slantflat

Hey everyone I have found that owning two Suburbans is really one too many.

Suburban #2 is an 83 Silverado 454 automatic which serves as the current tow vehicle. Very heavy duty and a decent rig.

Suburban #1 is a 79 Custom Deluxe 350 4speed 4WD. It was the tow vehicle 12 years ago and has been sitting ever since a catastrophic rear end failure.

The issue is what to do with #1. In its day it ran like a champ, the 4speed was a ball to drive in something that big. It actually got decent mileage. One day while on the expressway all the oil came out of the rear end and it made a terrible noise. It got parked.

The truck has been sitting so long it needs everything. I have a new axle that is ready to be rebuilt.

I'm asking opinions from you guys as to what I should do, fix excellent tow vehicle #1 and sell #2, or part #1 and keep #2, which is also a good tow vehicle.

If parting #1, I'll keep the engine/trans/xfer case/axles. The trans is a big Muncie top loader 3+1. Would it be feasible to just strip the old body off and keep the frame? Don't know what I'd do with the frame since part of this excercise is freeing up some room, but I don't want to just discard a vehicle if it has some value to it.

So what say ye? Thoughts on big block vs 350, auto vs 4speed, etc. I reviewed crzyjef's similar topic of a few weeks ago. Jeff what did you ever do?

Thanks everyone.


Mike

J-(Chicago)

I'd give someone a good deal on the whole 79 truck, if they were willing to fix it.

They remake almost everything for these trucks nowadays, and they are loved by many.

So...you don't have to dismantle your other one. If you ever need something, it will most likely be available in any 4x4 magazine.

If you destroy one, there will be one less cool American, even if it's a wimpy small block truck.

Hop on the Chevy truck forums and find the right guy. Craigslist will just get you scrappers.