1983 Chevrolet Suburban 4x4

I haven't been working on the Suburban much but I've been driving it around a bit just for fun.  Last weekend I had planned to get together at our Back 40 Racing site to do a little off-roading.  But, that plan got changed by the pandemic so instead the Wife, a Daughter, and I went out "bird watching" which for me was mostly just driving around in the Suburban in its natural habitat.

And then yesterday with the family (older daughter had to evacuate the college dorm so it was all 4 of us) feeling particularly stir-crazy, we decided to go do some more "bird watching" on gravel roads near our house.  We spent probably 45 minutes cruising around and it was awesome...about the highest use for this old Suburban.  

Yesterday I used the Suburban to retrieve an '82 K20 that I purchased back in 2011.  

Funny story...I bought that truck strictly as a field toy 4x4.  It was driven about an hour and a half from where I bought it to a friend's house where it has lived since then.  Last time I used it (maybe 6 years ago?), it stalled in a creek bottom.  When I came back several days later to try to start it up it had been claimed by some wasps.  It sat in that creek bottom for several years.  https://youtu.be/yCxWHIj8fu8

The trail to "The Back 40" at the friend's house is a legitimate off road excursion.  As you can see in the photo above, I did some mudding while hauling a truck and trailer.  

The bad news is that the transmission in the Suburban is likely toast.  Reverse has been acting up since I've had it running and yesterday Reverse quit acting up and just plain quit.

I decided this spring is the time to swap out the transmission in the suburban.

A couple years back when reverse quit working in the Suburban that is the subject of this thread, I found, bought, and drove home a drivetrain donor '92 GMC Suburban.

I figured I'd put that transmission into the '83...but that project hasn't been a priority on the project list until now.  

This past weekend I started removing the transmission from the '83.  Unfortunately the Transfer Case bit me as I was attempting to remove it resulting in a trip to the ER this weekend.  

6 stitches some fractures/chips in the distal phalange, and tendon damage (all on my dominant index finger) .  It does seem like it should heal pretty well, however.  It's definitely a setback for this project though.  

I did not realize how heavy that transfer case is.  I have a very clear knowledge of it now.

This post has been typed with 9 fingers...sorry for any lingering typos.

In reply to ClemSparks :

Dang man! Sorry to hear that. Hope you heal fully and can teach that transfer case who's boss. 

Lol.  

The funny thing is that as I was lying on my back draining fluids and removing bolts I was starting to think, "You know...I've changed my share of heavy, automatic transmissions in my life.  I might want to just pay someone to do this for me in the future."

Looks like I'm coming to that conclusion *just* a tiny bit late.

That sucks. Hope it heals fully and quickly.

Hey thanks,

I saw the hand specialist today and he laid out the options.  We're going to splint it (no surgery) and he thinks it should heal nicely.  My finger may straighten up as the tendon heals or it may always have a bit of drop ("mallet finger" he called it) but it should be overall quite functional.  

It was a dumb move on my part.  I grabbed the transfer case to work it loose (backward) after removing the bolts.  I had the jack under it but it wasn't under a balance point.  The transfer case was evidently barely hanging on and fell free unexpectedly and rolled over onto my finger crushing it on the jack.  Not the dumbest move I've ever made but it will certainly make the highlight reel.

Bummer about the hand.  Hopefully it heals well.

Are the bird watching pictures from Diana Bend?  I've been out there looking for birds several times, but I wasn't shooting with a camera.

bigeyedfish said:

Are the bird watching pictures from Diana Bend? 

Good call.  I had to double check but yeah.  Some of them are from Diana Bend.

After that we went to Franklin Island and I drove down  the boat ramp nose first.  When it *barely* made it back up the ramp with lots of protest from reverse gear...I knew there was trouble brewing in the 700R4.

I sent you a private message as well, btw.  Always good to hear of more local GRMers.

In reply to ClemSparks :

Damn Dude!

Sorry to hear about the injury. I hope it heals up Quickly.  At least the Hand Specialist gives you good news. 

Sunday will be two years ago I lost this digit in the garage:

I recall that, NubGuy.  I'm guessing our injuries happened in very similar circumstances (without looking back I think I remember a GM LS-style engine bit your finger off in the spitfire)

For years I've been jokingly saying "It's a miracle I still have all my fingers considering the sort of stuff I do for fun."

I'll be saying that less and working a little harder to keep them all (and keep them functional) moving forward.  The joke suddenly isn't as funny anymore.  (there's a life lesson learned quite late...about saying insensitive things)

By now the finger is healed up as much as it will (it's not as functional as hoped but it's there and not in pain...I'll take it).

The Suburbans sat all summer with me not wanting to crawl around in the heat and mosquitoes.

When fall fell, I found motivation to get back to it.

I had to get the good (I sure hope!) transmission out of the red suburban and put into the '83.

It wasn't easy (a couple of the bellhousing bolts required creative techniques and tools) but I got it yanked out.  After that, the reassembly process was pretty straight forward.

Yesterday, the old Suburban ran and drove (shifting into all gears in both directions as designed) for the first time in a year or thereabouts.  Fun times!

In reply to ClemSparks :

That's a cool Suburban you got there Sir.

makes me miss my old k5 2500 suburban, I should never have gotten rid of that truck

A few things:  sorry about the hand injury!!  A couple of months back I got my finger smashed in a pallet jack (should have never happened) but thankfully nothing was broken.  I can't imagine the pain you had.

Somehow I never realized you were in MO.  While I live on the east coast now, I'm from a little town S of St. Louis originally.

Most importantly though...that Suburban really is fantastic!!

Stampie said:

In reply to ClemSparks :

That's a cool Suburban you got there Sir.

Thanks!  Do you still have your Crew Cab monster truck?

fidelity101 said:

makes me miss my old k5 2500 suburban, I should never have gotten rid of that truck

Thanks for your help in the past and for your thread about that old Suburban.  It looked like a really fun one!

Loweguy5 said:

A few things:  sorry about the hand injury!!  A couple of months back I got my finger smashed in a pallet jack (should have never happened) but thankfully nothing was broken.  I can't imagine the pain you had.

Somehow I never realized you were in MO.  While I live on the east coast now, I'm from a little town S of St. Louis originally.

Most importantly though...that Suburban really is fantastic!!

Hey cool.  Yeah, I'm back here where rust has taken most of these old trucks (and a fair bit of this one, too).

It's a cool old project but it's a fine balance between functional and hopefully-not-too-junky, lol.  It'll never be nice but I want it to be a viable, useful part of my lineup of beaters.

The finger is a reliable, not-as-useful part of my lineup of beat-up digits.  It doesn't work as well as it used to by a long shot, unfortunately.  But life moves on!

Oh and, edit:  The pain was never really that bad with the finger.  I mean...it hurt and I got pretty vasovagal (a term a learned that day) during the ride to the ER...but after that it was just dealing with a non-functioning finger more than pain.