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Monster Truck - 1972 Chevy Suburban


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My birthday is 5-10-72.  (my parents are geniuses!)  So I was making it a point to have all of my 510's 1972.  It only makes sense that when I wanted a suburban, it would be a 72 as well right? 

Although my first "car" was a 1949 Chevy pick-up truck, and I still love that body style, the 67-72 chevy truck body is my favorite!

We picked this up almost 10 years ago in Tacoma, in the summer of 2003.  It belonged to an eldery man who had passed away and it was being sold by his family.  They had fold memories of him and his truck - which he called "the blue ox".  He drove rigth to the very end apparently and used to cart around his elderly friends.  He had a step stool to help people get in and out and a custom wood stick that he could use to lock and unlock the passenger door from his drivers seat.

We were very happy with the purchase and have created many memories ourselves.  The kids began referring to it as the "monster truck" early on so the name stuck.

 

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Unfortunately, like all good 67-72 chevy trucks living and working in the NW, rust had a foothold and was getting worse each year.

 

Rockers had holes:

sub_left_door_sill_rust.JPG

 

doors rusting through around the hinges:

sub_left_lower_door_hinge_rust.JPG

 

Quarters rusting through:

sub_left_rear_quarter_rust.JPG

 

"Adding lightness" may work for Colin Chapman but not for me

sub_left_side_underbody_3.JPG

 

A few dents here and there as well:

sub_left_tail_light_dent.JPG

 

I think you all know what's under those bubbles:

sub_right_lower_door_rust.JPG

 

"Vented" batter box...

sub_right_inner_fender_rust.JPG

 

If we were going to keep this any longer, we'd need to stop the rot from getting any worse for sure!

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Very cool truck. As a kid I drove a 1970 C10 shortbed with a 250 straight 6.  I didn't know what I had at the time.  A school bus put me in the ditch on a dirt road one afternoon.  I scrapped it.  Doh! :blush:

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When I read "monster truck" I took it literally! I was expecting a Suburban turned into a monster truck!

 

Love  old Suburbans, yours looks cool. :thumbup:

And your little ones are too cute!

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Thinking into the future, I thought it would be a good idea to upgrade to a more modern EFI motor.  So I watched craigslist for a while and found a running TBI 350 w/ rebuilt tranny for sale.  Perfect!

 

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Well, when I got it home and started tearing it down, I found that it was not a 350 but a 305.  :confused:

 

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Worse yet - I found that both heads were cracked.  So I just bought a bunch of garbage.

 

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Miraculously, I was able to sell the tranny and the EFI stuff separeatly and get my money back.  Only thing lost was time and enthusiasm...

 

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About this time, Brenda and I realized we were at a crossroads.  I found a local expert - Mark Chance - on these trucks on the 67-72 chevy truck forum.  http://67-72chevytrucks.com/

 

I got an estimate from him on how much it would cost to save our truck from the rust attack.

 

We then started shopping for a replacement.  Thinking maybe we could find one already done for the same or less than what it would cost to build our own.  There were (and are) plenty to chose from but every one we looked at - was eventually going to need all the work ours needed.  And the ones that were painted and nice looking - we had no idea what was underneath...

 

We eventually decided that the risk was just too great, and that the Monster Truck had been in our family long enough that we should save it.  So I made arrangements with Mark and delivered the truck to his shop in June of 2007.

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Yes, yes I do wish I could get new rockers for a 510.  Then I wouldn't be making my own and at the same time contemplating buying them from Australia.

 

Nice burb!  I'm a member over on 67-72chevytrucks.com as well.  I was out visiting in another neighborhood recently and someone referred to my Suburban as a "mini monster truck" too.

 

beelzeburb_3peaks_articulate01.jpg

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Moar lowar... :fu:

 

 

But really though, nice chevy. I am not a domestic car person usually, but if I had to choose, I would have to go with an early 70s chevy truck (or a 50 mercury, but that is really dreaming...)

 

It would be pretty cool lowered on bags, like a huge goon!

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Yes, yes I do wish I could get new rockers for a 510.  Then I wouldn't be making my own and at the same time contemplating buying them from Australia.

 

Nice burb!  I'm a member over on 67-72chevytrucks.com as well.  I was out visiting in another neighborhood recently and someone referred to my Suburban as a "mini monster truck" too.

 

beelzeburb_3peaks_articulate01.jpg

 

Nice truck! 

Your name reminds me of football

BLUE - SEVENTY TWO!

BLUE - SEVENTY TWO!

HUT

HUT

HIKE!

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For the front end - it was easier to just replace everything with new:

 

New core support.  (who wouldn't want these available for their datsuns)

 

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New inner and outer fenders:

 

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Starting to look like the monster truck again!

 

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Still lots of work to do though...

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