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I'm not usually nice and sweet, but I do try to be helpful:
SOME rust? If you can do paint and body work, then you know more about it then I do, but that looks like bubbling all over that thing. This isn't anything rare. I see driving tahoes sell for less than $1k on auction and stuff with a few problems but fixable with good bodies and paint for less than $2K. The body doesn't look worth fixing to me (but I really don't know ****). You aren't even wanting to put anything bigger like a 6.0L in it where you plan to put a new engine in it anyways. It looks like its been sitting like that a while, I'm wondering if critters got to your wiring, the interior is probably trashed.
You let it sit for years, and did nothing with it. You couldn't even put a tarp over it or try to save any of the interior. You bought a new vehicle, and literally put this out in the pasture. You didn't really care about this vehicle when it was so close to being a good vehicle, and its just gotten worse.
Strapping on a pair of turbos, and doing it even mostly right is half your budget. You will probably need all new suspension and will definitely want to improve on it. Anyone who puts that much power in a vehicle like this, and doesn't put some big *** brakes on it is an idiot, plus the rest of the driveline. You said BW 8841 T case, did you mean the 4481 that comes in the Yukon denali, and the escalade? Why would you not start there (especially if you like the esclade interior)?
IMO if you want AWD, get a denali or escalade. Denali is 6.0 AWD. Escalade is 5. or 6.0 and AWD or RWD. Do some of the basic mods, custom tune, efans if before 2005, and get a vehicle that you will actually drive, use, and enjoy. If you get a couple years down the road and decide you really never did like it that much, than you sell it as the reasonable investment it was. If you keep enjoying it, then you can keep improving on it, and you can do it as you learn the vehicle and what you would like to fix.
This is also based on my own experience. I had an older BMW that had an engine swap, and a manual transmission swap to a vehicle that never came with one. Had a lot of aftermarket parts, and was at a point where I needed to sell it. Several years later, I came into some money and was upgrading my vehicles. That same vehicle was being sold by the person I sold it too, and bought it back. I had plans to complete my original intentions. I bought a bunch more aftermarket, and started working on it. I drove it a bit at first, then just kind of got tired of it. It wasn't anything truly special, but just kind of unique. I realized after spending a lot of money on it, that it just wasn't the right vehicle for me... ANY MORE. I changed, my style changed, and I sold it taking a huge loss on it all. Not only does this not look like a good start for a big project, but from what little I get from this situation, it kind of sounds like a Tahoe is not even a good start.
I DON'T KNOW YOU, I don't know your situation, I don't know a lot about all of what you are trying to do...…. What I AM seeing is the possibility that you are going to put hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to have only slightly more than what you have now, and it would be worth a couple hundred bucks more than what you have right now.
Yeah that's a little worse than I expected. Probably a couple hundred hours worse than I imagined, but if you have the time and will and the drive: why not?!
I'm not usually nice and sweet, but I do try to be helpful:
SOME rust? If you can do paint and body work, then you know more about it then I do, but that looks like bubbling all over that thing. This isn't anything rare. I see driving tahoes sell for less than $1k on auction and stuff with a few problems but fixable with good bodies and paint for less than $2K. The body doesn't look worth fixing to me (but I really don't know ****). You aren't even wanting to put anything bigger like a 6.0L in it where you plan to put a new engine in it anyways. It looks like its been sitting like that a while, I'm wondering if critters got to your wiring, the interior is probably trashed.
You let it sit for years, and did nothing with it. You couldn't even put a tarp over it or try to save any of the interior. You bought a new vehicle, and literally put this out in the pasture. You didn't really care about this vehicle when it was so close to being a good vehicle, and its just gotten worse.
Strapping on a pair of turbos, and doing it even mostly right is half your budget. You will probably need all new suspension and will definitely want to improve on it. Anyone who puts that much power in a vehicle like this, and doesn't put some big *** brakes on it is an idiot, plus the rest of the driveline. You said BW 8841 T case, did you mean the 4481 that comes in the Yukon denali, and the escalade? Why would you not start there (especially if you like the esclade interior)?
IMO if you want AWD, get a denali or escalade. Denali is 6.0 AWD. Escalade is 5. or 6.0 and AWD or RWD. Do some of the basic mods, custom tune, efans if before 2005, and get a vehicle that you will actually drive, use, and enjoy. If you get a couple years down the road and decide you really never did like it that much, than you sell it as the reasonable investment it was. If you keep enjoying it, then you can keep improving on it, and you can do it as you learn the vehicle and what you would like to fix.
This is also based on my own experience. I had an older BMW that had an engine swap, and a manual transmission swap to a vehicle that never came with one. Had a lot of aftermarket parts, and was at a point where I needed to sell it. Several years later, I came into some money and was upgrading my vehicles. That same vehicle was being sold by the person I sold it too, and bought it back. I had plans to complete my original intentions. I bought a bunch more aftermarket, and started working on it. I drove it a bit at first, then just kind of got tired of it. It wasn't anything truly special, but just kind of unique. I realized after spending a lot of money on it, that it just wasn't the right vehicle for me... ANY MORE. I changed, my style changed, and I sold it taking a huge loss on it all. Not only does this not look like a good start for a big project, but from what little I get from this situation, it kind of sounds like a Tahoe is not even a good start.
I DON'T KNOW YOU, I don't know your situation, I don't know a lot about all of what you are trying to do...…. What I AM seeing is the possibility that you are going to put hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to have only slightly more than what you have now, and it would be worth a couple hundred bucks more than what you have right now.
I get it. Looks rough. But I’ll have less than 1k in body parts and panels. I have a welder and can do the patching required. It did get put out to pasture with 3 kids hatched out between then and now lol. As far as the driveline is concerned I have enough parts and pieces laying around. Yea dunno what I was thinking on the tcase but I would need a nv-149 from an 01 or 02. I agree on the suspension as I wanted to go coil over front. But I do have new calipers, rotors, and pads sitting here somewhere for it also. Even if I spend 25k on it and have basically a new vehicle I feel like I am ahead. Thanks for all the great talking points though!
This was my last suv project. 6.0 swapped suburban. Built the motor from a bare block I got for dirt cheap. All new everything on the chassis and reworked 90% of the trucking wiring. Frame and body separated. Fixed some rust on the body Blasted and por-15 on the frame Installing radiator and exhaust 6.0l in
Sep 21, 2019 | 05:39 PM
