Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Yeah, when I was crewing back on the horn bar on the steering wheel, I accidently touched off the horns. I think I pee'd a little.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

That will get peoples attention.
I have a single 2' long fraightliner horn mounted to the frame under my drivers seat. I have it regulated down to 60psi, it is still plenty loud enough and sounds like a fog horn.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Yeah same place mine is located. My original plan was down low between the grill and the core support but there was not quite enough room. I can only imaging how loud it would be if it didn't step down to 1/4" line and valve sizes .

I run 3/8" air line for my suspension.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Not to hijack but I have two long semi truck air horns my dad had on his '59 Fleetside and have always wanted them on my '55. I guess underneath the cab floor? Or under the bed wood? He had his on a smallish hospital oxygen tank and just filled it as the gas station. Used a brass, spring-loaded valve connected to rubber hoses and a cable under the dash to activate.

There's gotta be a better way to do it than that. I don't have air suspension so I've thought of reusing his O2 tank or the leftover dual tanks from my old Senco PC1131 compressor if I can make them fit somewhere. IF I decided to use an air suspension compressor, any recommendations? What about an electrically activated valve? Anything reasonably priced around for this?

Again, sorry about questions on your thread, Marc.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Dan, no worries at all.. For as nice as your truck looks you would really want a clean solution (no rubber hoses or extra stuff). You could hoot it up to activate thru the horn on your steering wheel. Then use a stand alone tank as long as you don't mind filling it as often as you use your horn. The horns I purchased just use an electronic valve that require 12v from your horn relay in the fuse panel and a ground. You could have it hooked up just like I do minus the compressor.

I paid $90.00 (shipped). keep in mind I had a compressor, tank(s) and fittings (laying around).

Any other questions, please fire away.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

truckster is looking good mark!!! 👍👍👍

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thank you. It has been nice that that MI weather is FINALLY coming around.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

getting hard to find a good local weekly cruise over here
we've had 2 weekly cruises that my group have attended for 12 years get their facilities sold out from under them
both had the rolling 30 year cutoff date that kept the new cars out

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

That stinks...This week is a busy week on this side of the state.

There is a cruise night Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday and a decent show Saturday/Sunday. The cruise night on Wednesday is at Gilmore car museum (very cool venue). The 1st and last night of the year they bring in over 1,000 cars.

On Thursday, the same story but it is at Dutch Essen Haus a restaurant in Middlebury IN. for me its a nice 45 minute drive thru Amish country. They will get over 1,000 cars on Thursday if the weather is good because it is their first of the season.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

That's a huge cruise night. Would be a good night out though.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

yeah the rain FINALLY broke so we are headed to Gilmore Car museum tonight for the season opener. It should be a big one.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Came across this while flipping thru this months Good Guys magazine. I heard the guy that I sold it to moved to Arizona. Good to see it is still collecting hardware. Looks like he's made a few subtle changes (headlights, mirrors and a wiper arm delete). And it was NEVER on a S-10 chassis. It was a modified G-body. Close but not quite.

It caught me off guard to see it again. Still have 0 remorse for letting it go tho.

I currently drive the Suburban about 3 times a week. We put about another 75 miles on it yesterday...Love driving the Suburban.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

That's pretty cool to see one of your old builds and I'm betting you'll be loving the burb for a long time to come.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

that is cool.

it must feel good to know it is still winning awards and being enjoyed.

Glad you have no remorse, and the 'Burb' to occupy your time

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks I was surprised more than anything.

Yeah glad it is out in the wild. I wonder about possible cooling issues now that is it in Arizona. It had a shorter than stock radiator due to the steering box interference. It always ran warmer than I like. Not my prob.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

It's cool to see it's still being loved.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Hello again....

There are a couple changes or redo's I've done since putting miles on the Truckster. I used 1/8" ABS backers for most of my interior panels including the headliner. It worked well everywhere except the interior side panels in the back. For one, the panels warped and I didn't like how they looked. Two, I also didn't use enough glue the first time so you can see the wrinkles in the material. I also changed the hardware size so I could match the fronts with the billet finish washer. For that I drilled out the 10/32 threads and tapped them to accept 1/4 - 20.

I had foam left over and I ordered another yrd of material. The new backer material will be 1/8" aluminum. Using aluminum allows the backer to conform to the shape of the body but stiff enough to hold is shape.

For this I needed to remove the 3rd row seat and take out some of the other seat springs to gain access.

I will take more pics as it starts to go back tougher.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Been following you on insta gram the suburban is one of the best builds ever.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thank you. I tend to post there more frequently due to ease of posting.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Here is the current progress on the aluminum panels. I ran out of glue or I would have glued the 1/8" foam down last night.

I like how much tighter these panels hug the sides of the body.

Thank you
Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

In your third photo, the close up of the allen head and washer, where do you get those and what exactly are they called? Lastly, how or what do you use to thread them into the body?

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Marc, I agree with you, the aluminum will be a better fit...Jim

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

They are just billet finishing washers with a taper head ss Allen head. I have used them on my last 2 builds. They especially work great on trucks for the inside of the bed where the fenders bolt on. They help distribute the tension. I picked them up on Ebay pre-covid. They are expensive now. You can see bigger ones in my engine compartment as well.

On Suburban's there were already threaded 10-32 insets from the factory to attached the interior panels. It did drill those out and taped them to expect 1/4-20 bolts. I could not find the billet washers for a 10-32 bolt. If the factory inserts were not there I would have just used 1/4-20 nut-serts.

Thanks Jim. I should be able to get them covered in foam and material this weekend. Then it's reassembly time.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thank you!!!

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

beauty work!

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Your welcome..

Thank you

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Here are a few pics of the final interior panels completed and installed. I was happy with the improvement.

I also decided on another improvement. Since I have been a pro a dropping the tank to gain access to the fuel pump I decided to make it easier on myself to get access to the pump without the need to drop the tank. I didn't think I had room due to the subfloor structure but since I had the 3rd seat out I took another look.

This is in case of a fuel pump failure, I can remove and swap out the pump from the top side. My friends with the hotrod shop make similar access doors in all of their builds.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

More pics. The reason for the wood was to give the panel more weight and structure than just a metal panel. I used the same wood from the floor for the access door. Took more time but I was happy with the end result.

All that is left is to re-install the seats.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Marc, came out super...Jim

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

worth it! even if you never need it again b/c you now carry that umbrella ... worth it.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thank you sir...

I probably wont need it now. That is how those things normally work.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Panels turned out real nice I like how the tapered washers look. Your access cover is nice, nothing better than having access to stuff that may have issues.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

that turned out looking great Marc..!!!
like the access panel...to bad the factory doesnt do that on the new ones.. seems like every one that ive had to do had a full tank of gas when i needed to drop it

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Ain't that the truth

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks, I always like to leave a way to access the major stuff.

Thank you. I think it is pretty much a straight shot down once I remove the bottom seat cushion. Yeah, I have syphoned off gas more times than I want to count.

We shove off Thursday to go to Columbus OH for the Goodguys show. It will be me and my two boys. My youngest has never been to a show of that size.

Marc

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Have a good time at the show.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Will do. What's better than a day off work you ask.....Going to a car show on said day off. Looking forward to meeting up with a few car people I have met on this forum as well as other social media platforms.

Thank you

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Have a super fine day, hope the rain god smi!es on you....

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks, much appreciated. This will be the first decent road trip with both boys..I took Cooper (17) my oldest last yr. This time Austin (15) is going too.

As they have gotten older they really like car shows and cruises. I had the Suburban parked for a couple weeks working on a few things. Austin and I took it for a drive Monday evening and he replied "I miss riding in the Suburban".

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Marc, that last post makes it all worth it..!!!!!!