One Ton Suburban
 

As promised in the thread about the Wichita Mini-Meet, I'm starting a new one about the 1965 one ton GMC Suburban my Dad bought new 49 years ago and just turned over to me. While I'm too old now to own it for another 49 years myself, I do hope to enjoy it for many more years before passing it on to my own son.

Time permitting, I'll post various photos and descriptions, starting with some exterior photos taken at Mom & Dad's house in Wichita. Click on thumbnails for enlarged views.

As mentioned previously, this truck began life as a panel truck with rear doors, but was converted into a Suburban with liftgate/tailgate and four rows of seats to accommodate our 11-person family (I have 4 brothers and 4 sisters). The standard Suburban and half ton panel share the same 7-1/2' body shell. The one ton panel has a body 3' longer at 10-1/2'. Actual overall length is 19'-6". Weight is 6400 pounds. GVW is 8800 pounds.

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This will be a good thread Ed. There are a lot of great stories about the foresight your dad brought with him when he ordered this Suburban, and the modifications that were made along the line. Keep the stories and pix coming. It was also a pleasure to meet your father, and the other members of your family there in Wichita.

Foley

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All eleven of us managed to survive thousands of miles in this truck without seatbelts or air conditioning, driving all over the Colorado Rockies and trips to Indiana and New York to visit relatives.

Here are a few interior photos:

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That was before we had Global warming......and Death waiting around every corner.

Great Pics, I always enjoy see this Suburban.

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The 351C has had nothing but high-zinc Amsoil 10W40 in it since about 1973. Amsoil gear lube in the trans, Watson, and rear end too. I had to add a quart after 1200 miles on the road. 600 miles later, after I got home, it's now down a half quart. I didn't think that rate of consumption was too bad for having 154,000 miles on it.

Here are a couple of engine photos. Note the chrome plated air cleaner and valve covers. They were on a demonstrator at the dealer. At the end of the model year one of the salesmen gave them to Dad -- no charge! I've got the originals too, along with other miscellaneous parts like two original hubcaps.

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Simply awesome!

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That's great. I think it's especially cool that you have your own memories of that truck. Your son will be proud to own that piece of family history someday. Those windows and and backseats are great. Look forward to more pics.

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Dad drew the windows he wanted, and had them made by Young Windows in Pennsylvania. They're still in business today: http://www.youngwindows.com/. They came in a wooden crate. In the photo below you can see that the front half slides to the rear. The rear half is fixed, similar to a regular Suburban of that era. The windows have a separate track for the sliding screens which are easily removable. The minimum order for the rubber extrusion required for installing the windows was about twice what was needed, so now I've got three boxes of window rubber that I'll probably never use.

Dad felt that cutting that much sheet metal out of the side panels would weaken the roof support too much, so he had four supports made out of square tubing to place between the windows. You can see one of them in the photo.

There weren't enough beds for all of us in the 24' Avion trailer Dad used to tow with the Suburban, so some of us boys usually ended up sleeping in the truck instead. The screens were much appreciated, letting summer breezes blow through while keeping bugs out.

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The predecessor to the GMC Suburban was actually another Suburban, but not what you might be thinking of. It was a 9-passenger Plymouth wagon that Dad bought new in 1957. By the time it was 8 years old, it was in serious need of replacement for two reasons: our family was out-growing it and, even with an add-on aftermarket transmission oil cooler, the Torqueflite transmission kept burning up while trying to tow the 5000 pound Avion travel trailer with it, especially up mountain grades in Colorado and other Western states. I remember being stranded for a few days in Baker, Oregon, one year while getting that trans overhauled yet again.

The '57 Plymouth Suburban was pretty cool with the rear-facing third seat and the power rear window that rolled down into the tailgate, unlike the Fords and Chevys with their old-fashioned liftgates.

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This GMC is so amazing I just don't know what to comment on! Did Darryl Starbird do all of the customizing that your Dad wanted done, like the window installation and interior reinforcement?

DAC

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Great History Ed and those back seats still look fantastic!

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Doug -- although Dad was not a welder or a body & fender man, he did as much of the work as he could on the conversion. I helped him with a lot of it. He cut out the openings for the windows with a saber saw and installed the windows. He gave me the two special hand tools for slipping the windows into the rubber extrusions and inserting the locking bead into the rubber. He installed the supports between the windows after having flat plates welded to the tops and bottoms of those square tubes.

Since the half ton panel and regular Suburban share the same body shell, they're both equipped for installation of either the "barn doors" or the liftgate/tailgate. However, the one ton panel was equipped only for the doors. Since Dad wanted the liftgate/tailgate combo, he had to do a lot of modifications like creating the hinge pockets for the tailgate hinges. Darryl Starbird did the welding on that part of the project. For anyone unfamiliar with Darryl, check out http://www.darrylstarbird.com/starbird.htm. He got his start as a body shop owner in Wichita. I found Darryl's quote from 1968 when Dad took the Suburban back to him for enlarging the rear wheel openings -- $300 -- what a bargain!

Henry -- I was pretty surprised at the condition of those three rear seats. What helped was that Dad stored them in the basement one by one as us kids grew up and moved away. I think the last one went down in the basement about 30 years ago. Two of my brothers helped me carry them up the steps, clean them, and reinstall them the day before the Wichita Mini-Meet.

Here's a photo of my parents. Dad will be 90 on Pearl Harbor Day and Mom will be 87 on New Years Day. Their daily drivers are a 2005 turbocharged Subaru Outback that Dad calls his "closet WRX" and a 2012 Fiat 500, both with 5 speed manual transmissions. Great role models for us kids!

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How did I miss this thread for TWO pages? Ed these are great pictures and a really fantastic story. Five star thread! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

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Thanks for the "thumbs-up", Fetch. Too bad you couldn't make it to the Wichita mini-meet to see it. I'm afraid you're going to have to travel to Oregon to see it in person now!

If anybody out there wants to see photos of anything in particular on this truck, let me know.

I might try scanning some of the documentation on it and posting it here. The print may be too small to read for those with small screens though.

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It might be asking much but maybe run her out to some old historic houses or buildings and take some pics like Jolly does from time to time. I'd like to see that :giggity:

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Me too, pics of GMCs in by old historic houses or buildings are fun to take, Most of the time I do it on the way to ro from a show, but some times I just go out for a drive to take photos.

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So, as a Suburban lover, this truck is like the holy grail its so cool and has such great history, but I have to question the chrome valve covers and oil bath because if they were on a demonstrator truck which was a new vehicle on the lot for sale at the time, then it would seem there would have to be evidence of other chrome sets somewhere else in the truck world if they were available in chrome plate finish as a GM manufactured part vs something the dealer sent out and had plated - so if no one has ever seen a set or knows anyone who has ever seen another set aside from these then does it stand to reason this was a strange one-off plating job by the dealer?

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I'm pretty sure the GMC dealer in Wichita (Sauder-Lygrisse) had those valve covers and air cleaner chrome plated at a local shop.

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Thats what I thought - love the odd ball stuff dealers could and would do back then. Lots of special cool things to like about your dad's suburban

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Dad spent lots of time doing things to his Suburban that aren't readily apparent. The 3-way valve in the floor to the left of the driver's seat (like a lot of trucks with auxiliary fuel tanks have) besides switching fuel supply from one tank to the other, also simultaneously switches electrically from the sender in one tank to the sender in the other tank. And when you pull out the big knob on the dash to shift the Watson box into overdrive, it also switches a little box in the speedometer cable so that the speedometer is still accurate. Dad also installed a transistorized ignition unit which he hid behind one of the triangular "wings" in front of the top of the core support.

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Bumping this to the top, Ed. I hope while you are posting old pics that you may to be able to keep adding to this amazing truck's story!

DAC

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I'll be sure to do that next week, Doug, when I get back home. I spent the day today driving 700 miles from Oregon to LA in our son's '64 Chevy Suburban. I had it up there to do a little work on it for him. My wife and I are spending Thanksgiving down here with him and our 9 year old granddaughter.

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Great Memories

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Well, Doug, I got a surprise in the mail yesterday. Along with a birthday card, my Dad sent a bunch of photos from when the one ton Suburban was new in 1965. The first batch, included in this post, shows the original white wheels with 8.00 x 17.5 tires on them. I had forgotten how far out those hubcaps stuck. They sure look vulnerable to curb rash. Note that one of the photos shows the fresh cut holes for the windows prior to window installation, and the original rear doors removed prior to liftgate/tailgate installation. Dad's in a couple of the photos. He was 40 years old in May of 1965 when he bought it. The conversion from a panel into a Suburban was done in the summer of 1965, right after he bought it.

Click on a thumbnail to enlarge it. I'll include more photos in another post.

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Ed, what a cool thread! I think your dad is a genius, that truck, like your dad, is one of a kind.

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What an Awesome thread Ed! :thumbsup: That is some super Neat family history. Always makes me wish my grandfather owned a 60's GMC or Chevy that I could preserve. But I'm making do with the ones I have. And it was Awesome being able to see this truck in person.

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Great historic Photos Ed!
Now what became of those Barn Doors?
I'm betting you still have them stored.

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Thank-you Ed, for the update, and especially to your Dad for getting the history of his wonderful creation compiled! I've been looking forward to seeing more and my amazement keeps growing! Flyinga66 said it right, your Dad is a genius in the choice of truck, planning and execution of this project that continues to serve your family!

Hope your folks are doing well and you had a happy birthday!

DAC

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Dad sold the barn doors back to the dealer, Henry. What I do have, however, is that single "bucket" seat that you can see in one of the photos. Dad mounted it on casters and put a slip cover on it. Still looks new underneath.

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Here's another batch of photos. Dad had lots of trouble with the 8.00 x 17.5 tires, especially when towing our 24' Avion travel trailer. So when the 12 x 16.5 tires came out, he had the rear wheel openings enlarged to match the fronts so he could fit a set of them. Nationally famous auto customizer Darryl Starbird got his start with an auto body shop in Wichita. Darryl did the work by cutting the openings and reinforcing the cut edges with steel tubing welded to the sheet metal. The 9.75 x 16.5 wheels have enough offset that the hub caps sit a few inches back in them, fully protecting them from curb rash.

If you've never heard of Darryl Starbird, check out http://www.darrylstarbird.com/index.html. Darryl also did some of the work converting the rear doors to tailgate/liftgate.

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Here's the last batch of photos I received yesterday from Dad and Mom. The first one shows the 24' Avion hitched to the Suburban in their driveway, ready for another vacation trip from Wichita to Colorado, or perhaps Indiana and New York to visit relatives. The second and third photos show Mom by the Suburban. The last one shows Mom, her sister, two of their cousins, and lots of kids. I'm the tallest one in the photo. My eight younger siblings and some cousins are in there too.

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Very neat photos!

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I took the one ton Suburban to our annual big show in the park last weekend. Here are a few photos from the Show-N-Shine. Total attendance was about 500 vehicles. My two granddaughters are in the first photo. We rode around in it during the evening Cruise too. My son and his daughter rode all the way in the back in the fourth row of seats.

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Cute little helpers you got there! That suburban should have won 1st place. Judges didn't know what they were lookin at! :thumbsup:

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That's a "Long" ride Ed; very nice!

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Very nice you should use it for a limo service.

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Very cool you are getting to show the one-ton off! I like that second to the last pic---it looks like those nice rides in the foreground have lined up to admire your Dad's creation!

That looks like a show I could enjoy. Walking around in that nice grassy area would be cooler than big asphalt parking lots and easier on the feet and legs too!

Thanks for the update, Ed!

DAC

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Looks like you all had a great time Ed! Wish I could have made it to that show, but work was in the way again.

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Awesome! :D

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Thanks! And welcome to the forum.

Looks like you're a new member from the United Kingdom. We have (or had anyway) a couple of other members on the forum from the UK. Haven't heard from them in awhile.

Planning on buying a 60-66 GMC someday?