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)

[vectorit]

Welcome to the best place on the net for classic Suburbans!

I have nothing to say about Cadillac retrofits, but there are a few guys on here that run Cad mills in their rig. Sooner or later they will chime in.

Don't snicker too much about those purists, since they can share a lot of useful information.

[jbclassix]

Welcome to the board! I cant say too much about the cad either, but there is an amazing aftermarket backing for these trucks to put the rockers through the pavement. Here is just one LINK TO A SWEET BUILD that may inspire you! They are all over this board! We would all love to see some pictures too!

[kuzano]

Originally Posted by vectorit

Welcome to the best place on the net for classic Suburbans!

I have nothing to say about Cadillac retrofits, but there are a few guys on here that run Cad mills in their rig. Sooner or later they will chime in.

Don't snicker too much about those purists, since they can share a lot of useful information.

Don't take me wrong on the purists. It's sometimes a greater amount of work to run down proper parts, and the ends to which purist go are often extreme. My only issue is when they (and they do) make too much out of mods and rodding. There are some rigs which should be preserved and brought back to original state. Then there are vehicles which won't affect the market much if they are modified. Some may complain about the scarcity of these 3 door suburbans, but I see plenty of them out there in the market in all stages of disrepair and restorations.

It will take all the purists AND all the rodders we can find to put them back on the road.

In fact, one thing I will not do, is cut and hack a good body in case someone wants to put it back to stock. If I do end up putting it on a Cad Chassis, it will be by creation of adaptors that the body will bolt onto. I will not cut the body or front clip.

[bruin_d]

My opinion is always you own it, do whatever the heck you want to it. I like the "purists" mind set but also like the "custom/think outside the box" group as well. If you look at my build you can probably figure out which side of the fence I fall on...
I say do it. I don't know if its been done yet or not but if it hasn't, that's even more of a reason to do it.

[AzDon]

The Cad Chassis is gonna be heavy and ugly compared to the stock frame, and not really offer any improvement in ride, handling, and geometry. AND... fitting it properly is gonna be a real challenge and eat up currently available space under the burb that you'll need for under-car systems, like exhaust!
You can do whatever you choose, but this idea sounds to me like re-inventing the wheel without getting any real return on investment!

[71swb4x4]

It might work without a hitch. But, chances are you will need a few extra body mounts here and there and pretty soon your caddy frame will actually limit how low you can go. I think you will get it lower with a burb frame. I have no experience, it just seems to make sense that you will get it lower with a frame that was designed for that body.

[AzDon]

The stock chassis is rugged, but as minimal as possible at the same time and was specifically designed by GM engineers to fit the body and be easily serviceable. You MIGHT get the cad chassis to fit under there, but you will give up precious under-body space that will limit what can be done under there. Besides wheelbase, you need to also take careful track-width measurements also!
If you do this, show us lots of pictures!