Its been a couple of months since I last posted on this. The Suburban is running great. I have had a couple of minor problems, but nothing too bad. First, I had a leaking hydroboost.
You can see the fluid leaking here. I replaced it with a new unit.
The other problem was a minor engine oil leak, really more of a drip. It showed up on the LH exhaust manifold, right where the crossover bolted on.
It turned out to be the valve cover. I used "The Right Stuff" sealer on them. Once I got it off, I found a very tiny - maybe 1/32" gap in the sealant right at the bottom back corner of the valve cover. Looks like the end of one bead and the start of the next and it didn't quite overlap enough. I knew getting the old valve cover off without bending it would be a trick, so I took the easy way out. I had a spare, so I cleaned it up and sent it to the powder coaters. Got another "Detroit Diesel" sticker and so I had a replacement ready to go back on. Made changing it a lot easier! Still had to remove the intake manifold and injection lines though, so not that easy, but it did stop the leak.
New valve cover matches the old one, just doesn't leak!
I have also done a few upgrades and spruced up some stuff. I had installed a K47 airbox some time ago. I never did like the way the small hose from the radiator overflow bottle up to the top of the radiator had to go around the airbox as it would catch on the hood hinge. I did some checking and GM changed the overflow bottle when they changed the airbox. On the newer bottles, the hose comes out straight instead of pointing up.
I bought and installed a new overflow bottle. This allows the hose to go straight forward, under the airbox and more importantly, away from the hood hinge.
A small area of the paint at the leading edge of the hood had chipped and was rusting. I traded out some work with a guy I know that runs a body shop and he did a great job repainting the hood for me. So it looks a lot better now. Still has a few nicks and dings in the body, but for 15 year old original paint, its not too bad.
With the outside sorted out, I turned my attention to the interior. After 15 years of wear and tear, spilled drinks, etc., it needed some work. The carpet had some stains and was looking rough.
As luck would have it, I found a new replacement carpet set for a Suburban on Craigslist and it was the right color. It was 100 miles away, but the price was right so I made the drive. I can tell you, replacing the carpet on a Suburban is not the easiest thing I have ever done.
Removing all the seats, seat belts, console and the like takes some time.
While I had everything out, I decided to install some extra sound deadening.
Instead of Dynamat, I used
Grace Ultra. I used this because it was immediately available and the price was right! Its a peal and stick material, very similar to Dynamat. I can tell you it sticks very well and REALLY likes to stick to itself. In fact, if you get the two sticky sides together, it will not come apart. You have to cut it and start over with a new piece.
Once I had that done, I could install the new carpet. Of course, it needs to be trimmed to fit and there are no holes fro the seats or anything else for that matter. Its quite a bit of work getting it in place and cutting the holes for the seat bolts and various brackets.
Here is the new carpet in the back seat. It does seem to be quieter, I think the road noise is reduced.
In addition to the dirty carpet, the drivers seat had some wear from getting in and out. I looked into getting the seat reupholstered, but its was very expensive. The passenger seat and second (back) seat were worn, but usable. So I looked around and found a good drivers seat. Its not great, but better than what I had. It looks much better and the price was not too bad.
Here is the new seat and carpet. Old seat had worn through and the padding was showing. The interior looks much better now.
One of the things the Suburban gets used for is a safety vehicle for several local charity bicycle rides during the year. My wife has been a SAG (safety) driver for many years. Basically this involves driving slowly for two days assisting the cyclist and/or picking up anyone that may not be able to continue riding. She usually ends up driving between 300 and 400 miles in one weekend, mostly at speeds under 25 MPH.
Here she is on one of the rides earlier this year. The new AMG engine had only been running for about two weeks before this event. I was a little worried, but it ran flawlessly.
The usual routine is to run your emergency flashers while driving. However that has some drawbacks as the turn signals don't work and the flashers just don't seem to register with some drivers. A few of the other SAG drivers have strobe lights which work much better. I found a new strobe kit on Craigslist and installed them in the Suburban. These are hideaway strobes. I installed them in the front turn signals and the reverse lamps. They are entirely hidden until you turn them on. It would be hard to miss these! I'll try and get a video posted soon showing them.
For the most part, I guess the renewal is done. I still have a couple of minor projects to complete, but nothing major. It turned out as well as I had hoped. The engine runs great and the Sub looks better inside and out. Before the renewal, we only drove it when there was a need, especially my wife. Now its pretty much turned into her daily driver. In fact, we may sell what was her daily driver (Miata).
With these and the previous upgrades, I really like the finished product. With the AMG block, DB2 mechanical injection, new oil cooler and lines it should be reliable. The new radiator, late style water pump, truck duty fan clutch and Duramax fax keep the engine cool and the new air conditioning components keep the inside cool as well. The Cibie quartz halogen headlights allow you to see where you are going at night. Inside the new seat and carpeting really smarten up the appearance. Years ago I added a Delco 12 disc CD changer (its under the passenger seat) and a few years back I a friend gave me a Delco radio with a CD player (it came with a cassette deck). It might not stack up to a modern radio with an Ipod, but its good enough!
Was it worth it? The renewal cost were around $8000. Yes, that is probably more than the book value. But we are the original owners and I know where its been and what has been done to it. The other choice would have been a new vehicle. Compared to a new Sub at $40-50,000, the renewal cost are cheap and they are all gas powered now. So its worth it to us as the plan is to keep it indefinitely. Its approaching 190,000 miles and I certainly hope it makes 300,000.
Thanks for letting me share the journey. Hopefully it may help some others if they need to repair or upgrade their trucks.
