396 Turbo-Jet! 1969 Chevrolet Suburban Custom
The year 1969 was a big one for anyone who wanted to go fast. All domestic auto manufacturers had their instantly recognizable model names like GTO, Cobra Jet, and SS396. And Chevrolet’s SS396 covered the Chevelle, Nova, and Camaro model lines. OK, how about reaching over and covering a utility vehicle too? That’s a bit of a stretch but not beyond the realm of possibility. Let’s examine this 1969 Chevrolet Suburban Custom C10 and I’ll explain further. Discovered cooling its heels in Santa Rosa, California by Pat L., this Suburban is available, here on craigslist for $29,999.
While Chevrolet’s pickup trucks of this era (Action Line 1967-1972) have quite a following today, it only stands to reason that the Suburban, wearing the same front clip, would have enthusiastic followers too. This example, a two-wheel-drive 1/2 ton version has been sitting for a while but still shows well so its exposure to the elements has probably been limited. There is some obvious surface rust and the seller adds, “all original no accidents or body repairs….has minimal surface rust in spots …” Unfortunately, there are no included images of the single door driver side so I can’t speak comprehensively for this Suburban’s overall aesthetics or condition.
The seller claims, “interior is clean and pristine no ripped seats ..or saggy roof” and that appears to be the case. There are some small splits or tears in the vinyl upholstery but they’re minor. As is often the case, the front seat of this 27K recorded mile (probably 127K) SUV is more worn than the back seat. There appears to be an under-dash A/C unit that has been added (no mention of operability) and I find the radio to be interesting, it’s stamped “GM” above the dial and is unlike any others, usually Delco branded, that I have spied. The instrument panel’s gauges still look clear and bright.
Under the hood is a 310 gross HP 396 CI V8 engine and it is claimed that it “was running good when last parked a few years ago“. Heard that one many times before…Added is, “engine does not start needs carborator (sic) cleaned …..needs to be towed“. Well, the bag over the carburetor and the missing passenger side valve cover tells you something’s up. It doesn’t look like it has been touched in years. A Turbo-Hydramatic automatic transmission gets the engine’s power, when it’s up to it, to the rear wheels.
So, an SS396 truck? No, not even close really. The 396 engine is so closely associated with fast cars it just seems different to find one in a vehicle of such sizeable proportions. But then again, it’s a pretty-good stump puller of a motor so it’s a logical destination for one. Of course, there’s always the price to consider, $30K, what do you think, priced right or not quite?
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Comments
Looks like a fairly nice rig overall but the price seems optimistic. For $30k, it should be in running condition. The missing valve cover indicates a potential mechanical issue that could be costly. If seeking perfection, some rust repair may be needed as well as some interior work along with possible brake, suspension and whatever the 396 will need. If it can be acquired for a lower price, it could be worth restoring but $30k seems too much for it as-is.
Find another 396 Suburban. Especially a ’69 which is the last year for the 396 period. 310 hp isn’t that far off a “Turbo-Jet” car 396 and in actuality it IS a “Turbo-Jet” by virtue of the TURBOHydraMatic 400 trans and QUADRAJET carburetor. 396s “topped out” at 375 hp so 310 SAE net is nothing to sneeze at. 14,000 Suburbans and Panels built “in ’69” and as the “first year” for the 350 in light trucks along with 3 6-cylinder options and the last year for the 396 due to “declining demand” and the “horsepower wars” producing a mistaken belief – at least as far as GM and Chevy went – that any big-block with under 400 cubic inches wasn’t a “real big-block” MAINLY because the “lowly” 396 like the 348 before it in the right “platform” absolutely wiped up the floor with more “muscular” cars with “real big-blocks” and “three deuces” and “dual quads” in front of slushbox automatics, “wide-ratio” 4-speeds and “truck axles” if in gear-ratio only, it’s a safe bet that just like everywhere in the ’67-’72 GM – actually Chevy since GMC never “adopted” a big-block V8 “truck motor” and instead went “big-block” V6 (the “GMC” 305 V6 essentially being a Chevy “Mark 1” big-block 409 – which started AS a “truck motor” like ALL “post-war” – World War I that is – all-Chevrolet “in-house” engines – with “two cylinders left off”) in its “light trucks” and when it did “adopt” Chevy V8s and inline 6-cylinders GMC got only the “leftovers”, there were at most only hundreds of big-block Burbs built as far from being “SUVs” Suburbans were still MAINLY “UVs” to the point that unlike 402-powered C10 pickup “CST”s – “Cheyenne Sport Truck” according to some and that’s half-true of the small-block Cheyennes but Cheyenne SUPER Truck with a “400” big-block (NOT just a “bored-out 396) and “only” 265 hp under the hood in ’71 and ’72, ’69 and ’70 IF there were any 1970 402 big-block Burbs – like my ’69 “Custom” C10 Burb WITH its original numbers-matching L47 “Turbo-Jet” 396 and TH400 isn’t a “sport” OR “super” truck. Not even with FACTORY “ROOF-MOUNTED” air-conditioning for/to “front” and “rear” passengers AND the cargo area and everything in between.
Nothing but aftermarket “under dash” AC “hurts” this truck and even makes me question whether or not its a real big-block truck since I have not PERSONALLY seen a 396 OR 402 ’67-’72 WITHOUT air-conditioning and with good reason given the heat the “heavy-duty” engine and trans can and do put out when “towing” or “hauling” but IF it’s the “real deal” as verified by “provenance” BESIDES the “SPID” (glovebox door “option list”) and “previous owner” stories, it’s certainly worth a BIG “premium” over the “average” ’69 Suburban in “fair” condition – not necessarily “running and driving” but “complete” and “intact” with a “good title” – which according to Hemmings is now “worth” around $6500. Without caveats for “optional equipment” like V8s, auto trans, rear seat equipment, the much more “sought after” so-called “clamshell” drop-down tailgate and lift-up “hatch” rather than dual swing-out “barn doors”, 4-wheel drive (not nearly as “sought after” as one would think given virtually all ’67-’72 ton 4WDs are six-cylinder and manual-trans trucks with “closed knuckle” and “full-time” front axles in ’67–’68, 3/4-ton 4WDs were not “sought after” until ’69 when the 350 4-barrel “came out”, the vast majority were STILL manual trans AND GM never put a big-block in a ’67-’72 4WD nor can one be “swapped” into a factory 4WD chassis OR can a 2WD chassis be “converted” to 4WD “affordably” using all “factory” parts and/or “donor trucks” FROM ’67-’72.
A common “swap” is or at least was putting a ’72 or earlier (all the way back to the ’58 Fleetsides the “swap” is fairly simple and straightforward”) “body” on a “chopped” ’73-up GM “squarebody” 4WD frame. Or “drivetrain swaps” from same. Now “squarebodies” are “fire” and especially 4WDs since everything “swaps” between K-series 1/2-tons and 3/4-tons.
Anybody with half a clue also knows that it’s not until you go “aftermarket performance” that BBC parts, machine work etc get a “premium” over SBC engines and there isn’t a single part in or on a 396 that isn’t in or on a 350 and a significant number of parts actually “interchange” between the INTERNALLY-BALANCED “baby big block” 396 and the INTERNALLY-BALANCED “biggest brother small block” 350 with the 400 small-block being an externally-balanced “bastard child” with more in common with a 454 including the need for “exotic” machining when “high performance” is the goal.
Not to mention ANYTHING and EVERYTHING CHEVY with less than 4 doors and WITH A BIG-BLOCK UNDER THE HOOD FROM THE FACTORY AND BUILT PRIOR TO OR DURING THE “HORSEPOWER WARS” BRINGS A “PREMIUM” OVER ANY AND EVERY “IDENTICAL” VEHICLE WITH SMALL-BLOCK V8 AND 6-BANGER POWER.
THE 396 WAS THE ORIGINAL “MYSTERY MOTOR” AND ONE A “COLLEGE DROPOUT” AMATEUR “ENGINE BUILDER” AND DRAG RACER NICKNAMED “GRUMPY” BECAUSE HE WOULDN’T SHARE HIS “SECRETS” GOT “ABOUT 540” DYNO-PROVEN HORSEPOWER OUT OF WITH 100% FACTORY PARTS AND “ALLOWABLE MODIFICATIONS” AND RAN TO THE TUNE OF 10.30S IN A STOCK ’68 CAMARO SUPER SPORT WITH A 4-SPEED AND 10-BOLT REAR AXLE WHILE WIPING UP THE FLOOR WITH “REAL BIG-BLOCKS” IN “FACTORY TEAM” CARS “ALLOWABLY MODIFIED” BY FACTORY ENGINEERS AND RUNNING “HOMOGOLATED” RACE ENGINES IN “STOCK” CARS THAT LEFT THE “FACTORY” AS “BODIES IN WHITE” WITH EVERY WEIGHT-ADDING AND POWER-ROBBING OPTIONAL AND STANDARD PART “DELETED”.
OF COURSE THEY WERE MAINLY FORD “BIG-BLOCKS” HE WAS WAXING AND SINCE TO THIS VERY DAY AND “GODZILLA” EVERY “BIG-BLOCK” FORD “HI-PO” ENGINE STARTED AS A “TRUCK MOTOR” COMPETING WITH CHEVY SMALL-BLOCKS IN “FARM TRUCKS” AND FORD HAS PUT “BIG BROTHER” SMALL-BLOCK CHEVY-SIZED COMBUSTION CHAMBERS THAT WILL HOLD A WHOPPING 70ISH CC OF FUEL AND AIR IN ITS “BIG-BLOCK” HEADS WHILE EVERY “HIGH PERFORMANCE” BBC INCLUDING AND SINCE THE “LOWLY” 396 “MYSTERY MOTOR” HAS AND HAS HAD AT LEAST 100 CC CHAMBERS AND CHEVY HASN’T EVEN BUILT A 70-CC SMALL-BLOCK HEAD SINCE THE “HORSEPOWER WARS”, ONLY “FORD ENTHUSIASTS” THAT KNOW IT COSTS AT LEAST $20 PER HP TO GET “ABOUT 500” HP FROM ANY AND EVERY “BIG-BLOCK FORD” ARE TERRIFIED OF THE “BUILD COSTS” OF A “LOW PERFORMANCE” BIG-BLOCK CHEVY “TRUCK MOTOR” THAT FROM THE FACTORY WITH IRON MANIFOLDS, STAMPED STUD-MOUNTED ROCKERS, A “MILD” HYDRAULIC CAM, BREAKER-POINT IGNITION AND RESISTOR PLUGS AND WIRES MADE OVER .75 HP PER CUBIC INCH AT WAY, WAY UNDER THE “7 GRAND” EVERY “FORD ENTHUSIAST” BELIEVES EVERY FORD “HI-PO” V8 EVER BUILT WILL “TURN” FROM THE “FACTORY”. ESPECIALLY EXTERNALLY-BALANCED “BIG-BLOCKS” WITH FACTORY CAST-IRON “HATCHET” SLIP-ON “BALANCE WEIGHTS” ON THE 8-INCH “CRANK SNOUT”.
Oh, what the heck, a tip of the hat to the ol’ 3 door Suburban. It took my old mans abuse better than any previous tow vehicle for our camper trips. Some may remember, the old man went through just about every type of wagon to pull our campers, including an IH Travelall, which was the worst, most with poor results due to his lack of maintenance. It was ultimately the Suburban that enabled us to see this great country, and not from a gas station parking lot. The 3 door, while a novel idea, kept rear passengers from exiting on the street, really was more of a PITA crawling over granny to get out. They made for a good ambulance, as Milwaukee, and many other cities police depts. used these as transport to a hospital before paramedics. Survival was iffy. The old mans 1st Suburban was a police wagon, pretty tired, but his 2nd one, more like this, was a much better truck. It never left us stranded. This truck, I bet has 2 million miles, clearly towed a trailer, and a pile of memories, just like for me.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/3799980918543589/
I too grew up in the back seat of a 3 door Carryall, dad’s was a 72 blue with white top.
he took us all over the US in that thing towing a Jayco pop up camper.
to Colorado to visit his dad and sisters, to Nags Head and Myrtle beach many times…..
30K is way too high for this with so many unknowns on the drivetrain. For that price it doesn’t have to be show quality, but it should be driveable, well serviced, and cleaned up at least.
No rips in the seats, except where the tears are, and the lower drivers seat section been redone . I’m wondering if the GM radio was from a GMC truck ?
The price is way out of line. In the condition it’s in I’d say 15k
Would love to see the under carriage since the car is from moisture country, Santa Rosa. Ca.
Love my ‘Burban! ’67 C10, 292 6-banger, truck tranny w/grandma low, 3:08 Posi, 38 gal tank, so ugly it’s mother doesn’t love it anymore, not pretty like this ’69 but for the $200 I paid to rescue it from Pick-A-Part in ’91 it’s been hauling me around ANYWHERE I want to go. Daily driver for 31 years and counting. Miles? Haha 😂 3rd drive train currently has about 30 thou. Best 2 bills I ever spent.