I LOVE the comfortable ride of my '62 Suburban's torsion bar front end.
However, if I had to do it over again and was specifically targeting a vehicle purchase, I'd go with '63 for the wrap-around windshield and the coil sprung front end.
Rebuilding the torsion bar front end is very expensive. I have found a single company that makes a front disc brake kit, and it's expensive (But I gotta do it, so...) The front end very badly needs a sway bar, and I haven't found anybody that offers one specifically for the T-bar's lower control arms so I'll have to adapt and modify. That doesn't intimidate me, but might put off most casual enthusiasts.
I did find a set of lower ball joints on Ebay for $75...and the company keeps listing them, so they've got more. Otherwise, most of the "normal" places I looked were between $100-$150 EACH. Uppers are cheaper, tie rod ends and the rest aren't as horrible either, but still usually a little more than the later bits.
And I'm sure that torsion bars eventually wear out just like a coil spring. I don't know where to get those.
All that being said, I'm gonna spend the long dollar on rebuilding the stock front end and upgrading to disc brakes and power steering; I put about 15,000 miles on the tub last year as my daily driver, and don't see that changing. For that kind of mileage, I really want to keep that comfortable torsion bar front suspension!
-Brad
