My '62 Suburban is about as "clean" as yours, but with a little more "park by Braille" over the years. There's no carpet, ratty seats, no weather stripping... and it's my daily driver. I'm happiest while driving that truck everywhere!
I've dropped in a low-horse crate engine (290hp) with a vintage Edelbrock C3B intake, oil fill tube and no-vent "327" factory chrome valve covers, replaced the junk rear end with a fresh-built 3.42 Posi Dana 44, '81-'87 Chevy 4spd OD manual trans, dual reservoir power brakes, all new brake lines and wheel cylinders, new radiator, 7-blade clutch fan, had the gauges restored, new wiring harness, rechromed bumpers, and last weekend I finally converted it to self-adjust brake mechanisms.
It's gone to Florida twice (the first time the rear end died 400 miles into it, but I continued on with the 1600-mile round trip), Maxton North Carolina (where the old wiring harness burned up) and about 10-15,000 miles of around-town driving each year for the last three years.
Get on the highway and honk right on down the road in the left hand lane with the overdrive. All my hotrodder buddies are impressed with it because it's pretty fast, and rock-solid reliable now.
Next up is a front suspension rebuild, clutch and brake pedal assembly rebuild, and then I'll get started on paint and interior. Also looking for a '60-'61 hood to go with my '60 grill.
So in short, DRIVE THAT SUCKER EVERY DAY!!!!! You can have as much fun with it every day as you did the one day you drove it. Once you get in the mindset that it's an old vehicle, and it WILL break down or have something go wrong until you've restored every piece of it. Until then, it's a great adventure and a good time.
There's something just absolutely right and good about driving a vintage truck every day.
-Brad
