If you try and "crush" the rivnut to get it tighter, it will loosen back up. Crimp it down tight and call it good.
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Good to know - thanks!If you try and "crush" the rivnut to get it tighter, it will loosen back up. Crimp it down tight and call it good.
Hey South VA,Emerald Green Metallic, which is the stock color. Not sure what the wheel arches are, but my understanding is they're the stock color as well.
Thank you for your kind words and encouragement. It helps - a lot.To summarize, from here in upstate NY it looks like you are doing
great work. There is definitely something to the 'Built, Not Bought'
approach to the hobby. And I hope that you don't give up on your
'burb & get a fresh set of issues to work through on the replacement
vehicle.
Safe Travels --
Funny you should mention the Western Union splice, as I just read a reference to that yesterday. I was going to look it up, but you thoughtfully provided a link. I will definitely use that method from here on out. Thanks!
The "magic button" is good to have, my CCLB has one on its aftermarket alarm (that may have been dealer installed or done at a shop shortly after the original owner bought it. It could function as a kill switch if you had the battery disconnected, since that's effectively what it does.Thank you for your kind words and encouragement. It helps - a lot.
As for the color, I too love it; hands-down my favorite of all the colors available for the GMT400s. Oddly enough, color was not one of my main criteria when I was looking for a Suburban, so I feel pretty fortunate to have found this one.
Yes, there was a brief period when I thought that I’d made a terrible mistake in buying this vehicle, and was wondering the best way to get rid of it, but after further thought I realized that any vehicle of that vintage would have issues, so I recommitted to seeing it through.
True, this particular Suburban maybe may have a few more issues than one would normally expect due to the packrat’s having taken up residence in the engine compartment while it was parked for awhile. I continue to find previously unnoticed places that have been gnawed by its nasty little teeth.
Looking at my last post 10 days ago I thought I’d be further along by now; but the heat has been a bit much for me to work on it, as it’s not in a garage or even under a decent shade tree. I don’t do heat very well.
In the meantime I’ve been further educating myself, mainly on youtube and other forums and 12v-oriented websites, on electrical issues and stereo installation. As a result I’ve learned some good stuff and ordered more parts and tools. Yippee!
Funny you should mention the Western Union splice, as I just read a reference to that yesterday. I was going to look it up, but you thoughtfully provided a link. I will definitely use that method from here on out. Thanks!
I have also been reading up on the use of ferrules with cable in set screw terminals. And, of course, I had to order some ferrules and a crimper. Using them on stranded copper cables makes a lot of sense. Worth a try, anyway.
Once the main battery ground cable is replaced (the new cable finally arrives tomorrow), I’m also going to enlarge the battery to body ground I mentioned earlier in the thread. I’ll drill out the ¼ - 20 rivnut and install a larger one, along with some thicker ground wire. I’ll also check the main positive battery cable in case I missed something earlier. Getting to the cables will involve pulling the battery and air intake assembly, and probably more, but that’s fine. More room is better. Besides, I have to route the amp and subwoofer power wires through the firewall while I’m at it.
Speaking of the air intake, when I happened to look inside the air filter housing, I discovered that Mr. or Ms. Packrat had gotten inside of it and remodeled the lower part of the case. I don’t know how much it affects airflow, but the internal passages are significantly larger than the stock openings. So I searched and found one on eBay to replace it; turns out they’re not all that easy to find for the 454. It will also arrive tomorrow.
The new sound system is testing my installation skills, which is part of the reason I’ve been avoiding doing it. I’ve installed several systems in the past, but they were years apart and it seems that I have to relearn each time. This one ought to be fairly simple, with an amp that attaches to the rear of the shallow head unit (Alpine), a powered sub, and new door speakers, with component speakers in the front doors including tweeters. Routing the video wire for the backup camera has taken some head scratching and asking for advice in another thread, but I think I’ve sorted it out.
For awhile (also in another thread) I thought about removing the alarm system, as it would sometimes go off without apparent reason. I’ve since learned that it happens when there’s been an interruption to the battery connection, like when the alternator was replaced. Now that I know about the button on the underside of the dash that has to be pushed when starting (temporarily disabling the system) after the battery was disconnected, I’ve decided to leave the alarm installed. After repairing some chewed wires, that is.
A more recent issue is that the rear AC blower now only runs on High, and won’t shut off. I’m going to try replacing the blower motor resistor, assuming I can find one. If not, I’ll pull the fuse and run it without rear AC for now. In the scheme of things, I’m not worried about it.
Just to move things along a bit, I scheduled another camping trip for August 7. Call me crazy, but I need a deadline to work towards. So I figure that will give me enough time to finish everything up (working in the early mornings before it gets hot) and have a few days to test drive it before departure. At least that’s the plan.
More updates to follow.