Tonny's 2001 Tahoe build

[Tonny]

Hi guys,

Introduced myself yesterday! This will be the build thread for my Chevy. I got it for roughly 2 months now! The previous owner bought the SUV in 2012. He rebuild the Tahoe as a 2 seater, so he could use it as his work/tow car. This will be my daily work car as well, carrying all my detailing gear and mechanical tools. Atm it run 266.*** kilometers or 165.*** miles. At 230.*** kilometers or 142.*** miles the car was fitted with a LPG gas system. This is quite common to do with the big American cars and engines here in The Netherlands. Main reason, gasoline price is nothing compared to you guys. Also we pay taxes according to the fuel type and weight of the car. Because this is build as a two seater work vehicle, I pay less taxes. In this way, it's some-what possible to drive a big heavy car here in Holland.

Let me take you back two months ago:

With the old Peugeot, now sold to a buddy of mine.

And the back with a drawer as example:

In the first weeks I started a little bit with detailing. I started on a roof where I expected a mess. It's like full iron fallout. So started with Iron Remover:

After three weeks I broke the Chevy. Radiator cracked at the plastic reservoir. I managed to buy a new one in NL. Found out it was a smaller version but still fitted in the other mounting holes on my Chevy. This was a replacementpart for the Avalanche and Tahoe.

And we had to re-fit the plastic mouldings around the fan because of the smaller radiator:

And then it didn't start anymore! After searching and learning, me and some friends found out the Chevy didn't get any gasoline. It always starts and warms up before switching to LPG. After some evenings searching and trying, we got it running again. We heard the fuel pump running but didn't get fuel in the fuellines. We blowed with compressed air from the gasfilter to the gaspump. Hit the gastank a few times with a rubber hammer and finally some fuel came trough the lines. There is probably build up of contaminants in the gasolinetank that is slipping the fuel lines. Used some gasoline cleaner and atm it's so far so good.

Then started with examing the hood. It has been homemade painted once because things fell on the hood.

Started again with Iron Remover:

Then I clayed the hood, full of contaminants:

50/50 after some compounding and polishing:

After compounding and polishing the damage. Able to make it a lot smaller but I can't really figure out whats going on this. If i measure the pain, it still gives higher numbers on the overspray part. I just keep wondering if I could possibly find good paint underneath the mess.

 

[Tonny]

A few weeks ago I deleted my roof rack, to see how it looks and also to get better access for cleaning. I like it more without the roof rack atm:

And me and my college started building the rear interior of the Chevy! Pulled the plastic out to find out the heater is in the back of the Chevy.

My college started tailoring while me watching how that works:

Then I looked at all the old plastics and asked my college, we can all tailor that isn't it? Yes it is..

Looks hot

And last tuesday we continued to building in the drawer. The wood around it will also be tailored.. Don't mind the mess please..

 

[Tonny]

And I'm now working on the roof, did Iron Remover once more and clayed the whole roof. Iron fallout:

Iron Remover:

Washing:

After that I clay bar the roof and dried it, now it is ready to be compounded and polished..

I ordered fender flares in America as well. Send them to my cousin in Massachusetts who send it to NL. Here some test fitting. Primarily to cover up the bad parts because the fenders do have scratches and bumps.

So thisit for now. Will update you guys when I make progress

 

[05Single]

That interior carpet is top notch , love the tailored parts!!! Great progress. Little by little bringing the Chevy back to life. Miles are very low for that year too. Crazy it has LPG system, all of our vehicles in America used for airport work are LPG fitted. I see it’s the law to have those fender marker lights , curious are you allowed to change the housing from amber to clear?

 

[Tonny]

That interior carpet is top notch , love the tailored parts!!! Great progress. Little by little bringing the Chevy back to life. Miles are very low for that year too. Crazy it has LPG system, all of our vehicles in America used for airport work are LPG fitted. I see it’s the law to have those fender marker lights , curious are you allowed to change the housing from amber to clear?

Yeah it really transforms the interior. Curious how long it will last. Thanks . Haha I'm not worried about the miles. Lot of people here think it's a lot but I know better.

Well compared to gasoline I pay around €0,64 per liter gas or €1,60ish for gasoline per liter; €2,90 per gallon LPG or €7,26 per gallon gasoline. LPG is actually a cleaner fuel. But can sense some lag of power when driving on LPG.

This suv is original Dutch delivered so has those amber lights. I think it's allowed to clear them as long as the bulb blinks orange. You guys have orange in front and red blinkers in the back isn't it?

 

[YukonXLMan]

Wow, you are doing an awesome job! Agree with you that unless you are about to do an African Safari, the roof rack delete was a good call. Depending if there is good paint under the remaining roof rack hardware, you may be able to remove those as well and just replace the bolt back in the hole if not too obtrusive.

The carpet interior is really nicely done. I'm curious on where your LPG tank is and how much it holds? Fuel costs are amazingly different between us. i just paid $2.45/gallon for gasoline today. I'd have to push my Yukon and coast it downhill if prices here were $8.14 (7,26 Euros) locally!

I'll be following your thread with interest! Best of Luck!

 

[05Single]

This suv is original Dutch delivered so has those amber lights. I think it's allowed to clear them as long as the bulb blinks orange. You guys have orange in front and red blinkers in the back isn't it?

Can have white in front but turn signal must be orange/amber. And tails must be red but turns can either be red or orange/amber.

 

[Tonny]

Wow, you are doing an awesome job! Agree with you that unless you are about to do an African Safari, the roof rack delete was a good call. Depending if there is good paint under the remaining roof rack hardware, you may be able to remove those as well and just replace the bolt back in the hole if not too obtrusive.

The carpet interior is really nicely done. I'm curious on where your LPG tank is and how much it holds? Fuel costs are amazingly different between us. i just paid $2.45/gallon for gasoline today. I'd have to push my Yukon and coast it downhill if prices here were $8.14 (7,26 Euros) locally!
I'll be following your thread with interest! Best of Luck!

Haha yes well it could be handy to carry large things around but my first thought always was that there is not a easy way to put stuff on top of it anyway. I indeed would like to remove the remaining hardware but unfortunately the threat is stuck to the bolts. So when I turn the bolts the threat will also turn with it. Just I'm still thinking of a good wayto remove then. Tried some things to remove them but didn't work. Probably need to flex and then drill them out.

The LPG tank is 100 liter with max 80% of fill capacity. So can carry around 80 liters which is not a lot but it's ok. It's fitted where the spare rim used to be. If I want a bigger tank I've to sacrifice interior space. I don't want that

Thanks mate!

Can have white in front but turn signal must be orange/amber. And tails must be red but turns can either be red or orange/amber.

I understand, thanks. When the American cars in Holland is really imported with those red signals at the back, you can keep them. I think it's cool but that's also because it's not allowed here except for the reason above.

Greets

 

[Tonny]

All right, little update then. Not a lot of progress on the Tahoe because I'm way to busy, since I'm a self employed person since a few months. But that gave me now the opportunity to rent a place where I will clean and detail cars. And it obviously will evolve to a man-cave

Very stoked about that.

Not so stoked about the fact my Tahoe did funny this morning on the highway. Driving like 70/80 mph. Strange rattling noise, I don't really know how to describe. So I stopped on the emergency-lane.. Took a quick check. Decided to drive slowly to the next exit. Rattling came back at like 55 mph. So via roads I drove carefully back, had to be at work also. So after work the Tahoe drove fine in town, only riding 20 mph. After visiting my new cave I decided to grab a little section of highway and film/record the noise. But it wouldn't come back. For sure it was not the engine but more like a gearbox/drivetrain/differential thing. But that is just someone thinking who is not a mechanic.. Tried some searching on youtube also for the noise, maybe something to do with emergency-brake.. I don't know what to think, I'm somewhat happy it didn't occur tonight but I"m afraid it will be back soon. I never use the parking-brake but it had a new cable at the last inspection. Will be continued I guess

 

[Tonyrodz]

Your roof came out amazing. Do you guys have an iron particle fallout issue? You have front and rear heat and air conditiong looks like.

 

[Tonny]

Guys! Very busy lately. This afternoon my college and I finished the interior part as far a planned for now. It came out really great! Most credits go to my college though!

Next up is maintenance and chasing the noise. Also would love to detail the rest of the car. Everything at it's time

 

[Tonny]

Your roof came out amazing. Do you guys have an iron particle fallout issue? You have front and rear heat and air conditiong looks like.

Oh sorry I missed this message.. Thanks mate! No not really but I think most of that is from the roof rack corroding.. But you can have extra iron fallout if you park next to train rails often for example. Yes that right but my airco is not working due to lack of maintenance I guess. Hasn't worked since I got the Hoe..

 

[Tonny]

Alright guys and girls, it's time to blow the dust of this topic and tell you guys what is going on and going to happen!

Since my last post nothing really new happened with the Tahoe. Had new MOT in April 2020 and so on his way to the next MOT in 2021. Had a busy and rough time in '19 en '20. All though the world is on fire, I actually have better times coming. Finally got my own house, getting my Vizsla pup next week and the Chevy will be getting changes I'm dying to do since I've got my Tahoe and inspiration on this forum. Things are now in motion.

Since I've got my own house and a lot of stuff was in storage I found some things like a Pioneer amplifier and sub in 1; TS-WX206A. And since I still ran the original radio with cassette deck and speakers sounding like crap, it was time for a change.

The Pioneer TS-WX206A; and let someone make new cables for this since I left them in the previous car.

So then decided I did not want a 2-din, just wanted a single din radio with bluetooth. So I found this conversion set in Germany with a Caliber radio included. Ended up with a free upgrade to a newer version radio with DAB+ function. The only downside is you can not remove the front cover because the single din slot comes with his own cover to match the new 1-din holder, but otherwise very satisfied with the radio. The Pioneer sub did have his pre-install to test and still works fine and enough for my cabin. But the doors wil get other speakers to and I actually consider to remove the factory amplifier and all the speakers, wires and just go for some decent front door speakers in combination with the subwoofer. Well here is the result of the single din conversion;

Next post incoming

 

[Tonny]

And since the beginning I wasn't exactly blown away by the 16 inch rims. But after reading a lot of topics, I made the decision to go for 18 inch titan wheels, @05Single 's build was one of my inspiration. But Netherlands is not America and these rims are rare and if I found a rough set they still dare to ask like $1200 dollar. But this month I finally found a set that I couldn't resist for the price. The downside is, because of my new home and dog, the tires have to wait until upcoming MOT in April 2021.

Al though these rims have been laying around more then driven with, one is already starting to corrode so I'm also thinking about letting them getting sandblasted and powder coated with a transparant top coating. But then they are as new and very strong.

As they are now:

I also got fender flares laying around and really can't make my mind if I'm going to put them on or not, here are some examples from 05single's build, I will keep the sidestep, and the advantage is, it will cover up most of the damage the previous owner made.... What you guys reckon? EDIT: BTW behind my steel rims are 10mm spacers, will look even better then with the fender flares... Those titan wheel have a little lower ET, 25 instead of 31 on the original 16x6,5j ET31. Titan wheels are 18x8j ET25. So will see what looks better, with or without my 10mm spacers.

And I'm busy with a tuner nearby. We tested this week his software can make the same changes as Black Bear Performance can. That will be coming but as it will get tuned I take the opportunity to upgrade my intake hose to a Airaid 200-921 with a better drop in air filter and something like a flowmaster 50 series or flow fx. Have to stay under 97 decibels max..

 

[Tonyrodz]

Your amp/sub looks like it has an exhaust on it lol. Pretty cool. I like the idea of the flares. Are you lifting or lowering it?

 

[Tonny]

Your amp/sub looks like it has an exhaust on it lol. Pretty cool. I like the idea of the flares. Are you lifting or lowering it?

Hahah. Yes it does, that are the openings. Pretty famous sub in Europe from Pioneer, is Pioneer big in America? I'm stock hight. If I would do something, it's lowering it a little. But I really like the hight as it is in the sense that I cannot always keep all 4 wheels or on the road and a few weeks ago I did a dangerous overtaking, ending up 2/3 on the grass, but because this is a big vehicle here and the 4x4 who was on, saved me from ending up in a farmers ditch.

But for now I keep it stock because a 2/3 lowering set will maybe be to low for me as how I drive with the Chevy. This year I also got my motorcycle drivers license and my dream is to have a nice coupe to join the group like a BMW m3 or 330, 125i, 135, or whatever if affordable then.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Hahah. Yes it does, that are the openings. Pretty famous sub in Europe from Pioneer, is Pioneer big in America? I'm stock hight. If I would do something, it's lowering it a little. But I really like the hight as it is in the sense that I cannot always keep all 4 wheels or on the road and a few weeks ago I did a dangerous overtaking, ending up 2/3 on the grass, but because this is a big vehicle here and the 4x4 who was on, saved me from ending up in a farmers ditch.

But for now I keep it stock because a 2/3 lowering set will maybe be to low for me as how I drive with the Chevy. This year I also got my motorcycle drivers license and my dream is to have a nice coupe to join the group like a BMW m3 or 330, 125i, 135, or whatever if affordable then.

Pioneer is pretty big in America. They have great double din radios. Great quality for a decent price. I have one in my 03.

 

[Tonny]

Pioneer is pretty big in America. They have great double din radios. Great quality for a decent price. I have one in my 03.View attachment 266073

Cool, I already thought so. 2-din is cool but you need a new dashboard panel ha? And did you use the original amplifier and wiring or have you changed a lot of your audio? Looks good mate. But that dash piece was not available in Europe so it would be a very expensive build because of sending and taxes. Secondly I've a Pioneer AVIC-X3III from 2008 from my neighbor. Was like a €2000 dollar system that time, single din radio with fold-up screen, dvd, bluetooth, but all with different different accessoires for all those functions, I thought, not worth the work and I don't need things so fancy haha. This is the system, got it for sale without the bluetooth part who my neighbor still tries to find; https://link.marktplaats.nl/m1640123830.

One thing I wanted was Apple Carplay, but in single din they are limited and the cheapest was like €700 dollar for single din from Pioneer. But when I navigate for example I always do it with my Apple phone and Apple watch. This set was like €100 dollar including shipping; bracket, radio and iso converter, so I'm happy with this for the moment.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Cool, I already thought so. 2-din is cool but you need a new dashboard panel ha? And did you use the original amplifier and wiring or have you changed a lot of your audio? Looks good mate. But that dash piece was not available in Europe so it would be a very expensive build because of sending and taxes. Secondly I've a Pioneer AVIC-X3III from 2008 from my neighbor. Was like a €2000 dollar system that time, single din radio with fold-up screen, dvd, bluetooth, but all with different different accessoires for all those functions, I thought, not worth the work and I don't need things so fancy haha. This is the system, got it for sale without the bluetooth part who my neighbor still tries to find; https://link.marktplaats.nl/m1640123830.

One thing I wanted was Apple Carplay, but in single din they are limited and the cheapest was like €700 dollar for single din from Pioneer. But when I navigate for example I always do it with my Apple phone and Apple watch. This set was like €100 dollar including shipping; bracket, radio and iso converter, so I'm happy with this for the moment.

Thx.
Luckily I have an LS model, so I don't have alot of fancy gadgets such as Bose. I have the double din internal amp driving all the door speakers and a JL Audio mono amp driving a custom made sub box with 2 12's. Sounds pretty decent.
The flip out single dins always hit the shifter handle when they slide out.
To convert to a double din you'll need the double din radio cage along with the bezel. You could always cut and modify your bezel, but you definitely need the cage.

 

[Tonny]

Thx.
Luckily I have an LS model, so I don't have alot of fancy gadgets such as Bose. I have the double din internal amp driving all the door speakers and a JL Audio mono amp driving a custom made sub box with 2 12's. Sounds pretty decent.
The flip out single dins always hit the shifter handle when they slide out.
To convert to a double din you'll need the double din radio cage along with the bezel. You could always cut and modify your bezel, but you definitely need the cage.

A right, so only 1 speaker at each door? I've the LT model but can't find any signs of it being Bose, and it sounds like crap so I hope for Bose this is not their stuff. Also as sad, no sign anywhere of it being bose. I will upload some pictures. My original system is a with a amplifier behind the glovebox. System is a 9 speaker configuration from factory. 16ish cm speaker in each door plus a tweeter connected in the doorpanel. The previous owner still had all stock except for the sub who was lying in the cabin behind the passenger seat. But as those wires are tin, everything is old, and not stock anyways, I'm thinking about removing all the old speakers, wires and amplifier, and create my own system with the Pioneer sub and just two decend speakers in the front doors, just amplfied by my 75watt radio output. Also Busy with weight savings so that will help a lot a since i've like a cabin the speakers in the back doors are not really helping anyways. Also because of this stock amplifier, and a other radio now, it messes with eachother what can disturb the clearness of speakers. You can also make reroute so you don't have to delete the stock amplifier but since this truck is no longer near stock, and will be with me for a long, I'm really leaning towards removing whats unneccessary and make it as I like it. ''I see in your topic you've a 2003 Tahoe, 2003 in also the facelift year so I think you've the facelift model then'' Here some pictures to explain.

Old 1,5din radio with a freaking casettedeck:

Stock speakers in door, without the speakerholder/rack. And I got some tweakers in the doorpanels, not photo's of that. So I have wires to each door, one for the tweeter and one for the speaker:

And this is the Amplifier behind the glove box:

Greets