Alright so i have a 1969 suburban 2wd in pretty good shape over in storage, and i want a project so i think im gonna drag it home soon...but i wanna pick everyone's brain on a drive train..right now its got a stout little 350 with a 500cfm 2bbl carb and a power glide for a tranny...my old man wants to put a duramax with an Allison in it...but i havent found any that are anywhere close to cheap..

so i guess the question is..what engine should i go with?
6.0? 8.1? old carbed engine of some kind? turbo? n/a? bottle? and what tranny to go behind whatever it is?.. im almost positive its gettin a 9" for a rearend... and i couldnt even guess on what gears to put into this tank.

everyone is welcome to give me their ideas.. my idea was a mild cam/turbo/8.1 with a 4l80e.. but i also wanna see what everyone else thinks..

oh and the other thing.. its got 4 wheel drum brakes, so should i do a front disc conversion or a 4 wheel disk conversion?

 

damn it, i thought i posted this in classic trucks, could someone please move this..

 

As far as brakes/suspension, just swap out the front brakes for 71-72 discs and get the rear re-drilled for 5 lug. That or use a ssbc 6 lug swap, but that will limit your wheel options.

As far as drive train, you're options are not limited very much, the truck has plenty of room under the hood. The Duramax sounds like a cool idea, but cost would definitely be a factor. The 8.1 sounds cool, but performance parts are pretty limited for those engines, in my opinion if you're going BBC, just do an old school long block and aftermarket EFI or carb. A gen 3/4 swap is an easy option, there is plenty or aftermarket and examples to follow, if it was mine, of those options, that is the route I would go.

As far as what I'm doing with my 72 swb, I'm tossing an sbc/TH350 in it and cruising it... I have new school toys for playing with EFI and still love the old school simplicity, variety is great. It's not satisfying for everybody, but a $4k budget with paint and I have a great cruiser on my hands.

 

even tho a there isnt much for the 8.1, a cam and turbo would be enough i would think

 

Whippled 8.1, 4L80E and 14bolt SF rear.

 

This'll be the ULTIMATE fate my '86 will see after my three sons get through college. Except, I'll have to go SBC / built-700R4 w/3.73s. Thought about doing that now, but I want to put it thru a frame-off resto. Honestly, I could stuff a BBC in it, but I'd have to check my hide-a-way stash for that one.

 

anyone else?

 

Don't start another project cause your truck gots too many dents, fix yo **** and put the bottle in it!

 

dont be mad, you just dont a suburban to beat u on the track!

 

In my opinion, if you have the funds that is, I'd do built 6.0. The 6.0 is ridiculous. There are so many options out there performance wise. If you have the funds, I'd put a small turbo and a turbo cam in it and call it good.