new restoration 70 suburban

[70GreenBurb]

Hi, I'm John and I think I am a Burbaholic.

We bought our Suburban in 2005 from our next door neighbors who were the original owners and in their 80s when we bought it. Vitals as follows:

Stock 350/350 except EI, with 3.07, second row seat, no Air, original AM radio and a few Mods the FO added (Trailer battery charging lockout switch, window washer switch, AM vacuum guage and ammeter.

It ran pretty good and the interior would probably have been rated very good original with some fading on the dash paint and a little rust damage to the driver's door vinyl panel cover. The rear seat had been recovered once using original fabric found at the local upholsterer and both seats looked almost new, as did all the other vinyl side panels. It had about 120K on it and had never had any major work except grinding the valves and seats at about 70K and really well documented regular maintenance (FO's sons were both professional mechanics).

We towed our 16 Ft trailer on a few camping trips and one to Colorado. It towed fine on the flats, but it never had much oomph up the hills. On the steep hills I topped out at about 40. After putting another 20K on it we couldn't take the anemic towing and just used it around town for a few years. Well, we've finally got some financial breathing room and have decided to restore it as a tow vehicle and daily driver for my wife and granddaughter.

It is currently at our local rebuilding shop for heart surgery and other upgrades since I have little mechanic although I have learned a lot during the rebuilding planning. We were just in time at the doctors since it had just munched a cam bearing and had one broken ring. It was also long overdue on the valves since it didn't have hardened seats. Bobby pointed out that was one of the main reasons for its anemia since the seats were so bad in four cylinders it was basically a four banger. The harmonic balancer had also gone out (no wonder we could never get it tuned right).

It was bored .030 over, and we added a few minor upgrades for durability:
Mild RV cam
Forged Pistons
Mahle rings
double roller chain
Melling HV oil pump
roller tips
upgraded bearings
blueprinted main cap
Balanced

We are looking forward to getting to know her all over again the way she was when she was new, and hopefully a little better.

We are going to add factory four seasons air if our wreaking yard ever gathers all the parts, and swap out the TH350 with a 700r4 for (hopefully) some better freeway mileage. I hope to swing a small loan on it and have the OD tranny rebuilt, fix a few rust spots and maybe have it painted and new rubber all around.


Pictures to come in a build thread once I have chance to do some resizing.

[70GreenBurb]

Looks like I'm going to need to learn a little more about posting pictures.

[vectorit]

Welcome to the forum!

Interesting story, and sounds like a love story in the making
I hear you though, since I have been with my burb for as long as I can remember.

[70cst]

Hey 70GreenBurb ...

to the forum and from Ohio. one your burb.

[70GreenBurb]

Thanks for the welcome. We did fall in love with it as soon as our neighbors indicated they were going to sell it and we noticed how unique it was with only three doors, and how super clean it was. Dick and Annie had taken great care of it with both of their kids being mechanics. They greased the hubs regularly, lubed the undercarriage, etc and did so many of the mundane maintenance items that often get overlooked. The owners manual has maintenance records written all over it. But its age, and unleaded gas, finally caught up with the engine.

Once we have an all new drive train, except for gears, we will feel pretty comfortable that the undercarriage parts aren't going to nickel and dime us to death. We are just glad we decided to invest some dimes into making the Burb a reliable, and good looking, daily driver instead of buying a new SUV that would have dropped a third of its value when we signed the papers.

[zellway]

from what I can see of the little pic's it looks to be a vary clean ride. I might have to hit you up on some bigger pic's. I want to get my sub back looking as stock as I can pull off.

[rocknss]

Welcome and nice Suburban

[extremesounds13]

Welcome!! Sweet Suburban!

[70GreenBurb]

Thank You.
Zellway, as soon as I get a chance to figure out the right way to size pictures for posting I'll post some interior pictures. I only have my phone for digital pictures and the JPEG file are too big w/o resizing. I thought from the FAQs that I could make an album but I can't see that option so I guess I would need to upgrade my membership before I can do that.
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