Whats up Guys, I am intersted in swapping a powertrain from a 1989 suburban that has efi engine and a overdrive transmission. I think this is one great budget helper because i can use all of the ECM and wiring and several other parts of the vehicle. However before i begin this long journey and i would like some advice from a few old wrenches that have maybe been here before or know of any barriers i will have to look forward to.
Here's what I did, I posted this in an earlier post..... Why don't you go with disk brakes? you can do this cheep if you do what I did. I bought a complete 77 1/2 ton chevy for 400.00. The front spindles will work with the torshon bar suspension if you use a 7/16" to 1" reamer on the lower ball joint hole, the spindles will also work on the 63-66 if you change the lower ball joint. You can even use the upper a arms from the 77 cause they are the same dimentions as the 60. The power steering and linkage will work perfectly also if you space the box about a 1/2 to 3/4" away from the frame. The power brake booster and proportioning valve along with all the brake lines will also work with no problem. You should be able to get everything you need off of the late model truck to update your 60 and sell all the left overs to get your money back and then some, I did. Check out my 61 step side, everything came out very clean without buying any expensive kits and was easy to do. I hope this helps.....Big Tim
Suburban I bought an 85 Suburban. Used the front suspension, brake booster and master cyl., rear dif, motor, trans, steering gear box, powersteering, tilt column. The brakes are the complete brakes off the suburban. Cut the mounts off the original dif. and mounted them on the suburban rear to make it 5 lug all the way around.
You can simply use the whole front crossmember, spindle, arms etc from the donor suburban, you only have to drill out 2 holes and ream a couple of other holes, you get bigger spindles, axles, disc brakes, power steering, 4 spd automatic, you can even use the rear end .......this is a great way to update your truck . Kieth I am in the middle of doing it myself..........Kieth Here is a link with step by step instructions. http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/223597/post/1752749/hl//fromsearch/1/
late model is a little wider Correct me if I am wrong here: The late model front suspension and rear axle are a little wider than the stock ones. With the right wheels this will not be a problem. If you are using deep dish wheels they will not clear the rear fenderes. (not sure about the front clearance) I used a '84 Chevy PU doner on my 62. On the front I used van rally wheels which are 15 x 6.5 and 205/75R15 tires. They fit without a problem. On the rear I have truck rally wheels which are 15 x 8 and 255/70R15 tires they do not clear the stepside fenders. I made some 3/4" thick fiberglass spacers for use between the fender and bed side. My truck is satin black. I used fender welting between the fender and the spacer. The spacer blends right in and is never noticed. With a shinny truck it may be very noticable.
I used the 77 chevy rearend on my 61 with the 15x8 truck ralleys. I gained the fender clearance by bending the inner fender edge up then rolling a baseball bat around with the wheel between the fender and the wheel. It flared the fender slightly. It's unnoticeable unless you are looking for it and gave me the clearance I needed.....Big Tim
91 suburban front end.... wow after setting the original front end and the later model suburban parts next to one another I feel much better about putting in the later model parts. everything is bigger, bearings, control arm shafts, bushings, kingpins, wheel bearings and shafts, etc.......even using the sway bar. my 66 is going to handle a whole lot better. ps I even measured the rear axle, it is virtually the same width, too bad it did not have discs on the rear. Kieth
