Rethinking my plans... What's your opinion?

[bagged91]

When I joined this board, I had just purchased a 71 C10 burb from a local wrecking yard and I planned on restoring it. The truck was very solid but had some parts sold off of it before I could pick it up. No biggie. Motor was trashed (307, 3 spd) I have a good running 454/T400 that I planned on putting in it. After reading up on some stuff on the board, I decided to purchase a complete 72 C20 Burb with a 402/T400 in it for the parts that I needed to install the 454 in the 71.

I also have a 72 C10 Burb that I got from boardmember "Cheesewagon". It is a running, driving truck(I use it everyday) but the "metal mites" have taken their toll on the body pretty bad. I have the tools, the talent most of the parts and some of the patience to fix the body. I am putting a 67 front clip on it, shaving the rear side markers & the gas cap for a Caravan gas door. I will be bagging it(mild) but I want to keep the interior stock and have it look stock under the hood.

Now, my question is: Am I being stupid or what?

Why in the world would I take an unmolested 71 Burb and make a morphodite 71/72 burb(using front & rear A/C, 72 BB mounts, ect...) and make a morphodite 72 burb also(with a 67 clip). I have been thinking about it and I asked myself, Why don't you just put the 71 back together(stock, restored) and use the 72 C20 burb as the donor truck for the 72 C10 burb. Put the BB, A/C, ect... in that. It will be a pieced together truck anyway, right?

Am I on the right track now?

Thanks... Joe

[Brainchild]

Sounds like you need a couple of more trucks to really confuse things for ya.

Restore the 71,modify the 72.amd use the donor truck as a work truck,since that's what it is in reality now.

[bagged91]

I forgot to mention that I have the original sales order for the 71 Burb too.

The 72 C20 Burb "donor truck" is rotted beyond repair(whole drivers side of cowl where hinges bolt on is literally rotted off the truck).

Perhaps I should have reworded it... My new idea calls for:

#1) Restoring the 71' Burb back to original, stock with all original options it came with.

#2) Resto-Rod the 72' Burb and add on the BB, A/C, 67 front clip, ect...

#3) Junk the remaining hulk from the donor burb.

[Palf70Step]

Definitely restore the 71. The 72 sounds like a perfect canidate for you experimental burb.

[Hart_Rod]

"Definitely restore the 71. The 72 sounds like a perfect canidate for you experimental burb."

DITTO

Bill, nice web site.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

"Definitely restore the 71. The 72 sounds like a perfect canidate for you experimental burb."

I have to agree here..

[ghetocrewzer]

Cut that hoe up man

[Cheesewagon]

Hey Joe if my old burb is confusing you, just sale it back to me. That way it's less confusing to you, and easier to deal with your other burb, I'm just kidding with you man. The idea of the '67 frontend was one that I thought of when I frist bought the old girl. Later the cheesewagon.

[bagged91]

Thanks guys... I think we all agree on this. Tom, all I can say is, you aren't gonna believe what the ol' burb is gonna look like when it's done. Got a lot of plans for it, should be pretty sweet.

On another note, just found a nice 307 in the local paper with low milage for $150.00 about 10 minutes from my house Project 71 under way soon...

[dtlilly]

Sounds like you have it all worked out....

[4x4Poet]

Yeah, you can cut the '72 A/C firewall out and graft it onto the '71 so the '72 A/C firewall mounted stuff fits. You might even swap dashes if you're taking the '71 down that far. Assuming the '71 burb is not an A/C cab.

But here's a potential important part. If the wrecking yard '71 burb has a salvage title, when you fix up the '71 body, swap the VIN plates and call it the '72 C10 or C20, depending upon which axles you go with. This way you'll junk the remnants of both '72s (after parting out) and have a non-salvage title to drive on. This might become very important when insurance time comes around. Resale, too. Just mentioned this because I don't know wether NJ marks titles that have entered the salvage system.

BTW, if you do this, use the special, original looking rivets that several threads have been started on. Maybe in FAQ? (haven't looked, but I have one saved if you need it). Just a reminder, in case you didn't know all dat.

Are you sticking with the '71 frame? How good of shape is each '72 frame? Have you decided to build a C10 or a C20? If the '72 C20 has a great frame, I'd put the '71 body on it with a '72 A/C firewall section grafted in. Unless you prefer a 1/2 ton (better gearing choices, lighter, better ride, better mileage, etc). Consider whether the C20 rear axle is needed to handle the BBC. IIRC, the C20 frame is reinforced around the rear coils, too, in case you need to haul some heavy stuff or tow significant weight trailers (4k+).

BTW, I've forgotten if the frames have a VIN #. If so, you could use the '72 VIN plate that matches the '72 frame you use. Not that anyone would ever check the frame if the '71's body has a properly installed, '72 VIN plate, whether the '71 is on its original frame or one of the '72 frames.

Also, can you swap the driver's door sticker (or even whole door) that has the '72 VIN you'd want to use? Just so everything matches. I'd definitely install new, body mounts, so body swapping wouldn't entail that much more work. A two-post lift (4-arms) works great to lift burb bodies.

The rest is easy.

[bagged91]

The 71 Burb from the salvage yard has a clear NJ title. I have all the reciepts for repairs done to the truck, I have the original dealer sales order and some other misc stuff. It basically needs a motor and underhood harness along with some interior trim. The body needs minor rust repair in the lower rear 1/4's and a very small dent taken out of the pass side. Floors/doors/gates are all rust free and 85% of the paint is original. This burb I decided to leave alone and restore back to original.(307,3 spd, p/s, p/b, AM radio, rubber mats, no A/C)

The other 2 burbs are both 72's(also w/clear NJ titles). I want to take the options from the 3/4 ton(it has 402/T400/dual A/C & AM/FM) and put these into the 1/2 ton and also swap the front sheetmetal to a 67 Chevy clip and the 402 for a 454. I will need some of the rear body braces, the panel under the tailgate and a section of the rear floorpan out of the 3/4 ton burb to fix the body on the 1/2 ton. When I am done removing any and all usable/salable parts, the 3/4 ton is getting scrapped WITHOUT its title/vin,ect... Since I have the original motor/trans, I will be saving the title,vin tag and the glovebox door from the 3/4 ton to keep with it.

[smokekiki]

The 67-71 suburbans didn't have a/c dashes.They had a tunnel that ran the length of the roof.The unit hung from the rear of the roof.You can put a dealer installed type of a/c on and tell everyone that is how it came.

[Bamm]

Restore the '71 and build a custom '72. The best of both worlds.......Jerry

[4x4Poet]

Ah, you've got an easy choice then. I think I'd cut the dash for A/C vents. BTW, are you also going to use the C20 rear axle or keep the '71 C10's rear axle behind that 454?

[bagged91]

The 71 is going to be stock. No A/C , 307 CID V8, 3 spd manual column shift, stock 3.73 12 bolt.

The 72 is getting the 454 CID V8, T400 trans, stock 3.73 12 bolt with A/C.

[4x4Poet]

Sorry, I totally missed your second post. My mistake. Sounds like a great plan, now that I've caught up.

[qksilver]

Both of my 72 burbs have A/C vents in the dash and the second unit mounted at the rear

[bagged91]

Originally Posted by qksilver

Both of my 72 burbs have A/C vents in the dash and the second unit mounted at the rear

That's correct. The 67-71 are the full legnth tunnel type A/C(as Mike stated above) and the 72 had the dash & rear A/C.