the pig rig?

[ericjon262]

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That just sounds like a terrible idea...

Yeah, I definitely feel like a fool. not a whole lot I can do now though, 99% of the time, I would have walked away, but 1% of the time is still enough to get you.

[ericjon262]

I know the Suburban's wheelbase is 2 feet shorter than the GMT 800 Chassis, so I got out a tape measure, and took a look at some things outside of drawings.

in the real world, I think this will work out ok.



moving the rear axle forward 2 feet puts the center of the axle right under the start of the bend in the frame, I'll have to make a new spring hanger, and possibly a cab mount/spring hanger combination, having the plasma cutter up and running should make that a cake walk.



I also measured from the centerline of the front wheel, to the front of the door on the Suburban to compare to the GMT 800, it's about 29" on the suburban, and much shorter on the GMT 800.







I'm not sure how that will effect the swap, hopefully it makes things a little easier.

[The Dark Side of Will]

I would @$$ume you'd take two feet out of the middle of the frame...

The frame shouldn't care where the door hinges are.
The frame will care where the firewall is relative to the engine mounts, however.
GMT800 frame into Square Body... body... has been done before at some point, right?

[ericjon262]

I would @$$ume you'd take two feet out of the middle of the frame...

The frame shouldn't care where the door hinges are.
The frame will care where the firewall is relative to the engine mounts, however.
GMT800 frame into Square Body... body... has been done before at some point, right?

I'd rather not cut the middle of the frame if I can avoid it. I can make a jig to accurately locate the spring perches, and the fuel tank will need to be moved either way. then it's just a matter of hacking off he excess from the rear of the frame. I still need to take measurements off the Suburban frame, and see where the bends are for the axle hump, and how they compare to the GMT800, but I think taking length off the back of the frame instead of the middle will allow for the most flexibility in mounting the body.

you're right about the frame not caring about the door hinges, it's more just a relative point that I can measure to. My hope is that the because the front of the door is so much further back, that firewall clearance to the DMAX isn't trash. it would be nice to add a custom downpipe that flows a little better than the stock part, it has some pretty aggressive shapes that I suspect don't help performance or economy.

I have no idea if anyone has done this before, I haven't seen it if it has been done.

[ericjon262]

I was at the happiest place on earth today, and saw this:





I kinda figured the cab poked into the doghouse like that, I was just hoping it wasn't quite as far, there's going to be a few headaches involved in getting the firewall to fit around the DMAX I think.

I snagged a few goodies for the swap, and found a manual shift transfer case, unfortunately, the yard wants $700 for it, which is a bit higher than I want to pay for one ATM. I'll post a more detailed update later.

[ericjon262]

This guy took one hell of a hit...



it was a good thing for me though, because now I have a electronic speedometer! They're pretty uncommon, I think they only came on 90-91 models.



The back glass was busted on the new Suburban, I was able to pull a new window to replace it.





Last but not least, i was able to snag a high hump floor, this will most definitely be required to clear the A1000.



In other news, I'm planning a trip south, going to take the Pig down to Key West, and try and do a little fishing with Dad, if you've ever been, and have suggestions for the trip, I'm all ears.

[The Dark Side of Will]

it was a good thing for me though, because now I have a electronic speedometer! They're pretty uncommon, I think they only came on 90-91 models.

LOL! Sometimes putting together the gauge cluster is the hardest part! My dad looked for a long time to assemble one with a tach, electronic speedo and "full instrumentation".

Last but not least, i was able to snag a high hump floor, this will most definitely be required to clear the A1000.

What is this? I had not heard of this before. Why would a vehicle be equipped with it?

[pmbrunelle]

I was at the happiest place on earth today, and saw this:

I was expecting to see a picture of a junkyard as I scrolled below this statement

[ericjon262]

LOL! Sometimes putting together the gauge cluster is the hardest part! My dad looked for a long time to assemble one with a tach, electronic speedo and "full instrumentation".

yeah, I definitely need a speedometer, a tach would be nice too, this makes that happen much cheaper/easier than most other options.

What is this? I had not heard of this before. Why would a vehicle be equipped with it?

4x4 squarebodies got a larger hump on the trans tunnel, I think to provide better packaging for the transfer case. I think floorshift manual trans, and 1 ton trucks also got the larger hump, but I don't know that for sure.

I was expecting to see a picture of a junkyard as I scrolled below this statement

I both love and hate trips to the junkyard, there's so much cool stuff, but it's also sad to see how much isn't on the road anymore.

[The Dark Side of Will]

4x4 squarebodies got a larger hump on the trans tunnel, I think to provide better packaging for the transfer case. I think floorshift manual trans, and 1 ton trucks also got the larger hump, but I don't know that for sure.

Iiiiiiiiinterdasting

I was expecting to see a picture of a junkyard as I scrolled below this statement

I was wondering if Summit opened a store in SC.

[ericjon262]

I had a revelation...

There was a suburban listed near me for $600, I messaged the guy and was planning on picking it up so that I could use it for mock up, but the deal fell through. while thinking about it, I remembered there was truck cab at the junkyard, sitting on the back of another truck, the door jambs forward is identical to the Suburban... that particular yard is pretty chill. I'm going to call them tomorrow and see if they'll sell just the cab, and then I can mock up all the front mounts, with a way smaller cab, and it will be way easier to manipulate, and faster to setup. if they want to make a deal I'll pick it up tuesday.

[ericjon262]

Been there, done that!





I didn't take nearly as many pictures on this trip, My dad and I did a bunch of fishing along the coast, he caught a black snapper, and a smaller yellowtail snapper, I caught a pinfish... lol, I learned alot on the trip though.

number 1, reserve campsites well in advance, there were very few places with any availability.

number 2, take the interstate past everything in the red box.



it's almost 100% bumper to bumper traffic for the full length, lined with shopping centers catering to the uber rich, and old(really old) people. nothing to see, minimal water access.

number 3, don't take kayaks, either:

A- bring a small boat(~14 foot V or roundbottom) with an outboard, it will have the close enough to the same shallow water capability as a kayak, but you can fish way more places faster, and not be worn out.

b-Rent a boat down there and fish from that.

I did some rough math, I've put over 17000 miles on the Pig from the Alaska trip, to now, not including a ton of DD action, this thing is awesome, and it consistently brings me happiness to tell people who ask, I built it, and it's now been corner to corner.



go there, do it. it doesn't matter where "there" is, it doesn't matter what "it" is, it doesn't have to be expensive, it doesn't have to be pretty. get out there, and watch everyone scratch their heads in terror, disbelief, joy, ect.

[ericjon262]

A few pictures from the trip.

Putting the kayak in the water at Fort Zachary Taylor state park in Key West



The Yellowtail Snapper Dad caught



somehow pulled up to a spot to Fish banks next to another Square 'burb





some springs near Hommassa Springs







Manatees hard to see in the first pic, but there's actually three, I assume a mating pair, and a juvenile.







the view from a dock on Keaton beach.



I wish I had taken more pictures, but oh well, sometimes it's easier said than done. I had a good time, and learned a bunch of lessons about road tripping to south florida, I'll do it again eventually, but I'm not sure when.

[ericjon262]

found some go pro footage from a bunch of the road trips I went on, figured I'd share a few screenshots.

[ericjon262]

yesterday, I liberated the 2500 HD chassis of it's cab:



The 2500 chassis is pretty solid, with the exception of the cab mounts, for some reason.







and the rear crossmember over the fuel tank



for the most part, this stuff won't matter as much for me, the fuel tank needs to move to the rear anyways, and a new crossmember is a piece of cake to whip up.

it's time to make some vary careful decisions where I cut the frame to shorten the wheelbase. taking some measurements of both chassis, I determined that from the front wheel centerline to the start of the axle hump in the frame is about 10" different.



earlier, I had mentioned I intended to shorten the wheelbase by moving the rear axle forward, and not cutting mid frame, I think I might actually move the axle and cut the frame to get the wheelbase right, I'll take 10" out of the middle, that will even the hump with the older frame, then I'll move the axle forward 14" to make up the remaining difference in wheelbase. I'm hoping to find a stock suburban chassis that I can take slightly more accurate measurements off of. if I can't, I'll wait to get the body off of the 86 before i cut the frame, that will give me a better idea of what I have to work with.

I also stripped all of the dash wiring out of the 2500, and found that the previous owners loved add on modules, there must have been five or six of them... The also loved wiring things in dumb ways, like soldering to fuses...





I also found out, GM installed a nice huge hunk of magnesium under the dash...





LB7 Duramax's are notorious for injector problems, I think this one already had them replaced at least once, note the silicone:



I also wonder if the A1000 is OE, there's a tag on the side that makes me think it's been replaced at some point.



in other news, I "honed" the cylinders on the two of the three big blocks here at the house. no surprise, the engine with cracked rings had bad scoring. I'm actually surprised it wasn't worse, considering every top ring was trashed.



The other had a few spots that weren't perfect, but definitely good enough for the Pig Rig



in other, other news, I placed one of the larger orders to Summit racing that I have in a while, in that, was a flexplate, gaskets, and...



I'll put the cam in, and for now, I'll run the engine with the 454 TBI I have. eventually, I plan to install a 96-00 multi port intake, with an LSx style PCM and a 4L80e, but for now, I'll put a hurting on my 700R4...

[pmbrunelle]

The 2500 chassis is pretty solid, with the exception of the cab mounts, for some reason.

Looks like a good plasma cutter project!

I also found out, GM installed a nice huge hunk of magnesium under the dash...

We had a traveling salesman come visit my workplace once. The gent worked for one of them magnesium casting oufits. He came from Ontario IIRC (something cool from Canada for once).

He demonstrated to us with some examples of how more traditional stamped/bent/welded steel under-dash assemblies could be replaced with a magnesium casting (one die-casting that bam includes all the mounting ears and holes without secondary operations) needing less assembly labour and being overall a cheaper solution.

Weight could be reduced, but mostly he was pushing the cost as the main benefit to the customer.

Of course, anything a salesman says should be taken with a grain of salt!

[ericjon262]

The 2500 chassis is pretty solid, with the exception of the cab mounts, for some reason.

Looks like a good plasma cutter project!

I also found out, GM installed a nice huge hunk of magnesium under the dash...

We had a traveling salesman come visit my workplace once. The gent worked for one of them magnesium casting oufits. He came from Ontario IIRC (something cool from Canada for once).

He demonstrated to us with some examples of how more traditional stamped/bent/welded steel under-dash assemblies could be replaced with a magnesium casting (one die-casting that bam includes all the mounting ears and holes without secondary operations) needing less assembly labour and being overall a cheaper solution.

Weight could be reduced, but mostly he was pushing the cost as the main benefit to the customer.

Of course, anything a salesman says should be taken with a grain of salt!

A great plasma cutter project! it's one of the projects I was planning for it!

the mag part was super rigid, I could imagine structural benefits to it, especially considering it's weight!
=========================================

yesterday I spent almost the entire day working on cleaning up the garage... it's a huge improvement from before, I didn't take a before picture though9note, this isn't a "done" picture either)...



I had the intention of pulling the Gran Damn in and working on the brake lines, but I turned around and this showed up...



I stripped out the fuel tank, fuel lines, and drive shaft, I also pulled the rear wiring harness all the way to the engine, and cut the exhaust,



originally, I planned on shortening the stock DMAX driveshaft, when I got the truck in the shop, I quickly realized that it was dented and dinged pretty bad all over, and the rear yoke was in terrible shape. I'll either find another, or have a custom shaft made.



then I got distracted by a buddy who needed help picking up this rad Comanche









it's one of the few Jeep Vehicles that I WANT to own, I actually was going to buy it if he didn't, and he would have been a fool not to, it's easily a $3000 truck, he paid $1000! it's minty good, it's only downside, is that it's a 2.8 V6, and 2wd. both of those things can be fixed pretty easy though. it only has 119,000 miles!

I bought a new sawzall, this one, a Milwaukee, it puts my old craftsman to shame! Milwaukee has a repeat customer for sure.





it cut the stock body mount off in less than 1 minute, my old crapsman would have taken way longer, if it even did it without a fresh battery.

I planned to cut templates for the frame cuts on my plasma, unfortunately, it's not wanting to play ball... hopefully it's nothing crazy, but we'll see, in the mean time, I laid out the basic idea of what I want to do,



that's a 10" cut, 45 degree diagonal.

to fix the rest of the 23.5" wheelbase mismatch, I plan to move the rear axle forward, the drywall square represents approximately the new axle centerline, the rest of the frame should remain as-is.



I also got the tunable computer in, Dynamic EFI makes awesome products, they add a board to the stock ecu, that greatly expands the capabilities of the stock ECU.



In other news, I was able to trade the old duramax cab, bed, some scrap metal, and the electric shift transfer case, for a manual shift transfer case, They said they could have it pulled tuesday, so I'll pull the electric shift case tomorrow.

[ericjon262]

I laid out a few different cut lines before settling on this, the top and bottom cuts are straight, then diagonal back 10"









before I made the cuts, I scribed 2 lines, 20 inches apart, that I could measure off of upon reassembly.

Speaking of reassembly, it was a huge PITA to get the frame lined up cut the frame long, so that I could trim back to 10" of removed frame. I butted the frame sections, then kerfed the frame sections to get a nice fit.





I used a pretty wild assortment of ratchet straps, jacks, jack stands, and clamps to get everything fit up. I ran a few short beads on each side, the driver's side needs a little more tweaking, I'll trim it a little more, and then fully weld it inside and out. once that's done, I'll plate frame over the cut to provide some reinforcement. I may wait to plate it until the putting the body on, so that I can integrate body mounts into it if I need to.

[ericjon262]

I had every intention of installing the TBI setup on the Pig and calling it good but this practically fell into my lap. $150 for the intake, injectors, fuel rail, and distributor (which houses the cam position sensor). I have a PCM, and all the stuff to run it as if it were an LS1, so I'll go ahead and do that instead.



Tomorrow, I'm going to The Gulches and am going to wheel it a bit.

[ericjon262]

I had thought the pig was running rough for a while, but not rough enough to investigate, today when I got to The Gulches ORV Park, I found the number 2 plug wire hanging off... DOD isn't a thing with an 88 TBI Suburban, I reconnected it, and the truck ran significantly better, I have no idea how long it was like that. it was smooth enough for me to think it stalled a few times... DOH.

The truck performed adequately, I had a buddy shoot some footage with my Go Pro.

https://youtu.be/ZtBxDayCFn0

https://youtu.be/2XnXPcMHL6Y

https://youtu.be/2kEFg0H8OvU

The trip reaffirmed that I need a front locker, more power would be nice, but I won't call it a requirement like the locker.