Hybrid Project

[snoredog]

well the transformation has begun

call me nuts but here goes

For the last 2 years I have had this idea in my head for a vehicle that will do almost everything i need it to. I bought a 1985 Chevy suburban a while back and then i bought the F250 a little after that. Back then i knew what i was planning and i have been refining details and stuff since then. The plan is to pull the suburban body and drop it on the ford frame. All the drivetrain components of the ford will stay, i hope. The burban is ideal for the kind of extended camping trips i enjoy, plus it holds a lot more people than the ford does. I like all the locked storage space as opposed to having everything just laying in the back for somebody to steal. I had considered a ford excursion but i dont like any electronics running anything critical, hence the IDI and the ZF5. The burban by itself was too unstable for my liking, plus the massive overhang behind the back axle made it a deathtrap pulling the tractor. The body is about 1.5 feet too short so it will probably get stretched between the middle doors and the wheelwells. The roof I am trying to still figure out, but i am thinking keep it the same until right behind the middle door crossbar. From there it will slant down to the tailgate. I was thinking a large lexan window on the back hatch/slant part so i can still see behind me. The back side windows will be replaced by intakes for the remote mounted radiators which i am thinking about setting right behind the wheelwells. The intakes would take air in right behind the middle doors about window height and channel it down kinda through the cab to the radiators ,which would be mounted horizontal. Electric fans would keep them cool. I dont think I will have enough room under the hood to mount rads, plus i just want to make this thing stand out. The hot air would just dump out towards the ground from the bottom of the truck. I had thought about having them in front of the back tires, but i dont want the hot air blowing on them all the time. You guys think that really matters? Anyways I was gonna build a roof rack/cage on top of the cab for all my spotlights and junk I like to run at night. So that is my plan in a nutshell

now the bad part

I had been hearing that tapping sound getting louder so I parked it a while back. Changed the oil hoping that would help it and nothin changed. On the magnetic oil plug i found a bunch of filings and a silverish chunk of metal the size of a BB pellet. I parked it not too long after that. I think the sound is related to a lifter as the tapping/ticking is coming from the middle cylinders under the pass side valve cover. I can make out a chuffing sound coming through the exhaust at regular intervals too. So just last week i finally started working on the truck again. With my suburban project in mind i started pulling the body off so everything would be easier to get to. I drained the oil and found a lot more shavings and another BB sized chunk stuck to the plug. It only had maybe 200 or 300 hundred miles on it since the last oil change. So now I dont what is going on inside the engine. The guy who had it before me didnt take care of it very much from could tell. So now I am looking at going through the engine having to inspect everything and replace whatever is going bad. Problem is that part is way over my head and I dont have the equipment to pull or work on the engine to that extent. I am pretty tight as far as money i can spend on this thing so i cant really afford to put it in the shop for a total rebuild. But i haven't got to the lifters yet cause the 2 bolts on the back of the turbo are stuck and i am gonna pull the cab back to get to them. So really I dont know what is going on internally, but I need it running right before i go anywhere with my suburban swap. Any advice or ideas guys?

 

[icanfixall]

Get some Aerokroil spray off the net. You buy one can and they send you 2 cans. If you don't like it send back the unused can and keep the used can. I garentee you will not send it back. Its that good. Then heat up those rusted nuts till they glow red. Let them cool down til the red goes away and then continue to cool them with the Kroil till they are cool. Do that twice and they will come loose easily. You can use a map gas bottle torch for this if you don't have to oxy acyetlene setup. Sounds like a lifter is going away on you. Ebay has some cams for $50.00 with the gear on them at this time and lifters for $25.00 rebuilt per set or $around $130.00 to $150.00 per set new.

 

[david85]

When I first saw the title I thought you meant diesel-electric hybrid. That seemed a bit out of place

You need to go through that engine to find out whats wrong. Would be a shame to finish the project only to find yourself with a shot engine.

Looks like a great project though. The burban seems to be about as rust free as you can find.

 

[typ4]

pull the valve covers and check for burnt valve springs, this relates directly to the chuffing sound and bad valve guides. I just looked at one yesterday doing the same thing but with no oil chunks.

 

[Clydesdale]

I like a burb, but have you thought of this:

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easier to do.... than a full body swap..

as far as the motor goes.. I have no help there.

 

[sassyrel]

or--find a early model excursion--that got front damage--and put that on your frame--and modify the dash to idi--shouldnt be that hard--would think much easier than grafting a boubon can on---

 

[david85]

Centurion conversion, right?

 

[Clydesdale]

Yeah, but I am doing my own... hard to find an IDI 5sped.. which is what I want.. and have in my crew, plus I play on the rocks... I couldn't beat up a Cent...

www.fourdoorbronco.com.... if ya want more eye candy.. that is one of the other members rigs, I was photoshopping one, and he said I could use his.. I actually want shorty rear (well did) doors, like a burb, think it would look more proprtianate.

 

[snoredog]

dude sweet!!! I thought about something like this earlier but i had no idea where to start. Big problem is this thing is a ext cab with plenty of rust holes in it. Blackdog that rig is beautiful, but i get the feeling i would be out buying stuff again. I am trying to use these two half trashed trucks and get a decent running rig out of them. The burban was the first vehicle i ever bought so it has some sentimental value attached to it. Besides the burban has no engine, trans, and some other important stuff to make it road worthy. So i was basically stuck with it or junk it. This had been my idea since i bought it two years ago and i am close to getting something done so i better not change everything yet. Had i bought a crew cab i probably would have done something like the 4door bronco thing. But there is a wild streak in me that wants to do something that goes against the norm...
"Uh son, whats the make and model of this here truck?"
"Which part officer?"

 

[snoredog]

so now i finally get around to putting some pictures up of the carbage

I also got looking at the lifters and guess what! they look spotless. I ran my finger over all the rollers and they all spin free and no grooves or flat spots as far as I can feel. So me and dad got thinking maybe it was something in the bottom half of the engine which would not be good, but I may have figured something out when I went to set some of the loose pieces back in place for future reference. From what I can tell, the splash plate thingy that goes over the three holes in the middle of the V was not hooked up to anything besides the 2 or 3 bolts that held it down. That thing is supposed to clip into those H shaped brackets that keep the lifters lined up on the camshaft in the right direction, right? When I unbolted it, it popped right off without having to pull the pushrods or lifters or anything. I could be wrong but I am beginning to think that tapping sound was one of those brackets bouncing on top of the lifters. I pulled the head on the passenger side and there are no play in the valves, and no signs of the valve slapping around on the underside of the head. Also this would answer the question as to where the shavings came from (I hope). If the guy before me lost a lifter or cam or both and never dropped the pan, wouldnt some of those shavings still be on the bottom of the pan? It looked like somebody had been in the engine before me as it was missing a couple bolts around the turbo. Plus the radiator support was missing bolts which would have to come loose to replace a cam anyways right? Plus the valley pan gasket was a giant blob of RTV too, which i doubt is factory. Is it possible that splash plate not being clipped in was the problem?

 

[mltsky]

Have you thought about a E-350 van. They have the 7.3L diesel and the short overhang out back if you get the shorter one. Gives you more room than the Excursion and cheaper to find. Just a sugestion and a lot less work.

 

[h2odrx]

looks good, but I don't like the pine straw in the pan?

 

[seawalkersee]

Also, if you have not noticed, the Chevy has the punkin on the pass side for the front. You will either need to get a different front end, OR, use a cheby t-case. I can not see anything wrong by looking at those pix of the engine. Hopes there is not a crank/rod problem.

SWS

 

[snoredog]

yeah the pine straw was an accident, the engine compartment had straw and leaves and all sorts of trash all over the place and some of it fell in when i pulled the valley pan. SWS I was planning on leaving all the frame and drivetrain components in place and use nothing off the suburban but the body. I am still trying to figure exactly how and where to lengthen the body to make it fit the longer wheelbase of the truck. The truck is about 2' longer than the burban, as is the wheelbase. I cant decide if i need to leave the option for people in the back row or not, casue that would decide if the roof stays flat then drops behind the back seat or slants down from the doors. Its getting late and I can think straight anymore so I will leave it to be analyzed by you guys for now

 

[typ4]

The plate doesnt clip to the anti rotation bars aka dogbones, it just sits on top of them and follows the lifters up and down. I really doubt you would hear these plates. Did you check the rockers? Not that you need it but here is a pic.