The 'Burban Chronicles.....

[Average Joe]

Yessirreebob, I was now the proud owner of a recreational vehicle. Or at least a travel trailer. 6000 pounds of 'Merican made Holiday Rambler. She was a sturdy old goat. Boxed 6" steel frame, aluminum studs and ceiling joists, and top of the line appliances circa 1977. Unfortunately that build quality comes at the expense of added weight. The tired 283, which had now spit out a head gasket, laughed at me for even suggesting the idea of pulling it. Perhaps if I had rebuilt her and added some 4.56 gears I could have convinced her. I think I just wanted BB torque and was tired of trying to hold my coffee and shift gears at the same time.

That settled it. I would harvest the big block, auto tranny, rebuilt disc brake front end, HD driveline, and Flowmaster exhaust from my '69 and use on the 'Burb. I had swapped all of this into my truck during the summer of 2003 and it had seen very few miles since. I also formulated a plan to swap some of the parts from the 'Burb to put back onto the truck. I still had the drivetrain from the rusty crusty '86 Suburban patiently waiting its turn to live again.