Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Very nice!
So I made a comment on Advanced Design's build...So who's gonna end up w/the sweeter ' 'burb build? :lol: right now it's neck and neck!

And yes i realize it's not a competition...but man....

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Beautiful work!!

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

My vote goes to Doug

Thank you

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Marc's...it is the only PB equipped AD Burb on the planet....that pegs the meter over in the sweet range. :metal:

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

I think both of your burbs Will be really Nice, :metal:

Fer,

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

I don't know, your hi-rise intank will look pretty sweet on top of that LS motor.

Thank you

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

People seem to like pics so here are a few more from the other day. I moved the suburban out to clean/blow out the garage.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

its amazing how clean you can get the garage without the project in there!

looking good!

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Marc, I always thought you ran little tires up front and big ones in the rear :devil: , just pulling your chain, burb look good...Jim

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Yes, it made it easy. I even got the leaf blower out and blew out a bunch of dust/ground metal.

Thanks
Marc

It's called the California rake (or the scolded dog) ....watch now your all are going to be doing it. Ha ha

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Huge progress! It's inspiring to see a project get rolled out - mine is close. I really want to see it out in the driveway and blow out the garage. Your burn is killer.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

looks killer. crazy there is no snow there in end of dec. we just had 50* on monday, then tuesday I woke up to about 5" of snow.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks Scott..

Yes, we have had some snow come and go. On the day after Christmas I was washing my daily in the driveway just wearing a T-shirt. It is easier to get motivated to go out to the garage when its not -10... ha ha

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Looks good marc..bet it feels good to have it moveable..

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Yes, it makes it easier to move around...

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Brake is over...back to work tomorrow.

I did manage to get quite a bit of garage time in...I did a lot of little stuff that is not super exciting to show...But I did take some pics. The main accomplishment was fitting and trimming the inner fenders. This included installing/removing the inner fenders 100 times and adding and removing metal to achieve a fit I was happy with. I mounted the tabs for my brake lines to attach to. More work is needed for better turning clearance. I have some ideas...more to come on that. I also started to install most of the front sheet metal to check things over. This is the same approach Delmo is doing on a truck he is building with a PB kit. Him and I have been sharing info/ideas...

I also mounted my big brake set up so I can see what length ss hoses I need.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

More pics

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Marc, Nice job on the inner fenders, burb is looking great, love the front snd 3/4 shot...Jim

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks Jim. The lighting is really crappy when I lift the garage door. I will get some better ones outside once I throw the hood on.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

looking good. keep at it, want to see the finished product.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

looking good!

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Your burb is looking so good. With 22" vs 20" will the overall height and width of the rubber be the same?

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks Mark

Thanks, yes me too.

Thanks

Thanks...No if I go with 22's I would drop down to a 35 series tire. The 20's in the picture are 45 series. I will probably end up with 20's due to how much trouble I would need to go through in the rear because of how the suburban rear fenders attach to the body. I'm not ready to throw in the towel just yet on the 22's though.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Nice work on trimming the inner fenders Marc. Put it together, take it apart....

Is Delmo showing his build anywhere?

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks. Yes, that's how it goes right? On my 48 I did a lot of this after it was painted...I would NOT recommend doing it that way.

Delmo is only showing teaser pics on Instagram. We have shared some pics/info through direct message.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Happy new year Marc!
The inner fenders are very nice fit, looks like a factory fit, only better!
I really like the pics of the burb on the ground.
What are your plans paint wise? I think I missed that part....

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thank you same to you and yours.....

You didn't miss anything about paint. I'm not sure I have decided. The original idea is a nice engine bay and interior with a painted and detailed frame. Then fake some kind of weathered paint was the original idea. I have nice paint on my 48 and its a pain at times to treat it like a daily driver. The idea was low maintenance and later if I decide to paint it nice the hard work would be done. Also from a cost perspective if I sold my 48 it would make it a lot easier to throw some money at a decent paint job...decisions, decisions

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

I like the idea of a "perfect" new inner cab and enginebay with a patina outside.
But we can't decide for you ;)

Don't sell the '48......

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

I wouldn't sell that truck unless you desperately needed to or simply aren't as attached to it as you use to be. I love the idea of one painted truck and one patina or several of each! you get both worlds and I'm sure you'll find out, the patina is way more peaceful to drive and not care about and often times gets more attention (which can be a bad thing too). the good thing about patina is, you can always paint it. the bad thing about paint is its hard to go back to patina.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

I figured while Doug had his family Christmas taking place on Sunday that I better get out in the garage and put some work in hopes to catch up to him on the suburban build off.

What I worked on today was the rear inner wheel tubs. The idea is to narrow and raise the tubs up slightly to increase the space for big rims/tires. I barrowed this approach from someone on FB with a Suburban build using an S-10 chassis.

First order of business was to cut the flange of the tubs and some other trimming to fit between the floor structure and body. I tacked the tubs in place. Then I used poster board to make a template for the metal that I will cut to close the gap between the tub and suburban side wall.

I feel pretty good about the direction/progress of this part of the build.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

I like the idea of getting all the hard work done now then if you want to finish later it is just a little scuff and paint. How you leave it till then is up to you, flat primer or repair the necessary parts spots and leave it.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Yes at the present that is where I'm leaning. The bottom will be treated with raptor liner (bed coating) and the frame painted and detailed. That way the body wont need to come off the frame later if I decide to paint it shinny...

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Raising the wheel openings is a good idea....that is sure a limiting factor on tire diameter and drop. Good progress Marc.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks Doug. I will prob also cut up into the body more and reinforce it to give the wheel a pocket to go up into. I really like the look of the factory wheel tubs. That is the only way to lay out on 20's. I have seen people use truck wheel wells. To me they look out of place.

I need to run out to the metal store to get some 18 gauge for my filler pieces.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Yes, one of my misadventures was truck wheel wells...I didn't like the look and changed back. Have fun with the fitting.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

So I worked on the rear wheel well area. I have determined that it is impossible to layout an AD suburban on a 20" rim. The limiting factor with the suburban body. Specifically the top of the wheel well opening where the fender bolts to. On a truck its easy you cut out the bedsides and get mini tubs and call it a day.

After a lot of head scratching and math I determined that the only way to pull this off is to cut a recess up into the body to create a pocket to gain clearance for the top of the wheel. The mock up rim/tire I'm using is 245/45/18 giving me an over all diameter of 25.72". After cutting as much as body as I could I still was 2" short (as shown in the pic with the tape measure). This picture is at the aired out height. I decided I would cut up into the body to gain this 2". The inner wheel tubs were going to be raised up and widened anyway so that was ok. The diameter tire that I will try to fit is either a 275/45/20 (29.74" dia) which is the same as my 48 truck, or a 265/35/22 (29.3" dia). I started small with the pockets. I can always cut more as needed.

I already need to narrow my rearend so I would just get my wheel offset set up correctly so the wheels tuck up in the body when aired out. I used a Zr2 rearend and it was a good deal with posi and all but at 63" wide it is much to wide to run a rim with any kind of lip. I will look to shorten by 4" on each side. As for the fenders I decided I would eliminate the center top most mount to make room for the pocket that I will create into the body.

A lot of work for 2".....that's what she said..ha ha

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Yup nibble nibble bit by bit you will fit it. It's easier to take more than put some back. That is going to look killer with the big wheels.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

if it were easy, everyone would do it.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks 50...yes I was tired of looking at it. I'm anxious to see the big rims diassapear into the body when it airs out.

Right... I'm hoping most of these changes when finished will be fairly subtle so the average person won't know what it took...the first cut was the toughest. I should geT more time on Sunday to throw sparks.

Marc