Suburban Project- Need Help!

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scenic760

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Ok..this is my newest treat...pulled off the harmonic balancer and timing chain cover..

I'm WAS pretty optimistic about bolting this thing back together with a few replacement parts but looking at this (and the fact a lifter snapped off while I was trying to extract it) I'm 100% sure this thing is going to cost me to get rid of it at this point, or I could bury it in the yard somewhere Jimmy Hoffa style, haha

I found a 1997 truck "hear it run" for $395 but it was a tow yard lien and I think that has other issues with it so if I pulled the motor I may have a hard time getting rid of the carcass..

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scenic760

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Well...I'm sure most of you who replied to my thread won't be surprised when I tell you I finally came to my senses and am having a local shop build me a long block..they come highly recommended and I found a 4 bolt main with the earlier heavyweight heads to use... they said it should be done in a week or so..

That being said I want to work on the brakes so hopefully I'm ready to go when the engine is ready.. I planned on replacing drums/rotors/pads/shoes/rubber hoses, rebuilding calipers and bleeding the system...being the Burb sat for so many years, do you think I'm going to need to replace all the hard lines or master cylinder as well?

Thanks again all, still a long road to hoe on this baby!
 

Bextreme04

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My 350 got grenaded last week. There are two TBI 350's for sale right down the street for $100/ea in decent running shape that I was going to buy until someone in a local squarebody group offered me the 70's 350 that they got in a '66 burb project for the price of free if I came and pulled it. I pulled it yesterday afternoon and he is going to drop it off this afternoon on his way to deliver a blazer body/frame that someone bought from him. The deals on old 350's are out there, although the socal scene is a bit tougher since there are so many rod shops all over the place and smog is such a PITA.
 

scenic760

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My 350 got grenaded last week. There are two TBI 350's for sale right down the street for $100/ea in decent running shape that I was going to buy until someone in a local squarebody group offered me the 70's 350 that they got in a '66 burb project for the price of free if I came and pulled it. I pulled it yesterday afternoon and he is going to drop it off this afternoon on his way to deliver a blazer body/frame that someone bought from him. The deals on old 350's are out there, although the socal scene is a bit tougher since there are so many rod shops all over the place and smog is such a PITA.

Wow...wow...you my friend have a gift for finding things! I'm not really sure what it is but yeah, all the 350's around here are hiding out or else they have just gone away!?

That would have saved me a week of sanity and a healthy chunk of change... at least I know it'll be done now and on to the next chapter of the project..and your also correct that smog is a PITA...I'm going to have to make a trip to the junkyard to get a smog pump, so lame
 

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I'm 100% sure this thing is going to cost me to get rid of it at this point, or I could bury it in the yard somewhere Jimmy Hoffa style, haha


Ha! I bought a truck right before we moved x country a bunch of years ago. Re-painted it (had 27k miles like new except the body had 1000 little dings and scratches), but it had this hideous 300lb home made steel back bumper. I literally painted, polished the truck and pulled the tape off of it about 3 days before we moved and this horrid excuse for a bumper was sitting next to our already sold house! (And I didn't want to scratch the new truck bed paint hauling it somewhere....) So I dug a hole roughly large enough to bury a skinny human in, and buried the bumper about 3' from the edge of the house where I could roll it into the hole without even picking it up!
 
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Grit dog

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Wow...wow...you my friend have a gift for finding things! I'm not really sure what it is but yeah, all the 350's around here are hiding out or else they have just gone away!?

That would have saved me a week of sanity and a healthy chunk of change... at least I know it'll be done now and on to the next chapter of the project..and your also correct that smog is a PITA...I'm going to have to make a trip to the junkyard to get a smog pump, so lame
Dude, it must just be your area. My buddy GAVE a good running 350 to his engine builder who was doing another engine for him, just to get it out of his shop, and probably got more in return for the gesture than the couple hundo he could have sold it to some Craigslist urchin for. And there's a running 402, doesn't smoke, sitting next to it that I may grab for my 86, just because...he said $100 or a handle of Crown Royal whichever I chose, but I lent him one of my snomachines last weekend so I've already pre-paid for it according to him.

Sounds like a business could be had importing old engines into So Cal and old trucks with no rust to the midwest!

Sorry to see the gruesome pics of your engine. I feared tht was going to be the case when you started this thread....

Replacing hard lines on brakes. I'd determine based on 2 things. If not rusted on the outside and the fluid that comes out isn't rusty, I'd leave em alone.
 

Grit dog

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Well, there are alot of boats in SoCal along the coast. Maybe sell it as boat parts...."anchor."
 

scenic760

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Ha! I bought a truck right before we moved x country a bunch of years ago. Re-painted it (had 27k miles like new except the body had 1000 little dings and scratches), but it had this hideous 300lb home made steel back bumper. I literally pulled polished the truck and pulled the tape off of it about 3 days before we moved and this horrid excuse for a bumper was sitting next to our already sold house! (And I didn't want to scratch the new truck bed paint hauling it somewhere....) So I dug a hole roughly large enough to bury a skinny human in, and buried the bumper about 3' from the edge of the house where I could roll it into the hole without even picking it up!

Haha! Well just think of it as replenishing the minerals in the soil! I really do think I will probably disassemble most of it and throw it away in the garbage can...the block may be a it problematic if it gets jammed in the trash truck compacter!
 

Bextreme04

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Dude, it must just be your area. My buddy GAVE a good running 350 to his engine builder who was doing another engine for him, just to get it out of his shop, and probably got more in return for the gesture than the couple hundo he could have sold it to some Craigslist urchin for. And there's a running 402, doesn't smoke, sitting next to it that I may grab for my 86, just because...he said $100 or a handle of Crown Royal whichever I chose, but I lent him one of my snomachines last weekend so I've already pre-paid for it according to him.

Sounds like a business could be had importing old engines into So Cal and old trucks with no rust to the midwest!

Sorry to see the gruesome pics of your engine. I feared tht was going to be the case when you started this thread....

Replacing hard lines on brakes. I'd determine based on 2 things. If not rusted on the outside and the fluid that comes out isn't rusty, I'd leave em alone.

Hell, I'll be headed down there in June for a wedding... maybe I should buy the two 350's for $200 for the pair, slap some paint on them and sell them for $500-1000/ ea in SoCal to pay for the trip :happy175:
 

scenic760

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Chris
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1981
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Suburban K10
Engine Size
350
Dude, it must just be your area. My buddy GAVE a good running 350 to his engine builder who was doing another engine for him, just to get it out of his shop, and probably got more in return for the gesture than the couple hundo he could have sold it to some Craigslist urchin for. And there's a running 402, doesn't smoke, sitting next to it that I may grab for my 86, just because...he said $100 or a handle of Crown Royal whichever I chose, but I lent him one of my snomachines last weekend so I've already pre-paid for it according to him.

Sounds like a business could be had importing old engines into So Cal and old trucks with no rust to the midwest!

Sorry to see the gruesome pics of your engine. I feared tht was going to be the case when you started this thread....

Replacing hard lines on brakes. I'd determine based on 2 things. If not rusted on the outside and the fluid that comes out isn't rusty, I'd leave em alone.

Got it...yeah to tell the truth I had a hard time finding the Suburban, I'm not sure there is anything (or not much) left of the old stuff out this way, not in Socal anyways. If someone has a car/truck they think even REMOTELY might be collectible they are asking $5-$6k for it...
 

scenic760

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Hell, I'll be headed down there in June for a wedding... maybe I should buy the two 350's for $200 for the pair, slap some paint on them and sell them for $500-1000/ ea in SoCal to pay for the trip :happy175:

No laughing matter! I'll post them for you and have them pre-sold before you even get here!
 

scenic760

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Bextreme04

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Rebuilable 4 bolt long blocks would still fetch $4-$500 in these parts...

One was rebuildable and one was supposedly fresh rebuild but smoking from one bank... which could be any number of things I guess. I was planning on slamming the "smoker" into mine for a few weeks so I could get my spring yard work done including spreading a few yards of garden soil and 3/4" minus.
 

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