47-55.1 '49 Suburban Spotted in Pismo Beach - NIIICE!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Not sure if there is a separate subform for Suburbans so if this is in the wrong place, moderators please move it.

I have been camping in Pismo Beach this week and I saw this truly nice Suburban.

Owner is from New Mexico, Taos I think he said. It had Dodge underpinning when he got it complete w/318 & Torqueflite. He swapped it onto a '75 C10 and used a Chevy LT 350. Said he had the wiring harness done by someone in Las Vegas and it turned out to be literally "plug and play". Fired up and idled the first time!

Get this: It was in ugly cosmetic condition but he knew from prior experience with a shiny black '32 with Hemi he didn't want shiny again. He found the original color on the back of one of the cowl vent doors. Took it to Lowe's and had them mix up the matching color in latex flat!!! Rolled it on with a little foam roller and lightly sanded after it dried to give it the appearance it has.

The interior is vinyl and the gingham plaid is Sunbrella awning material! It looked very nice in person. I was REALLY impressed with this Burb. Hope you guys enjoy it.

I hope the owner is on our forums and sees this, fingers crossed so he can prove a lot more specific information. ALMOST makes me want to sell my '55 and get a Burb!

[MiraclePieCo]

More pictures, please!

Did he explain the dual gas filler necks?

[youngrodder]

Very cool Dan, thank you for sharing. I like crusty/weathered Suburban's. It looks to have dual gas tanks unless one is a dummy fill spout (which is probably the case).

Marc

[Tempest67]

very cool. the paint looks great

dog dish with trim rings, love it

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by MiraclePieCo

More pictures, please!

Did he explain the dual gas filler necks?

Sorry, I don’t have any more pictures. He was trying to explain something about the stock saddle tanks (are those stock on the Burb or on the ‘75 C10 he put it on?) getting in the way. I didn’t catch the jist of it though. I’m sure that’s why he had two gas spouts.

He had moved the third seat forward to the 2nd position to allow for more cargo carrying space in back. It was upholstered just as you see the front seats. Engine compartment was very full. Not detailed out but very clean and well organized.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by youngrodder

Very cool Dan, thank you for sharing. I like crusty/weathered Suburban's. It looks to have dual gas tanks unless one is a dummy fill spout (which is probably the case).

Marc

Marc, One of the things I noticed about it was he had sort of a black linoleum as the floor throughout the truck. I thought Suburbans of that era had wood floors just as our truck beds do? He said no. He used the same type material he said was on the floor of station wagons of that era. Since you’ve built a couple I’m wondering what you have seen in them?
Posted via Mobile Device

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Marc, One of the things I noticed about it was he had sort of a black linoleum as the floor throughout the truck. I thought Suburbans of that era had wood floors just as our truck beds do? He said no. He used the same type material he said was on the floor of station wagons of that era. Since you’ve built a couple I’m wondering what you have seen in them?
Posted via Mobile Device

Dan

Suburban's had wood in back starting from behind the front seats to the rear cargo/clam shell doors. Now that wood was covered with a ribbed brown linoleum (sometimes called Battleship linoleum). Like most Suburban parts from the front seats back, there are no aftermarket options.

I'm guessing he used the C-10 gas hole location and hose instead adapting to the the OEM Suburban location. I think he overthought that solution as it looks strange with 2 gas fill locations so close to one another. But it's not mine so each to their own. At least he is out driving it and enjoying it.

Thank you
Marc

[mr48chev]

Cool Burb It looks like he might have it set up to fill both tanks from the right hand side and that left tank is going to be a slow filler that way. 75 dual tank trucks normally fill from both side making filling both tanks at one time a pain.

You lucky bugger for getting to spend a weekend camping at Pismo Beach.
we went down for the Race of Gentlemen in 2016 and have been wanting to go back ever since. We want to go back to Pismo Beach and spend more time at Moro Bay than we got to.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thanks for the info, Marc. I was pretty sure I remembered seeing a Suburban somewhere that had nicely finished oak in back with chrome strips. But then I thought maybe it was in a Burb someone had customized with a pickup type bed.

I doubt the dual gas fillers both work. Not sure why he left them both - I think it's the one "miss" I saw on the truck but the rest of it was very admirably done. He has a single spot light on the center of the cab roof and it kinda looks cool. Very practical too though I think it was that way when he bought it. The big bracket and iPad(I assume) or radio bolted to the dash is a little out of place but he truly uses the truck for towing and daily driving so I can appreciate the practicality of it. I'd likely do something a bit different but he has it on the road and is using it so who am I to disagree?!

Glad you guys enjoyed seeing it.

Since I posted this I may as well post this OTHER unique and cool toad I saw this week. A PERFECTLY restored Citroen 2CV. I didn't get a chance to speak to the owner but you can barley see small black tabs under the front bumper that he uses to tow the car. I did a quick Google search on these cars and his color scheme is a factory scheme.

For those not old enough to recall these cars they are French and were made essentially the same from about 1940 to the early 1990's. The only change I recall was rectangular headlights somewhere along the line. Original engine was a 600cc 2 stroke. No idea what the later engine may have been.

Anyway, my little color coordinated 2012 Fiat 500 -usually a somewhat unique toad at most RV campgrounds compared to all the Jeeps - was WAAY outclassed by these two vehicles this trip.

[mr48chev]

I'd think there are times you have to stop and look to see if the Fiat is still back there when going down the road,.

I can remember reading stories about guys exploring around Africa in those 2CVs back in the 60's when they would take them pretty well apart and load them on a pretty crude raft to float across rivers.

[Dan in Pasadena]

mr48chev,

As I write this I JUST sat down after driving over 8 hours from Auburn, CA on our way home. We took a secondary trip after Pismo to see my girlfriend's sister who just had surgery.

Anyway, You're right that you can't really "feel" the Fiat but I have a rear facing camera which I keep on all the time. The monitor changes to the side cameras when using the signals so I have to put it back on the rear view. I'm just a little paranoid something will hit it or cause a problem that I won't know/feel. The only thing I notice is that climbing the Grapevine coming south I had to drop down as low as 50mph for a very short time and the V10 was spinning just under 4000rpm. But later I got it up to 60mph and the trans upshifted and engine was turning about 2700rpm. No heat issues, nothing. I wonder when I tow my fat ass Gladiator how it will go?!

[mongocanfly]

I was coming up i65 yesterday...got behind a motorhome towing a gladiator...that thing looked like swimbait fishing lure behind that motorhome... you could actually see it jerking the motorhome around evertime it went from left to right...when I passed him I was looking..it appeared he had a really nice A frame tow bar, so I dont why it was doing that...I bet his knuckles were white

[mr48chev]

A buddy of mine who towed a little box with wheels behind his motor home made a setup that fastened to the back of the Dinghy that was basically thin electrical conduit with a light and reflector on each end He stretched it out to where he could see it in the mirrors on each side. His main thing was having a flat on the towed rig as he had a back tire go out on it and pretty well destroy it's self before someone got his attention and pointed to the back. After that he could see if anything was going on with it. He didn't have a camera on the back of that one and I am not sure that cameras were available at the time. That was mid 80's tech.

That tail wagging the dog with that Gladiator could be due to any number of reasons. I've towed a lot of rigs on tow bars including two Dodge D 250 vans and while most towed good a couple fought me. I think the worse was a truck without and engine in it.

[dsraven]

I used to work with a guy who towed a car dolly with a car on it behind his class A motorhome. he said he never felt it back there except for the added load. once he asked me if I wanted to go down there to fix his dolly. I asked why and he said one night after a hard day of towing they stopped for the night and he went around back to check things. well, the wheel was gone off one side of the dolly and the axle was ground down a whole biunch from dragging.
I said no thanks. lol.
I wonder how many cars went by and honked but he thought they were just mad because he was going too slow.

[Dan in Pasadena]

I considered other cars to tow on a tow dolly but everything I read says the dolly is a pain to store when it's not in use.

I've seen a lot of different kinds of cars/trucks being flat towed and I'm pretty certain many/most of them are automatics which are NOT supposed to be flat towable without some fancy hydraulic lines going to the trans - yet none of them seem to have them.

They also MIGHT be towable if they are 4 wheel drive and the transfer case is in neutral but still something is going on that I'm not aware of that makes them able to be towed without destroying them.

[dsraven]

-some rear wheel drive vehicles use a driveshaft disconnect device when towing. it basically bolts onto the rear axle and the driveshaft is disconnected manually with a pull cable from inside the vehicle
-some automatic vehicles use an aux lube pump to keep the transmission lubed while towing
-placing the standard trans in neutral when towing for long distances CAN be acceptable depending n the transission. some will put an elbow fitting on the fill plug so the trans can be overfilled and that helps with lubing the main shaft of the trans when towing. the main shaft is directly connected to the driveshaft so it will turn when the wheels turn. since the gears ride on this shaft, but are not connected mechanically to the shaft when in neutral, the long distance towing can result in the needle bearings between the main shaft and the gears becoming dry, heating up and eventually eating up a shaft or a gear bearing surface. overfilling the trans can help with that.
-placing the 4x4 transfer case in neutral for long distance towing can result in the same problem as the manual transmission as referred to above. it depends on the transfer case
-check an rv site for vehicles they say can be flat towed, then possibly check with a dealer or a transmission shop before you take it for that long haul

[Dan in Pasadena]

Hi dsraven.

Thanks for the explanations. I towed our little fiat 500 6300 miles round trip in 2019 with no noticeable ill effects. I plan on towing my 2020 jeep gladiator long distances at some point in the future. It is an automatic but the rv sites all say to tow it in drive but with the transfer case in neutral.

[dsraven]

I think the Fiat and the jeep are both on the rv site for flat towables. they are also the ones you see behind the rv's on the highway. its a good idea to check with the trans rebuild guys just to make sure though. as always, you can't believe everything you see on tv or read on the net, haha. otherwise you could be driving with Elvis and some freshly arrived aliens could be watching you at night from their UFO. your dog could have 2 heads and do algebra while watching TV and you could have lost 50 lbs last week by doing nothing different.

[Dan in Pasadena]

We drove up to Atascadero again this morning to pick up our granddaughter and I happened to see the same Suburban driving south on the 101 a bit north of Pismo Beach. I guess he's staying in the area for awhile. Like I said, he's from New Mexico so it's not like he's a snowbird.

Oh well, whatever but it was nice to see it traveling the interstate nice and smoothly as it went by.

[mr48chev]

Well I'd have too say that it wouldn't hard to talk my wife into staying in the Pismo area for a month if the weather was right. Plus we could hit Rosa's for Italian food more than once that way.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Rosa's is damn good. We went there the time before this time. This time we went to Giuseppe's and it was excellent as well....but then I like Italian and sounds like you do too!

[mr48chev]

We have to drive 90 miles to a good "real Italian" restaurant. We really enjoyed Rosa's.
We had to wait for about an hour to get in but the folks around us told us it was worth it and it was.
My wife keeps talking about making another trip down there To Moro Bay and Pismo Beach and then points south. She has never been further south than Pismo Beach. I've always wanted to do the whole Highway 101 trip from Port Angeles to Chula Vista.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Come down as far south as Ventura, maybe go inland to Ojai but don't bother with LA unless you bypass it and head down to Laguna Beach and San Diego.

I've lived in L.A. my entire life and though there is plenty to see there is plenty you don't want to waste precious vacation time on seeing. Just my $.02, YMMV.