97 'burban.... Big girls need lovin too

[The_cobalt_kid]

I have a '97 K1500 4X4 Suburban. It is everything you'd expect, big, guzzles gas, and beat to SHT. that last thing is the only thing i wanna fix. So..

Welcome to the first Suburban build thread on GMSC.

As the truck stands now its mostly stock and beat down. I have a long SLOW road ahead of me. Truck was given to my wife by her father. Just finished a long block swap on it at 179500 mi. only orginal parts of that engine now are intake mani up and altinator/ac compressor (oh and crank pully )

Seeing as its my wife's baby (even though i'll be driving it mostly in a short while) the color scheme is gonna be black and purple. which ironicly i kinda like.

Plans:

Exterior:
Ordered new side mirrors (old ones are trash, D/S doesn't even move)
need a quarter panel replaced (rust)
bumpers (both, not sure im gonna do OE or find something aftermarket, wife doesn't want a brush guard)
want to find a way to run new-er style head lights, not sure how yet.


Interior:
Need a new drivers seat, the catch for recleining is broken, only has gasta-lean setting
ordering carpet soon (currently beige, ordering black)
headliner (stock material, again beige->black)
gotta find a way to replace all plastics again beige->black
seat covers
possible custom gauge setup
purple LEDs in the dash/doors/kick panels

Media:
obviously gotta change out the factory stereo
havne't gotten too far into this yet, as its not on the top of the list yet.


Suspension:
3" body lift and 3" frame lift is the thinking right now though that might drop.
thinking 20" rims, and maybe a 33"ish tire not sure yet. gotta do some more research


Motor:
Like i said just did the enigne swap.
Flow master zost, prob super50 true dual, side exit by the rears
Purple Wire looms
billet pully system, either PC purple or anodized purple
purple caps (coolant, oil, etc)
and paint what little components are already painted black




MISC:
ordered remote start/alarm/remote entry due to factory system dying for unknown reason, and for the hassle of tracing it down, i'll just install and aftermarket that includes the remote start i want.

thread will be slow moving, and depressing, i promise not entertainment.

start pics soon. (dont laugh)

[Maven]

picsaur b&

[The_cobalt_kid]

Guess if the admin says so....

[The_cobalt_kid]

old


New
(oops upside down)



Sweet oxidization





Said rusted panel





Gangsta lean seat w/awesome 70's seat cover





The dangling wire is from the strobes her dad had hooked up (he is retired corrections)







-per site admin's request

[recaro86]

Are you going to paint the entire truck?
My opinion doesn't count for ♠♠♠♠ but I'd simmer the lift to like a 2 inch, IFS starts to get scwavy and squirly up high. Of course I'd imagine the ball joints-tie rod ends-axles and u joints are about trashed too.

[The_cobalt_kid]

Tapasilent fail

[The_cobalt_kid]

Are you going to paint the entire truck?
My opinion doesn't count for ♠♠♠♠ but I'd simmer the lift to like a 2 inch, IFS starts to get scwavy and squirly up high. ♠Of course I'd imagine the ball joints-tie rod ends-axles and u joints are about trashed too.

♠
The lift will be body to start. Not doing the frame lift till I can rebuild the entire suspension, thinking remote nitrogen, not sure yet tho. When all is said and done VERY little of the truck will be original. Is it worth it financially? No. Is modding a $20k cobalt tho? Lol. I'd like to strip it ALL the way down at some point and paint the frame etc, but that's gonna take allot of time and space I don't have right now.♠

Probably will do the body lift soon ish (summer/ fall) next on the list is prob driver seat/carpet/headliner in that order. Trying to get non-crippling stuff done. Body panel won't happen till ready for paint, and for the whole truck (yes painting it all) that's 6-8k... For just plain ol black ♠

[recaro86]

♠
The lift will be body to start. Not doing the frame lift till I can rebuild the entire suspension, thinking remote nitrogen, not sure yet tho. When all is said and done VERY little of the truck will be original. Is it worth it financially? No. Is modding a $20k cobalt tho? Lol. I'd like to strip it ALL the way down at some point and paint the frame etc, but that's gonna take allot of time and space I don't have right now.♠

Probably will do the body lift soon ish (summer/ fall) next on the list is prob driver seat/carpet/headliner in that order. Trying to get non-crippling stuff done. Body panel won't happen till ready for paint, and for the whole truck (yes painting it all) that's 6-8k... For just plain ol black ♠

Point taken. Back to my cave

[The_cobalt_kid]

Point taken. Back to my cave

No point bein made really, just further explanation. I like the questions and suggestions, forces me to think it through more thoroughly

[Domin8]

TYF will be your friend on this one. Trust me and sign up over there. I also have a few suggestions for what you want to do, i.e, Nitto Terra Grapplers and Trail Grapplers are very popular with Chevy truck owners. With 20

[Clyde]

Good luck bro.. I'm in the same boat with a 95 4x4 blazer I picked up a while ago. The body is fairly straight but it has 260k on it and needs some work to say the least but I'm sure it will be a fun learning experience.

[USMCFieldMP]

Nitto Terra Grapplers and Trail Grapplers

Or you could support a fellow comrade in arms by buying Cooper Tires for it (or a sub-brand: Mastercraft, Mickey Thompson, etc). We build all the truck and SUV tires right here in Texarkana, so I'll be sure to start spitting in all the tires that I build in sizes you might run.

For rizzle though, I'm not too fanatical about our car tires, as most of them are meh... but truck and SUV tires are one thing I think we do damn well.

[The_cobalt_kid]

Or you could support a fellow comrade in arms by buying Cooper Tires for it (or a sub-brand: Mastercraft, Mickey Thompson, etc). We build all the truck and SUV tires right here in Texarkana, so I'll be sure to start spitting in all the tires that I build in sizes you might run.

For rizzle though, I'm not too fanatical about our car tires, as most of them are meh... but truck and SUV tires are one thing I think we do damn well.

Haven't even STARTED to research tires lol, done really want to put Tires on the stock rims bc I will be upgrading.

Good luck bro.. I'm in the same boat with a 95 4x4 blazer I picked up a while ago. The body is fairly straight but it has 260k on it and needs some work to say the least but I'm sure it will be a fun learning experience.

Blazers are WAY more fun lol. But when all is said and done this thing is going to be a tank.

[Clyde]

Does it have the 5.7 vortec with the wtf were they thinking CPI

[The_cobalt_kid]

Does it have the 5.7 vortec with the wtf were they thinking CPI

You mean SFI? Not sure what CPI is. But yes 5.7L of fury. Lol

[brice240z]

Mirrors werent old deebs broke it lol. Goodluck Ty

[The_cobalt_kid]

Only driver side

[Domin8]

Or you could support a fellow comrade in arms by buying Cooper Tires for it (or a sub-brand: Mastercraft, Mickey Thompson, etc). We build all the truck and SUV tires right here in Texarkana, so I'll be sure to start spitting in all the tires that I build in sizes you might run.

For rizzle though, I'm not too fanatical about our car tires, as most of them are meh... but truck and SUV tires are one thing I think we do damn well.

Let me make it easy for you. 275/55/20 is my stock size. I'm debating between 305/50/20 and 305/55/20. Hopefully I get lucky and get some tires you spit in. I heard your spit is like liquid gold. One drop and you're as rich as Warren Buffet.

[The_cobalt_kid]

Remote start/ remote entry/ shock alarm arrived

[TTMR]

Body lift is fail in my humble, do it right or don't do it.