Teddy the Tahoe - Build and Adventures

[Nathan Gilmer]

First of I just want to say hi! I am from Denver Colorado. I posted once before about my Jeep Commander. I still have that car but it is now my wife's daily. I didn't have a good overland rig for a bit until a couple months ago.

I picked up this 1996 Chevy Tahoe on Craigslist for $500 needing a motor and transmission. My dad and I did the motor swap for a used motor that we found for $150 and we paid a friend to put a transmission in for us. All in I am only at $1250 so far. I have a LONG ways to go, but at least I finally have a 4x4 to get out and explore a little but again.

I am going to split up each "project" or modification into separate posts for clarity. I am also going to join and become a member here as soon as I can afford it. We just had a son two days ago actually so were a bit broke for a couple months. :)

 

[Nathan Gilmer]

Here is some pictures from the day I got it. It wasn't it terrible shape really. Needed a lot of cleaning up but a pretty solid truck for $500. I particularly like the wheels a lot. I need one cap, but I dig that old school aluminum wheel look.

 

[Nathan Gilmer]

Motor swap day! Went fairly smoothly. It took us two days to do. The only downside was getting all done just to find out that the transmission was bad too.

 

[Nathan Gilmer]

So it was off the our transmission guy! He works on oil rigs as his day job and does motor and transmission work on the side so it took him about 2 weeks to do. He did a great job though and it was finally on the road!

 

[Nathan Gilmer]

Added our logo to the window.

My daughter River seems to dig the new ride. Hopefully we will have some pretty awesome family adventures in this thing.

 

[Nathan Gilmer]

I found this push bar for the front for $40 at a garage sale. I was originally planning on going black on the front end, but for $40 I can make chrome work. Gives me some front end protection as well as mounting points for my antennas and lights.

I have also been working pretty hard at getting my wheels polished. They are starting to look alright.

 

[Nathan Gilmer]

For the last couple weeks the motor just hadn't been running quite right. There was some hesitation on acceleration, rough idle, and lack of power. It felt like a fuel delivery issue to me, but I decided to try the easy stuff first.
I cleaned the mass airflow sensor and tested it and the throttle position sensor. No change.
I ran some BG44k through it and some Seafoam on the next tank. There was some improvement but more of the same.
I then decided to go ahead and do the spark plugs and wires, mainly because they are probably original to the motor. Lo and behold...it now runs perfectly smooth and with noticeably more power. Sometimes just basic motor maintenance is all it needs.
I went with NGK spark plugs and JEGS wires. They seemed to get good reviews and were priced reasonable. I am very happy so far. Feels like a new truck.

 

[Nathan Gilmer]

Added a new accessory to the Tahoe. Package arrived on Thursday and weighed 7.8 ounces. I can't wait to bring it on some backcountry adventures. :)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Daryl 32]

Congratulations!

Like your choice of vehicle too.