That is a neat looking Sub. I am not usually a big fan of camo but it works on this Suburban. Certainly better than looking at dead, delaminated or rusted through paint. I know that I would love to have that front bumper! $8500 is pretty steep though. There was a clean 1989 ½ ton 4x4 5.7L TBI Suburban for sale here in Southern CO a few months ago that even had a cool front bumper almost like this one for $1500. Not $1500 for the bumper….but $1500 for the entire Suburban less the billybob decal package and ghetto wheels. I kept emailing the guy to see if he would separate the bumper from the Sub but he said no unless I was willing to give him $1500 for the bumper with a free Suburban attached.
6.2/6.5L engines are actually pretty neat. They aren’t really much for major towing and they are certainly no Cummins by any means but for the reasonable cost of them and the fact they don’t weigh much more than a big block GM gas engine make them a good choice in a play thing. I would love to build a Blazer with a 6.5L. Actually, my buddy and I built a 1990 GMC Suburban 2500 with a 6.5L outfitted with Banks goodies for another friend a few years ago. It was really a cool rig. Hated to give it back.
If you get it, I would definitely upgrade the rear axle to a 10.5” 14 bolt full floater and swap on a set of 8 lug rotors and backing plates to the front Corp 10 bolt (I did my floater and rotor swap for less than $300 years ago). Yeah, a front Dana 60 would be nice but in reality, if you know how to drive….you can get by with a decently built 10 bolt or Dana 44 in the front for many years. Oh, and one more thing…..do yourself a favor and do not use those ghetto 20” wheels…..and the naked lady on the rear window. Lol
If you are really worried about the wiring,
M&H Electrical Fabricators can probably make you a complete engine harness with OEM connectors for less than $500. Interior harnesses are even cheaper.
Anxious to see what you end up doing. $8500 is steep but he probably has $3000 to $4000 wrapped up in the front winch/bumper and roof rack so even if you bought a $3000-$5000 Craigslist Suburban and added a nice bumper ($1800 to $2000), winch (~$1000) and roof rack (~$1000) you would eventually get close to the $8500 range before long anyway assuming you would add those goodies to whatever other Sub you might buy.
That all said, the only way these old rigs make good reliable get away vehicles is if you do all of your own work, otherwise you wind-up with $14,000 in receipts paying after paying for other peoples labor and markup on parts.
ROFSheriffHL: