Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Interesting....a 409 with dual TBI....is this in the red Suburban?

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Hi Captain. Yes that's the motor in my red suburban. The motor has Isky roller cam with 510/252 intake and 510/257 exhaust, 1.7 to 1 roller rockers, 11 to 1 Ross pistons and two FAST 4 barrel throttle body injectors. It is my daily driver. I have included a couple of new pictures of it for anyone interested.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Today we fit the drivers side B and C pillars. There's only two pictures but that was 8 hours of fitting and tacking.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Thanks for the extra pics and the info. It sounds like a sweet running engine.

Every time I see a 409, I have to once again kick myself for passing up an original 425/409 dual quad engine for $500

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Wow, very nice 409 set up! Nice work on the B and C pillars.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

65sub....very glad to see another "w" engine truck. I'm in the middle of two projects, but my 2nd is a 63 short fleet with a 348. What exhaust manifolds and mounts did you use on your 409?

I've got plenty of clearance with the engine mocked in. Will be using the POL mounts like I used on my other big block build, but interested to see what you did on your build. Thanks in advance. Jon.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

I think we all have stories like that. Mine was a 68 RS/SS Camaro for $300.

Thanks A.D.

Hi Jon. I used stock hi horse 409 manifolds on mine. They are ceramic coated which has held up really well. They are a tight fit between the frame rails. My motor mounts are mid 80's clam shell style only because I had a urethane set left over. The frame perches I made myself. I see by your picture you moved your motor forward, I did the same. One issue I ran into was clearance at the front. Picture 2 is the battery to ac compressor and picture 3 is water pump pulley to electric fan. They are close but they clear.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Todays we worked on the A pillars. We got them fit and tacked and some of the out side welded.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Love this thing. Are you planning a giant door like Bomp or it looks like to me maybe a regular door with a small suicide door like a modern cab? Either way it'll be cool

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Thanks for the response and pics. I have the factory 348 manifolds which are 2" manifolds. At some point someone did some work on my engine. Block was cast in 58 @250hp, but the heads are 61 @315hp, so its nice to have the upgraded heads. The 348-409 forum guys recommend that I go with the 2.5" manifolds from the 409 which I've been watching for a year on ebay and they are not cheap.

I'll continue to keep my eyes peeled though.

I have test fit with a fan blade and full shroud in place and it looks like I'm ok on clearance. I'll let you know how it goes once I get back into it. I'm on the down side to getting my stepside done right now, but I'm sure I'll have more questions down the road.

Great job on your builds....caught up on the whole thread yesterday. Outstanding work!!!!

Be sure to check out the 348/409 truck thread we have going also. Link: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=630055

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

That's an unbelievable build! I can't wait to see the finished product.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Thanks Free Candy. It's going to be one big door but not the way Bomp is doing his. I'm not going to reveal the plan yet but it will be obvious in the next couple of weeks.Unless someone guesses right.

Thanks Jon. I'm always happy to help. I look forward to seeing your progress when you have time.

Thanks Rusty

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Finished welding the A pillars today. Then we started filling the gaps in the front piece above the windshield and the top of the rear door frame.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Weld grind weld grind weld grind. That was all we did all day today. There will probably be several more days of that. Here's a couple of pictures of the progress.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Here's some progress from friday. A couple of shots of more welding and grinding on the inside of the upper window frame. Plus the replacement panel for above the windshield arrived.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

We also cut off the upper door frame at the B pillar and started at the A pillar

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Gull Wing doors? Awesome build, Mad skills all the way around, Very cool... Carry On.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Nice work 65sub. Looking forward to what you are going to do with the doors.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Thanks notsolo. Good guess. Yes it will be gull wing doors like a Deloren.

Thanks A.D. I look forward to seeing progress on your 'burb as well.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

We got a little por15 on the top of the side panels where the roof attaches. Then we started measuring to cut the roof. We decided on 50 inches from the back so we would have a bit of room for adjustment. Then we fired up the cut off wheel and started cutting. Now we have a two piece roof.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

After cutting the roof in half we needed to remove the roof skin from the structure under it so we can widen the structure. Since we don't need the drip rail we cut it off and lifted off the skin. Then we cut the cross pieces of the roof structure and clamped them onto the truck.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Here's the progress from yesterday. First we cut some pieces from a spare cross brace so we can extend the roof braces. After tacking them in place we we set the roof on to see how it looks. It leaves about 5/8 of an inch gap on each side. Then we took the roof bracing off to finish welding it. We also replaced so rusty sections on the side.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

love the progress. lots of rust repair, think how nice it would be if you didn't have to do rust repair and could just focus on customizing!
every time I have to do rust repair I wish I didn't :lol:

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Today we decided to work on the alignment problems on the C pillar. The first two photos show the back of the drivers side C pillar showing the diagonal body line. We worked on the passenger side first by cutting out the section that needed to be moved. Then we cut a patch and put a bend in it. After some shaping and trimming we tacked it in place.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Looks killer. There were a guy who had a panel truck that offered it to me for $200 a couple weeks ago. It was really rough but this build has me thinking I should go get it and start chopping the **** out of it!! Lol

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

In the nicest way possible, you are a mad builder, and I love this van.

You guys are doing so well.

I have soon to start welding and cutting and grinding on my truck.

I am sure it will turn out OK, but do hope it gets to a point like your build where I can step back and say "Wow"

Looking forward to every update on here.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Thanks Jon. With all the salt they use on the roads here rust repair is usually a given. On this truck most of what rusted away I don't want any way.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

For $200 I'd already own it and be marking out the cut lines :chop:

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

I guess you have to be a little mad to tackle a build like this but what else can you do with the left over parts truck once the first truck is on the road. Seeing parts going back together the way you planned is kind of fun.

I look forward to watching your progress as well. It must be a lot tougher building a truck there when you're so far from the suppliers

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Not a lot to post today because we have a pile of welding to finish before we can put the roof on. And welding takes up a lot of time. Here's a couple of spots we got finished.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Did more welding and grinding today. We got the pass side B pillar finished. Then we moved to the C pillar to fix the window frame. We cut out the corner then moved it back about 1.5" and clamped it in place.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Here's a few more pictures showing the piece tacked in place and some of the finish welding. We just have a small 1.5" gap left to fill.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

you would make a hellofa great plastic surgeon!!!

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Nice fix on the C pillar. I had been looking it over and wondered which way to go to bring it all in line. Love it.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Thanks pimpston. I'm not sure about plastic surgeon but maybe Dr Frankenstien.

Thanks A.D. It's not perfect but good enough for a couple of guys making it up as we go

here's some shots of the outside finished and the inside almost done

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Just out of curiosity how long does it take to make the weld in the first pic, just trying to guage how long for metal wharpage. Great job. can't wait to see the finished product.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Thanks for the interest Jeff. Tacking that piece in place both inside and out took about 2 hours. A lot of the time between tacks gets used for panel alignment. Patience is the key for sheetmetal welding. For us if it's too hot to rest your bare hand on the weld comfortably it's too hot for the next tack.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Thanks that's what I was wondering. When I start my repairs I want to know how soon to tack them and prevent distortion. Thanks for explaining.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

I wish I had half your metal working skills

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

65sub,

I'm really enjoying the step-by-step body surgery pics. Its looking really good.