Smokey burn out time?
So Adam and Cliff here from QA1 talking about this suburban. 1972 GMC Suburban uh it has a 1968
front end so that might fool a couple of you but uh it is a 72 technically. Okay. How much of this
truck is this truck? Well about the bottom one foot of it was rusted and completely gone when
I purchased it. A lot of closet rod, hangers, fiberglass, hopes and dreams holding it together.
So i just decided to hack and slash, remove the floor and start fresh. I
pulled the whole body off with a very janky uh 2x4 crane setup that I had, put some casters
on it and slid it into my third stall of the garage so I could get to the whole frame and
mechanical side of it. Peeled everything out and sent it off to sand blasting and powder coat.
And this is what we have.
And this is where we're at three years later.
So is this like the first time you've gone this deep into a truck?
Absolutely. I started off doing a lot of snowmobile projects um and even
further back than that Kevin Bass, my high school tech ed teacher, absolutely where
so much of my mechanical capabilities started. He gave me free rein in the shop. Amazing experience,
uh, learning the machinery. Learning how to TIG weld, all this stuff. He had a chopper program
that I was able to help out with as well as a high mileage vehicle so got a ton of hands-on
experience as a as a high school kid. Just accelerated through college and to here at QA1.
The bodywork was not my concern. I wanted it to
mechanically be sound. Um, so all new brakes engine drivetrain it's all updated and modern.
But it runs drives yeah cruises down the road? Even...
We may have a couple things missing that,
you know, the creature comforts that certain people like. But
you know it's 95 degrees outside and that's that's pretty good air conditioning going on.
Bought it from a guy in New Richmond, Wisconsin
and I just went to town right away. I, I pulled everything off within a month.
Um, and I had it off to powder coat in no time at all. Man, did things slow down after that.
Uh, I went to SEMA. I procured my engine from a gentleman that works with us here
at a blackjack table uh from SEMA. So that was that was a good little uh adder...
To the the build list?
Yeah to the build list. Well six liter LS, um and then I also got a transmission from him as well.
Uh just seemed to make sense to buy the whole package.
I know you mentioned that you have kids and wanted to like get them involved but
are they going to be part of this project?
For sure. Actually, a lot of the time that I've spent building this my kids have laid
blankets down in the rear of this and they're playing with their iPads, or playing games,
or reading books. There's footprints in the rust of the floor um that you can take a look at that
are clearly my daughter's feet that have been stomping around in there so it's pretty cool.
I'm not going for a perfect vehicle by any means but um I'm gonna try to make it at least a little
bit better. This side definitely has a little bit of uh jank to it. Got some got some spacers,
half inch nuts, whatever. The door might be a little bit loose at the moment. Hey! We lost one.
Perfect. But it seals me up at least well enough.
Yeah, yep.
All pretty much new. I put a new gas tank in uh 21 gallon gas tank. New lights.
I for sure wanted the tailgate as opposed to the barn doors um just from a usability standpoint.
My family and I, we go camping. We go to the drive-in movie theater a ton and having this
open and available is going to be so much fun when we go to Elko for a drive-in, or whatever.
Well should we pop the hood?
Let's take a look
All right.
Okay, so not from the 70s.
Definitely a little more modern. Again, mechanically I wanted it to be sound and something
I could rely on for long road trips. I went with a six liter LS. Again I put a stage two Brian
Tooley racing truck cam version two in it. Fitech fuel injection system. CBF racing accessory drive
and Wilwood manual brake cylinder, or master cylinder.
And honestly everybody that's gone for a ride in it just has this ear-to-ear smile.
It's an experience that they've never had before, especially people that don't ride motorcycles or
whatever that free air feeling. It's something that you have to experience
So I know you said if you've had a lot of fun just
ripping it around for a few hundred miles. Just overall like, with the wheel and tire package,
I know you mentioned the rear suspension, front suspension. How does it feel?
So uh the QA1 suspension that we have on it I have a double adjustable shocks
a full front suspension full rear suspension obviously.
When you when you go from driving kind of just a standard SUV or um driving the kids around
and then you hop into this and it handles like a go-kart there's just...
That trust in a vehicle that you can go into a roundabout
and it bites the whole way. There's no squealing and tires...
It's so much fun even not going too fast but being able to dive into a corner
day to day. I will not necessarily autocross this, I will not necessarily drag race it.
If I have the opportunity, I'll mess around with it, whatever. But that's not again the the purpose
of it. It's an enthusiast vehicle, and you know the car community that we have here in Minnesota
is awesome. We have car shows every day of the week that we can go to and bop into. And having
this available to go check out that community uh I'm super excited for that opportunity.
Let's hop in and take it for a spin if you're game.
Sounds good.
This feels like my race car. Like, it shakes.
This is my new favorite thing in the whole world. I want to live here.
Good on your side? Yep.
So the first to second, yeah. First to second it'll chirp wheels every time.
Oh, it's the best.
Smokey burn out time?
Ready?
Yea!