The new robot hauler is ready
 

As an involved mentor, I often get the opportunity to haul robots and tools and parts and stuff for the team. Over the years, I've used several different trucks to do this. This past summer, I finally finished building my 57 Chevy Suburban. It's a great robot hauler, it's roomy, has only a front seat, has rear doors instead of a tailgate, and gets sort of decent gas mileage. Drivetrain is a tired old 350, TH400 automatic transmission, and Ford 9" rearend with 2.75 gears. Creature comforts include heat, cruise, an amp/speakers, and not much else. And...it looks great!

I will have it at the kickoff event in Phoenix in a couple weeks, to haul the KOP home.

Shown in front of the movie production office for La Vida Robot, in Albuquerque this past October.

Re: The new robot hauler is ready
 

That is a thing of beauty!

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+1 to that. Nice job. It's a pity you couldn't have something like that in NJ, it would rust to dust in just a few minutes...

Does it have seat belts? :rolleyes:

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SWEET:D :D :D :D :D

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It has 3 point seat belts.

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Man, I love it! I can't wait till see it at the Phoenix regionals! I like the colour!!!

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I did a double take when I read that it was going to a kickoff event, surely you wouldn't drive that in January...then I remembered the whole Arizona thing. There are lots of guys with nice classics around here, but you only see them from May to September.

Really nice truck.

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Fantastic set of wheels, Jim! Looking forward to seeing it here in Vegas.

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+1

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No blower?






Very nice.

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As I recall they are like an alternate universe inside for space. Can we get an interior shot?

Did you stick with the stock power plant?

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Now that is a thing of beauty. I'd love to see a few more pictures of the interior & dash if you have them.

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Nice Jim. Looking forward to another great season of building robots and community here on CD.

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This is why the Forbes family is the coolest in first.

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Thanks! The drivetrain is not stock, it originally had a 235 six cylinder, and 4 speed manual, which are now in my son's 59 pickup.

Inside....

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Is that a 4th generation classic iPod I spy? Even more awesome now.

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Nice! Love the old school Slot Mags.

I'm kind of surprised that as a FIRST mentor you aren't using a MegaSquirt to bring that old 350 into the fuel injection age, or at least a TBI system from a late 80's GM pickup.

I went with MegaSquirt for my Travelall.

Re: The new robot hauler is ready
 

You must be getting old, last year's robot hauler didn't have all these cushy amenities :p

What's towing like with the small engine and tall gears?

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heh....you and Scott Clark....

I considered adding EFI, but it's so easy to just bolt on a Quadrajet and get mileage, performance, and reliability...without the hassle of trying to figure out how to put all that wiring in and make it look good, dealing with a high pressure fuel system, having to tune, the added cost, etc. I literally took the carb off the shelf where it had been sitting for a couple years, bolted it on the engine, and it fired first try. I haven't even adjusted the idle mixture screws.

Re: The new robot hauler is ready
 

Robot picture....getting ready to take our 2014 robot to a "reveal" event at the mall Friday. Then to Duel in the Desert Saturday.

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Nice robot AND car!

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Beautiful. My dream car is a 53' F-100 and am hopefully planning on picking one up for my next vehicle. Did you restore it yourself?

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Thanks! Yes, I did almost all the work myself. I farmed out the exhaust system, and the seat upholstery...but I did all the chassis work, body work, paint, wiring, transmission, glass installation, etc.

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It's threads like this that make me very glad my husband isn't on CD very often. (Though since we're in northern Illinois I don't have to worry about this too much.)

Our team's "student hauler" is a converted prison van, complete with red and blue numbered bumpers. New parents get a little concerned when they hear the older kids asking to ride in the prison van.

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The 2015 season is in full swing. The old suburban has just been on two robot trips. 3360 miles in ten days. Central Valley and Alamo. And I have three more regionals to attend.

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2016 finds the old Suburban on it's way to New York City! with a robot in back.

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But the roadsalt!

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Good luck! It is a long trip but it should be fun! I hope you find your way alright. If you need any assistance once you get to NY just PM me. See you Friday!

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Taking a picture while driving 70 MPH? Where's your safety captain?

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...he's getting on a plane tomorrow.

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The suburban made it to NYC with the robot intact....we competed and made it to the quarterfinals...then the students loaded up and I'm back on the road, somewhere in PA on my way back to AZ. And of course it's going to rain on me for a couple days.

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An epic trip for an epic machine.

Although my first response was to ask if you had a 400 CIM drive train in there. Maybe an AndyMark logo on your transmission?

Safe travels!

Jason

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Nice! I want to convert one of these(or really any car) to electric. Have you done a quarter mile with it yet? :D I can understand upgrading the engine, but why replace the manual tranny with an automatic? Is there not one that can handle the torque of the V8(I'm assuming) you swapped in?

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Awesome meeting your team! Wish we got to play a Qual or Elim match together. Hope your trip back home goes alright.

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My educated guess is that he's looking more for ease of driving as opposed to the issues of a manual transmission not holding up to the torque.

I think you will find that in fact a manual transmission will hold up far better than an automatic when placed behind a high torque engine application.

Hope you get to try your vehicle modification at some point in the future.

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This is a very cool robot ride!

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Thanks!

On the transmission... It is usually easier and less expensive to swap in an automatic transmission. I can rebuild them myself.

I also have a pretty fast Cbevy II drag car, that is street driven. It had run a 9 second quarter mile. It has a blown 427, close to 700 HP. I have a manually shifted automatic transmission in it. I spent less than $1000 building the transmission. It would cost 3 or 4 grand for a manual transmission and clutch that would hold up.

I'm about half way home from NYC.... the suburban is still doing OK.

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That makes sense. I thought it would be the other way around(manual would be less expensive an easier to rebuild, since they're simpler). I can see how a manual could slow down a drag car with shift times, so I guess there aren't many for that high torque. Amazing that your Suburban is almost 60 years old and still making trips that far without issues. Just shows how well things were built back then.

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To be fair, the Suburban has a newer drivetrain and suspension in it. And I did a lot of work to restore the body. But it made the trip, I'm home...5050 miles, and I never had to open my tool box. I can't complain!

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This is a beautiful vehicle. I love the color and all of it.
Brings back memories...

Thanks for sharing it on CD

Love to see it in person sometime....

Super job....

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Nice ride Jim! I'm glad your journey went well. Lots of miles and memories on long haul rides like yours, but I've never done it in such style and class. Kudos on the ride and the great use of such a nice machine!