Project: 83 C30 Big Brown Turd

[OldFatBald]

You just robbing the interior out of the burb?

More than just the interior, I will probably swap the front clip & doors.

The 350 will probably get a leak down check and if it works out, a cam change, new intake & carb then go into my 63 Burb project.
I’ll need a different trans but that will be easy enough. The 63 was going to get an LS but this will save me quite a bit of money

 

[Derick C.]

You just robbing the interior out of the burb?

He needs the power locks and power windows from the burb.

 

[RedBeard_83]

Welcome from Florida

 

[Vbb199]

1990 3/4 Ton 4x4 Suburban for parts that I picked up over the weekend.

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What'd you pay for that? I'd like to have it lol

 

[OldFatBald]

1990 3/4 Ton 4x4 Suburban for parts that I picked up over the weekend.

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Got out my little pressure washer to start getting the years of dirt and grime off of it.

Started eyeballing stuff and making a mental plan for now, which includes:
A. Throw a battery in it and start testing the PW/PLs
B. Yanking the PW/PL wiring harness out
C. Checking to see if the PW/PL work
D. Possibly swap all four doors over to the C30 which will require both;
a. Learning how to R&R a door along with alignment
b. Prepping the doors for paint
E. Pulling all four door interior panels out, clean, putty, paint and add some plaid fabric to match the seat inserts that I will be making.
F. Yanking out the dashpad, filling the cracks and recovering in some dark brown vinyl
G. Pulling the 14B SRW rear end out and installing it in the C30 to tuck the 22” Alcoas
H. Possibly pull the whole front clip off and swap over to the C30 as this one has many less dents.
I. Pull the small block out, test, clean it up and use it for my 63 Suburban build
J. Figure out what I want, sell off what I can and haul away whatever is left.

 

[wanderinthru]

Got out my little pressure washer to start getting the years of dirt and grime off of it.

Started eyeballing stuff and making a mental plan for now, which includes:
A. Throw a battery in it and start testing the PW/PLs
B. Yanking the PW/PL wiring harness out
C. Checking to see if the PW/PL work
D. Possibly swap all four doors over to the C30 which will require both;
a. Learning how to R&R a door along with alignment
b. Prepping the doors for paint
E. Pulling all four door interior panels out, clean, putty, paint and add some plaid fabric to match the seat inserts that I will be making.
F. Yanking out the dashpad, filling the cracks and recovering in some dark brown vinyl
G. Pulling the 14B SRW rear end out and installing it in the C30 to tuck the 22” Alcoas
H. Possibly pull the whole front clip off and swap over to the C30 as this one has many less dents.
I. Pull the small block out, test, clean it up and use it for my 63 Suburban build
J. Figure out what I want, sell off what I can and haul away whatever is left.

Damn, thought I had a hard day.......

 

[Craig 85]

The 14 bolt in the Suburban should a 14 bolt semi float, not a full floater. Only 2WD 3/4 ton Suburbans got full floaters. Also, the spring perches on the 14 bolt SF will be wider than the OEM C30 and the shock mounts will be on the wrong side of the axle. 1-Ton brake shoes are 13x3.5" wide; 3/4 Tons are 13x3".

A 14 bolt FF SRW 1-ton should look like this.

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[OldFatBald]

Thanks for the info.

How do I tell if it is a semi-float vs full float? Though I don't think that semi vs full float in my application will matter that much as I will not be loading up the bed or a lumber rack with big loads.

Sounds like it is the spring perches that I need to worry about. Is that correct?

 

[OldFatBald]

The 14 bolt in the Suburban should a 14 bolt semi float,...Also, the spring perches on the 14 bolt SF will be wider than the OEM C30 and the shock mounts will be on the wrong side of the axle. 1-Ton brake shoes are 13x3.5" wide; 3/4 Tons are 13x3".

A 14 bolt FF SRW 1-ton should look like this.

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I do have a pretty good source for 14B SRW rear ends. Are there certain years of SRW rear ends that I need to stay away from or that I should be looking for?

 

[Craig 85]

Here's the difference. 1-ton's have the shocks on the inside of the frame, 3/4's are outside like the Suburban. This moves the spring perch out board, you'll notice the hangers stick out more as a result.

The 14 Bolt SF has hubs that look like photo #2. I'm not sure you can safely mount dually wheels to these hubs. In addition to the brakes being smaller than your's, the pinion gear is only 9.5" vs 10.5" for a FF. Photo #3 is a SF rear. The FF looks more like your current Dana 70.

The easiest swap is a C/K30 SRW axle 73-91 (Not GMT-400). Any 14 bolt FF from a 3/4 ton will work, but plan on moving the perches and shock mounts.

3/4 Ton

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[OldFatBald]

Thanks again for the info.

I just went out and checked and the spring pad mounts on the 3/4 ton Suburban rear end are at 42" C to C. And the shocks are outboard of the frame. I haven't yet measured the WMS spacing but I am assuming it is at 67.5"

So my options are;

1. Cut off and re-weld some spring perches on my current semi-floater
2. Go get a SRW Truck 14B-T rear end with the correct spring perches and shock mounts.
3. Get a C&C rear end and end up with another 4" additional reduction in total WMS distance

From what I understand, any of the rear ends should work with the 8x10 adapters and 22" Alcoas.

I am going to call my supplier tomorrow and see if he has a 14B-T rear end in the 3.73 ratio and of course posi would be nice. If not, I can always reweld my current rear end perches.

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[Grit dog]

Why the srw axle? Need to narrow it up for the adapters and big wheels I presume?
You’re correct though, the SF axle is just fine for light/normal use. Back in the day, I didn’t know the difference and we had a few 80s K20s in the fleet where I worked and those trucks got rode hard, overloaded and generally abused like the rest of the trucks and in the 4 years I was the mechanic (Age 16-19) There were never any axle issues.

 

[OldFatBald]

Why the srw axle? Need to narrow it up for the adapters and big wheels I presume?...

Yes sir, that is correct. The SRW rear end narrows up the track width to tuck the 22" Alcoas under the fenders after lowering.