How much custom work to put a 64 Suburban body on an 89 Suburban chassis?

[Chuck78]

After going to this old yard to cut some parts off of two 72 Camaros, and dig up a few other things including 9 leaf springs for my 89 Suburban, I have since fallen in love with this purple 64 Suburban body that's there... Man that is one hot ride. Body needs less work than my 89 does, and has some serious style. Not sure how rusty the frame may be, as it's buried in weeds and it didn't quite strike me the same until after going to a ratt rod show immediately afterwards. The engine is a 6 banger that has problems. That would be so great if I could keep my chassis and running gear/drivetrain all together and just clean up the frame, and swap this whole body on. That way I could just worry about things like steering columns, things that attach to the firewall, splicing wiring harnesses together, and instrumentation... It'd be awesome to have more modern suspension and brakes and a solid chassis with a fuel injected 350 and 4 speed automatic, but the killer style of a 64 Suburban body... Man that is a killer ride!

This is seriously all I can think about today.... I become obsessive very easily.

Anyone have any clue as to how easily the 64 body would drop onto my 89 chassis? The bodies 72 or 73 all the way up to 90 Suburbans were almost identical... I know there is a generation gap there (60-66/67-72/73-90) in the Suburban family, but maybe, just maybe!
I wonder if the chassis profile and body mounting stayed fairly similar... as well as the wheelbase. if not, I am good with a welder, cutting tools, and scrap metal! Just want to know how feasible this would be.... Would like to keep all running gear from the 89, not sure how inferior the 64 front suspension would be to the 89.

HELP!!!!! As if I didn't have enough projects to bury me... Now my thought train is "hurry to get the 71 RS/SS Camaro done so I have something to drive while working in the Suburbans!" Before it was "hurry and do some bodywork to the Suburban before the Camaro comes apart in the garage for quite some time..."

HELP!

[Chuck78]

I guess if there was a big difference in the wheelbase, how feasible is it to put at least the braking system (mainly my front discs as the rear drums would be simple) onto the 64 chassis?

Any idea on wheelbase, or know where I can look to find the 60-66 specs?????

[ben@speedbarn]

That sounds like an awesome project. I don't know how feasable that would be. The first thing I would do is measure the wheelbase on each and see how close it is.

[bodydropped]

u can put the frt clip off the 90 burb on the older one ive seen it done

[Chuck78]

front clip? meaning sheetmetal, or are you talking about the whole suspension setup? I really would want the modern brakes and steering, as I would have to get rid of my 89 Suburban, which aside from being nearly limousine length, drives really really well even with 240,000 miles (been kept up really well).

Is there much of a difference in the A-arms and mounting points/geometry between a 60-66 and a 73-87/91? Will a disc brake spindle just swap right in? And the steering box? I don't want the 24.0:1 manual steering, I want a nice driver.

How well does the coil spring rear suspension work for heavy duty hauling and towing vs a leaf spring setup for a 3/4 ton? Is it unheard of to swap in leafs onto the old chassis?

[Tx Firefighter]

I have a 64 Suburban. It is way way shorter than a newer Suburban. The wheelbase isn't even close.

Just build it with your Suburban donor. There are very few mchanical differences between the 64 and the 67-72 trucks, and this site is full of 67-72 info.

The whole front suspension and steering off your Suburban will bolt onto the earlier truck. That's what the other guy was talking about.

[67_C-30]

Originally Posted by Chuck78

How well does the coil spring rear suspension work for heavy duty hauling and towing vs a leaf spring setup for a 3/4 ton? Is it unheard of to swap in leafs onto the old chassis?

Even though its an old truck, the suspension design in those days were not much different than your 'Burb. Power steering and power brakesare pretty much bolt from a donor truck like your '89.

You could get 3/4T coil springs (still available at Advance, NAPA, etc.). It is possible to drill holes your frame and mount the leafs, but its really not neccessary with good 3/4 coil springs.

As far as steering columns go, you can put a Chevy van column (tilt or std) in it since the key switch is on the dash.