96 GMC K2500 Suburban Restoration (with a couple of mods)

[South VA]

Well, I pulled the blower, which turned out to be no big deal, and found a nest in the evaporator housing, complete with dead mouse and live maggots. Ewwww.

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The debris and said mouse on the newspaper make up about half of what’s in there. I have to get creative with a vacuum attachment to reach in and get the rest of it out. My hands are too damned big to fit in there all the way.

At least I found (I hope) the source of the dead mouse smell. I’m going to call the parts store to see if they have an evaporator cleaner/disinfectant spray foam.

Oh, in the process of lowering the front windows to keep the area well-ventilated, I discovered that my battery is dead, again.

I tested it a couple of days ago, and it was supposedly fine. Apparently not. In any case, in my ongoing quest to track down and eliminate the charging system issue, I’m going to install a new AGM battery. The one I have is an old style flooded plate, with removable caps.

 

[South VA]

The debris against the evaporator core was pretty wet, which suggests that either the AC drain tube is plugged, or more likely the debris kept the condensate from getting to the drain tube, and soaked it up like a sponge. No matter, I’m going to leave the blower motor off and let the air box dry out for a few days, and then spray the foam cleaner in there. Maybe do it twice.

So the Burb is dead in the water, but there’s no particular urgency to button this thing up right now. Besides, there are a few other Burb-related things that I have been putting off, that I just might get around to doing.

 

[South VA]

Ordered a new battery; it will be in on Friday. I decided to go with an Interstate MTX-34. In the meantime I'll install the new ignition switch and harness, and check various grounds while the battery is out.

 

[South VA]

New battery arrived:

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As mentioned in another thread (Suburban wouldn't shift out of second gear temporarily), I was convinced that it was the wrong ignition switch, and arranged to send it back to rockauto. When I triple-checked the existing switch vs the new one, it turns out I do have the correct switch, so I'm back in the game. Feeling like an idiot, but able to move forward.

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Now I just need to locate that right-angle pick that I somehow, ah, misplaced, so that I can pull the key cylinder and remove the top shroud to access the ignition switch. Worst case, I'll make a run to Harbor Freight and buy a new set of picks, and probably some other stuff that I haven't thought of.

 

[South VA]

Bought a new set of picks at HF, and that did the trick. The key cylinder came out, and I was able to remove the top steering column shroud, and then install the new ignition switch.

In the process of hooking up the new battery to test the switch, the battery ground to the body broke off, which suggests to me that it was hanging by a thread. Which may have contributed to my intermittent electrical issues. Plus it and the small ground wire also attached at that point were not exactly clean, so I sanded the remaining connector along with the body around the bolt hole. Naturally, I managed to drop the bolt connecting the grounds, and it is somewhere in the depths of the engine compartment, or even in another dimension, possibly. No matter, I‘ll either find it or get a substitute at NAPA.

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I found a terminal for the wire. Unfortunately, this particular wire is just a bit too short to allow easy removal of the negative battery terminal, so I ordered a set of terminals with hex screws to replace the crimped connectors that are on there now. I’ll replace the short ground wire with a longer one when the new terminals arrive on Monday.

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I’m also not happy with the terminal setup on the positive side, so I’ll replace it as well

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In the process I also discovered that the antenna cable has been chewed through, most likely by the pack rat that took up residence in the engine compartment back in 2005, according to the maintenance records.

I was afraid I’d have to replace the whole thing, from the radio to the antenna, but it looks like the judicious use of Tessa tape will work for the chewed through sheath near the end of the main section, and I can buy a new first section to the antenna. I’ll verify that the connector, buried under tape, is intact.

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While I’m waiting for the new battery terminals and some copper terminals to arrive on Monday, I plan to install the new stereo and backup camera.

With a bit of luck, this beast should be back on the road sometime next week. Fingers crossed!

 

[South VA]

Using a telescoping magnet, I eventually retrieved the ground bolt. Upon closer inspection of the hole where it screws into the body, it looks as though it's been stripped, and perhaps a larger bolt installed.

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The problem is that being a hole in the sheetmetal, with no nut, there's no way to apply enough torque to the bolt to ensure a decent ground. After a couple of days of contemplating how to fix that, I discovered what appears to be a very good solution: a rivet nut.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivet_nut.

I suppose the existence of these things is common knowledge, but it was a revelation to me. Rather than paying someone weld a nut onto the body, or even to install a rivet nut in this hole, I decided to order a kit from amazon (which, btw, was considerably cheaper than ebay). Between both Suburbans and the camping trailer, I'm pretty sure I'll need it again at some point.

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It may be hard to tell from the second picture, but the sheetmetal is bulged out around the existing hole, making it harder for the connectors to lie flat against the sheetmetal. I tried tapping on it with a hammer to flatten it out, which helped a little. I'll put a rivet nut in the hole to try it out, but may wind up using or drilling another hole to make sure the connection is solid. If I do that, I'll drill it high enough above the existing one to make access to it easier once the battery is in place.

I suppose the upside of the battery dying is that I found, and will be able to correct, a bad ground that may have gone unnoticed for awhile longer. Since it's the main battery ground to the body, and appears to have been in rough condition for awhile, I have to believe that it could be affecting the charging system. We'll see.

In the meantime, while waiting for deliveries early next week, I'll work on installing the sound system and backup camera.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

Nutserts or Rivnuts have been around a while, but unless you are familiar with automotive fasteners, most people don't know about them. Very handy devices though, Dad used them a LOT.

 

[South VA]

Nutserts or Rivnuts have been around a while, but unless you are familiar with automotive fasteners, most people don't know about them. Very handy devices though, Dad used them a LOT.

I thought I knew a thing or two about vehicles, but I somehow missed these.
That's ok, part of the fun of fixing up old vehicles is learning new things (sometimes new words!) and having a plausible excuse to buy more tools.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

I thought I knew a thing or two about vehicles, but I somehow missed these.
That's ok, part of the fun of fixing up old vehicles is learning new things (sometimes new words!) and having a plausible excuse to buy more tools.

More tools are always good....

 

[BNielsen]

I love those rivnuts, I use them every chance I can. It's how I installed my Lund visor on my red truck instead of the self-tappers used originally.