1999 Chevy Tahoe 2 Door Refresh

Another project that is getting in the way of me working on Jeeps and my AMX.....

We purchased this 1999 Tahoe from a Forest Circus auction in 2003 with 89,000 miles on it.
It eventually lost a transmission at around 100,000 miles, typical 90's 4L60E, and that is when I inherited it in 2006. A transmission change and I was up and running with what was a relatively new vehicle looking back on it....
The Tahoe came as the typical Forest Circus work truck model with manual windows, manual mirrors, sealed beam headlights, vinyl seats, steel wheels ect.... Over the years I have done a number of upgrades using factory higher trim level parts. Factory power windows, power mirrors, leather power seats, cruise control, exterior temp/compass mirror, composite headlights with chrome grille, aluminum wheels, floorboard sound deadener, smog legal headers, ect....
I used the Tahoe for towing regularly and around 170,000 miles the second 4L60E trans went up in smoke.
I picked up a complete NV4500 5 speed package with 60,000 miles from a truck that had an engine fire and installed it with everything needed to make it look factory. Black Bear Performance re-flashed the ECM for a manual transmission tune and I was up and running like a dream.
Somewhere north of 300,000 miles the stock 8.5" GM rear diff started to go out. Looking to replace the rear diff with something more suited for towing, I sourced a 14 bolt semi floating axle from a 6 lug "heavy half ton" w/t model truck.
I continued driving the Tahoe daily up until 2020 when I got my current GMC pickup and the now crashed Yukon. During that time the Tahoe went on countless adventures, hit a deer or two and even a drunk driver who was making an illegal turn on a blind corner. It was driven all over the western United States and a short trip into Canada.
It has been an excellent vehicle through its life and has only been towed home once when a fuel pump died.

The Tahoe was still in use, but it would often sit for months at a time and only used for firewood sales, dump runs, ect. With over 400,000 miles on it and allot of sitting, I was hesitant to drive it long distances. Freeway driving was sketchy as the combination of short wheelbase and completely worn out front steering/suspension made getting pulled over for DUI check while sober a real possibility. The paint on the hood and fenders began peeling, grill was broken, core support bent from a deer strike ect.... Just a generally sad state for a vehicle that once brought so much joy.

Below are some pictures of the Tahoe from over the years. Some of the pics aren't great as they were taken with old school flip phones.






















A few pictures from the NV4500 swap back way back when.....
This swap was surprisingly easy, most people see it and believe it's factory.







Clean factory appearance.
The shift lever and boot were purchased through my local GM dealership at the time. Crazy to think about something like that still being in inventory.





The 14 bolt 6 lug rear axle.
At the time it was installed it was completely rebuilt with 3.73 gears and NOS GM GOV LOC. The smaller GM limited slips get a bad rap, the larger 9.5" units last much longer.




For several years my father and I had matching vehicles.
Whenever we went somewhere in matching blue company polo shirts the less undesirables would scatter thinking some sort of law enforcement showed up.
Pulling up to Home Depot at 7am was always good for a laugh or two.

Exactly the same wheels, tires, antenna, ect.... the only difference was interior color.

 

The Forest Circus sounds fun! The Tahoe looks amazing for the miles.

 

The engine in finally out of the Tahoe as well as the transmission and transfer case.
At 430,000 miles it was a greasy nasty mess!
I found more than a few troublesome areas that will need to be fixed in the wiring harness.
The fluid that drained from the transfer case does not look great either.
I have a feeling that I will be robbing the transfer case from the Yukon and swapping the 32 spline input assembly into it.
The disassembly location was quite purposeful, close proximity to oil absorbent shavings.

 

What motor is it? 5.3? The good news is they are very affordable right now.

 

Its the last variation of the traditional 5.7 small block. It is commonly referred to at the L31.
I would love to swap in a 6.0 and 6 speed automatic, but retaining and adding all of the newer smog equipment is more project than I want to do right now.

 

Oh yeah, smog. That's a shame you can't get an LS in there.

 

With the engine out of the way, there is allot to do before the new engine can be installed.
The wiring harness convoluted tubing needs replaced.
Several plugs need new pigtails.
New engine and transmission mounts are on order.
The firewall will get insulated too.
This is what nearly 1/2 million miles looks like.......





Off to the pressure washer pad for a couple hours of soaking, pressure washing rinse and repeat.
Forklifts make this job allot easier!
The old clapped out engine leaked from the front main, rear main, oil cooler lines and valve covers.
All of that oil mixed with sawdust and dump mud for a really baked on protective layer of nastyness!





I mixed up super clean and dish soap in my foam gun and coated everything really well.
Even after an hour of soaking and rinsing with the pressure washer I still couldn't get it clean.
A trip under the kitchen sink produced a couple cans of oven cleaner!
A good 2 hour soak with oven cleaner and then pressure washer rinse left me with this ready to flash rust clean frame!
I will hit the frame with some rust remover before painting.

 

This last picture got a guy thinking. I wonder if a crown Vic k member would bolt up there. Then no need for a transfer case swap

 

I do not like any part of this talk!

 

what's california require for smog compliance? is it just emissions testing, or do they want certain equipment? do they have specific rules for swaps like that, or do you just have to have all the right equipment for the '99? if you need the '99 equipment, a 2000-2006 6.0 could pretty easily work with all that. I'd certainly keep the 5 speed if you were to swap it, but either way would be good, and certainly not terribly hard - "LS" swaps in that body style are remarkably common. in fact, the "411" style computer can be put into one of those trucks by just depinning the computer connectors and plugging the pins into the newer style connectors, and the newer computer allows for better tuneability, power, MPFI, etc. I have a feeling that getting either the older OR newer smog stuff working wouldn't be too bad, certainly worth it for the higher output you could get from a 6.0. 03-06 engines don't have egr, but the 00-02 ones are compatible with the return style fuel system already on that tahoe. obviously if you've got an engine already, you're far enough in you probably shouldn't change, but it really wouldn't be a bad idea. LS engines are cool.

 

An engine swap has to come from the same class of vehicle and retain 100% of factory emissions equipment from that newer vehicle.
It is doable, but it is a PITA and must be approved by the state referee.
Just a bunch of hoops that leaves you with an oddball rig.
If there were no emissions testing, I would totally swap to a 6.0 stroked and a 6L80E.

 

yeah, I just read through an article about it. sounds miserable. glad my parents moved out before I got into cars.

 

I have been watching friends do LS swaps into ECJ's and Commandos, and forgot about the post-'76 smog requirements. I have never dealt with it here in a smog exempt area of CA.. And a friend here, told me he has a few jeeper buddies that are using his Tahoe address to get around it for their LS swaps. Not that I am suggesting anything like that, just passing it on.

 

Time for a time share.

 

One final wash down and a rinse with Kano Lab's Exrust.
It was a bit of a fight but I was able to get the Tahoe backed up the hill and into my work bay by myself.
Hopefully today I will get a heavy coat of semi gloss black sprayed on it. Spraying non catalyzed will take 3-4 days to dry but should produce a very durable finish.

 

This feels like the first milestone of the project.
The front frame section took 3/4 of a quart of paint to cover inside, outside, underside and top side.
I started things off by unbolting the steering box and painting the frame behind it as well as the backside of the box. Roughly an hour later I completed the job by bolting the steering box back into place and painting the rest of the box.
A couple test scratches show really good paint adhesion. It will take several days to cure in this cool weather, but should be ready to start the next phase after the holiday.
Harbor freight HVLP spray gun and Rustoleum semi gloss black.
No thinner or hardener needed.

 

i used the rustoleum paint with some hardener from tractor supply house brand, and a little acetone to thin it a bit (not much iirc)
and painted axles and trans/txfer cases. total formulation method of a dash of this, dollop of that mix, but the paint seems almost bullet proof (oh, i put it over rustoleum shake-n-shoot primer).

same $10 sprayer (purple handled one)

i would do this again.

 

A thanksgiving weekend road trip to the Pacific Northwest was very successful.
Through some trading and parts deliveries I picked up this fresh rebuilt NV4500 from a friend of mine in Lebanon, Or.
Originally this transmission was destined for the CJ6, but the Tahoe needed it sooner.
The old Tahoe NV4500 will get rebuilt for eventual CJ6 duty.
This transmission was salvaged out of a mud bog truck, it ended up getting a couple gears replaced as well as a full rebuild.
I will wire wheel it up and paint it before installation.

 

Worked on phase 1 of insulation/sound deadening.
Definitely woke up this morning feeling like I rolled around on concrete for a few hours.
This is 80 mil Noico material that is finished off with their foil edge tape.






I had enough convoluted tubing on hand to re tube the ABS wiring harness.
The ABS wiring was then rerun in the factory routing location.
New engine mounts were installed on the frame.

 

Phase 2 of firewall insulation complete!