Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Marc, looks great, nice job on the paint. Onward and upward...Jim

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

dude.. so sick. Awesome work!

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks for tagging along Jim...


Thanks man...

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

now that's what we've been waiting/wanting to see..!!!!...looks great Marc..!!!...

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Happy to oblige

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

good night that is gorgeous!

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Some people have all the talent. That is a beautiful suburban.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks man. It is fun to see the vision I've have had for a while bouncing around I'm my head starting to come to fruition.

Thank you very much, I'm humbled. It has been a fun project and so different in many ways from my last build.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Outrageous! LOL, you're slightly behind your "couple of years" timetable in post #1 but it's been worth the wait!

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Well my first build (48 truck) took 11 yrs, so the way I look at it I'm ahead of schedule..ha ha.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

So tonight I lined up all of the body mounts so I could slip bolts into each hole. On suburbans there are (4) Wood block 2 5/8" in height the supports the rear wood floor. It takes up the space between the frame and the floor. Since I made my own custom sub floor I knew I would need to make my own blocks.

I used Derlin to make the blocks. Derlin is a high density plastic that is used in tool and die to make worm gears and stuff. I love using this stuff.
1 It comes in black (or white).
2 It's easy to drill, sand and cut
3 it's pretty cheap. I buy drops at Alro metal for a couple $ per Lb.
4 It's not effected by the elements so there's no chance for water damage or rot.

I used Derlin to make my trans and carrier bearing spacers as well.

I needed to locate the body mount hole, drill thru the sub floor structure and make the top hole large enough to drop the head of the 7/16" bolt thru and also be able to fit a socket. Once the wood floor is installed you wont see any of this.

I now have all of my body mounts ready to tighten down as soon as I pick up some 3.5" long 7/16" bolts.

Thanks
Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

I really want to try to get the motor fired this spring. I have been focusing on items to help with that. One thing I noticed after I dropped the body on was my poor placement for the battery. I underestimated how buried it would be under the body. I have since ordered a drop down battery box. The bad part is removing the current one. It will be difficulty to get to the bolts that hold on the mount. I might have to cut it off unless I want to crib up the body some.

We had some friends over this weekend so I bolted the grill and core support cover to look a little more complete. I do like the look of the brushed grill.

Tonight's project, I made my custom vintage plug wires. For not really having the best crimping tools I made due. I like how they turned out. I just need to source some plug wire separators. I also double checked the wiring going into each coil to verify that I had the firing order correct (which I did...I was surprised) coming from the factory harness.

On Sunday I made a small bracket to mount the fuse block for the BPI harness. I'm pretty close to dropping it down the floor and plugging in stuff.

Thanks
Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

beaut work! delrin is some cool stuff. we have an aircraft surplus store here and they sell a composite wood substitute that is also listed as a sub for delrin!

7 months from now? or is your summer cooler and more pleasant haha

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Spring?...
Those plug wires are cool...never seen them befors..
And that grill....WOW...I really like the brushed look..

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Typo ha ha...I meant fall. With this Covid crap it has felt like one long Spring.

Yeah I meant Fall. I got them off Ebay. They were the cheapest source. They offer a lot of different colors and the guy Tom will provide the ends (45's or 90's) That you need. Thxs I really like to grill as well. Glad I did it.

Thanks Mark

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Yeah, spring...baseball just started. ;)

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Really taking shape...Jim

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Looks great, please post link for those wires, I love the look.

Nice work

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks Jim

Thxs much appreciated.
Check out https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Clo...Cclp%3A2334524

He has many different colors in his various listings. I didn't pay that much, I think my color was discontinued. I bought them last winter.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks....here I am wanting to replace my wire set and I haven't even started the brand new motor yet....but those look so good.

Thanks for the link

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

I hear ya. I'm anxiously wanting to fire my motor as well after a complete tear down. I knew that I wanted these wires along time ago. I also purchased some simple black wire separators that I will add to better organize the wires

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Marc..couldnt get your Ebay link to work..
I did search it by using (Vintage Cloth Braided Spark Plug Wires) and found them

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

I just click on the link and it works for me. Tom's is the guy I bought from. If you want different ends just message him and he will set you up with what you need.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

It says.....
(We looked everywhere..Looks like this page is missing.)

But that is the one I saw...
Tons.performance

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

looking good! getting the body on is a big step

those plug wires look really good. post up a link if you have time

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1597066618

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thank you...Look up to post# 1340. I posted a link there...

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

you arent kidding! my daughter is still home, since march! :lol:

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

So one item that surfaced when I dropped the body back on was how buried my battery was. The problems we're A. I couldn't easily unbolt the leads. B. it would be very difficult to remove the battery for replacement. I always want access or a way out on any serviceable item. An example of this is why my rear notch cover for the floor is bold (opposed to weld in) in to allow access to the rear mechanical's. The remedy was not pretty. Because the mounting bolts where hidden behind the battery I had to go mid evil and cut the battery box in 1/2. The solution was a drop down battery box. I love these things. I used one similar on my 48.

Oh...and there's this. My oldest son Cooper turns 16 in Nov. I have been looking for something for him to drive. For years I had driven past a mid 90's 2 door 4-wheel drive Blazer (last year of full size Blazer) sitting next to a barn at a farm by my moms. I stopped by last week to inquire. A deal was struck (For cheap) and we drag it home Friday. This should make a fun father/son project. I needs a fuel pump and some general stop and god stuff.

Thanks
Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Awesome to see all the progress pics of your build!

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thank you..

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

not bad for a mid 90s michigan anything, my 97 dodge was way worse than that in 09 when i traded it. your kid should appreciate the new wheels

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks....The last of the fuel parts show up Saturday. We are going to try to make fire this weekend. Also on Family Truckster I'm down to hooking up (2) wires and I can try to make fire with that one as well. We are hoping for a twofer this weekend.

Have a nice Labor Day

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

I put a lot of Labor into Labor day weekend. My son and I got his Blazer running. :metal:We developed a few brake leaks so we replaced some brake lines. His Blazer chewed up a lot of my weekend. It was fun working with Cooper, so all is good.

On Sunday, I realized that I over looked the MAP sensor on the Family Truckster. On Monday I pulled the intake and drilled and hole and fab'd up a bracket to securely hold the MAP sensor.

Once I bolt it back together tonight I should be ready to fire it.....

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Well that test fire did NOT go as planned...During the start up the engine was starting to get fuel and sound like it wanted to start then made an awful sound. We shut it down to notice the starter was hanging and took part of the block with it....

After some research to see what happened apparently it is quite common for the starter to break/come loose (For the record my starter bolts were tight) at the inside small bolt and the torque of the motor turning over rips the starter to the outside which takes out the mounting tab off the block. I'm running a stock starter and stock flywheel. The stater has 2 bolts. One bolt is longer than the other. At the shorter bolt, the starter housing is thin. GM later changed the starters to 2 long bolts with an equal more substantial mounting block. GM trucks used this starter. When I ordered an OEM replacement from Summit it is the new design.

My block is Aluminum

My fabricator friend is going to swing over and weld the tab back on. The new starter is in route. This is common enough that a guy fabricates and sells a LS starter bridge ($370) to allow you to remount the starter with a broken mount.

With all of the LS builds going on I thought it would be good if I shared what happened to me and what I learned. Some guys I read about didn't even notice their starter mounting tab was broken until they looked. Obviously it had not ripped off yet.

All is good. It just shows that its not always sunshine and rainbows...

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Dang it man, hate to see that. I had a 99 Tahoe i replaced the injectors in and when i went to start it it hydro locked because one injector i skinned the wire and it was grounded. That made it spray fuel all the time and filled the cylinder. The started gave out instead of the block, but it was a steel block not aluminum. Might be something to check?
Love your build, so sorry at this point you have to weld on the pretty motor.
Mac

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks Mac will do. I pulled 3 of the plugs and they did not show any signs of excess fuel. I will pull the rest and inspect. I also have a noid light I can use to isolate which injector night be stuck on. I did have my injectors cleaned prior to installation and I'm running a new harness but it is worth checking out as hydro-locking was another cause I did read about.

Good suggestion...thxs.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Marc, sorry to hear about this. I've never heard anything about this before, thanks for posting...Jim

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

I am sorry to hear this,

I am thinking that it must have taken a lot of 'misdirected' force to cause that, the flywheel/motor must have 'kicked back' on the starter while it was cranking , .... like a misfire or a crossed ignition wire?, but that is me thinking of distributors and timing, and these computer controlled motors are so much more complicated.

hang in there, just another bump in the road of the project that you will eventually overcome.

Good Luck and keep us posted

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Well that sucks...glad its fixable...