Enable Me: '91 Suburban

Here's a little background. My partner and I will soon be moving into a new house and needing to do a lot of moving/buying furniture. Right now we have my G35 and her Fit, which can swallow a surprising amount of stuff, but not a couch/hutch/whatever. At the same time I've also been wanting to finally get a project vehicle to work on. I am thinking to kill two birds with one stone and get something relatively easy to work on but capable of moving stuff or taking out camping. Right now at the top of my list is a 91 2wd suburban on propane. There is some rust and I'm sure some other things to fix, as it is 800 bucks. As far as my background goes I have been a regular lurker here for a few years but I've honestly done pretty much no wrenching ever. I'd like to get into it without getting overwhelmed and without starting with something so nice I'm afraid I'll make it worse. For resources, I'll be moving into a place with a two car garage, and I also have access to the shop at the school I work at with the various tools, lifts, welders, etc. My thinking is 3/4 drop, sway bars, fix the rust in the floor pans, and drive it til it falls apart. 

Any suggestions as to how bad/good an idea this is? Is this a path to untold woe or great success? I feel like for 800 bucks I'd at least have a 4l80E and a propane 350 to fool around with and stuff in something else. I know quite a few of you have had various versions of suburbans and C/K trucks, so any tips or thoughts would be appreciated. 

Propane? 

I'm not sure where you are located but I am in Ohio and though some commercial trucks run on Propane it is generally not a convenient choice of fuel for owners who do not have their own tank/storage/ filling capabilities.  

Link to a map of US and Canada propane filling stations for vehicles... https://afdc.energy.gov/fuels/propane_locations.html#/find/nearest?fuel=LPG

For me, I have one station within an hour of my home. 

I have nothing against a Suburban.  Having an old truck around can be wonderful.  But, if propane,  I would have to pass considering it limited usability.  

In reply to SavageHenry :

Is it a 3/4-ton? If not I think it’ll have the 4l60e like the gas trucks.

Also, you might fit a futon into a suburban, but I can’t envision any couch that would fit into the back of one. They don’t have that much vertical height inside. 

Normally I’d tell you to buy a used cargo van because they’re cheaper, but I’m not sure you’ll find a running/driving one for $800. Though it’ll likely be worth whatever you paid for it if you decide to sell post-move. 

Wouldn't a 91 have the 700r4 or th400?

EvanB said:

Wouldn't a 91 have the 700r4 or th400?

91 was a bit of an odd year.  We had one and I'm pretty sure it was the 700R4, but I have heard that some had the 4L60E.  The 3/4 would be either a 4L80E or a TH400, again 91 may be a tossup as that was the last year of the square bodies before the GMT400 body style, which was (AFAIK) 4L60E or 4L80E.  Best way to tell is crawl up underneath and use a transmission identifier.

As for whether it's a good idea or not, this pretty well sums it up:

GMT400 started in 88. My 1988 2500 Silverado with a 350 has a 700r4. The 3500 got a 350 or 454 both of them with a TH400.

In reply to Floating Doc :

Suburbans were still C/K until mid year '91. Only pickups were GMT400 in '88-'90. 2 WD changes shell earlier than 4WD too. Very confusing, I had a '91 4WD Suburban

Floating Doc said:

GMT400 started in 88. My 1988 2500 Silverado with a 350 has a 700r4. The 3500 got a 350 or 454 both of them with a TH400.

Correct, except we're talking Suburbans here.  The Blazer/Suburban didn't go to the GMT400 platform until the 1992 model year. 

Thanks for the feedback. As some have menetioned, the suburban was still on the old c/k until 1992. Seller says it's a 4l80e and I can't tell from pics if it's a 1500 or 2500. There are a ton of gas stations with propane around me, so not too worried about that. TBH I'm kind of fascinated by the idea of building a turbocharged propane engine at some point. Good point about height concerns for transporting a couch.

It's a square body so you can't go wrong value wise. The suburbans aren't worth as much as the pickups but I don't see you losing money unless it's a total rust bucket. I'd be more concerned about the quality of the propane conversion but shouldn't be hard to convert back. Got pictures?

SavageHenry said:

Thanks for the feedback. As some have menetioned, the suburban was still on the old c/k until 1992. Seller says it's a 4l80e and I can't tell from pics if it's a 1500 or 2500. There are a ton of gas stations with propane around me, so not too worried about that. TBH I'm kind of fascinated by the idea of building a turbocharged propane engine at some point. Good point about height concerns for transporting a couch.

The 3/4 ton got the 4l80e in 91.  The 1/2 ton got the 700r4.

I've had no problem hauling a full size couch in mine with the tailgate shut.  Here is my 90:

Wait. You have no experience with mechanical skills, and want to ease in by buying a rusted, unreliable, old, propane running, project car? I have been working on cars most of my life and STILL wouldn't have the skills to take something like that farther than the bottom of the hill without breaking down on the side of the road. 

Do the sensible thing and start with a clean, well running, reliable automobile and work on things as they start popping up before buying a restomod in need of full restoration IMO.

In reply to Olemiss540 :

Good points on getting in over my head. I don't plan to restore it beyond fixing the floor. More like a project beater I can learn on without ruining something better. 

In reply to Olemiss540 :

Forget this guy.  When I was 19, I bought my first vehicle with 550 of my own dollars.  And it was a 1977 GMC Suburban.  Which is basically the same thing as this, except it had a Rochester Quadrajet carburetor instead of...the Rochester TBI fuel injection.  I owned a 30 piece socket set and a few screwdrivers and a Vice Grips, and I kept that POS on the road for 3 years and 50,000 miles.  

Fun fact: if you flip the air cleaner upside down on a TBI-equipped 350, it sounds EXACTLY like a Quadrajet-equipped 350.  I think the engineers did this on purpose.  

This is the simplest vehicle from 1991 you could possibly buy.  Do it.  

We enable. It's what we do.

I also commend you wanting to get your hands dirty and keep your hooptie going.  However, discretion is the better part of valor. Are there service stations which can work on a propane Chevy if you do managed to encounter something out of your depth?