High Mile overhaul (Its done and its 5 stars)

[Robyn]

All is well here at the ranch.
The 94 Sub lives and breathes again. Picked up the final handfull of goodies last eavening and got all the stuff on early this AM. Purged the air from the fuel system (filters and lines) rolled it on the starter ** less the glow plugs for 15-20 seconds** oil pressure coming up and fuel mist out the glow plug holes. Went to install the new (Autolite) glow plugs BAD NEWS FOLKS
They would not thread in right and would bind reeeeeeealy tight at about 6 threads. took them back and put back the Delcos tha came out. Sweeeeet
Went for a glow and hit the starter, no more than 3 seconds of cranking and voooooooooooom off and going. A tad rough for a little bit untill the air was all out but really good. The exhaust was full of oily crap and stuff from the blown head gasket at it tossed out a lot of smoke for the first mile on the road and after the pipes were hot all is well.
40 PSI oil pressure hot going and 20 at idle. The rig has always been a bit soggy on power on hot days and today was no exception??? I am not sure why though, alway been that way when its hot out. Any ideas from youuuus troops I am all ears.
Maybe a programing problem. I replaced the air temp sensor and that did nothing. The IP has some serious miles on it though and I just could not stand any more $$$ at this time. I did new nozzles though.
Got a new fan clutch coming as this one has been leaking oil around the bimetal spring. A local shop has a near new one off a rig that was flirting with a train and the train ate the back half. I can have it for $30. Not at all a bad price. $300+ at the chevy shop.
All for now. Time to wash the beastie from sitting for two months in yard
Bye

[Dewey Faircloth]

Congratulations on a job well done.Sound like you are proud and I don't blame you.You should be proud.
Have read a little about your project as it came along.

[Robyn]

Thank you
I have had my hands into a butt load of gassers including blower motors.
1 cat diesel and 1 8V71 detroit.
I have done some peripheral stuff on 6.2 and 6.5 GM but never a major overhaul.
I had to deal with one small oil leak on the left valve cover.
Definately use the goop in a tube, I used the felpro gaskets instead.
This was not a good choice me thinks. If it starts to leak again I may have to pull the cover and fix it but for now its dry.
All in all not too bad for this 54 year old lady.
Dad trained me from an early age to be self sufficient and be able to fix my stuff. Guess it has paid off.
Here is little O'l me standing behind my burb feeling pretty good about things

[farmboy1989]

Wow, a lady doin this?...My hats off to ya mam, certainly dont see that every day but its not unheard of.Nice job on the burb.....I also read your threads as you went along.

[restoguy]

WOW! I'm quite impressed with you as well! I've been following along, but never realized this work was being done by a lady.(username Robyn should have been my first clue) I've made my living turning wrenches in the past and I was definitely challenged the first time I had my '94 TD apart.(the trans bolts are a nightmare) Hope the burb gives you years of reliable service.

P.S. Got any daughters in their mid 20's? I'd like to meet them. I'll send pictures of my diesel.(just kidding!)

[Robyn]

Thanks guys
I work in a mans world as a heavy haul trucker. I have had to make a living any way I could and dad saw to it I had some skills I could use.

(restoguy)
yes them bolts are a bitch, but if you replace them all except the bottom passenger side one with regular bolts and move the fuel lines over under the steering column and then up over the left valve cover its sweet to get the bolts in, well almost but at least doable.
I am also working on a Humvee kit car, its called a Badlands R/T
Building it on an 82 suburban rolling chassis, here is a picy of a completed one just like mine.
Guess I am not much of a priss but I do love toys, he he he he he
I also volunteer time in Portland Oregon with the crew of the 4449 steam Locomotive. ( The freedom train from 75-76)
My sister inlaw and I own the local gun shop too.
Just a happy go lucky gal that loves toy, tools and anything that goes fast.
VOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

[Robyn]

Here is a piccy of my badlands in its current state.
The engine sitting to the front on the pallet is an 86 6.2 thats going in the beastie.
I have a lovely 700R4 that I have lovingly caressed and built with all the trick parts to make it as tough as nails sitting in the wings ready to go in too.
The kit is very much labor intense. The doors and fenders (white) are fiberglass and come right from the mold. You must cut them out and fit them to the chassis. The top is rough cut and must be fit too. This is a very sweet kit car and will be a real head turner when done.
I will be happy to answer all questions regarding the Badlands build.
Yup the guys at classic roadsters (folks who make the kit) are dumbfounded that some crazy lady wants to build one of their kits.
Beats all that foo foo girly stuff. I would rather be a wearing my coveralls to a miniskirt any day. HAAAAAAAAAAAA
Later
Robyn

[TurboDiverArt]

Dad trained me from an early age to be self sufficient and be able to fix my stuff. Guess it has paid off.
Here is little O'l me standing behind my burb feeling pretty good about things
Wanna race little lady?:D

[Patrick m.]

as a life long automotive mechanic (15 years so far), that overhaul is no minor task,......i, in fact just finished mine a few weeks back so it is VERY fresh in my memory.

Knowing a great many other mechanics, and the average skill level of people in this industry, most of them would struggle with this task, and have trouble getting it right, i don't think i am exaggerating either.

Great job!

[Robyn]

Thank you for the vote of confidence
I wont lie, I do have a set of "Factory" GM Manuals sitting on the work bench.
Cant be beat having the real thing to refer to.
During the tear down I made litle notes in a small pocket notebook as to how wires, hoses and other stuff were routed,located ect.
I also have a generous stock of various size paint cans and group bolts and other items together and label them.
The rods were not marked in this engine so I marked them all before doing the disassembly.
The digital camera was handy too for a good engine bay shot or two.
With these assurances taken the whole project was far less daunting.
One little thing I have always done is when doing bolt torques such as mains and rods is to do the sequence then mark all items with a felt marker.
This tells me a day or so later when I come back that yes I did do all the mains and rods.
Or when the phone rings right in the middle of something.
The head bolt toque with the TTY bolts can be an issue it seems for some as there seems to be a lot of talk from others.
I do the first two sequences then use a felt marker to place a horizontal line on the bolt heads. I then do the 90 degree turn thing. Now I can look at all the bolts and see that the line is now vertical on all the bolts and thus ready to go.
I take much time and recheck things to be sure. I cant aford to be wrong and have to do it over.
I always use white lubriplate to assemble all the bearings and the cam too.
It does not run off as does oil over the time the engine may sit during assembly and before being run.
Always pre prime the engine oil system by running the oil pump with an electri drill untill oil is at all rockers. (took 30 minutes on mine)
I made a drive unit from an old 6.2 vacume pump.
So many little things I learned from dad and our boat racing days back in the 70's and 80's
(Blown chevy rats)
One of Robyns rules "If it dont look or feel right it probably AIN'T" double check it again.
Then the suckers gave us metric threads in our Chevy OMG what a PITA to have metric right along side SAE.

Well this has been a task I am not looking to repeat real soon, HMMMMMMMMM HAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[Robyn]

Turbodiver
SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUre why not
VOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooom VooooooooooooooooooooM
yesssssssssss

[DA BIG ONE]

Thanks guys
I My sister inlaw and I own the local gun shop too.


I hunt for a living and the tools of my trade are American made only!

[moondoggie]

[font=times][size=+]Good Day!

[i]

[Robyn]

Hey
My daughter has repeatedly asked me why I buy these "POS" that I drive.
Well the other day I spelled it out.
Cost of my 94 Burb off of Ebay a year ago $8500
Cost of cheap plane ticket to go get it $99
Run it for a year and do normal maintenance
replace the FSD with a SOL D $400
Rebuild the engine with all the other goodies I fixed at that time $2000 approx
Cost of a new Burb at least $45000.00
HMMMMMMMMMMMM my addtion says I am way ahead of the numbers game
Well it been to the chevy shop a couple times last winter when i simply did not have time to work on it......................$700 Oh and I ended up having to slog around in the wet outside and fix it right a week later as my Hummer project is filling the shop floor with no easy way to move it around.

I am still way ahead of this game and the bloody thing is paid for.
My closest neighbor just bought his wife a new H2 thing for 60 sum K
better him than me.
What is the current status on your Badlands?? Diesel or gasser??
I have a section on the H1 forum with my write up but if Jim is interested I could do a write up here and keep the chronology going.
I have been working with Don Scott at the factory helping them redesign the Badlands. At my recommendation they are going to replace the glass top on future models with steel as a structural part.
My unit is the flat floor model designed for the 92 and up frames but I made all new brackets and installed it on an 82 Burb.
This is the reason the sucker is a tad high.
Im a 6 footer and the bottom of the rocker panel is at my knee. Real easy to get under.
I also redesigned the rear bumper mount and the fuel tank. I was less than impressed with the "PLASTIC" fuel tank and the way it was installed.
I kept the forward "Tank" cross member to keep good structural integridy in the frame and then fabricated a new rear member that allows the bumper to bolt on reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal solid.
I designed a 35 gallon fule tank and its out of 3/16 steel and will in effect be its own skid plate. The tank sits high enough that the bottom of the tank is above the bottom of the rear axle. The shortening of the frame during the kit installation will allow the departure angle to be great enough that any issue of hanging the fuel tank up should be of little worry except under very serious "OFF ROADING" and I am getting too old for that stuff.
I intend for this to be my daily driver. I am just sick and tired of stuff that you cant work on without a digital scanner and a masters degree in electrical engineering. This sucker is going to have "THE RIGHT STUFF"
6.2 diesel
Well built 700R4
NO COMPUTERS
All wiring within easy access.
Vintage air HVAC system
custom gauges
All electrical relays and such are either from Freightliner, Peterbilt or Western Star (So they are easy to get on the road and will last)
Dual electric fuel pumps with manual reprime switch.
Quad air horns up top (Just to piss folks off)
Dual jello batteries in the cab under the center console.
OMG this list goes oooooooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn .
My goal is a rig that will be reliable, economical to run and easy to fix if it breaks down. OMG the room around the engine is awesome
Well all for now
Robyn

[moondoggie]

[font=times][size=+]Good Day!

[i]

[Robyn]

www.h1forum.com
To view my project go to the main page and then go down to the Showcase your hummer.
Next go to show the world your hummer replica
See Robyns Badlands a lady builds one.
Its a big file with loads of Pics