1991 Suburban 2500 2wd 350/4L80

On the recommendation of LT7A, resident of my second home town, Seattle, WA (my first home town is Anchorage, AK), I'll go a little more in depth on the origins of the Suburban. The back story is a little long.

In 2017, I moved from my third home town, Spokane, WA, to Yellow Springs, OH, a small but somewhat famous town not far from Dayton. Despite moving most of the way across the country, I stayed a member of the Washington Air National Guard and drilled quarterly with my guard unit in Spokane. During that time, I took to buying and selling cars on my trips instead of using rental cars because I had time on my hands and could always come out ahead by choosing cars that were driveable with issues, and fixing, cleaning up, or otherwise improving them. On one trip I came across a 1963 Scout way out in the middle of nowhere for cheap because it had title issues. I got some good advice from friends who own a car lot and found that I could solve the title problems pretty easily, so I got a truck and trailer and went out and bought it. I then parked it in long term storage on the Air Force base and waited until I could either bring it home, or resell it for a profit.

A year and a half later I decided to put the Scout on Ebay and see what I could get for it. I set the reserve at 5x what I paid and it hit that on the fourth day. Unfortunately, neither of the two top bidders, who were just $100 apart, made good on their bids. At that point I said screw it and decided to keep the Scout, which is what I wanted to do anyway. I checked into having it transported but that was ridiculously expensive, so I decided to employ the same tactics that I had been using for several years and find a vehicle and trailer to haul it myself.

I spend the next couple weeks constantly on CL and FBMP looking for a 3/4 ton or better truck and tandem axle trailer to get the job done. I kept missing great deals on each by just minutes, but it all worked on in the end when I came across this 1991 former Forest Service Suburban for sale in the wilds of eastern Washigton about two hours from any substantial population center. My mind was blown by this thing. I love the color, it's pretty much rust free, and it's a 3/4 ton, which, as some know, has 1 ton running gear. Perfect not only for hauling my Scout, but as transportation or my large family. I talked to the owner on the phone and he agreed to drive it to Spokane and drop it off at my brother-in-laws house and I would pay him via app. The price was very right, especially for a vehicle moving to the Ohio where rust free square bodies barely exist.

I ended up buying a trailer new, as I didn't want to take chances on such a long trip with a trailer someone else has possibly abused or failed to maintain. I enlisted my brother-in-law's help, put the Scout on the trailer, and we headed for Ohio. This thing pulled that trailer like a champ. The only unfortunate incident on the trip was the loss of the Scout top. It wasn't in great shape anyway, but I hated to lose it. Basically, it wasn't bolted on and I didn't bother to check. About a third of the way into the trip we hit some big winds and it just popped right off. It was a total loss, and we had no way to take it with us, so we had to leave it on the side of the road.

On that trip, I decided that I was going to keep the Suburban because it's just a pleasure to drive. The steering is tight, the 350 runs great, everything is in order. On top of that, it gets all of the attention. People love this thing and I can't go anywhere without someone commenting on it, wanting to talk about it, or even taking pictures. I've owned some pretty interesting cars, but nothing got the kind of attention that my Suburban does.

Anyway, now that we're up to date, I keep contemplating doing some fairly non-invasive work on it and I'm wondering about others' experiences and maybe whether I should just leave it alone and enjoy it. I'm not looking to make it a show vehicle or anything like that, primarily I'm just interested in improving my experience of owning it by making the things that are not great better, such as the cracked dash and broken bezel, making changes that I think would look great, like lowering it a bit and putting 22s on it, and protecting it from the rust that wrecks cars here in Ohio.

Here's the list of things I'm considering and researching, modified based on previous input:

1. Dash replacement - I know some product are just pads and some are the full replacement. If I'm going to do it I'd like to know who has the best full replacement for the money.

2. Replacing gauge bezel - I could go new or used, who has the best new?

3. 22" 8 lug smoothies - best brand, price? Is Detroit Steel Wheels the only option?

4. Static lowering without affecting towing capacity - what brand and how low? OR an airbag solution that doesn't require major surgery, does it exist? This is a new realm for me.

5. Repaint or protect the existing paint? Repainting gets into some serious money. Other than the nearly complete lack of rust, the Forest Service Green paint is the best feature of this thing. So, even though I'd like to try and restore it, I'd rather just protect it like it is than screw it up.

6. Is there something I should be considering doing that's not on my list?

Thanks!

[LT7A]

This is a good place to tell us a little bit about how you ended up with the rig, why you got it. What you want to do with it, etc. That paint sure looks like it could be cleaned and preserved. I've been able to make 40-year-old paint look better than you'd expect. I actually only work on it by hand though, because it can be fragile. I use a lot of meguiar's stuff. I assume that it's single stage, no clear coat? I'd give it a good washing. Then use an iron fallout remover. Then clay bar it including glass and chrome. Then use Maguire's number 7 to soak into the paint itself. Then a light compound, a polish, and a wax. All by hand, and I go panel by panel. Takes me a couple/3 days on a rig that I haven't cleaned before. If it takes you more than a day, like me, then you'll want to rewash panels before you go to work on them. You don't want to start rubbing the fine dust into the paint. If you keep it indoors though, no need.

Originally Posted by LT7A

This is a good place to tell us a little bit about how you ended up with the rig, why you got it. What you want to do with it, etc. That paint sure looks like it could be cleaned and preserved. I've been able to make 40-year-old paint look better than you'd expect. I actually only work on it by hand though, because it can be fragile. I use a lot of meguiar's stuff. I assume that it's single stage, no clear coat? I'd give it a good washing. Then use an iron fallout remover. Then clay bar it including glass and chrome. Then use Maguire's number 7 to soak into the paint itself. Then a light compound, a polish, and a wax. All by hand, and I go panel by panel. Takes me a couple/3 days on a rig that I haven't cleaned before. If it takes you more than a day, like me, then you'll want to rewash panels before you go to work on them. You don't want to start rubbing the fine dust into the paint. If you keep it indoors though, no need.

Wow, that's quite a regimen for the paint. I down for it, though, I'd love to rescue this paint. I'm going to look further into this, thanks!

[BlueJeep]

Good story, and looks like a great suburban!

If you're looking for some subdued wheels, Detroit steel may be your best option. There are a ton of aluminum options for 8 lug, but most of them will not look good if you're keeping with a "classic" look. As for lowering it, your main hangup will be getting less than 6" easily. You might look into drop springs, as drop shackles that work for pickups interfere with the gas filler and floor on a suburban.

For keeping it rust free, your best solution is going to be to put it away in late November and then get it back out in March and drive a beater in the winter. That's what I do.

PS, I like the scout!

Originally Posted by BlueJeep

Good story, and looks like a great suburban!

If you're looking for some subdued wheels, Detroit steel may be your best option. There are a ton of aluminum options for 8 lug, but most of them will not look good if you're keeping with a "classic" look. As for lowering it, your main hangup will be getting less than 6" easily. You might look into drop springs, as drop shackles that work for pickups interfere with the gas filler and floor on a suburban.

For keeping it rust free, your best solution is going to be to put it away in late November and then get it back out in March and drive a beater in the winter. That's what I do.

PS, I like the scout!

Thanks, I like the little stable of vehicles you're building.

I don't want to go too low as this is my tow vehicle and I don't want to affect the towing capacity. I've seen 4/6 kits for the R2500 but not sure I can do that and keep the current tires on it.

As soon as the snow fell this last winter I parked it and didn't move it until everything had melted, and even then I washed the underside every time I drove it in case of salt left on the roads. So, I'm probably just going to end up doing what you do. I usually have at least two or three other cars to drive, though sometimes, like now, I have all of my other vehicles in the middle of some project. I have a Mercedes E500 4matic wagon that's usually my winter car, but a u-joint went out on the right front so it's been sitting until I can get around to replacing it.

[LT7A]

Interesting background story. Great idea to grab a car, clean it up, and sell it when you're done. I tried to do that when I was working out of town, once. 20 years later, and I still have that car. And I've spent multiple times my initial investment, ha. If you want to talk any more specifics about the paint or products, just let me know. I'm no expert, but I'm really happy with the results of paint on a couple of trucks that many others would have considered a repaint to be necessary. Fortunately, trucks look good even with some bumps and bruises. It does appear that your truck may have been repainted with a base coat / clear coat. If that's the case, to get it shiny again, you will need to go over the top of it with a clear coat. I think that green will look fine with a satin finish. To get that, in the regimen I lined out, I would skip the polish step and go from compounding to get rid of dead paint, to a cleaner-wax finish step. If the patches of remaining clear coat stand out as too shiny, you can take 1000 grit sandpaper and knock the shine down before waxing. I'm a huge fan of trying to preserve things and I do a lot of research in that direction. So I'll quit now before I exceed your interest by 10x, haha.

Originally Posted by LT7A

Interesting background story. Great idea to grab a car, clean it up, and sell it when you're done. I tried to do that when I was working out of town, once. 20 years later, and I still have that car. And I've spent multiple times my initial investment, ha. If you want to talk any more specifics about the paint or products, just let me know. I'm no expert, but I'm really happy with the results of paint on a couple of trucks that many others would have considered a repaint to be necessary. Fortunately, trucks look good even with some bumps and bruises. It does appear that your truck may have been repainted with a base coat / clear coat. If that's the case, to get it shiny again, you will need to go over the top of it with a clear coat. I think that green will look fine with a satin finish. To get that, in the regimen I lined out, I would skip the polish step and go from compounding to get rid of dead paint, to a cleaner-wax finish step. If the patches of remaining clear coat stand out as too shiny, you can take 1000 grit sandpaper and knock the shine down before waxing. I'm a huge fan of trying to preserve things and I do a lot of research in that direction. So I'll quit now before I exceed your interest by 10x, haha.

I don't believe it's been repainted, or at least I can't find any evidence of it. I've been considering a process like what you're talking about to restore and protect the original paint. You are definitely not exceeding my interest on this front because I'm very interested in saving the paint and doing my research to that end. I talked to one paint & body shop that does customs about it but they just wanted to paint the whole thing to the tune of $12k - $15k (including body work). I talked to a guy at another paint & body shop who only does collision and he told me I could give it a try, but I should be very careful with the original paint that lost clear coat as it would be pretty easy to sand right through it. I think what I'm going to do is clean the hell out of the paint and choose a test spot, probably on one of the barn doors, to see if I can sand the peeling down on the spots that have lost clear coat, rough it up, then get some clear to stick. I have a compressor and small gravity feed sprayer that I think would be acceptable for the job, but I'm not very experienced in the paint department so I'm just trying to make educated guesses.

Here's a picture of a pretty cool forest service green 'burban that's kind of inspiring to me, though it's 4wd, so in some ways going in the opposite direction. Even so, I'm really tempted to shoot for making the squarebody version of this.

[MalibuSSwagon]

drop spindles and a shackle/hanger kit for the rear would drop the truck nicely without affecting suspension geometry/load carrying at all.

Originally Posted by MalibuSSwagon

drop spindles and a shackle/hanger kit for the rear would drop the truck nicely without affecting suspension geometry/load carrying at all.

This kit from Western Chassis looks decent, too bad the 3"/5" is the most expensive. I don't think I'd want to go 6"/8", which appears to require flipping the springs as I've heard that can negatively affect load carrying.

https://westernchassis.com/Chevy-GMC...-Lowering-Kit/

[The Ohioian]

Personally I think you might have landed in one of the coolest towns in Ohio, Definitely the best in Greene County. One of the things I've found as I brought western trucks east some seem to have seasoned with a thick surface rust these tend to fair better but those came from high desert. I buy the cheapest car I can find throw some cheap snow tires on it and drive that until spring. that brine will melt your truck into the asphalt before you can burn the tires off. Spray auto trans fluid all over the chassis works pretty good.

The forest service Green says I've been there and I would keep it. its cool with a hint of tree hugger; "kind of like a yellow vitamin of the B complex which is essential for metabolic energy production"

I had a 77 baby blue burb, (like the one Chevy shot up the Ohio state patrol in and made a get away). I lowered it with bell tech spindles and a set of shackles it rode great and I towed my camper with it. the shackles rubbed the fuel fill hose and I had trouble finding a replacement. I would plan on replacing the filler rubber once the new was there it was flexible enough to take the abuse from the shackle. I think a weight distribution hitch would improve the safety of the lower tow vehicle.

sweet truck if I see you on 68 ill be waving like a guy from Wyoming.

Originally Posted by The Ohioian

Personally I think you might have landed in one of the coolest towns in Ohio, Definitely the best in Greene County. One of the things I've found as I brought western trucks east some seem to have seasoned with a thick surface rust these tend to fair better but those came from high desert. I buy the cheapest car I can find throw some cheap snow tires on it and drive that until spring. that brine will melt your truck into the asphalt before you can burn the tires off. Spray auto trans fluid all over the chassis works pretty good.

The forest service Green says I've been there and I would keep it. its cool with a hint of tree hugger; "kind of like a yellow vitamin of the B complex which is essential for metabolic energy production"

I had a 77 baby blue burb, (like the one Chevy shot up the Ohio state patrol in and made a get away). I lowered it with bell tech spindles and a set of shackles it rode great and I towed my camper with it. the shackles rubbed the fuel fill hose and I had trouble finding a replacement. I would plan on replacing the filler rubber once the new was there it was flexible enough to take the abuse from the shackle. I think a weight distribution hitch would improve the safety of the lower tow vehicle.

sweet truck if I see you on 68 ill be waving like a guy from Wyoming.

Hey neighbor! Yeah, I think we got pretty lucky when we chose Yellow Springs as our new home. The Suburban seems to have become a thing around town, too. It kind of fits in here, with that "hint of tree hugger" you mentioned, and draws a lot of attention and comments.

How much did you lower it front and rear? Thanks for the info on the fuel filler and advice on the hitch.

I always have half a dozen vehicles in my garage or driveway, so no lack of something to drive to keep the Suburban off the road in the winter. Unfortunately, I just made a deal to buy a '74 Porsche 914 that'll be taking up room in the garage next to the Scout, so now I'll have another vehicle I can't drive in the winter.

I look forward to seeing your hand flailing about as I drive by. If you're in town and see me, don't hesitate to stop me say hi.