Searching for My Dad's 1979 Chevy Suburban

[TheHoundsman]

^ Pretty darn decent interior for a $3k running driving lifted 4x4 burb!
About 90% original and 60% saveable.
PS they make the little covers for the door pull straps with the filigree work on them to match the door trim….unbelievably.

One of my favorite things about these older Burbs is that with the third seat they literally had 5 ashtrays!!!

 

[Strick]

Oh yeah, I keep things G rated...well sometimes they get PG. The site *** my acronym for the starting letters of the term "slide over baby". Glad that you found you a rig and wish you well on getting it as close to how you remember the one from your youth.

 

[TheHoundsman]

Oh yeah, I keep things G rated...well sometimes they get PG. The site *** my acronym for the starting letters of the term "slide over baby". Glad that you found you a rig and wish you well on getting it as close to how you remember the one from your youth.

It should be a fun ride if nothing else. I am sure there will be a number of frustrations as well but I’m looking forward to it.

 

[TheHoundsman]

^ Pretty darn decent interior for a $3k running driving lifted 4x4 burb!
About 90% original and 60% saveable.
PS they make the little covers for the door pull straps with the filigree work on them to match the door trim….unbelievably.

Thank you. That is the type of information that I am happy to have. I simply don’t know when I look at something is it salvageable or do I need to replace it. Thanks again for the help.

 

[mxer147]

I’d put some miles on it before you start spending a fortune on it; be sure this is the one.

 

[Grit dog]

Thank you. That is the type of information that I am happy to have. I simply don’t know when I look at something is it salvageable or do I need to replace it. Thanks again for the help.

Depending how much you’re doing yourself, your penchance for little time consuming mini projects and your final goals, there is ALOT of simple stuff that takes time but not much money. Like your door panels. Drivers one is toast obviously, but the other 3 look better.
Rather than buy 4 new matching ones, you could get 1 or 2 used any color from a scrapper and re paint them all to match.
Just one example of $100 out of pocket and some reasonable manholes vs $1000 out of pocket instant solution could work well.
Regardignthose little door strap pieces, I was so surprised when I saw them. I have 2 good ones, one useable and figured I’d just have to swap them to the more popular plastichrome versions for a matching set.

 

[TheHoundsman]

Depending how much you’re doing yourself, your penchance for little time consuming mini projects and your final goals, there is ALOT of simple stuff that takes time but not much money. Like your door panels. Drivers one is toast obviously, but the other 3 look better.
Rather than buy 4 new matching ones, you could get 1 or 2 used any color from a scrapper and re paint them all to match.
Just one example of $100 out of pocket and some reasonable manholes vs $1000 out of pocket instant solution could work well.
Regardignthose little door strap pieces, I was so surprised when I saw them. I have 2 good ones, one useable and figured I’d just have to swap them to the more popular plastichrome versions for a matching set.

That is exactly the stuff I am trying to learn. Thanks for such a detailed explanation. Very helpful. They are supposed to pick it up on Tuesday and delivered on Sunday. We will see if that timeline holds but once its here I can dig in and see what’s what

 

[TheHoundsman]

Does anyone have any experience with this. It seems like this one is the most common option and also appears period correct (although our pattern was different to the picture). I am going to need to redo the seats but I was wondering if it would be better to just got to a local upholstery shop. Not sure how hard the job is or what the condition of the seat foam is either. I found this picture online but this was the exact pattern we had in ours.

 

[bucket]

The upholstery kit looks pretty nice to me. While it looks to be a pattern for maybe a '76-ish model, it at least looks proper. Not just the generic kit that a lot of places sell that aren't a direct copy of any one year and don't have the buttons.

 

[CountKrunk]

Before you start on the inside make sure the drivetrain is up to snuff. For example I've done nothing to my truck but drive it. Ive driven it around 1k miles. With that its proved its a runner and the work is now starting to begin.

 

[PrairieDrifter]

Congratulations! The 'Burb itself looks great. Ditch the ugly aftermarket LED lighting.

That's not led. Those are the forever ugly "euro" style.

 

[TheHoundsman]

Before you start on the inside make sure the drivetrain is up to snuff. For example I've done nothing to my truck but drive it. Ive driven it around 1k miles. With that its proved its a runner and the work is now starting to begin.

That is exactly my plan. I have a mechanic friend who is going to give me the full run down on the engine transmission and we will go from there.

 

[TheHoundsman]

That's not led. Those are the forever ugly "euro" style.

I could not agree more.