88 V20 suburban VS 1975 K5

[88bigburb]

Hi all, i don't post a lot, mostly here to research, but i have a couple questions,

I've had the suburban for around 3 years now, but I think its time to let it go, I've pretty much got it in my head that i want a full convertible k5 instead,

main question is:
A. Should i buy a complete 1975 with tranny issues, on half tons, with 36's for $1000 OBO? Its def a 350 4 barrel, and automatic, the owner said "almost 300k miles"

i havent had a chance to look at it yet, so not really sure on the condition, for a grand i dont expect much, since he told me he's had a couple people come look at it and not buy it, i assume that "OBO" could work in my favor, not sure what tranny is in it, from what i'm aware the options are a 350 or 400, and a 203 or 205 t-case, i have a th400/203 combo in my garage i could throw in,

B. should i pick up a full top and a new from GM windshield frame for a 73-75 for around $200 and keep my eyes open for a newer k5 to convert? this leaves me with no template to have properly functioning doors, lol

I'd like to pick up both so i could eventually convert a newer one as well as have an original, but im not sure on where id store an additional hard top, seeing as if i bought the 75, for most of the summer that top would already be taking up yard room.

on another related note, i recently was wandering through my local "junk" yard, and happened upon what I'm pretty sure was an ex M1008 turned local borough truck turned not worth using anymore, def a 1 ton, kingpins up front, missing wheel hubs on out, i asked the guy at the desk the price, he said 400 for the pair, is it worth it, i know I'm looking at $450ish to pick up new hubs with rotors and studs from gm and not getting too much cheaper, plus bearings, plus lockouts, but I'm thinkin its probably still worth pickin up the rears,

thanks for any suggestions, replies, input of any sort,

Dom

 

[4X4HIGH]

If it were me I would buy the 75 blazer then take the complete engine/trans/t-case out of the burb and install it in the blazer. This way you'll get fuel injection, OD trans (if the burb was so equipped), and a much lower low range in the t-case. The only thing you'd have to do is have a rear driveshaft made since the burbs rear shaft would be too long.

 

[mudbuggy]

If it were me I would buy the 75 blazer then take the complete engine/trans/t-case out of the burb and install it in the blazer. This way you'll get fuel injection, OD trans (if the burb was so equipped), and a much lower low range in the t-case. The only thing you'd have to do is have a rear driveshaft made since the burbs rear shaft would be too long.

Yep!

 

[88bigburb]

i did think about that. but i think i might end up being better off selling or parting out the burb. it has a th400 and 208, so no OD, i thought about swapping the rears, so i could have an 8 lug blazer and still use one of my sets of tires, i have 35's on 15s, and 38's on 16.5's, but the 16.5s are 12 inch wide, and i don't think i need quite that wide of a tire anymore, and the 3.73's in the burb now aren't doing that size tire any sort of justice,

 

[super k]

On the '75 Blazer,I'd expect to see a total rust bucket in this part of the country. The 74-77 GM Trucks have been a rare site to see for a couple decades. Any survivors would be garage kept and extremely pampered,which at $1,000 I don't think would be this one. Do you actually have a line on a N.O.S. GM windshield frame for $200? What are you waiting for,"Buy It NOW!",as they say on Ebay. You can get all the info you need here to convert a newer K/5 to full top.
Yes,the 1t axle set is worth buying at that price. I doubt the hubs/rotors/studs will run ya what you say. I don't know what part of PA you're in,but If you must run OEM parts,I can get them for you at a discount out of the Baltimore area if you want. I think I'd check into NAPA. Nothing wrong with their brake parts.

 

[88bigburb]

That's what I was thinking on the '75, but I hate to just assume its in horrible shape, I wanna go look at it, but the problem with that is if I do take a day to go look at it and its rotted away, I'm that much closer to the windshield frame being sold out from under me, its a very heartening dilemma, and the price I came up with on the rotors/hubs was just what 45 mins of searching turned up, other than finding a deal on used ones, I found pretty much $200 a piece for the hubs, so I figured an extra $25 a side to have it come with new studs already pressed to it and a rotor is a deal, lol. I kinda wanna figure out what shape the 75 has to be in to be worth $1000, and how much to drop my offer accordingly, I believe the owner of the 75 is the original, who knows he could be from Arizona :P lol, but I'm not holding my breath

 

[Chevy305]

Look at the '75 and determine the condition. If its bad pass on it and buy the windshield frame. As far as the axels, post up in the wanted section you could get a pair of hubs for a fraction of what they cost new. But $400 for a D60/14bff out of a CUCV is def worth the price even if the axels are in terrible shape. I've seen them go in good condition for well over $1000. Even if you put the new hubs on it you still make a profit.

 

[88bigburb]

Well i'm heading to buy the cap and windshield frame today, still haven't gotten my drivers licence renewal, so no sense going to look at the 75 if I can't buy it, so hopefully by next Monday, I can go give it a look,

 

[88bigburb]

So I went to look at the windshield frame and it turned out I wasn't paying attention, it was in fact a repair panel, kinda flimsy, but definitely GM NOS. But I passed on it, I figured gotta buy a blazer first, then go from there, this kid had a ridiculous collection of parts, incliding NOS front and back half floors, like the bracing and everything, if only I had a blazer to put it on...

 

[super k]

Where is this guy located? Do you have his contact info?

 

[88bigburb]

Oh yeah I forgot to mention, he said he had the full convertible k5 itself that the cap he was selling was for, he scrapped it a week before I called him, that was a bummer... But yeah he's in Lakewood, NY, I don't remember his name... The ad is down but I'm sure he still wants to sell his parts, (716) 640-5569, lemme know if ya buy anything off of him it'll make me happy to have hooked some people up, lol