Newbie w/ a 90 Suburban in SoCal pic heavy

[austinado16]

Hi everyone!

Signed up the other day with a question about installing a big block radiator in my small block burb, and met a few of you there, but hadn't had a chance to do an intro yet.

Back in about '04 we were looking for something that would haul the 3 of us and a dog or 2 on camping and skiing trips, and so that as our daughter grew up, we could be the family that took her and her friends to the movies and other kid stuff. I'm a German car guy, and wasn't really into GM iron, but both of my brothers were, so I'd been around quite a few square bodies.

As luck would have it, there'd been a 'burb of some sort languishing for months at the local Goodwill Donation Center. We decided to go have a look. It was peeling paint off the roof and hood, huge dent in the passenger front door and rocker panel, nearly flat right front tire, and the front carpets looked like about 500 cups of coffee had been spilled into them. In fact, there were coffee stains running out of the backs of the front seats, and about a 1000 packages of sugar and stir sticks on the dash. 225k on the clock, but unbeleivably, not a hanging drip of oil or other wear signs anywhere. Gave the ignition key a twist and it fired right up!

Paid $1,900 for it, then took much of it apart to have it repainted in the original white w/ Dupont Nason Urethane. Bought a couple of used seats at the wrecking yard, stripped the grey fabric off them, and had the front seats rebuilt, including having the frames welded where they were broken.

Put it all back together with new wheel well trim and badges from the local dealer, and an OEM Stereo CD player out of a similar year Buick.

During the reconstruction I was able to get in touch with the local original owner's who'd purchased it as a demo with 10k on it, from the dealer in San Jose, CA. They told me it had never had an engine or a transmission, and affectionately called it "James....the mountain taimer." In fact, the cover on the dash had "Mountain Taimer" embroidered on it. The gave the local dealership permission to give me all the service records, and I was able to see what'd been done to it over the years.

One of the first things I changed was the passenger car type tires they had on it. It was ridiculous to drive because at about 55mph, it started weaving back and forth because of the mushy side walls. I put a set of BFGoodrich Long Trail TA's on it, and it became a truck. I've now got a set of General Grabbers on it, and like them even better.

I've rebuilt/replaced just about everything on it, starting with the front and rear a/c system, including converting it to R134a. At 235k the transmission quietly lost 3rd and 4th. I drove home in 2nd and had a local guy who built tranny's for the GM dealer, rebuild it. We picked out all the "new" ****-bang parts like you see the Raptors are built with. It lasted 150mi before loosing 3rd and 4th again. Rebuild #2 lasted 30k before loosing 3rd and 4th yet again. So we're on rebuild #3, with a mild shift kit this time, the most current ****-bang heavy duty parts, and the upgraded steel apply pistons form the 4L60E's. Been about a year, and so far, so good. During that first trans rebuild I upgraded to a big B&M finned cast aluminum trans pan that holds 3 extra quarts, and is bunged for a mechanical temp gauge. That temp gauge is mounted below the dash, just forward of the 4x4 shifter. I also installed a big Tru-Cool (same as B&M Super Cooler) trans cooler, and a pusher fan out of a 3/4 ton. We do a lot of towing in the mountains and in the heat, so I try to do mods that help with that.

I've got a bigger set of rear springs, a huge rear sway bar, and an axle truss to help stiffen up the soft 'burb tail, and like how those have worked out. Not sure the truss does anything, but it was $20 at the local yard, so what the heck.

The most recent work includes an Edelbrock TBI intake manifold, and just a couple of days ago, an upgrade to the standard width big block radiator. Needed a new radiator, wasn't feeling the love for the ally/plastic versions, so figured I'd just go with a nice used BB version.

So here are a few photos of our 1990 GMC SLE 4x4 1500 Suburban:

Out on Route 66 in Arizona:

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At the James Dean Memorial:

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Camping in the Sierras:

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Visiting a set of still working 1920's fuel pumps:

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On the Beach:

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Camper in tow:

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Ski trip to Yosemite Nat'l Park:

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Xmas Parade float duty towing a float that I build each year:

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Getting a fresh windshield:

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Tru-Cool trans cooler and fan:

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Trans cooler and factory engine oil cooler:

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Big Block Radiator Installed:

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Transmission apart:

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Torn apart during the Edelbrock swap:

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[davbell22602]

Welcome

 

[Old77]

Very nice looking suburban!!! Welcome to the site

 

[Irishman999]

Welcome! Very clean burb but I want to see some pictures of those German cars you are talking about. There is a Porsche 911 widebody at Sport Haus in Reno thaat has a piece of my heart, I feel ya on the german car thing.

 

[Shaggy]

So when did you buy it? How much did all these fixes/upgrades cost you roughly?

 

[austinado16]

Thanks for the welcome guys. It's funny that it took me so long to find a site like this. I knew there was a huge K5 site and always wondered, "What about the pickups and the Suburbans? No love for those online? How can it be?"

Anyway.......bought it back in '04 IIRC. As far as costs go, I only loosely keep tract. I'm not in this to save a nickel. IMO, it takes what it's gonna take to have it be 110% dependable, and have it look the way I want. It's a lot cheaper than making payments and eating depreciation, and having something that doesn't look like what everyone else is driving, is 90% of the draw and fun. The other 10% is that I can do most of the work.

I'll bet we've got 10k in it, including buying it. Maybe more. But that's everything from tires, brakes, and brake hoses, to rear end, a/c, trans, interior work, paint, glass, bearings, p/s pump, alternator, the latest radiator work/mod, edelbrock mod, and on and on. I think the only thing that hasn't seen a wrench is the front diff and quad shocks.

German cars:
My daily is my '81 VW Rabbit Diesel LX Pickup. Similar story to the 'burb, 'cept found in a farmer's field in pieces, and it was free for the hauling away. Rebuilt it from the ground up and actually use it as a truck.

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The wife's car/family hauler is a '95 Audi A6 Avant Quattro:

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Here's my '66 Mercedes Benz 250SEC:

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My other vintage car is a 1970 Austin America. Another rescued complete wreck, but it's not usually wearing number balls and participating in a 500mi road rally:

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[Irishman999]

You got some really cool rides, that Austin really caught my attention, that is a bitchin little car. I am actually tossing the idea around of a english Roadster, know of any good forums?

 

[skysurfer]

Nice collection, the MB looks too nice to drive. What's the fuel economy with the Rabbit?

Irish, be careful what you wish for. As the owner of a '59 MGA I can say that owning British cars is not for the faint of heart.

 

[89Suburban]

Great pics, holy cow!!!! Love the Burb! Especially that pic camping, looks like a commercial!!

 

[austinado16]

Nice collection, the MB looks too nice to drive. What's the fuel economy with the Rabbit?

Irish, be careful what you wish for. As the owner of a '59 MGA I can say that owning British cars is not for the faint of heart.

The Rabbit gets low 40's to high 30's depending on what I'm doing. Not bad for a "truck." It could get better with the stock 185/13's instead of the snowflakes with the 165/14's (same diameter as the 13's but wider), but I like the look.

Don't be fooled by the Mercedes. It's a rusty old girl with terrible paint hiding horrid hack job body work. It's a very rare car. Only 3,000 total were made, and of those, there were convertibles. Mine has 4 on the floor and electric sliding roof, which were 2 rare options. The engine is a mechanically injected straight 6. When I purchased it back in '92, I'd only seen nice versions, and had no idea they could be as rusty and nasty and bodged together as any other European car (Porsche, anything British, etc) from the 60's. Man, was I a sucker. If I was smart, and I'm not, I'd cut it up and put it in a dumpster.

Re: Vintage British car ownership......not for the faint of heart is correct!! You'd better be of the mindset of; a) you do your own work b) you are a very talented mechanic c) your method is to always fix it right the first time. Otherwise, you'll just be yet another jack ass pissing and moaning about Lucas this and SU that, and MG this, and British that, blah, blah, blah, and have a car that you can't take to the grocery store without spending an hour before and after spinning wrenches.

I've had the Austin since '84 before anyone cared about them, or even knew what they were. It was my dd for years, and then after a bigger restoration, I started showing it all over CA, and driving it in vintage car rallies. I drove it to all the shows and rallies. Furthest away was 9hrs one way to Phoenix, AZ, and 15.5hrs non-stop each way to Olympia, WA. I'd drive it 300mi to the start of a road rally, then 500mi in 2 days, and 300mi home on that same final day. Needless to say, you can build them and enjoy them.

 

[Old77]

Very cool collection!!!!

~10k isn't bad for as nice as your burb turned out!! nicely done!

 

[Irishman999]

You guys almost have me talked out of it haha. I took a New Miata for a 5 hour drive with the top down and got bit by the Roadster bug, car is seriously so small my legs were cramping, my ass hurt and I arrived sunburnt and covered in sand and dust.... most fun I ever had driving.

A new MX5 is WAY more than I am gonna spend so Im looking into finding my own piece of junk to tinker with. There was a Triumph Spitfire on craigslist in Reno Recently that was basically being given away, should have grabbed it and stashed it somewhere.

 

[Old77]

If u get a Miata don't forget to include a rainbow sticker on the bumper

 

[austinado16]

If u get a Miata don't forget to include a rainbow sticker on the bumper

LOL........no ****.

When I used to show my Austin, the "Miata Guys" were always showing up and entering their cars in the "All British" car shows......like they owned something real.

BTW, wasn't trying to talk you out of owning vintage British iron. I love 'em, I just get tired of the 60 year olds that drive a mile to the $5 coffee place on Sundays and then stand around pissing and moaning with all the cliche's.

 

[Irishman999]

LOL........no ****.

When I used to show my Austin, the "Miata Guys" were always showing up and entering their cars in the "All British" car shows......like they owned something real.

BTW, wasn't trying to talk you out of owning vintage British iron. I love 'em, I just get tired of the 60 year olds that drive a mile to the $5 coffee place on Sundays and then stand around pissing and moaning with all the cliche's.

That **** is funny, I cant believe someone would actually show up to a British car show in a Miata. The one I was driving was VERY fun but its not like its anything interesting to look at or worth taking to a car show, the only people that would appreciate it are other Miata owners. Were talkin a Japanese car mimicking those old school roadsters.

I might have to put all my projects on hold so I can have my own noisy uncomfortable tiny convertible to take on drives.