front seat belt latch that always is laying on the floor. I have tried to think up a way to hold the thing next to the seat. I finally decided to drill a pair of holes in the side of the center console and thread Super Rope through them.

Velcro can solve a fair share of problems whenever there is fabric or webbing involved.

Would it make any sense for a patch of velcro somewhere on the seat and also at some location on the seat belt, so you could "hang it up"?

 

[Barrman]

I got to work this morning and had two puddles under the Cowdog. I ran it on Thursday but haven't seen it since. Power steering fluid from the pump and transmission fluid from the pedestal/rear mount area.

Power steering has been an on again, off again leak ever since I got it running. I am convinced everything is tight but just can't pin point the leak. I cleaned everything off again in hopes of finding the highest most forward point with fluid on it after letting the engine run again.

I was real concerned about the transmission fluid. It looked like the flat gasket between the pedestal and NP241. Not the O-ring between the pedestal and 4L80E. I pulled the fill plug on the NP241 to find the fluid exactly where it should be. I have a new input seal in there, but you never know.

I had put the gasket between the pedestal and NP241 on dry to a clean and smooth surface on both sides. I even torqued the bolts down to whatever listing I had found that day. 24-32 if I remember correctly. I put a wrench on them today and found a few to be not as tight as I would expect them to be. My theory is that I had the NP241 just a little bit out of kilter when I torqued them down in a criss cross pattern. Actually driving the truck around the other day let it move enough to get all the way square with the pedestal. Wiping things off after I had put a wrench on all the bolts showed nothing else seeping. We will see after I move it again if this repeats and I have a real problem.

 

[Barrman]

The last two weeks have been busy. Compushift TCM installed, Dakota Digital VHX gauges wired and installed, center console extension made and installed, radio hooked up, interior finished, bolt on base plates for swing away tire and gear carriers made and installed, title transferred, tags bought and a license plate light rigged.

By this after noon it was time to test drive it. I had picked up the rear end and gotten it to shift to 4th gear in my class. I figured my biggest concerns were going to be handling and other little things on the 5 mile drive home.

Nope. It was the 4L80e. The default is 2nd and reverse. I had 1st and reverse already. So I was confident I would have the rest of the forward gears. I didn't. Just 1st. I stopped for fuel and confirmed all my wiring was present. It was.

Once I got fuel newer than 7 years old. I tried it on the road again. No change so I creeped along at 10 mph at 2,500 rpm playing with the radio and just plain enjoying my tuck on the road.

Colton was home waiting for me. He hadn't seen the truck except for the same pictures I have posted here since it was a bare shell last summer. He was impressed.

We checked transmission fluid, adjusted the TCM to a max engine speed of 2500 rpm and did some test runs in 4 low just to see if it would shift without speeding along too fast. It would shift to 2nd, then drop right back to first. That was it though.

Mechanical or electric? The TCM was showing no faults. I was dreading internal mechanical issues.

A bunch of internet searching didnt help any. Except that a good number of people had installed the main wiring harness plug upside down. I pulled the plug to confirm it was correct and it was. However, it was also covered in atf. A search of that issue led me to think that contaminated plug was the issue.

I unplugged it and took it for a drive. In theory, no main plug gives the transmission just reverse and 2nd. If I had that then mechanally I should be ok. I did. I actually put enough load on the engine to cause the boost gauge to move off 0. I was happy to see it move.

So, now that I have it home. I need to get it back to work and pull the pan. Replace the internal harness, check the solenoids just to be sure and put it back together again. Amazon has the harness at a very good price. Since it won't get here until next weekend, I will probably pull the transfer case and seal up that one drop every few days leak from the pedestal mount.

I left the plug off so I can use 2nd to get back to work at a faster pace.

Once we we figured out the issue. I got a few pictures.

 

[86m1028]

Looks GREAT !!!
I personal like the truck rear bumper better than the blazer.

Does the frt tires rub back of frt fenders ?

 

[02smokemaker]

Amazing job!

Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

 

[Barrman]

No rub on any tires. I have flexed it as much as I can with dirt piles and such.

I really like the solid feel of the M35 and M715 going down the road. The M1009 trucks feel solid, but just a little mushy to me. I hate the way my 2wd Suburban feels on the road. Too much like a marshmallow. I am very impressed with the road feel of the Cowdog. Much stiffer than a M1009 yet not as back hurting as the M715. Once I can do high speed runs I will do tire temperatures to see what pressures are best. 40 psi all around currently.

I was able to hook up a pulse signal adapter to a timing light after getting home from doing a parade in the M715 this morning. (Once again, it was great to see and visit with Rory, Patrick, James, Domingo and the rest.). My Dakota Digital tach adapter was about 200 rpm fast. It is adjusted now. My fast idle is now at 800 and regular idle at 650 like the book says it should be.

Here re is the engine as it is today.

 

[M813rc]

Great catching up with you, too! You left just in time, hope the rain didn't catch up to you on the way. It came down a frog-strangler right after the Apache left.


Cheers