1951 Suburban a 4 year project....
 

Sorry for the repeat pictures as i was posting pictures of the '51 suburban build on the brother's truck show thread, but was told more guys might see the build pictures if i started my own thread. So I'll do it and if some of you have seen the ones on the other thread sorry.. for the repeat.. but hope you enjoy them anyway.

For those that don't know the suburban won best of show and best interior at the Brothers Truck Show and i got such nice comments about it i thought i would share some of the build with you..

I built it for a friend and his wife i use to work with and told them that when i retired i would "fix it up a little", litltle did i know what i was getting into.. It came out so much nicer than i had even planned.

I took almost a 1000 pictures of the build for myself and to keep the owners up to date and where their money was going, i'll try and show a little of each stage and if it helps someone with their project great..

These first two are to show you what i started with and how it came out... I'll get to the middle of it later...

Re: 1951 Suburban a 4 year project....
 

It was used for storage for years and was full of rat poop, and i mean piles of it,.,. used a pressure washer to try and clean it out...

Re: 1951 Suburban a 4 year project....
 

Getting body off the stock frame...

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getting frame off to sand blaster and starting to mock things up..

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Filling all the unwanted holes in the frame... putting front end together

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Making it a roller.........

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Putting frame back under body and getting motor and trans in..

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Body on and air bags in

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Installing some k-members to help make frame strong, and cutting a hole in floor to clear 3nd member when sub is down.. shot of me and sub to get an idea how low it goes.

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Getting steering column in and installing gas tank...

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Gas filter, trans cooler, e-brake cables

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The only stock seats we had where the rear and the two front seats.. no middle seat

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So we got a seat out of an early truck at the swap meet and cut it down and made legs and arm rest for it..

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Had the body sand blasted and found all kinds of neat things.... rust and bent panel's..

Re: 1951 Suburban a 4 year project....
 

starting to remove floors to install new ones

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Out with the old and in with the new....

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Test fitting hood and fenders..

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I love that truck. You picked the perfect wheels and tires for it. Thanks for the pics.

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parkwood, Very nice suburban. I love the stance.

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Thanks Russell, to tell you the truth i didn't have much to do with picking out the color of the rims.. the owner and the guy who painted it went to Wheel Smith by the paint shop and picked it out.. must say when he first brought them up to me i didn't think they would work, but after putting the caps and rings on it was the right choice.. glad you liked them.. wayne

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Thanks a lot, air bags help a lot with how it sits....

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Xpickup you have to see it in person, pics does not do the truck justice. It was just an awesome build.

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Thanks Kabwe, you're way too kind.. I'm running out to the owners house today to say hi before i head back up north and i'll be sure to tell them all the nice things you guys are saying about their sub...

wayne

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New floors and getting the cowl panels installed..

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Any tips on filling in all the rivet holes in the frame? Did you have someone punch out inserts for you?

That thing is SWEET

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Getting the seams sealed up and filling the 90+ holes in the fire wall..

Re: 1951 Suburban a 4 year project....
 

Thank you glad you liked it... what i did to fill the holes in the frame was to buy some round stock and cut slugs the thickest of the frame and hold them up with magnet and weld them in.. I tried to use stock close to the hole size and if the hole in the frame was some off size i just drilled the hole to the size of stock i bought .. 1/2'' and 1/4'' etc.. i'll see it i have pictures..

wayne

Re: 1951 Suburban a 4 year project....
 

Nice build I think iseen this suburban in person at pomona swapmeet
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Re: 1951 Suburban a 4 year project....
 

Do you just spot weld the panels on or do you go back and weld the entire seam?

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beautiful finished product

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No sorry this one has never been to the pomona swapmeet...

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Hotrod, the floor pans just got spotted about every 3-4" and then seam sealer was put on all seams.. the cowl panels and any other patch panel was weld all the way around and then grounded smooth..

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Thank you... glad you liked it..

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Getting the a/c mounted and running the lines.. making room for the a/c lines to get into the engine bay..

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One more shot of the cut away for the a/c lines and building trans cover

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Getting the electric fan mounted..

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Door gaps, everyone loves these.......

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Both rear lower corners were rusted out so they got new ones..

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The barn door on the pass side was push in on the bottom so i split the door pulled it out level with the outside and welded it up..

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Now the top was pulled out on the pass side, so split it just under the window and pushed it in and welded it up