Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Impressive work!! I meant to ask, what kind of undercoating did you use on your fenders and running boards? Thanks in advance.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks Jim

Thank you. I used Rapor Liner
https://www.autozone.com/paint-and-b...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

i used a total of 8 bottles (2 kits) on my Suburban body (top and bottom of floors) and firewall. Including all fenders and body parts.

Thanks
Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

man you have the patina thing locked up.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Looks great Marc..!

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thxs, I'm trying. I keep learning the more I do. From the doors now I'm going to redo some of the body. I'm not happy with parts of the body now after seeing how the doors turned out.

Thanks Greg

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Marc, Do you plan to install power windows?

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Not in this one...My 48 had everything electric, including the fresh air vent. If you want power windows go with Nu-relic. They are not cheap but quality never is. They are direct bolt in and work great.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Right on. Those are the ones I have earmarked for my build.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Good deal. I didn't care for their switches so I went with some from a another supplier.

https://watsons-streetworks.com/prod...gory/switches/

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

I plan to use their NU-cranks so I can keep it looking like it has manual windows.

https://www.nu-relics.com/product-p/233.htm

How did you run the wiring into the doors? I've seen those contacts that fit in the door jams and think they look like a clean option.

https://www.keepitcleanwiring.com/ca...et-(3-Contacts)

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

That's exactly what I used. I think I used 4 contacts as I also had power door actuators for my shaved handles to power as well....It worked fine.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

I agree with Mark. I should have been more specific. I didn't get those door contacts from "Keep it Clean". I would never buy anything from Hoffman Group. I have bought several things from Watson's and they have always been great quality.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Hey Marc (and anyone who knows better than me), did you happen to use an ARP balancer bolt? I was putting mine together today and noticed that the directions from ARP and ATI don't agree with each other (different torque and loctite vs ARP assembly lube). Curious to know what you ended up doing.

Attachment 2033623

Also, you probably already caught this, but I didn't :waah: The instructions also say that the alternator grounds through the water pump housing so it says to keep that mounting surface paint free. Not sure if it matters much or not, but I went back and cleaned that area of my block since I didn't mask it off before paint

Attachment 2033624

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

I used an ARP bolt. I didn't realize that the Holley kit came with one. I think I used the lube that came with the bolt. Not sure on the torque specs (it was a few months ago). My mechanic friend torqued everything. My block is all Aluminum. I did go back after I removed the tape and grounds away the paint from the mating surfaces. I should be good. I did notice that black paint is removed from the bolt journals on the water pump. To allow for proper grounding must be why...Good looking out.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Just about have the exhaust finished up. We really just have the tail pipes and rear hanger/mounts to figure out. My friend Josh that is the fabricator at my friends rod shop is so incredible talented. No way this exhaust turns out 1/2 as nice without Josh...Pics are deceiving, My air lines are no where close to the pipes. I added 90 degree air fittings and rerouted the lines to the top of the frame rail to offer more clearance. Tomorrow I will bolt up the front section of the exhaust for the last time. I had to drill and tap the tranny mount as we we have some clean mounts the bolt up to that.

I also repainted the body. As I mentioned after seeing how my doors turned out I didn't like the body. It looked too fake to me. I added more air brush work the second time around. I'm much happier with it. Pics on that later.

Here is where we are with the exhaust.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Those are a work of art.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks, he does great work. Here is another example of exhaust Josh did on a 70 Nova. This exhaust was 3" and the tubes were oval in shape for added ground clearance. This picture was prior to finishing all of the way to the tail pipes.

Thanks
Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

As I wait for my buddy to come finish my exhaust I figured I would work on some other random tasks. I dropped in my radiator to see how it fit My radiator support is original and in super shape. At first I left the cross bracing but I could tell that I need to remove them in order to fit my 4 core radiator. I also had to clearance the lower inside corners as my tanks hit. Now that I dropped that radiator in I can see if a Cooling Components fan/shroud will fit. I only have 2.25" clearance so I might need to get creative here.

I wanted to see how the cowl cover and hardware looked so I bolted that in place. I'm stoked to see some of these details that have been in my head come to reality..

I started to give my chrome grill a brushed finish to match the rest of my trim. It was too dark for an after pic so I will post pics tomorrow on that (teaser...see what I did there).

Lastly I made one of my transmission cooling lines. I need to pick up some more flex hose from Summit....

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Marc...that's looking great..!!...love the look of the countersink fender bolts..!!
What radiator are you running?.. I'm to lazy to go back and look..haha

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

sooooo clean

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks, I used them on my 48 truck I build. I really liked how they looked in the bed for the bolts to hold the rear fenders on. They look good and server a function of keeping the metal flat so its a win win. I'm using a Champion 4 core that I painted in epoxy black.

Thanks man..

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Sat....So I found I already had more flex hose so I finished making/installing my tranny lines. My friend came back and we are just about done with the exhaust. I also worked on pre assembling the vintage air set up.

Here are a couple pics of the brushed grill. I also installed my turn signals while I was at it. The more I can pre assemble now the quicker the final install will go.

Thanks
Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Oh man....that grill looks sooooooo good...

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Marc, nice job on the grill...Jim