So, the 73 didn't work out as planned

[88Burby]

If any of you recall, I had posted recently asking for help to get my 73 started to bring her home.

I ended up making my own remote ignition switch and fired her up and drove her home. On the way home, I found out how screwed up the damn thing was. I found this out by a rod snapping, flying through the pan and my motor grenading from the inside out. So much for a Rebuilt 383 Stroker huh? Made me mad, I was doing 65 cruising. It would have been closer to worth it if I would have gotten the chance to play with it a little more.

So heres where I stand. A broken 73 K20, and a broken 88 K20 suburban. Suburban has been junked at the DMV, and I'm selling for parts. The 73, Is being picked up tonight from me for 450 bucks, I paid 1300. Nice huh? I'm tired of buying something that dies like it has a death wish, and I'm looking to get into a real keeper.

Heres my issue.

6'11, 320 pounds, size 19 shoe, I just dont fit! (I had deep buckets in the 73 to fit and even then I barely made it), I refuse to purchase another 4x4 with an IFS in the front (horrible experiences with a 91 chevy half ton) So 73-87 body style is of course my best choice. I kept buying the 87-88 suburban's because I fit well, I loved the way they drive, And not only do I drive me and my girl around, but I also drive her son around as well. But now that I've just been through my second 3/4 ton suburban (who'd a thought it, both times the TBI 350 was the weak link) so now im trying to decide, what do I do now. Do I purchase a 87-91 K30 Crew Cab with a Fuel injected big block, and Build the motor to not be a weak link? (keep in mind both my suburbans 350's were rock solid motors, and died suspiciously when they shouldnt, with full clean fresh oil), Or should I search for a Single cab to go back to my old favorite truck (my 83 K20 Long bed) and just find some good buckets to allow me the room I need (with a tilt wheel of course)? I'd go purchase a newer dodge, but my family and girlfriend would disown me (what can I say, I fit where I fit.) Or do I go find me a K5 for room and the half ton fun? (I laugh at that, any K5 I get my hands on will have a D60 up front and FF in the rear ASAP) I'm just not sure, but I have to maintain my fuel injection habbit so I can ACTUALLY afford to use my truck for what I build it for AND pay rent. I could use some advice here, guys. Seating Idea's incase I go with single cab, upgrades to ensure that I do not destroy another motor cruising at 60 on the high way. Let me know your opinions. Thanks Guys!

[glenns89]

well if you like the suburban then I would get another one. If not then go to the crew cab because it is like the fornt of a suburban and 1 ton. After that I would go to a K5 because it is like a short bed pickup and you can 1ton swap it. I love my 1ton K5 I am only 6'5" with a 16 shoe though. I fit easily though. In my opinion, the standard cab is to cramped. For wheelin and driving, I would do another K5 in a heartbeat. They go anywhere a fullsize will fit, they drive great, and they hold up to alot of abuse(when modified)

[88Burby]

Yeah, I know what you mean, I just honestly miss having a bed, i think im a little burt out on the suburbans for right now. haha, i know what you mean, I can barely fit in the standard cabs as it is. 1 ton k5's are awesome trucks, my buddy is in the middle of a build on a 79 with 1 tons. Truck sits on 40's and spins em like theyre nothin, even with the rebuilt 350 in there. Actually a few weeks ago I had seen a very nice custom job, it was a k5 half cab but the body was chopped and a long bed was welded in, it was on a long bed chassis, according to him he cut it and it fit perfectly. Welded it in, laid the floor board and called it good. It came out looking like a CJ Scrambler from hell. Amazing 1 ton truck. If I could pull that together I'd love to do it.

[trkklr77]

wtf, why dont you show a little commitment to the vehicle you own instead of just trashing them as soon as something fails?


so what you blew the motor, how its that stopping you from building or buying a 383? obviously you wont be building it yourself because you cant even figure out ignition and had "mysterious" motor failures in the past, buy yourself a new motor and put it in.

you wont lose any money on the truck if if you just fucking fix it.

[88Burby]

When I work on a truck I usually do it myself. The first suburban I put a brand new crate motor in it, and It died at 5,000 miles. It wasnt operator error, I had an excellant track record with my trucks up until that point. Thats when everything I bought Died. The first suburban had already eaten the original motor and then the Brand new crate motor, which also threw a rod. The company wouldnt honor the warranty, they said there was no oil in the motor, which is bullshit, I keep excellant care of my trucks. That truck had just been bad luck, so I got rid of it (it had 383,000 miles on her already, didnt feel like waiting for something else to break) I drove my girlfriends truck for a few months, and then I found my 88 for a grand, but the body was not saveable. So when I threw the rod on this I already Knew I wasnt going to be able to put more money into this one. The 73 motor died, and After I discovered alot of other issues, and I dont feel like dealing with it. So I'm cutting my losses and getting rid of it. I do have the ability and knowledge to maintain a truck for long periods of time, I've just bad luck in the past year. Moneys and Issue, and I'm not going to put it into something that isnt worth fixing. I kept the Transmission and Transfer case out of the 73 as well as the rear end (was a FF, front end was the stock D44) Guys taking it for an offroad only truck project. The thing was a rust bucket and Not worth saving. Im not a COMPLETE Amateur. Give me a little credit. As for the suburban the roof was rotted threw all the way down the length of the cab.

[KWTMECH]

Buy my 1990 'burb. 1/2 ton converted to 3/4 with 4.56 gears, trailer package with dual batteries, on board air. Fully loaded silverado. Asking 4,200

[88Burby]

Hm. Im interested. Any pictures? full run down of work done to it?

[KWTMECH]

Can send some pics when I get home, where you located?



couple of quick things, replace the a/c compressor, receiver-drier last january and upgraded to 134a, recenly replaced the front rotors, pads and calipers, rebuilt and resealed the t-case (241), Year and a half ago rebuilt the trans. ................

[KWTMECH]

PM'd ya some pics------------ooops can't do that, here they are

[fister13]

You need to keep one truck and built it as it breaks. Other wise you gonna keep getting a turd.. You should take a guy car shopping with you.. Your like a girl car shopping, you'll buy anything...

[noface]

You Your like a girl car shopping, you'll buy anything...

:lmao:

fuckin aye...

[LegendKiller89]

You need to keep one truck and built it as it breaks. Other wise you gonna keep getting a turd.. You should take a guy car shopping with you.. Your like a girl car shopping, you'll buy anything...
Fuckin' ay man, so true.

[88Burby]

Ha. I know what I'm doing when it comes to purchasing a vehicle. But if I can get a truck that needs a small amount of work that I can do cheap and I can see the potential in the truck, I'll buy it, for the right price, if I have the cash. Both these trucks are gone now. The suburban is being stripped down, axles are going on a 74 k5 at my work, and the transfercase and trans are going to my buddies 75 k30. All my vehicles have potential. But everything seems to go wrong at the wrong time. The 73 I sold it for what I paid, so atleast I got my money back.

I know Im not a genius in the area. But im shopping for a solid build. Thinking of pickin up a cucv, guys askin 2300 for it, beautiful truck. Though I hate the 6.2's.

[Gutter Runner]

Dont buy it....

You may have to swap a motor.

:flipoff2:

[Overdosed]

I would talk shit but...



Heres my issue.

6'11, 320 pounds, size 19 shoe, I just dont fit!!

In all reality dude yeah stop scrapn shit. My truck had sat for 8 years on some dusty snowy plain next to a rusted ass storage container. Mice had built a home in the radiator and the carb/intake manifold had housed qual for a few seasons. The front diff cover might have had some lube in it at one time, but when I pulled it out lakewater came out instead. My transfer case looks like a twizzler. all that and a redneck 9000 lift kit was installed in the front. Double stacked blocks FTL. Brakes are fucked all the hoses are cracked, plug wires toast.... ECT ECT ECT.

They are all money pits, you will not buy some thing from the 70s and have it run like a new car.

Later,
OD

[frikenwoodro]

I would talk shit but...




In all reality dude yeah stop scrapn shit. My truck had sat for 8 years on some dusty snowy plain next to a rusted ass storage container. Mice had built a home in the radiator and the carb/intake manifold had housed qual for a few seasons. The front diff cover might have had some lube in it at one time, but when I pulled it out lakewater came out instead. My transfer case looks like a twizzler. all that and a redneck 9000 lift kit was installed in the front. Double stacked blocks FTL. Brakes are fucked all the hoses are cracked, plug wires toast.... ECT ECT ECT.

They are all money pits, you will not buy some thing from the 70s and have it run like a new car.

Later,
OD


I 2x this as mine didn't make poor animals a nice house... it was in bad shape. Aint much to look at now but it has come along way why you ask? Cuz I didn't give up when I had no motor no trans front clip or bed sitting on jack stands now it runs and drives. For the record motors will work better and last longer if there is oil in it.:flipoff2:

[frikenwoodro]

a redneck 9000 lift kit was installed in the front. Double stacked blocks

:lmao::lmao::lmao:

[Filthy McChevy]

Any old Chevy or Gmc can be made reliable. Tbi is not that great of a criterion for picking one, and I swap out 203 transfercases for 205s. Other than that it's price and condition and a lot of time consuming work. You can swap in a car steering wheel for a little more driver space too.

[GMCTruxrule]

So anyway, a size 19 shoe????

Judas Priest on a fucking bicycle.

Well, I fail to see a connection between size 19 shoes and throwing the truck away, but there are tons of junkyard motors and good salvageable engines all over the internet that you could either buy and build, or run until you get something better built for it.

Even the POS I drive holds a sentimental value. I wouldn't sell it even if someone paid me $20,000 for it. (maybe $21,000:evil:)

[carlw]

who the hell wants to drive and work on all the time a old beat out suburban,what i nasty old pice of shit.a old bombed out general motors product like that will nickle and dime you to death,it will allways be something.and the shitty headliner and the door locks,door handels,steering collum,the window cranks,every damn thing falling off and apart all the time.old ass running gear ,,just a tired old cheaply built piece of shit that needs allot of work and looks like shit,,,,who the hell wants that for a dayly driver.

get your self a nice used excursion if you like them big tanks,its the biggest and the best looking and in modern and tough.or a superduty.there both huge inside and have solid axles and teh prices of them are good for 2000 year trucks,and those early year trucks have the best engine,there is not much even a chevy guy can say is bad about a 7.3 superduty or excursion.

a over grown ,monster like you should be driving one of the two.

i have had one for the last couple years now and its the best damn truck i have ever had.

[frikenwoodro]

Or just buy a honda from the dealer ship(with warentte)yea i spelled it wrong to many shots of jack!:D and quit the dam crying cuz your too dumb to keep any vehicle you buy and sell running

[Grumpy_old_fart]

buy KWTMECH's burb.

I have seen it, its a nice one. he drove it up to pick up an adapter a couple years ago.

edit:

oh, yeah... crush frickenwoodro's skull for us, will you?

[coreylee051188]

if i was u, big man, id yank the tilt column for sure just in case u end up in another older year model

[frikenwoodro]

oh, yeah... crush frickenwoodro's skull for us, will you?

Why the hostility still?:(

[88Burby]

I know, but the issue isnt finding something I fit in right now. Its just plain money. I barely make any money after rent and bills. Rough patch I should say. Its not that I dont want to fix them, trust me I do. I love my suburban more than I can admit. But Its not worth fixing. Too many issues, not enough cash flow. Every dime I make after bills I have to share with the girlfriend. She doesnt want me buying another truck, but no way in hell am I buying a mini van. I might start making payments on a 75 K5. Fully done up, just needs the interior finished and needs a top, but I can find a decent top for it easily.

Lol, I have the mechanical ability. Just not the money to fund it.

As for excursions, my mom had an excursion. It was a decent truck. Somethin about it I didn't quite like however. Maybe it was that Im not a fan of newer vehicles, or Im not an exact fan of super duties/excursions in general. If I had the money, sure, Id buy one. But That wont be for quite some time.

I take it that this guy is rude to other people, not just me?

[just4cuz]

A lifestyle change, minus girlfriend, may be in order for you to pursue your truck happiness.

[trkklr77]

you broke even on the 73 no money lost, you had the burb so no money lost, in fact you should be up a couple of hundred bucks from scraping.


if you would commit to one vehicle you wouldnt keep winding up with peices of shit.

making payments on a k5?????????? wtf do you need an interior for? besides a seat and dash and youre good to go.


you simply are playing internet big guy super wrench but you obviously have no vehicle common sence, no wrench ability and are being leeched on by you female/mom.

as for being 6'11", 320lbs, and 19 shoes, i have seen 17 in person. you dont need flippers when you dive. 320 aint camarogenius fat, hell i bet you not any bigger around than i am [44" @ 6'2" 265] and i fit just fine.

fwiw you can shorten your seat hight by 2" in a pickup and thats without moding the floor.

[GMGuy]

So what was wrong with the '73 besides a blown engine? I'll assume body was good or you'd have passed over it. Park it, and work on it. Get a turnkey STOCK 350 from a local rebuilder if you don't want a used (stock) engine and drive it appropriately--don't drive the piss out of it. All you need it to do while you gather parts 'n peices is for it to run and stop properly. Everything else can wait until you can get what you want with enough of a slush fund to cover incidentals. Missing trim? Who cares. Cracked vinyl? Who cares. Rusty bumper? Who cares. etc. Those kinds of thing you can take care of with junkyard parts for next to nothing whenever the mood strikes you. An old GM truck has got to be one of the most economical and easy to repair vehicles on the road, makes no sense to junk 'em for stupid shit like a blown engine. I'd kill to get my hands on a good condition '73 body for only 1400 bucks. No engine? Big deal. Thats easy to remedy, I can probably scare one up from somebody who has one sitting in a shed.

I'll probably regret asking this, but why did you scrap the burb? And how did you manage to grenade its motor? (I see a trend here...)

Alex.

[Overdosed]

blah blah im a fuckingmoron har har har blah ....or a superduty.,blah blah more bullshit blah balhahaha,....there is not much even a chevy guy can say is bad about a 7.3 superduty or excursion.

a over grown ,monster like you should be driving one of the two.

i have had one for the last couple years now and its the best damn truck i have ever had.

Horse pussy, I can say a lot about the excursions and superduty, lets start with the tranny. Not to mention nickle and diming you to death at the pumps. FORDs suck, piss off go crawl back to your densly populated (avg 3 people) ford forum where they bitch about big speed bumps at the malls. :flipoff::mad3:

[trkklr77]

there is not much i can say about the 7.3 stroke, ford on the other hand........ i have have lots to say about.

[88Burby]

Im not tryin to say im fuckin ASE certified or anything, But I DO know a good amount, alot more than most people I Know. I get ragged on for my pos trucks. Im dirt poor. I cant afford to not have transportation. Right now im in an 85 K5 loaner. I did the full tune up earlier this week and its doin alright. I got about 450 for the suburban at the scrap yard (but thats because I packed a SHIT load of scrap and old blown motors and transmissions into it to make weight, the local going rate for scrap right now is only 57.00 a ton. I sold the axles off it to a friend who put them on his k5 (he put his stock axles onto it to get it to the scrap yard.) Hes giving me what he can afford each week until we hit 400, so far we're at 150 bucks, about 50 tomorrow. The 73 needed a LOT of work, I only bought it because It ran good (which turned out to be deceiving) I know enough to know that that truck was not worth me fixing. Im not about to go buy a damn junk yard motor, they dont test them before they pull them. All my decisions are based on experience. Yeah, theres a trend of my motors dying, but what can I possibly do when I take every precaution. checked oil regularly, kept up with maintaining the vehicle (except the 73 didnt really give me a chance) when a cluster fuck of things go wrong and I DONT HAVE THE MONEY TO FIX IT, the right way OR the cheap temp way. I dont redline my shit, I dont hammer my shit, and I DONT slack off when it comes to the motor. When a motor decides to go, it goes, and I just happen to have horrible luck with picking the ones that decide to go. When I get my check tomorrow Im picking up a new truck, and Im hoping this will be the lucky one. Its an 89 chevy "heavy halfer" single cab long bed (i know I swore against IFS, but a friend is cutting me a wicked deal due to the tie rod snapping on the test drive and him not knowing how to fix it) its a decent truck with the NV4500 with granny low. This one is getting all the necessary work before I start driving her around. Gona replace the tie rod set up, fluid change plug wire cab and rotar and clean her in and out. Burns a tiny bit of oil, but only a quart every month or so. Nice powerful truck. Just needs the small TLC and its getting it before I start using her for anything besides running to grab food or smokes.

The girlfriend only gets my cash because she has a kid, trust me, If she didnt have her son, she wouldnt get jack shit besides dinner and a few extra bucks if she needs it. You are right though it would help if she wasnt around. Im not even allowed to have a CORNER in the garage with my tools. I have my floor jack and jack stands next to the water heater, and my tool boxes are in the RV. She parks her car in there and the rest of the space is her art crap that she doesnt use or look at and old toys and close and shit her son grew out of. Its rediculous.

Some of you are kinder, some arent so much. Just remember, theres a fine line between idiocy and bad luck.

[88Burby]

So what was wrong with the '73 besides a blown engine? I'll assume body was good or you'd have passed over it. Park it, and work on it. Get a turnkey STOCK 350 from a local rebuilder if you don't want a used (stock) engine and drive it appropriately--don't drive the piss out of it. All you need it to do while you gather parts 'n peices is for it to run and stop properly. Everything else can wait until you can get what you want with enough of a slush fund to cover incidentals. Missing trim? Who cares. Cracked vinyl? Who cares. Rusty bumper? Who cares. etc. Those kinds of thing you can take care of with junkyard parts for next to nothing whenever the mood strikes you. An old GM truck has got to be one of the most economical and easy to repair vehicles on the road, makes no sense to junk 'em for stupid shit like a blown engine. I'd kill to get my hands on a good condition '73 body for only 1400 bucks. No engine? Big deal. Thats easy to remedy, I can probably scare one up from somebody who has one sitting in a shed.

I'll probably regret asking this, but why did you scrap the burb? And how did you manage to grenade its motor? (I see a trend here...)


Alex.

The suburban was scrapped because it had more bondo (uneven not completed cracked) then it did sheet metal, it needed a complete tear down to make it safe and reliable, I knew it was going to have problems, but I some how pictured the trans dying or a ring gear being blown, not the motor chewing it self up and seizing. Again, If I had money, Ida fixed it instead of scrapping it. Needed brakes soon, steering was shot (worked but not well) cracked gas tank, leaking everything, dash was shot as well, and other various crap. I would much wrather put my time and energy into the 73. Building an offroad only truck I would have kept them both. But needing a daily driver asap kept me from doing so. I spent the money i made off the 73 on my rent and electric and water bills, Right now I have 600 all together in the bank, gona pull 500 out from that and take 500 from my check and pick up the 89, I have the k5 for now to get me to work and back while I take the time to bring the 89 back to good operating condition. The guy Im gettin her from knows motors, not the rest of the shit. The truck impresses me alot. It was a stroke of luck the tie rod snapped, saved me some serious cash. :flipoff2:

If this motor does die on me, Im GOING to replace it. I am NOT up for getting rid of another truck. He drives it every day and he has been for about a year. Its a close friend so I know whats been done to the truck and what it needs. Dont doubt my ability to maintain a vehicle, even if Im new here.

Atleast Im not talking shit to you guys even when your rude to me. :D

[goatnard]

Hey, I know about big guys. I was squad leader in an Engineer platoon in Iraq. I had a moose of a guy in my squad, 6'-9" 325. We called him BigRig. He is a big ol' fucker. He rebuilds earthmover trannies for the government. When he was gunner in a hummvee, he filled up the ring gear hole enough, the A/C actually worked!!
I've had an old dodge 1/2 ton shortbed for a while, been thru people talking shit, the dern thing not running, leaving me stranded, etc. But....I never gave up on it. Like these other guys said,.. stay loyal to one truck, get stuff in trade when you don't have money, and get rid of a girl that doesn't respect you or your wants and needs.

[88Burby]

Yeah, I have my winner. Shes ugly but damn is she perfect. Im commited to this one, the motor was rebuilt recently, the trans lags a tad but if it decides to die on me I got a spare of the same trans. So Im not worried. For those of you actually interested to see the new hoopty-hillbilly deluxe truck go ahead and drop me a line.