1995 Chevy Tahoe 4X4 - Adventure Rig Build

[Chevrolado]

Hey all,

So a few months back I was looking for an early 2000-mid 2000 Silverado crew cab truck. Well.. after finding how expensive everything still was, I ended up going back to my original love of the 90's bodies. But this time, I was given an opportunity to buy my father-in-laws 95 Tahoe 4x4 off of him. My plans were to get a crew cab truck (cause I wanted the interior room of a 4 door) and then throw a shell on it so I could keep plenty in the bed. Well, this basically turned out to be the perfect blend of the two! I'm in love.
:wings:

History:
My father in law bought it years ago from one of his best friends who basically owned it from the start. So, it's pretty much been "in the family" and we have the history of it for quite a while back.
That being said, over the years that he owned it; he took the stock truck, added exhaust, tore out all the interior, lined the walls and floor with Dynamat, put all the interior parts back in, got a brand new paint job, then got the RCX 4" suspension lift with some wheels and tires.

Then I bought it a couple months ago.

So my plans are to basically continue building this thing into something that can handle long road trips, beach surf trips, snowboarding trips, camping trips, some light trails, and just a general fun adventuring.

Now on to some pictures:

350 5.7L:

(the Venom performance box was causing computer issues - so it has now been removed)

Interior:

 

[Chevrolado]

So after I was driving it for a while, I sold my little commuter BMW and started driving the Tahoe full time. Then it developed a pretty harsh little knock going in the motor. That sucked, however, a new engine was already in my sights so this was just the "alright, now you HAVE to do it" I needed.

So I parked the Tahoe in the shop and went down to my local speed shop to hash out the motor I am building for it. Got everything worked out and settled and now they are building it.

As of Friday, short block was assembled and the rest of the parts are sitting on the shelves:

Then I popped over to it's current resting place and me and my father in law (with the help of my wife and my good buddy) shifted around all the projects and shop tools and all that good stuff to fit the Tahoe inside for tear-down. Got her parked inside and started pulling the hood and a few other parts:

Then we called it a night. Went back to the house and cracked some beers and relaxed. This is a VERY important step.

Then I had a trip down south to San Diego to visit with some friends for a birthday celebration and came back Sunday afternoon, ran some errands and finally made it back to the shop by about 5:30pm only to find my father in law had been there a lot of the day working! hah. I was VERY pleasantly shocked to find the state he had it in and thanked him a million times.

So he called it a night at that and I started playing with a few other things to remove and just some general cleaning and prepping for next weekend when the PLAN is to pull the rest of necessary items and yank the motor. Lets hope it happens!

Until then... this is how she sits:

 

[TowPig]

Great looking Tahoe man excited to see its progress! Good looking motor also! Check out this build that my brother and I did may give ya some ideas. Goodluck with the Hoe man!

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/52699-New-to-the-forum-My-95-Tahoe-*Lots-of-pictures*

 

[Chevrolado]

Great looking Tahoe man excited to see its progress! Good looking motor also! Check out this build that my brother and I did may give ya some ideas. Goodluck with the Hoe man!

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/52699-New-to-the-forum-My-95-Tahoe-*Lots-of-pictures*

Thanks bud. Yeah I remember reading up on that build already. Looks like a great rig! Nice work you guys have done. I was researching throwing in a Vortec motor before, but due to CA SMOG emissions laws being insane, I decided to go the route of a new motor with upgraded top end from Edelbrock that had all of the EO CARB legal stamps and paperwork. Push some extra power and longevity but keep to the laws so I can enjoy my truck without any issues.

 

[Scrib]

Nice Tahoe, Dave, what's next after the motor?

 

[Chevrolado]

Nice Tahoe, Dave, what's next after the motor?

Thanks man!

After the motor is in and running well, I need to work out a few kinks in the creature comforts.
My middle row speakers (second row door speakers) dont have any output. I also want to be able to plug in my iPod/iPhone into the headunit for MP3 goodness. Tired of CD's.

After that, I have access to a roof rack I need to build some mounting brackets for and then once that is secured to the roof, I need to find a way to attach this little ol guy to it:

On top of that, I also need to figure out a rear bumper for barn doors. I need to get a full size spare and mount but I have yet to find a decent swing-away rear bumper setup that works with a barn-door vehicle. Anyone know of one??

Thanks.

 

[chop480]

I searched far and wide for an off-the-shelf rear bumper with tire carrier for my 99 2-dr Tahoe with barn doors. The only bumper available was from Kennesaw Mountain aka Tactical Armor Group aka Blue Lake Offroad. There's a reason they've had to reinvent themselves.

I went with the Tiregate option and so far I'm pleased with the unit. Works well.

http://www.tiregate.com/hg-series/

 

[Scrib]

I'm using a local fab shop for mine. First time they've done a Suburban, but their Jeep stuff is cool so we'll see how it turns out.

 

[Chevrolado]

Last weekend was the first of the major milestones..

So I got the call that my headers were in. I went and picked them up and took them to the shop to test fit them and make sure they are good.

So I yanked these buggers off:

And test fit these buggers on!

Everything looks good with them so I took them back to my speed shop and they are sending them out to get ceramic coated!

Side by side:

So that was my Friday evening. Then, today, woke up Saturday morning and headed back over to meet with my father in law and get cranking on pulling this:

So wheeled her out into the front of the shop now as the transmission was planning to get pulled and rebuilt by a shop a few doors down. So this is how she was standing for the week:

Flash forward another week up to this last weekend.

Not TOO much went down. The transmission and transfer case are out and got rebuilt during this last week by a shop nearby. Didnt want to throw a brand new motor in on a tired transmission, so had them pull it while the motor was out and open her up and rebuild and refresh. They said they will have the transmission and tcase back installed by the weekend if all goes as planned.

Meanwhile, on Friday I took a break from the vehicle and went surfing.. hah. I have been out of the water for 2 months now as I didnt have a vehicle to get my board there but I was going mad! So I had an opportunity to surf, so I took it.
Saturday, popped over and decided it was time to drain the fluids! Popped off the motor mounts, distributor, and generally cleaned a few things while draining. Next up, now that all the fluids are out, Ill pull the oil pan and oil system, as well as the timing cover, and these parts will then be thoroughly cleaned and then taken to my speed shop and dropped off so they can re-use it on the new motor! So, in the meantime, here's how the motor stands:

 

[Chevrolado]

So last weekend I popped over to get some things handled.
Suprise suprise.. Fresh trans and tcase were back and installed!

Then I went inside and started pullin parts off the motor. Since Im re-using almost my entire oil system, my main task was to pull all of that and get it cleaned up so I can take it over and drop it off at the shop so they can reuse it on the new motor and finish the remaining build of it!

So, yanked it all off..

Then I took it over to the speed shop building my motor and dropped it all off to them so they can get going on finishing up the new motor. They also informed me that my headers have officially been shipped out to get ceramic coated. Should be back next week.

Until then..
The old motor sits and waits..

 

[B 1000]

Shame that your old motor was on its way out, but man it's going to be nice to have a fresh drive train in that beast. Has this shop ever thrown in a V8 into a Blazer ZR2? Cause I kinda bought one..... and it would be awesome to push +300torque

 

[chilliwak]

Its going to be nice to see your ride come together Chev!

 

[Chevrolado]

Shame that your old motor was on its way out, but man it's going to be nice to have a fresh drive train in that beast. Has this shop ever thrown in a V8 into a Blazer ZR2? Cause I kinda bought one..... and it would be awesome to push +300torque

Yeah man. Itll be good fun once its done.
Hah. Well the shop building my motor can build whatever motor you want.. It would be up to YOU to put it into whatever rig you want.
Im getting my motor and then Im putting it into the Tahoe.

Its going to be nice to see your ride come together Chev!

Thanks Chilli.. I cant wait to have this thing back again. Ah. I miss driving it.



On an update of the motor, stopped by recently at the shop and saw my heads sitting up on the work bench getting ready to be installed.. Mmmm:

 

[EricM]

Super nice!

 

[Chevrolado]

Super nice!

Thanks! Its coming along.. Slowly but surely.

Got info from the shop that they are assembling this week. Hoping to have it done by the weekend. However, Ill be out of town this weekend so it'll have to be NEXT weekend that I am able to pick it up and hopefully start cranking on putting it back in the truck.