The JollyGreenGiant.

[mybigwarwagon]

So yet another Suburban is rolling.

About a year and a half ago I bought this truck for $800 from a guy. It had a bad trans, and they had been living in it. IT sat in the yard for awhile, then it went to the shop.

After almost a year in a buddy's transmission shop - free repair - I got the JGG back the day after the other Suburban blew a head gasket.

The JGG is a c1500 99 Suburban. The PO has done something to the engine because she runs like a ***** ape It is by far the quickest truck I have ever owned.

We finally got around to doing some stuff to it.

A week or so ago I dragged teh Caddy console out of storage and stuck it ( and a factory stereo) in it.

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It still needs a good scrubbing, but it is better than the broken one that was in there.

I also made it faster LOL

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I got all the Caddy parts on a trip to LKQ about 2 years ago.

Yesterday I noticed one of the headlights was out. So while the wife and kiddo were at Chickfila I drove over to Pepboys and got one and installed it. I found the lenses for the headlight and turn signals were held on by good wishes. SO today we went out and pulled off the grill and yanked the lights.

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I had Harbor Freight lens polishing kit so I put it to good use.

First pass

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[mybigwarwagon]

Final polishing.

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I got out the black RTV and put the lenses back on everything Then we stole some mounting tabs off a parts truck. For the first time all the lights up front work

Looks a million times better.

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I was fed up with the puny stock horn so I put the horns we took off the S10 we just sold on it.

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I also did my daughters Honda. I ran out of the HF stuff and found a 3M kit I got at a junk store. It is a million time better.

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[BowtieBrody]

You've got quite the collection going on now,

Which LKQ yard did you go to? The only one I knew of was in Charlotte; but apparently there's an LKQ yard a few miles away from me; speaking of boneyards, know any good ones other than LKQ or Pull-A-Part?

 

[mybigwarwagon]

You've got quite the collection going on now,

Which LKQ yard did you go to? The only one I knew of was in Charlotte; but apparently there's an LKQ yard a few miles away from me; speaking of boneyards, know any good ones other than LKQ or Pull-A-Part?

I went to the one in Charlotte. I think there are 2 in NC. One in SC not too far from me.

 

[mybigwarwagon]

Monday I had to go up to Asheville to take my nephews motorcycle up to a dealership for warranty work. Of course there was a monsoon in NC.

The roads were terrible. There were places there were 2 feet of water on the road. Enough that it washed the paper tag off the back of the truck.

For the second time since I have owned it, she shut off on an on ramp. The first time it started instantly. I chalked it up to air in the fuel line or some other odd thing. So I got out in the deluge and looked under the hood, my nephew was nice and dry in the truck turning the key when I told him to.

After about 30 seconds it started. I had no idea what I had done. but since it was running, I got back in and drove on.

On the return trip we took a back way in, and in the middle of nowhere, it died again. Fortunately it wasn't raining this time. I coasted to a safe spot and got under the hood again.

After some looking I found that the PO had broken the tower off the ignition coil and put it back together with silicone and zip ties.

If I held the coil towards the passengers side it would start, as soon as I let go it died.

I got out my zip ties and used them to tie of off to the AC line and pull it over.

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When we got closer to his house we found that tornadoes had come through. Roads were closed all over. We detoured for over ah hour to make a 20 minute drive.

At one point the cops cut the locks off the gates at an abandoned mill and detoured us through the parking lot. I had to make a u turn to go through the lot. And the truck started bucking bad. I got out and adjusted my zip ties and got him dropped off at his house.

Many detours around down power lines and trees, and I got home.

Tuesday we stole the coil off a parts truck and got her running again.

 

[BowtieBrody]

I missed all that weather on my side of Charlotte, I just got heavy rain and high-wind; glad to hear everyone is okay though.

 

[mybigwarwagon]

I missed all that weather on my side of Charlotte, I just got heavy rain and high-wind; glad to hear everyone is okay though.

There was lots of damage up in Rutherford county. Ellenboro, and Cliffside had tornadoes. Boone had lots of flooding.

 

[mybigwarwagon]

So you like stories do you.

Yesterday, I got up and headed off to Asheville yesterday to get my nephew's motorcycle.



The trip up was great.



I got off the interstate and suddenly there were cops everywhere. Enough blue lights to give the whole city an epileptic seizure. They were weaving in and out of traffic and generally causing a big to do.



I got he bike loaded up and noticed I had a flat tire on the trailer. So I pulled down out of the way and changed it.



While I was doing that a service employee with a tan jumpsuit on walked out of the shop. About 2.4 seconds later an unmarked patrol car flew in. He looked at the employee then drove down to where I was. Since he had the window down I asked who he was looking for. He said a guy. I asked what he was in - thinking it would be a car. He said a tan or an orange jump suit. An escapee. I told them I would park the truck on him if I found him.



http://wlos.com/news...south-asheville



I left the shop and got gas then headed over to a cigar shop to treat myself.



I got back on the highway and was having a grand old time, smoking my stogie, drinking coffee, singing with the Statler Brothers, when all of a sudden the temp gauge pegged itself. It wasn't a slow climb, it was a matter of seconds that it went from 180 to 260.I have never seen a gauge go up that fast. I shut it down and coasted about 3 miles to a rest stop.



I pulled in behind the last truck on the semi side of the stop. I was immediately enveloped in a cloud of steam.Try as I might I could not find where the water was escaping from. Fortunately I had a one gallon bucket and the rest stop had a faucet outside.



I pulled the radiator shroud off and the cooling fan. Then I began to see the water coming down the front of the block. The weep holes in the water pump were dry. So I figured i would yank it out and see what was happening. I found this...

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The PO had changed the pump and halfassed a gasket for it.



I had a half a hope that the gasket was the only problem. I called Steph (mywife) to Bring BettyBlue (my pickup)and I watched a movie on Netflix.



She arrived with the stuff I needed. i put the pump back on, crossed my fingers, and started it. The tailpipe looked like Niagara falls. Dammit. I moved it away from the trailer so we could hook BB up. I called AAA. They said it would be an hour and a half. Steph left Heath and I there and went to get supper. It was 8 and none of us had eaten.



Heath and I walked in to use the potty. We walked back out and the tow truck was there. He got there in less than 10 minutes.

At least Heath go to play on the bike.

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[BowtieBrody]

Damn, sounds like you always have some sort of adventure on your hands!

I've seen a temp gauge peg like that before; my Suburban split out the tank on the side of the rad and within seconds went from 210 to 260, hot ass summer day too, left a trail of antifreeze about 100 feet long. Luckily I got it shut down in time to prevent any serious harm.

 

[Supercharged111]

I blew a pressed in fitting from the water pump in my Camaro braking into T9. Only indication was a suddenly hotter and steamy feeling that lasted maybe 1 second. I glanced at the temp gauge and between T9 and T10 there was an exit. By the time I was off the track it was pegged. We're talking less than 10 seconds. Doesn't help the car was already hot though. Thankfully it was a warmup session and I had a pump in before R. Missed qualifying though because I couldn't find a plug for a fitting on the pump I didn't need.