70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project

[1leglance]

With the sale of my Landcruiser Troopie I have been looking for something equally old school...

Here is my Black Friday Special, a 1970 C-20 4x4 Suburban with a 350 and a few interesting options.


The original owner was a gentleman who enjoyed desert prospecting and the rig reflects his needs/likes...and personally while I will of course make changes it is still pretty cool see how he set it up.
Part of his setup included being able to handle some heavy equipment. This must have made it alot easier.


Another cool bit of kit was this front bumper setup that he could attach something serious to.


The brake controler will be cool if it still works, I will be trying it out this week.


And for my audio enjoyment I get a functioning 8 track and a working Radio Shack CB, along with an old school antenna setup.



I won't know if they roof mount AC works until I convert it to R134 but it seems all there, plus I got an extra compressor setup out of the deal!


The shag carpet will go but at least it looks to have protected the orginal vinyl flooring which should look after I clean it up. And the seats will be one of the first things that gets changed out. I will be searching for 4 matching bucket seats this week....Anyone want an original back seat & third row seat?



I am not sure why the original owner installed 2 hitch setups but the lower one is getting cut off in the next day or two.


Also I gotta say installing Ford mirrors on a Chevy will get you strung up in some parts of the country but even I gotta say that 2 sets of mirrors is too much. I will more than likely take off both of these and install something factory.


I will post up more pics tomorrow as I clean up the underside, engine and such.
All thoughts welcome...and if anyone knows where I can source a factory rear view mirror and side mirrors I am listening.

[1leglance]

Here are some fun numbers I found from decoding the VIN
Cost new $4190 base price
Curb Wgt 4343lb
GVW 7000
Wheelbase 127in
Only 541 3/4t 4x4 Suburbans built that year
Build date March 1970
Built in Fremont California which became the NUUMI Toyota plant which became the Telsa Motors....see it has direct connections to the eco rides

[rxm6]

Great find!

That's in pretty darn fine shape for a 41 year old.

[TexGX]

Don't forget the high tech speaker system. This truck is a beast. Plenty of room to sleep the whole family. I look forward to seeing the build.

TexGX

[ExpoMike]

Awesome find. I am a huge fan of '67-'72 Chevy's and am rebuilding a '68 C10 truck currently.

[Metcalf]

3-door (?).......ie no drivers side rear door.

Very cool find. There is still a LOT of support for that gen truck. I am sure a lot of the parts cross to the 'burb.

[1leglance]

Yes it is a factory 3 door...and if you look closely at the pics you will see..
1 door for the driver
2 doors on the passenger side
and they called the rear bits the hatch/tailgate

The big idea at the time from Chevy was that is was "safer" for your passengers if they could not exit into traffic. Of course this only works in left hand drive countries But hey that was GM in the late 60's, early 70's right?

I will try to snap a pic of the inside panel behind the driver as it very much looks like the door is there.

As an owner of my grandad's 72 Chevy pickup I have all the best forums & websites well saved from working on the truck. The tough thing is not pulling parts from it for the burb

[loren85022]

My uncle use to take us fishing on south padre island in that same style 3-door back when they were brand new. We loved telling to use "granny gear"

[Sock Puppet]

True old-school cool! Great find!

[Mark Harley]

Great truck!
I bet she looses 500 pounds after you remove all the extra junk!

These guys have all the parts you need!

http://www.lmctruck.com/chevrolet/