FCM
Not Lost, Finding Another Way
This is my build thread. I am starting with a 1978 K10 Suburban, dubbed "Big 'Ol Piece A' ********".
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I bought the suburban August 31, 2013 for $2,300 off of craigslist. At the time of purchase, it started, ran like crap, and had some rear wobble that I needed to resolve before driving it as my daily driver. The kid I bought it from said it was in excellent condition but just needed a sway-bar put in the rear. He also said the previous owner was trying to set it up for an African safari and had the engine reworked already. He used it as a mud truck and put a couple of serious dents down the passenger side trying to fit between some trees or at least that is what he said. I think the kid was dumb redneck.
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I drove it two hours to my parents place and changed the front wheel bearings. That fixed the wobble. It still ran like crap, but it ran fairly reliable so I just let it go for a while. Then as I was headed home from work (another two hour drive) shortly after I fixed the wobble and as I was in the middle of a town, my rear driver side tire actually rolled past me and into oncoming traffic. Can you say Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? I sure did. The tire was launched back across the road behind me after it hit an Explorer head on. I called for reinforcements and assessed the situation. Turns out the all the lugs had sheared off. The holes in the rim were almost completely connected too. The bead of the rim was caved in well beyond any road side repair so I couldn't use it. Luckily an auto store was only a block ahead of where I pulled over and was still open. When the tire did come off, the Suburban dropped on the brake and it had grenade. Found the drum next to the parts store. I ended up limping the Suburban on the tire to the parts store and leaving it for the night. Went home for the night and came back with another tire/wheel, put it on and drove home. The brakes were frozen apparently, so I just left the brakes off. Got home, rebuilt the brakes, and put some matching wheels on it. After that it drove like crap still, but it stopped better and no more wheels have fallen off. Good times, seriously.
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Now, I'm trying to make it run better and everything I do is making it worse. I have zero money and I've troubleshot it for days and have come to the conclusion that my biggest gremlin are the valves. Luckily I have an extra set of head from another build. I've started to tear down my engine to swap heads and this is what I found.
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Driver side
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Passenger side
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Worst of the valves #7
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I bought the suburban August 31, 2013 for $2,300 off of craigslist. At the time of purchase, it started, ran like crap, and had some rear wobble that I needed to resolve before driving it as my daily driver. The kid I bought it from said it was in excellent condition but just needed a sway-bar put in the rear. He also said the previous owner was trying to set it up for an African safari and had the engine reworked already. He used it as a mud truck and put a couple of serious dents down the passenger side trying to fit between some trees or at least that is what he said. I think the kid was dumb redneck.
-
-
I drove it two hours to my parents place and changed the front wheel bearings. That fixed the wobble. It still ran like crap, but it ran fairly reliable so I just let it go for a while. Then as I was headed home from work (another two hour drive) shortly after I fixed the wobble and as I was in the middle of a town, my rear driver side tire actually rolled past me and into oncoming traffic. Can you say Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? I sure did. The tire was launched back across the road behind me after it hit an Explorer head on. I called for reinforcements and assessed the situation. Turns out the all the lugs had sheared off. The holes in the rim were almost completely connected too. The bead of the rim was caved in well beyond any road side repair so I couldn't use it. Luckily an auto store was only a block ahead of where I pulled over and was still open. When the tire did come off, the Suburban dropped on the brake and it had grenade. Found the drum next to the parts store. I ended up limping the Suburban on the tire to the parts store and leaving it for the night. Went home for the night and came back with another tire/wheel, put it on and drove home. The brakes were frozen apparently, so I just left the brakes off. Got home, rebuilt the brakes, and put some matching wheels on it. After that it drove like crap still, but it stopped better and no more wheels have fallen off. Good times, seriously.
-
Now, I'm trying to make it run better and everything I do is making it worse. I have zero money and I've troubleshot it for days and have come to the conclusion that my biggest gremlin are the valves. Luckily I have an extra set of head from another build. I've started to tear down my engine to swap heads and this is what I found.
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Driver side
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Passenger side
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Worst of the valves #7
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