What a ride!

[HSRACER]

So I sepnt most of the last week on a new adventure. I purchased a 1969 suburban from a great guy in Chattanoga TN. Interestingly I watched it being built by Scott Story (Tina, a patinaed suburban build thread) and was negotiating with Scott last July to buy it. Before I could make my decision it was bought and I was out of luck.

Some time in Feb I contacted Scott to see if he had the info on who had bought it and if I could find the new owner, I would try to buy it. When I called I was told that a new 76 mm turbo was now on the 5.3 LS and it was not going to be for sale. Bummed I asked the owner to keep my number.

4 days later a text came in asking if I was serious and would I like to purchase her. We agreed on a price, I wired the money, and waited patiently to get it shipped. My need to have it in the garage got the best of me and I was determined to go get it with my trailer.

Jon the new owner said don't waste your time with a truck and trailer, fly up and drive her home. He volunteered to meet me and send me on my way. Monday morning started early at 4am to board the plane from Houston to Atlanta then catch the shuttle bus to Chattanoga.

It was sitting in the parking lot at the bus stop and after a brief overview I hit the road for the 3 day trip back home. No spare, no tools, no parts, no cares in the whole world at that point.

I went downtown Chattanoga to get some lunch and stumbled into honest charley garage that is owned by Corky Coker of Coker tire fame. You have got to go there if you ever get a chance. He has a museum on site with some incredible motorcycles and cars!

4 hours later and a couple hundred miles under the wheels I arrived at my friends house for the night. The original plan was to pick up the truck at the owners shop but he did me a favor buy bringing it to the bus stop. The problem with that was I didn't check any thing out before driving off into the sunset.

So the next morning I did the once over and found the tires all at 22 pounds, 1 quart low on oil and the radiator down about 3 inches. We filled everything and I hit the road again. Truck had a pretty hard pull to the left and would occasionally come out of overdrive and rev to high. I determined that if you pulled up the brake pedal she would go right back into od. Need to adjust the stop,switch when I get home. I made it into New Orleans and had a friend do the quick check on the driveway to find my camber was way out and they had no shims at his location.

I called another friend that night and he said bring her to his shop in the morning. So I stayed with another friend in New Orleans and had to eat some great Cajun food!

Next morning we adjust the camber and she now drives like a dream. At 75 mph she is taching 1900 rpm and purring like a kitten. You have got to love a LS engine. Oh buy the way at the low setting of 7 pounds boost that big tank is a rocket ship with the tremendous torque and a 3.08 gear!

6 hours later I hit Houston traffic at 5:15 pm and did a stop and go dance for the next 2 hours. Not a great way to end a fantastic trip but I was happy to be that close to home and no overheating issues arose.

As all of us do, the next few days were spent looking it over in great detail and making it your own. I bought this for my wife and the smile on her face when she saw it was priceless but the cat that ate the canary look when she hit the throttle was over the top!

Wow, what a ride!