New Guy, My project Suburbalanche
This seems like a top notch forum and should help me out a lot with my project. I have always wanted an old 4 door truck with a short box, but they never made one and 4x4s are a little hard to come by around here in decent condition. I also wanted a diesel avalanche but to my knowledge chevy didnt make any of those either. I found an 83 1/2 ton diesel suburban that ran and started great for $500. I put a few thousand miles on it in the few monthes it ran (last fall). It cracked the passanger side head in the normal spot between the valves, so I figured it would be a great time to cut it up and if my idea didnt work I really wasnt out much if I took it to a junkyard. Well after many hours of custom sheet metal work and welding, I think I have offically made a 1983 Avalanche. I cut the rear of the cab off and took the rear of a truck cab and welded that in the back making a 5' box. I got some bed sides from a junkyard and used the bed rails off that to cover up where the rear side windows should be. I also cut the top off the tailgait and covered it with a piece of sheet metal to make a smooth tailgate. Thats about all the farther I have gotten with the body work since I went snowmobiling as much as I could this winter and took time off the project. Getting it sandblasted and painted is the next step. I plan on doing all the work, built not bought!
As for the engine, it hardly runs enough to make it in and out of the shop but it starts very good (even cold 10*F!) Just takes a good jump to get it going. Since I am young and dumb and gotta have more power I have been looking for a 6.5 donar truck and finally found one. The donar truck is a 93 with 200000 miles and a 5 speed manual. I figured it would be fairly easy to get the 6.5 and 5 speed in there, but thats why I joined this forum. Probly have to make a tranny cross member? But my main concern is the transfercase on the 93 is a driverside drop and I guess I really dont know trannys and transfer cases that well and dont know what will work. Back to the engine, I plan on building a strong motor but I want to keep it reliable and budget friendly, dont wana stick more than a few grand in it so I can finish the rest of the truck. I am not new to diesel motors, I grew up in my families Case IH dealership and still work there as a mechanic.
WOW, is that a long enough intro, lol, heres a lot of pics of the progress I have made.
Before I got to it with a saw
Cut the hump out of the roof and lowered it to match the rest
These are just a few pics of the 50 or so I got, if you wanna see anything else just ask. I am not the first to do something like this, but I havent seen any really finished as nice as I plan on doing it. Paint will probly be a darker blue top with a tan/light brown 2 tone bottom.
Joe
My daily driver, 97 sonoma 5" susp. lift, 1" body lift, 33" tires
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Originally Posted by 85-m1028
