My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

After hanging out here for a few months I have learned a lot from all the great projects here . It is truly a wealth of information . I have decided to start a build thread on my project. After building and racing dirttrack cars for more than 20 years , I have given up racing and am now building for pleasure on the street. My goal with this truck is to build a daily driver that is economical to operate , handles well and FUN to DRIVE ! I am a few months into this project and will post every few days until I am caught up with real time. I'll start off with a couple of pics bringing it home . I found this truck on ebay a couple of hundred miles from here in Florida. It was a California truck until about five years ago when it went to Florida. It is fairly solid with very little rust .

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

Nice looking starting point. Can't wait to see what you do with it.

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

The first thing I did was a Camaro clip . I found an 81 Camaro for $400. After removing the front cap I was pleased with the condition of the sheetmetal so far. I also bought some tires and wheels to fit the five lug and the lower stance of the truck.

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

Should be a nice build..never heard of a suburban carrier..is that the gmc version of a cameo?

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

Yes they are. They made a lot less GMC's , about a thousand in the four year run.

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

First nice looking fine. Second, since no one else asked, what was in the box, that you towed it all the way home.???...Jim

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

It was a 283 that came with the truck . It was full of water frozen with rust. I saved a couple of parts but it turned out to be mostly scrap.

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

I ended up moving the front axle forward about an inch from where I had it and put the Camaro 10 bolt on top of the leaf springs. It was then I realized I was going to need a c-notch. I had bought the tires and wheels I wanted to run. The width was a bit tight on the rear fender lip. The Camaro rear was about 61" wide so I decided to go with an 8.8 explorer rear. Up to this point I had been working at my buddy's shop . It was time to bring the truck home to work on it.

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

That looks great..stance is great..
Amazing what altitude adjustment and wheels can do..

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

Looking so much better...Jim

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

Yes I will agree with the lower is better , some people thought I brought home a four wheel drive ! LOL I only have enough space at home for one project at a time . I am working on a 57 sedan for my wife but it is going to take a couple more years to get it done . So I moved the 57 to my buddy's shop to make room for the GMC. With the GMC home I started mocking up motor mounts and radiator. The radiator was for the 57 but it looks like a pretty good fit. A truck radiator is going to be to low because of interference with the Camaro sway bar. I am not sure if I will stay with this setup but it does fit.

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

I got the bed off and removed the rear crossmembers to make room for a gas tank. It is a 25 gallon Blazer tank . I got it from Rock Auto for about 80 bucks. My rearmost crossmember is a receiver hitch . It will be hidden behind the license plate. I also scored a 8.8 explorer rear end . It is 59.5 " wide with 373 posi. 160 bucks at Pull A Part .

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

Just my opinion but as close as the receiver is to the tank I'd weld a plate on that receiver hitch tube on the tank side..just to keep from inadvertently damaging the tank..but that looks good

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

That's not a bad idea . I have the tank out right now and I'm going to look at that. I realize it's a little tight back there , I'm tryin to squeeze in too much stuff. lol

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

Time for the cab to come off . The stock crossmembers needed to be modified and I had some tubing on hand so I ripped out the stock crossmembers and fabed up a center section . Then I started on the exhaust. I decided to try the Hooker Areochambers. I can't wait to see how they sound.

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

New crossmember setup looks good..did you box the frame?

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

Only around the C-notch.

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

Looks good...Jim

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

Nice work, looking very good!

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

you found the truck we all wished for
that's about as rust free as i've seen in 30 yrs

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1498134270

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

Thanks for all the comments. Got some paint on the chassis and assembly begins.

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

Wow..now that's red!!!!

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

A few more pics . I changed the rear suspension to a four link. and we have a roller ! This just about brings me up to current progress.

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

I cut a piece of 1/4" plate and beveled the plate and receiver for good penetration welded and ground everything smooth . If I get hit in the rear it may smash the tank but there will be no sharp edges to puncture it and the hitch will not be able to come thru the receiver. Thanks for the input .

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

The chassis is done for now , I need to take a pic of the airbag setup I addad for load capacity . So I have spent the last couple of weeks working on the cab . I wire brushed and sandblasted the bottom and firewall . I replaced some floor where there was a rust hole and filled and welded holes on the firewall. I also raised the trans hump a little bit with a section of floor out of the 57 parts car . Not fun stuff but it needed to be done. I finished it off with two coats of epoxy primer followed by two coats of Herculiner . As usual my photography sux.

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

Here's a couple of pics from yesterday . I set the cab on , now it's time to get busy !!!!

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

wow..that's a lot of holes in that firewall...looking good

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

Nice repairs, and looking good...Jim

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

I've been really busy . Here is a quick update. I roughed in the bodywork on the cab corners , gas filler hole and rust repair with some all metal sanded and epoxied the cab. I still have to skim coat some filler and prime/ block sand . That will come later. I decided the drivers door wasn't fixable in the time frame I'm working with . I bought reproduction door and it fits pretty good ! I installed a pedal and booster kit from Ebay. It had a pedal ratio of about 3.6 so I modified it to get to about 5 to 1. I'm also working out the steering column. The steering shaft is tight but it should work. I'm currently adjusting on the steering column angle . I think I'm going to have to shorten the steering column to get he best steering wheel position . But that may come later as well. I am trying to get it drivable for Cruising the Coast (October ) .But I don't know if I will make it , still so much to do.

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

a repop door that fits?..that's amazing...
trucks looking good..

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

Sweet build!
:uhmk:

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

I quit early tonight so I figured I would give a little update. I stripped the paint off of the bed and did some block sanding then shot it in epoxy to match the cab. I also shot some color on the interior. I am working on the drivers door ,I replaced the bottom and getting both doors ready for a coat of epoxy. Here are a few pics.

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

Looks nice!

:uhmk:

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

That is a great looking truck!

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

It's been awhile since I've updated . I'm making progress ,but not as much as I had hoped for. It wasn't even close to being ready for Cruisin the Coast , but I have added more to this build since that deadline was imagined. At this point I just cant rush it, it will get finished when it gets finished . As we all know the devil is in the details. I got the steering column done , the door hinges rebuilt , the doors hung and the front cap including inner fenders on. I also sent the ECM to Brendan at LT1 swaps .com to get flashed , mocked up the gauges and started on the minitubs .The air intake is done for now. I am almost done cleaning up the engine harness. It still needs to be installed as well as the harness for the rest of the truck. So many details to attend to . Since being on vacation I have lost focus , My A.D.D. is kicking in . It's time to get focused and get back to work. I am going to concentrate on the wiring for now as I feel it is the biggest challenge left to do. Here are a few pics .

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

Oh yea , I forgot to tell you I appreciate the comments and reading all of your builds with all the info that you share on this forum . It is great inspiration and motivation !!!

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

Looking good rapid!

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

Nice build . I've got on of those too that is waiting in line for me to get to it.

You say you started it this year , man are you making great progress .

What kind of work schedule , daily 2-8 hours or something else ?

Keep us updated :)

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

I am working on it as much as I can. The most work is done on the weekends . My usual work week is four ten hour days , so I try to work on the truck at least two days a week. Right now I am working on wiring ,which is eating up a lot of hours. I hate wiring.

Re: My 56 Suburban Carrier
 

Gee 2 days a week for a year ... Good Grief ! Just imagine if you had worked on it 6 days a week it would be done before you started at the rate your going ! LOL

Keep us in the loop .