Area 52...my 1952 Air Force Suburban!

[coffeeman]

I'd like to introduce my 1952 Suburban build. It's a former Air Force 'Burb that I purchased sight unseen out of a newspaper ad from Michigan. After having it inspected and negotiating it's purchase, my friend picked it up and hauled it to his house where it waited out the winter. Finally, in May, it arrived at my house in Florida. She was a beauty, let me tell you! Four mismatched tires, a totally crap paint job, shredded upholstery, some really funky smell and really creative engineering. Now for the bad stuff! Haha! The best part was that she has almost zero rust. So far, all I have found is a little bit in the passenger floorboard. This is my fourth AD truck so I am still amazed at this! My goal is to make it a good, solid driver. I am keeping the '58 235, backing it with a T-5 and a Lincoln 8.8 rear end. It's getting four wheel discs and lowered 3/4. I just installed the Sids 3" drop axle and am starting on the rear this week. I have a lot of pictures of my progress but I'm still trying to figure out how to get them off my photobucket. My goal is to have it running and driving in time to take it to the Turkey Rod Run at Daytona Speedway in November. The race is on!

[youngrodder]

Nice Suburban.

That pains me to learn another Suburban escaped the fine state of MI. Where in MI did you find it. I just bought a 53 Suburban myself this July in MI. I will be starting a build on it this fall.

Best of luck.
Marc

[xpickup]

coffeeman, nice Suburban! That is great that there is almost zero rust. I can not wait to see the build.


Shannon

[youngrodder]

Double post

[coffeeman]

Bear with me, I'm still learning this site as I've been using a different one for awhile. Youngrodder- I found it in Traverse City. The old guy had put it in one of those local shopper papers and one of my spotters found it. He had it for a few years and it had spent most of it's civilian life in ma garage/barn environment. Sorry to snatch it out of Michigan, but rest assured it will get year round driving here in sunny Florida!

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by coffeeman

Bear with me, I'm still learning this site as I've been using a different one for awhile. Youngrodder- I found it in Traverse City. The old guy had put it in one of those local shopper papers and one of my spotters found it. He had it for a few years and it had spent most of it's civilian life in ma garage/barn environment. Sorry to snatch it out of Michigan, but rest assured it will get year round driving here in sunny Florida!

It's funny that you say that. I remember calling on one in the paper a yr or so ago located in Travers City. Travers City is 2 hrs North from me but it was listed in our local paper. When I called it was already gone. Good find for you.

Good luck.

Marc

[darkhorse970]

I like it, I will follow along.
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[Russell Ashley]

That Burb looks great, nice find. I think a very nice rust-free body like that more than makes up for any mechanical issues it might have.

[coffeeman]

I'm tempted to gloss over the work that has been done up to this point, but for the sake of making sense out of all this, here's where I am; The engine has been tuned up and fires right up, runs smooth and doesn't smoke. There is the typical mysterious oil leak under it after a few days, but its less than my Harley used to leak, so I'm cool with it! I will get around to dropping and resealing the pan soon. The rest; I have a pretty clear plan for this truck so I have spent most of the summer hunting down the parts needed to put it all together. Here's the short list: 3" drop axle (installed), dual master cylinder (installed), front disc brakes (not installed, waiting for my spindles), T-5 trans (not installed), disc brake rearend (not installed), wiring (not installed). I have new wheels (painted) and tires. I found the middle and third row seats and have to rebuild them along with my original front seats. Doesn't sound like a lot but it sure looks like it to me! Last night I took off the passenger side front fender so I could fix a problem on the lower front edge and this is what happened...

[coffeeman]

Got the inner fenders stripped and the latch panel blasted. Used the "poor man's stripper" method. First you scuff the paint and then you spray it down with easy off oven cleaner. Cover it with plastic, go do something else for an hour our two. When you get back, put on some rubber gloves grab a stainless steel scrubbie pad and a water hose and go to town! Before and after....

[youngrodder]

Looks very clean. Nice work and good tip.
Marc

[coffeeman]

I have figured out what to do with an idle 13 year old, give him a scraper! We are getting ready to pull the engine out to detail and paint it. While it's out, the firewall is getting welded up and stripped for painting. Interestingly, after scraping off a few years worth of grime, I discovered that the entire frame has been painted gray. Never seen that one before! It also appears that at some point the front end was crinkled up pretty good. The fenders have basically been carved out of Bondo. We knocked out the bigger dents, stripped 'em down to shiny metal and we're going to spray them matte clear while I look for better fenders. At least it will add to the character of the truck!

[coffeeman]

What happens when you take over a month off of your computer and go out and work on your truck? A LOT!!! First off, out came the engine and trans. engine out Then, it was stripped down, cleaned and painted. engine yuck, engine good. While that was happening, it was time to get the front end finished up. I already had the 3" dropped axle in and had removed the two bottom leaf springs, all I had to do was get it to steer. This involved cutting the old balls off of the steering arms and pitman arm, drilling out the top chamfered part and driving out the stud. Once I figured it out, it only took about 10 minutes for each ball. Then I ordered tie rod ends with no taper (actually has a very small degree of taper) and using my original tie rod, they bolted right on. I made my own adjustable drag link out of 5/8 spherical rod ends and tubing. drag link The hardest part of all of this was getting my spindles reamed for the oversized OD bushings. That should be a whole 'nuther post! Once done, they went together pretty easy, though. Next it was time for rearend swapping and floor patching. [old one out], [new in], [on the ground]. Here's the floor pan progress, [now ya see 'em], [now ya don't]! Still have a long way to go! Today I will finish the firewall and prep it for paint and complete the door glass install. There was so much more stuff to show, but I need to get out to the shop! Gotta keep on Truckin' !!

Coffeeman

[av8tr33337]

Great Find. Glad it has a home with someone who will get some enjoyment out of it.

[59stepside]

Nice Suburban!
It's nice to see some people that are in the area. I'm in the Tampa/Clearwater area. Good luck on the build, looks great.

[_Ogre]

very nice suburban, definitely not from michigan or it never left the base.
lots of body guys in the 70s would skim coat the whole vehicle when re-painting.
we like pics, don't make us hunt for them
use the [IMG] tag from photobucket

[coffeeman]

Big jump ahead!! Out on it's first drive!
[IMG][/IMG]

[coffeeman]

One more from a different angle!
[IMG][/IMG]

[av8tr33337]

Looking good. That is one straight old Burb

[youngrodder]

Few things are as gratifying as the first drive...
Nice work.

Marc

[alaska gasser]

Originally Posted by youngrodder

few things are as gratifying as the first drive...
Nice work. Marc

x2.

[99 to Life]

1st drives are like having a baby, almost. congrats

[coffeeman]

So, it drives pretty well. I had some trouble with the engine overheating and then the left rear brake caliper started locking up. I fixed the overheating problem by changing to a 160 degree thermostat and adjusting the alternator so the pulley lined up better. The brake issue will be fixed by this weekend. Had to order a new caliper. This thing is kind of a Frankenstein! I'm not that old, but when I started building and working on cars, the guys down at the parts store knew what you were looking for when you came in. I sure miss those days! On the other hand, I took my two boys for their first ride today and their smiles were worth every minute of work! So cool!

[low54panel]

Looking good man. Picking up a 52 burb next week. I hear ya on the parts store thing. When I built my 54 GMC back in high school I remember being able to tell the older parts guys what I was after and they knew exactly what I was talking about, now I got a list of what vehicles I pulled what parts from so they can put it in their computer to find the part. Thats why I got one good parts store that I use n town, may be a little more expensive but can tell them what I'm after, instead of playing 20 questions. Good luck wth your build.

[1lo67]

Looking good.