1988 1 ton suburban buildup

xpndbl3

Adventurer
Fixed the wiring issue today with help from a buddy, it seems the coil circuit wire for #6 coil was ran to pin 22 instead of 28, probably couldn't see the numbers too well in the dark when the harness was done over last winter. Now the truck idles smooth as glass. Tomorrow I will finish the fan relays, zip tie up some wiring under the motor and loom everything loose that is non-factory. Feels great to be so close to being able to cruise the truck again.



i'll get some finished product pictures over the next couple of days once my cold air kit comes in as well.
 

xpndbl3

Adventurer
got the ebay cold air kit on today, going to see if the 05 silverado heat shields they include with the kit can be used on my suburban possibly, otherwise I'll skip them lol. Also got the fan relay hooked up, it's been pouring off and on all day, supposed to snow wednesday...hopefully tomorrow it doesn't rain all day like forecasted. Have an appointment with the stereo shop for thursday to have the remote start rehooked up to this engine, so I can warm the truck up over winter. Right now it all works but starts and dies 3 seconds later because it doesn't recognize the tach signal, since a gen 3 motor is outputing a 4 cylinder engine signal not a v8 signal like a tbi truck. So after they reprogram it, should run like before
 

xpndbl3

Adventurer
bad camera phone flash taken at dusk....

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This rain all day the past couple of days is really getting old, I need to finish this truck before we have our cold snap.
 

xpndbl3

Adventurer
Took some quick pics today before I put the truck back on the ground off the jackstands.
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Some people have PM'd me about the exhaust, so I got those shots as well.
 
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Keitha

Observer
Great inspiration. I just registered to this site after I came across your thread. I have a 1991 Suburban that I have been planning to swap a 6.0l inplace of my 383ci. I am still debating if I have it installed or do it myself.
To the guys who bought from BD Turnkey - How is that working out for you?

XP - Great looking Sub and good luck wraping up the loose ends.

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xpndbl3

Adventurer
well i chose the 5.3L because it makes more than enough power/torque for me and gets better mileage than the 6.0L by 2 or 3 sometimes on the highway from what I've seen. I drove it today to get the remote starter reprogrammed, now I'm all set for winter. The fan isn't coming on so sunday a buddy is bringing back hp tuners so we can get to the bottom what is wrong. Double checked my wiring to the fan relay and grounding the relay turns on the fan, so for some reason the computer isn't sending the fan control signal, might have it in the wrong pin on the computer or my buddy just forgot to click the box for this. Otherwise it has gobs more power than the 5.7L tbi it replaced and runs much much smoother around town. Very pleased with the swap.
 

xpndbl3

Adventurer
fan shroud for an electric fan? The fan is basically the size of the radiator, it has no overheating issues, and we've done tons of these swaps in other vehicles. In fact this radiator is 2/3rd the size of the OEM radiator from before, might upgrade it to a huge all aluminum radiator if there's issues in the summer heat. But this is the oem setup from an avalanche. Only difference is their fan is rated at a lower CFM than the spal fan I installed. Glad you guys like the swap, I'm super happy with it so far. Can't wait to finish wideband tuning it and take it camping or on a road trip.
 

xpndbl3

Adventurer
oh no, the clutch fans are a thing of the past, this won't rob any power while the fan is off, and it clears up a bunch of room in front of the engine. You can "kinda" see it in the one pic, these modern motors sure add wires/hoses/ etc all over what was my clean engine bay LOL.
 

xpndbl3

Adventurer
Little update: Radiator is fine, fans kick on at 210 degrees now(found out the factory gauge isn't very accurate and reads higher than it should by 25 degrees once warm), and tuned the truck with a wideband, it was very rich from the factory at cold startup and during wide open throttle. We put about 7 tunes into the computer and finally got it 100%.


Remote starter works perfectly also now. Can't wait to enjoy this truck finally!
 

xpndbl3

Adventurer
over 500 trouble free miles on the truck so far, runs like a dream. So much smoother, no more tip in surge issues like the tbi motors are known for from a stoplight. The amount of extra power is rather impressive as well. Tossed on a transfer case skid plate that I bought off ebay and that's about it for winter progress. All new shocks in the front and pulled 2 leaves out of the 6 leaf pack from the pro comp 6" lift springs so the front lowered itself about 3/4" back to where it should be. Front suspension finally moves a little too, which is better than how rock hard it was before. In the spring I'll do a zero rate and move the front axle 1" forward so under compression the tires won't try to stuff themselves into the fender opening when turning. Been meaning to find some steps or something to get a flex picture but nothing around my town really.
 

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