Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

I got out in the garage again this weekend. I'm suppose to hear from Porterbuilt tomorrow on a completion date that they will hold to for the AD kits. I completed the cab corner repair. The driver side needed to be replaced and the passenger side just needed a small patch. I bought a replacement panel from Wheelwright restorations. It was a nice piece. This was time consuming to replace because there are a couple different piece that all fit together for strength. I was happy how it turned out. I took my time and really made sure the piece fit good before welding. Other than welding back in my seat riser and finishing a tranny tunnel 90% of my metal work will be done.

My wife also agreed to let me spend some of my work money on the burb. I'm going to start looking for an engine. Thinking about an LS. Kind of like the idea of a turbo....

Happy Labor day.......

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Looks good, Nice job you did with the cab corners
Like your engine plans, sounds good a turbo

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Nice metalwork work Marc. Go for the LS!

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

nice patch. cool your wife is on board with ya, rather than you hiding the expenses!! But its def a family whip so you have plenty excuses to spend the money. turbo aint a bad idea.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks yahamaR1

Thanks Doug. I'm engine shopping as we speak. ha ha

Yes, my recent job change provided a financial shot to the arm that I'm not sure I will have again so it might be a good time to throw some at the burb. I never hide my purchases and I usually try to use other $$ besides family $$.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Nice repairs, yeah the money deal is tricky. About 40 yrs ago on my first big build, if I spent $500, she would get a $100 or so for her stuff. Work out good for everyone...Jim

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Nice patch work Marc. How do you like the panel clamps? I find they leave too big a gap. L33 maybe?

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Yes put a turbo on the LS. Even if you don't put much boost to it, it will be a wow factor and fun to play with.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

This is really only the second time that I used them. They work ok if you have two pieces of good metal you are joining. If not it can be a challenge to use them..

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

I would go with the LS but use one from a scrap yard that is matched to the tranny and PCM.
If not then go with the MSD setup.
Jusy my opionion after chasing so many gremlins with teh LS I have.
Then again I dont have a LS Tuner or know how to use one

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks Jim, that's kind of what I was thinking. I would like to find a wrecked or salvaged and then just use the drivetrain and sell the rest.

Watching your Steelers. What's with your new kicker.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Question for the suburban owners. In the seat riser there should be two braces. I took a picture of mine. I'm unsure how they go in. I assume one goes from the rear seat bolt back and the other from the front seat bolt forward. Otherwise your hand would be blocked from being able to reach the bolt. Does anyone know for sure? I'm in the process of welding back in my repaired seat riser.

Thanks
Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Marc, If someone else doesn't jump in I will look at mine tomorrow. Haven't welded mine back in yet. Probably going to leave it out until under dash work is done. Much easier laying on a flat floor.

Thinking I recall mine only had one?

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks Doug.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

haven't checked on your build lately, good progress so far
job change and life changes get in the way, eh? :D

i saw this pic... dang that's huge :D

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1440899830

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Marc,

Here is the seat riser sitting on the floor section I removed. We are looking at it from the front toward back.

Pic 1 red circle is where the front support ends and aligns with the hole in the seat riser.

Pic 2 is the original floor under the seat riser. As I thought I only had one support.

Pic 3 is the bottom of the seat riser showing the hole that aligns with the support.

The supports originally went from this position toward the rear. The floor section in front of the risers is depressed.

Hope that helps. Need anything more please let me know.

Ogre - They are roomy. I figured I put 55 sq ft of floor in mine.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks Doug. That makes sense. I remember the floor being depressed, I didn't think how that effect the seat braces. It makes send that they only extend in the rear of the seat riser which is also where more of the weight will be when sitting.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks to help from Doug I got the seat braces sorted. I welded in the braces and then welded back in my seat riser. I also seam sealer on the floor. I also put down some under coating under the seat riser.

Next I will mount my front driver side seat so I can get the correct positioning for the jump seat. You will see I made my floor flat and one piece on the passenger side. From the factory it came with this strange looking flat metal piece scabbed over the recess in the floor.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Looks good Marc. Really glad you brought this up as I didn't know there were two. I will have to make one for mine.

Plans for the rest of the floor?

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Marc, nice job on the floor and riser...Jim

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Yes mine both needed repair. I have the driver seat mounted and I'm going to fit the jumpseat to get the correct location to drill and bolt it down. I'm going to raptor line the front cab floor and keep my back section open at this point until I get my suspension sorted...

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks Jim

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

I have made some progress. I got my jump seat mounted. I need to get a picture of it.

I purchased my drivetrain. They threw in the Camaro for free.....(: It is a 2001 Z28 with an LS1 and 4l60E automatic trans. I plan to use as much as I can and sell off the rest. The car is actually in great shape. No rust or body damage and I have a clean title. I drove the car home about 70 miles. It ran good. The car has 125,000 miles. I know you can get craiglist motors cheaper but it is always a crap shoot if you get a junk motor.

I heard from Porterbuilt and all of my goodies are shipping next week. Here are a few pics. Hopefully they don't mind.

Thanks
Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Marc, not a bad looking Camaro. I agree with you, this way you know you have a running engine, etc.. Can get everything you need, then sell the rest. I know your ready for the PB stuff, can't wait to see pics and then you putting it together...Jim

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

That car almost looks too nice to part out. Those PB parts look awesome.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Great plan on the Camaro. Friend of mine is doing same for the powertrain on his 65 Pontiac wagon. I wonder if 20 years from now we will be kicking ourselves for doing this?

Those Porterbuilt parts always look really nice. Looking forward to seeing them installed. You will likely finish yours before I finish mine!

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

It's funny people keep saying the same thing...ha ha

It's funny we keep jinxing each other by saying who will finish first..I still have a lot of research to do on what oil pan to use and stuff like that. Since I'm using PB I will need to figure out a certain amount on my own

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

nice score, your rocking now.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Nice score on the camaro marc.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

It's always nice to buy a running drivetrain. :metal:

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

I hope so...

Thanks man

Yes, I just need to convince my wife not to keep driving it so I can rip it apart..MY 48 the motor sat for several years and it just added more bugs to work through.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Yes, I just need to convince my wife not to keep driving it so I can rip it apart..MY 48 the motor sat for several years and it just added more bugs to work through.[/QUOTE]

If your wife is anything like mine with their need for speed (Top Gun voice) then really Good Luck with that.:lol: But great idea to buy it running. It's a 2001 so I'd definitely give a good looking over once you've pulled it out and cleaned it up. Like some of these other guys asked, keep the pics coming:mm::c2::cong:

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

If your wife is anything like mine with their need for speed (Top Gun voice) then really Good Luck with that.:lol: But great idea to buy it running. It's a 2001 so I'd definitely give a good looking over once you've pulled it out and cleaned it up. Like some of these other guys asked, keep the pics coming:mm::c2::cong:[/QUOTE]

Thanks, will do. I plan on pulling the Camaro in soon for the lobotomy. The motor at first inspection looks very good. It does not leak any fluids and is fairly clean overall. Over the winter months I look to make some progress...

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Is it winter up there yet???? JK. Looking forward to your progress pics.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Funny that you say that. It actually snowed today. Just flurries, nothing stuck but it sucked just the same.

I will be pulling the Camaro in to start tearing it down. I need to get this done to get back on the chassis because the chassis shares the same floor space as where I will tear the Camaro down.

I should also have some progress pics soon on the body. I have been working on it a lot but not a lot that will show up on camera. I'm just about ready to hit the back half with epoxy seam sealer and then add raptor coating on the lower inside parts of the body and bottom of the floor. My dropped spindles showed today and the PB freight shipped this week.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Cool....uh oh, I better get busy!:)

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Let's see Tab A into slot B, can't wait...Jim

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Come on Doug, you've seen how fast I move. You have plenty of time...

You and me both. I know I sill need to remove one cross member (oh how I lover messing with removing rivets) but I need to get the front DB installed first. I promise to flood with pics soon. With this build there has been too much text and not enough pics as of late.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Well I had a productive day. I was able to drop the motor and remove it from the cradle. It was a lot of work but I feel pretty good about my progress.

I only have one broken exhaust manifold bolt to deal with but there is a decent part of the bolt left so I should be able to get ahold of it and work it loose...That's the plan any way.

Now all that left is to reassemble the cradle so that I can sell the car.

I also bought a cherry picker for cheap. I barrowed it from a friend and asked how long I could barrow it for and he said no need for it back anytime soon. Then he said hey how about I sell it to you cheap...Hey I like cheap.....so I bought it.

Thanks
Marc