Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

Got the seat brackets blasted and painted (POR15). Will probably take them to the upholsterer tomorrow. I also made a little progress on the tail lights, but I'm not quite ready to post pics yet. But I'll put it this way, there's no turning back now. :hm:

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

looking good you must have changed your mind,keeping buddybuckets good choice

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

Once I realized that they tilted forward, I thought it would be nice to have access to the back from the drivers side. I went by the my upholster yesterday and he's almost got the rear seats done and is getting ready to do the buckets. I just picked up a center console box from BigJake97 (because my was damaged) which was all that I needed to finish the seats out. He should have them done next week. I'll post pics when he does. Here's a super secret spy photo of the tail light mod I'm doing. :lol:

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

Wow, looks great! Why didn't they do that from the factory??? Love it!

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

Awesome as always. I wish you lived near me. You wouldn't have time for work on your own stuff. you would be working on mine. Keep up the good work. Kerry:bling2:

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

Thanks Frizzle. I think I've about got everything figured as far as tieing it all together. Either tomorrow of Monday I'm going to put some step by step pics together and show the progress.

Thanks alot Woot. I could do this stuff 24/7 if time and $$$ permitted. Maybe in a couple of years when I retire...........

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

Man, you need to do something about that rust between the tail lights :D

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

Hart Rod, in your opinion what's the best way to ensure no scuffs on door hinges and their bolts? As difficult as lining doors up can be, after you paint these components you're sure to mar or scuff them. Do you paint this part after the doors are already on?

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

Working on it. Just a few more days........:lol:

Use stainless bolts and lots and lots of masking tape! :D

****

Got the frame for my buddy buckest fixed today. I un-"customized " it, :rolleyes: . PO decided to whack the center bar out. Luckily I have access to a very talented electrician, :but: you say.. an electrician?? Well, this one is very good at bending conduit. He made me a piece to match the one that was cut out. It required several very cloe bends to match the original bar. So, got that welded in and sand blasted. A coat of paint and off to the upholster's shop. :clap:

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

More pics of seat bracket. I made quite a bit of progress on the tail lights, but should really hit paydirt tomorrow. I will post LOTS of pictures tomorrow night, for now this is the best that I can do,:haha: .

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

Long day in the shop. Just a couple of quick pics. My seats are almost done.:metal: And a few of where I am with the tail light mod. I'll try to do a better step by step post tomorrow.

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

Good stuff man! Did you put a 3rd brake light on the liftgate?

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

Nice catch!

Here's some pictures of my buckets. I had him put in some heat warmers too (for those cold NW FL days!).

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

love the seat cover choice...
Rob, still waiting for an invitation to come look at your work :)
What's up with this weather? 2 days ago it was like 80, this morning it was 40!
We should meet up at the bk again soon, let me know when you think you can make it, maybe the other locals can make it also...will have to make a post see if we can all make it soon.

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

How hard was that to do? Have you tested them yet?

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

Your welcome any time, PM me for my cell # (next Saturday???). I'm going to BK this evening. Should be there around 4:30 or 5:00. TTYL.

It's pretty straight forward. Just lay them on top of the seat cushion (I'm sure he put a little glue on them to hold them in place). Haven't tested them yet, maybe sometime this week.

R

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

Got my center console today from BIGJAKE97. It looks almost good enough to use as is. If I hadn't planned on putting cupholders in the armrest, I probably would. Thanks again JAKE.

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

I just finished reading through this hole thread. I like it. I am going to keep coming back to see your progress. It is looking great.

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

Thanks for the compliment Reaper. I am going to try and post a bunch of pictures on the tail light mod this weekend. I know I've been saying this for a couple of weeks, but I've been pretty swamped. I will make it happen this weekend, :).

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

OK, I know I have been saying I was going to do a write up and post pictures of my tail light mod for the last month or so........however work, kids, life have taken most of my free time. However, I got a little time tonight and I'll try to catch everyone up with where I'm at. I'm not done yet, but I'm getting close.

The first thing I did when I started thinking about this project was to get a truck bed end and started wacking on it to see the body lines and shapes were going to line up. I was really suprised on how close they were.I fiigured it was doable with a "little" work.:hm:

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

Initially I was going to just cut the tail lights in and make them line up with the tailgate. But the more I look at it I realized that was going to work because the truck tail lights are straight and the Burb tail gate has a slight curve to it. HHHMMMM, so what to do???? Well, I bought a tail gate skin from Mar-K and to play around with.

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

The Mar-K tailgate skin definitely helped me get the project going. With it, I was able to get both tail lights lined up and in postion and it helped me figure out what I was going to have to do to the suburban tailgate. For those with weak stomachs, you might want to turn away, because I'm getting ready to start wacking on some really nice sheetmetal, :D. First, I cut the skin off of the tailgate. With the skin off, you can really see the amount of curvature thats in it from top to bottom.

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

Next, in order to get the new truck tail gate skin to fit, I had to take the curvature out of the Suburban tail gate. I did this by slicing the edge so I could move it in until it was flat, and then tack weld it. Next, ground off the curved part and finished welding it up. Pretty simple, ehhh.

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

After I did both sides, I was able to put truck tailgate skin in place and get a good idea of how it was going to look when it was done. The suburban tailgate is narrower than the truck tailgate. Since the overall dimensions of the truck and suburban are the same, after I cut the new skin to fit the suburban tail gate, I took the other pieces and welded them to the truck bed ends to make up the difference.

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

Some more pictures with everything mocked up.

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

You have been busy! :metal:

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

It's actually a good thing I did this (:rolleyes: ) because I found some more rust that I was able to fix. The rust inside the tail gate was a shock since the outside of it looked perfect. It was mostly surface rust, but just goes to show you what you can find when you start taking stuff apart. Everything got sandblasted and primered and will hopefully be good for another 38 years, :lol: .

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

I also fixed a small hole on the inside of the driverside tail light pocket. Sandblast, patch, POR-15.

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

The back of the suburban quarters curve in, so I had to cut a set of truck quarters (thanks BowTieOgre!) to weld to my bed ends to make everything come together at the bottom. If I were to do it again, I would get more of the truck bedsides and it would have saved some welding (but would have been a bigger pain to fit). Then I started cutting everything in, and yes, I cut off part of the new rear quarter that I welded on about 6 months ago, :crazy: .

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

Once I got both sides cut in, I started welding everything up.

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

Last pictures. Drivers side is almost done. Just a little more welding on it and the passenger side. Then all I have left to do is:

rebuild the inner lip where the weather stripping goes
weld up the tailgate skin
install bearclaw latches on the tailgate
integrate the burb rear splash pan with the new tail lights
finish the bottom of the rear quarters (I'll do that when it's on the rotissierre)

Piece of cake! :confused: :crazy:

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

Rob,

It's lookin good...hopefully next time I'm out your way, I'll be able to stop by and check it out in person...

Hope to hear from ya after the 13th:metal:

keep up the good work...I'd love to have big shop to work inside of...all my works gotta be done outside...that sucks:(

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

You gonna be done before the move?

The work and ideas you are doing on the burb are great. I'm itching to fire up my welder again.

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

Look Great so Far! I've always wanted to get a burb and do this exact mod, but had no idea what all is involved. If I ever get done with the step side and the Blazer, I'll have to get me a burb! Great write-up too, you make it look easy.

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

That is just AWESOME

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

Not a lot of visible progress, but I did get the back of the back end nearly welded up. The new tailgate skin took the longest, 56" top and bottom, :( . I also started making the new inner lip for the area where I took the curve out of the tailgate.

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

Good work, Rob. I also got to spend time w/my truck over the weekend all I have left to fire up now is like ... 6 wires, positive battery cable fab and install, setup my oil pressure gauge, and ... tighten the fuel lines I made this weekend :D.

I have a question for you though: What do people do about the weld beads on the inside of the body panel? Obviously, you can't really grind them, or coat them - aren't they more prone to rust after welding them?

This is one of those things I've always wondered, but never asked anyone about.

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

lookin great man... good work.
that back end looks awesome, looks factory and something alot of people wont even notice at first, but alot cleaner looking than the Burb tail end... good job

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

If I can get it in paint before I leave, I will be extremely happy. Looks like I'll be Geo-batching for about 8 months while the oldest daughter finishes her Sr. year in high school. Hopefully I'll be able to put it back together during my trips back home.

Good to hear it's close to running. I'll be up your way this weekend picking up a "donor" project for the crew cab. As far as the welds on the inside, when I put it on the rotissierre, we will take a garden sprayer full of POR-15 and try and spray inside all of the nooks and crannies and hopefully coat everything that can possibley rust. I think that is the best that you can do, other than taking it to a place that dips the entire body in a chemical dip.

Thanks and I agree, most people will have no clue that anything has been changed in the back. But like most of us, I'm doing it for myself because I think it will look better.

Re: 1969 Burb build-up (Bags, 5.3/4L60E, repaint, interior....)
 

Looks sweet.

I'm in Savannah this weekend taking care of wedding plans for later this year, or I'd open our house up to you or office a place to crash out for the night. If I can ever get this thing running, then get the clutch taken care of so it's rolling, first trip I'm taking is to see the parents down in FL, and your place is "almost" on the way :D

In all seriousness, do any of the panhandle/FL members get together with the AL and MS members for meets, camping trips or anything like that?