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'77 'Burban to Trailer Conversion?

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We had some serious (for Northern Va.) wind a couple of weeks back, and a neighbor's white pine (about 2.5 ft. diameter at the base) fell across the hood of my '77 GMC Suburban Sierra.

Anyway, it bashed in the hood, front fenders, and windshield, and there may be front suspension damage; but what really bugs me is that the door pillar on the driver's side got bent somewhat, and I figure I'll never be able to get glass to go in right again.

The transmission was shot, anyway (although the motor was in good shape, carbureted 5.7L w/about 70k on a rebuild) and the body had more rust than metal. It was my Dad's truck, and now they're both dead.

So I'm thinking I'll cut off the front of it, remove the drive shaft, and such stuff as that and turn it into a trailer I can use to haul garden tractors between here and the farm in the farthest reaches of rural West Virginia. (Pulling it with the '90 GMC Suburban I'm now rebuilding the differentials on.)

Any thoughts?
 
bummer about your dad's truck. If it was me I couldn't sell it, scrap it, or make a trailer of it. I would take what's salvageable, get another frame and front clip from out west (if rust is a problem) and rebuild.
 
Wouldnt be that hard to convert it to a trailer. The bed would be kinda higher. and you would have to cap off the front to keep things from going out.
 
I'd like to know more about rebuilding

Actually, I liked juanblzr's idea of "I would take what's salvageable, get another frame and front clip from out west (if rust is a problem) and rebuild.", but I don't know enough to know what that means. I'd wanted to make this my "hobby" vehicle, 'cause it didn't have all that air pollution prevention stuff that would keep me from putting a 4bbl & headers on it.

Here's an attempt to illustrate the extent of the damage:

treedown.jpg
 
That aint nothing but a flesh wound!:D

You could graft on another windshield frame if you need to... another hood, fenders windshield ...
maybe a door...
I think you'll be back in business in no time...
 
new baltimore? is that in Maryland? If so I'm guessing you have plenty of rust out there so body panels and frames might be a bit scarce if you don't want body cancered panels / frames. People out here in Arizona are always parting out suburbans or chevy trucks. I actually know a few guys with practically every body panel you need to complete the rebuild (including a suburban tub).

As far as difficulty...
all the body panels are removable with simple hand tools. If the b-pillar or a-pillar are damaged, then that will make the job a little more interesting.

You have to remember people rebuild vehicle that have crushed in their roofs completely. It's not rocket science but it takes some attention to detail if you want it to look nice (instead of a big pile of poop):doah:
 
:eek1: Thats one hell of an air freshener you got there.



Thats fixable. or at the very least wheelable. The way I see it you should be getting a check from either the neighbor or their home owners insurance policy.
 
i have a 1970 c-10 that was my grandad's old worktruck. I can't seem to part with it. It has rust (you can see the street if you look at the floor when you are driving) but it runs and I figure I can always replace panels here and there. The truck is not worth that much to many people but it has sentimental value that is worth a great deal to me.:(
 
Not Md, but close enough - Northern Piedmont of Va., just S. of I-66 - plenty of rust production.

Thanks to all for comments, hope, and ideas.
 
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