Suburbalade... reasons why I should not!

[kuzano]

Well, I finally got rid of the 1969 HD 3/4 ton 2WD Suburban that was:
Too rusty, with too broke an engine and no interior, and more problems. Sold it for the $500 it was worth.

But the desire for a 3DR Suburban did not go away.

A month later I found a straight, Minimal rust, very complete shell with good glass (dirt cheap). It's sitting on the floor in my shop. As it sits so low, many thoughts come to mind. It's going to be 2WD (have never and never will have any desire for 4WD). I started looking for a 72 LWB running chevy pickup to get the other components to put it together. That's probably the sane move, but sane ain't my style.

As I continue to look at it, low looks good to me. But why hack a Chevy 3/4 ton 2WD pickup frame. Why not get a low frame to start with. Then, the questions come. What kind of sedan frame would sufficiently haul the Suburban body, and have a good powerful engine.

It strikes me.... Bang!!!... what about a Cadillac. So the research starts. Here's where I am now.

A 1971 Cadillac Sedan DeVille is within 2 inches of the right wheelbase. It's designed to propel and move quite expediantly, a 5000 pound Caddy. The original 472 cubic inch engine in the years 1971, 72 73 are rated at 375 Horsepower. The later 500 cubic inch was downgraded to 210 Horsepower (remember the gas crunch at that time... Oh and the politicians mucking with how our engines breathed.... after their antics of the last 3 months, I say fire the lot of them... every one.)

So the picture is evolving, and running early 70's DeVilles can be had in nice condition for $2000-2500 (perhaps even less). A real bonus would be nice leather for the front seats... maybe even the rear.

The name of the vehicle... Suburbalade comes from it's donor parts, as in Prototype Escalade. A friend even suggested painting it a nice Kool Aid color and having a paint artist put the "kool Aid Pitcher guy" on the rig somewhere.

Tell me why this won't work or why it should not be done. I am not a purist and snicker largely behind Purist Backsides.

Current investment (and it has good base paint, and no significant dents, and as I said..only about 6-12 inches of rust in rear quarters at the bottom), $200.

Lars
Kuzano (mnemonic)