Technical 5th Gen Suburban ('60-'66) - Buyers Guide

The car I'm trying to look at is from further south. Owner claims most issues are mechanical (crunched rear quarter excepting). "Runs and drives" is a major selling point on this one if that gives you a clue to condition...

I've been half-heartedly looking nationwide. My budget is currently too small for a lot of what I find, and what fits in my budget is too janky to deal with cross-country logistics.

 

you should have been shopping 30 years ago...they were cheap then. Oh well.

Also, "runs and drives" can mean quite different things to different people. Sure, I've driven an old truck with a gas can sitting on the engine, and a hot wire connected to the battery, and used the parking brake to stop. But it still needed an awful lot of work to be roadworthy.

 

View attachment 5346730 I had to deal with a pretty ugly mess on the drivers quarter panel on my Suburban.
It had a few bubbles showing in the paint when I bought it but after owning it a while the bubbles started running together.
A little investigating with a 24 grit sanding disc (no turning back now!) found a prior wreck repair someone had done by overlapping and brazing a partial wrecking yard piece over the cut out damaged area.
This was in the early 90's and at the time no Suburban quarter panel replacements were available so I decided to use the available pickup replacement quarter and relocate the gas filler to behind the tailite.

 

Nice fix and slick gas filler.

Ignoring the wheel well cutout and gas cap, how close is a C10 bed side to the quarters on the Suburban? Your fix looks fantastic, and it's in a similar spot where this one has a clear football sized chunk of bondo about to fall off.

Trying to set up a time to go look in person...

 

Measure six times, cut once!
Dead match once I cut some metal off both ends, the opening was a bit of a nail biter though as I cut the rear first where the rounded Suburban sheetmetal became straight.

 

Having had a 63 pickup with that wrap around windshield and that damned dog leg that busts your knee cap every time you forget that there is an exact process getting in the truck I vote for 64/66.
There were two of these burbs power parked in front of the host hotel at Deuce days in victoria 3 years ago that have big ugly wheels that can't be shown on the Hamb but are in my photos from the event. Great looking trucks even with the goofy wheels.

The main thing with picking one is get the most rust free one you can find. Mechanicals don't mean much, dents can be fixed pretty easy most of the time but rust and missing burb only pieces are a pain in the ass.

 

PXL_20220318_234024497 by SuperDuperDoughnut posted Mar 18, 2022 at 9:43 PM

Brought it home. '65. It certainly runs and drives. Dry rotted fuel lines allowed the tank to leak empty. Throwing some fresh gas and a jump and it started right up. 350 with a turbo 350. Some Bondo here and there, but all glass in intact. Both rear quarters took a smack at some point. I'll do my best to pull them out for now, but I ain't aiming for perfection just yet. Front seat appears from a square body. Rear seat is there.

It's a project, but should be a running and driving--maybe street legal--one within a couple weeks.

 

Congrats! Looks like a pretty decent one!

 

I noticed you said "salt on the roads" so your not around California, but there is a guy in Inland Empire area Craigslist that's selling 1/4 patches and other parts. Might try a HAMB relay or something.

https://inlandempire.craigslist.org/pts/d/perris-chevy-gmc-suburban-panel-truck/7458626460.html

 

Thanks for the info! I'm up in the bleak northeast (New York).

I'm hoping I can get away with only having to replace the floor pans. From what I could tell (it almost turned into a bidding war) everything else should be pretty straight forward.

My biggest goals now are to get it to pass NYS inspection, which as far as I've found so far, will require fixing the wipers, getting all the lights up (front passenger is out, but I suspect it's just a crummy splice), and repairing the fuel line leaks which are really just slow weeps. The rest of the lights work, brakes work, signals work...

Truck is at my father-in-law's right now since he has a far bigger shop and he graciously let me keep it there until it'll pass inspection. Now I'm on the hunt for a front seat (a full set would be nice, but I'm not sure I want to pay for that right now).

Dumb question: Three knobs on the dash to the left of the steering wheel, left to right... headlights, wipers, and what's the last one? I'm guessing it's a remnant from a manual choke? Current engine has an electronic choke.

I really want to get it on the road and drive the piss out of it for a bit as I tinker. Hopefully I can manage major projects across winter...

 

Looks like a good start, get it driving reliably and have some fun.
See if you can do repairs and bodywork and keep it in the road, suggest a good epoxy primer with UV like Southern polyurethane (SPI)

 

Suburban parts are tough to come by here in New York, looks like out west there are more opportunities to find small items or body parts.
I do have a complete set of seats ,i think all 3 rows if someone is interested.

 

Purely one example........
My 66 was a factory three row Suburban, I sold the complete set of seats w/ all hardware many years ago for $350.00, the guy didn't bat an eye, a few years later I saw some on that auction site for "uge" money, so yes, they have gotten kind of hard to find, hence the price.

 

It's left to right.
Headlight
Wiper
Choke
Ignition switch
Lighter

Post up more pics.

Also, if your going to go with stock steel wheels check the back space first. I had stock 15" on my Panel and they rubbed on the inside against the body going into driveways (2" lowering coils). I ended up selling those and using 80's 4x4 wheels, the same look as stock but slightly different offset, all with the same 235/75r15 tires.

Here's the inside before the lowering coils.


The 4x4 wheels I used:

 

Hello,

When our son was just getting his feel for the neighborhood, there was a family down the street that had a series of large Suburban wagons. We used to see the Suburban loaded with families and friends moving all over our small town location. But, it made our tiny two door station wagon feel like a midget car. We had enough room for 4 plus beach/camping/suitcases when we traveled, but in looking at the neighbor’s huge Suburban, it would have been much easier to just pile everything in the back area and be off to our destinations.

The big Suburbans had an advantage and disadvantage all rolled into one. They could take as much stuff in the back to the local dump, like cut down trees, shrubs and construction left overs. One pile of firewood for the beach outings was all that could fit in our small station wagon.
old Friday Art
For fun, my wife and I talked about…"What if the Suburban was customized, lowered and made a popular color with water flames for a coastal vibe?" We laughed and said Moon Discs were just enough to make the Suburban somewhat racy.

Extra heavy duty air shocks for those extra kids… This version was customized from the stock model that the neighborhood family drove.

The larger size did solve problems, but when the gas crisis came around, the gas mileage was a key factor and it was hard to just take short errands to make ends meet. These days, there are so many styles and brands of large Suburbans roaming the whole USA. YRMV, Including the FBI, Gov’t agencies and drug dealers. Pandemic or not…

So, my wife thought those old Suburbans needed some flash, besides being all black and intimidating.

Lowered with custom detailing and old style "Claw" flames...

Jnaki

In the 23 years we lived in the same neighborhood, this was another version of a different Suburban that family owned, except for the custom paint and flames. Theirs was a stock two toned paint color.
But as we left the neighborhood, the family had a new two toned late model, Suburban for their final family wagon.

Many years later, I ran into a guy that stepped out of one of the coolest Suburbans I had seen in a long time. It was an older model, but had enough custom touches that it just made my day. Now, that vision was stuck in my brain and despite the fact that we had our daily drivers, this suburban played mind games with us. Yes, even my wife liked the Ice Black Primer paint color and the custom wheels.

The major problem with any Suburban old or new, besides the FBI and drug dealer connotation, is that unless it is lowered, they will not fit in any normal garage opening. Sometimes, even if they barely fit in the opening, the length or depth of the garage will limit access for the big Suburban of any year or make, so you can close the garage door. YRMV

 

This was a great thread to follow. A fellow looking for his dream car than “BANG” within a month he’s found it, pulled the trigger and brought it home. Best of luck with the project.

 

Heres mine , its a pic of a picture but ...

 

Just an update: Got it to pass NYS inspection! So I'm legally on the road. A fellow HAMB'er is selling me some seats, and this will be a driving project! Drives great so far (only done ~100 or so miles on it).

It leaks transmission fluid like crazy, so that will be an early project to sort out. So much fluid leaking I can only assume it's from every possible spot a TH350 can leak from. Other things I hope to get to sooner rather than later is new windshield, new window gaskets (all around), door seals... and that should keep me happy for a while.

PXL_20220326_204948384 by SuperDuperDoughnut posted Mar 27, 2022 at 7:54 AM

 

Great thread. I am going to look at one for a daily. I can’t make it out to look at it until I am on my way to the Custom Car Revival.

I see a few that have side trim. Has this been carried over from a LWB pickup?

Also, how hard are seats to come by?

 

Custom cab versions had some extra trim.

 

Was it the side trim? Like the pickups.
Like this one.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fCTW8P-L...6j8ydMKkXPdKMohrhwCEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_0206.JPG

 

that piece below the side windows was the trim on the deluxe suburbans. Not like the pickups.

 

So I am guessing they are transplanting pickup trim.

 

that's pretty likely.

 

After a little research, it looks like the 65 shares the same wheelbase as the short bed C10, 115”wb

 

they were all built on short bed truck frames through 1966

 

63 chevy laurel green?

 

yeah, and you're right on all counts.

Those modern drab gray colors do nothing for me, so I was kind of trying to liven it up a bit for you

 

Or maybe "Seamist Jade"????
(Sea Foam Green might be darker)

1Nimrod
(Dustin)