'55 Suburban Second Series Survivor

[Second Series]

I looked for a suburban for about a year before I found one that was close enough to home. I bought this 1955.2 a year ago. As I was driving off, I heard the seller holler " we don't even know if the tires hold air"! I wasn't too concerned about that as my attention was on the tight steering. I really had to work to get around that first corner and I had to work harder to straighten out after the turn before going off the side of the road. I drove slow and never put it in Fourth gear. At one point there were a half dozen cars behind me. And then a police car joined the procession. One by one the cars peeled off until the police were right behind. The plates were Twelve years expired and there were no functioning lights. I used my hand to signal turns and stops and the police eventually peeled off too. I made the Seven mile journey home no trouble at all.
My first task was to get the Title in my name and get new plates. I didn't know how that would go as it had been awhile since it was registered last. No red flags at the title agency, I just had to wait for the state to send the document. I waited a month and a half before calling the title agent to ask what had happened. It seems the title was undeliverable and they would need to issue another one because they destroyed the first when it was returned to them. I waited some more and my title finally arrived in the mail.
I wasn't sure what I would do with this vehicle, but I did know that I wanted to get it from "keep it out of the junkyard" status to "keep it on the road" status. I would start it up and run it almost every weekend, sometimes I would drive it a few feet move it from one parking place to another. It started every time right away to my amazement, and I wanted to keep it that way. I put new battery cables on and cleaned the contacts. I replaced the sparkplugs and wires. New cap and rotor, condenser and points. I had a struggle with the nut and bolt that goes through the side of the distributor. The inner nut was rusted onto the bolt and it was in a recess in the housing. I saw two holes in the nut so I put the tips of a small needle nose pliers in the holes. I had to hold the bolt with small visegrips. I got it out with some penetrating oil and brute force without damage. I decided to reuse the nut and bolt but I replaced the wire that goes between the distributor and coil.
One day it would not start. I replaced the coil and the wire between coil and ballast resistor. I even tried bypassing the ballast resistor, but it wouldn't run. I replaced the metal fuel filter with a clear plastic one and tried to get fuel into it with a suction, but no luck. I removed the fuel line from the pump and ran a hose into a gas can, primed the carb and got it running. I had a full tank when I bought it but the tank was empty now. I put five gallons in and all was good except I didn't think enough fuel was in the filter now that I could see. I replaced the fuel pump. I read about repairing the fuel pump, but when I looked, it was pressed together. When the new fuel pump arrived at the auto parts store, I found it to be serviceable, so I was happy that it looked original. New fuel pump with crusty and mangled fuel lines, I might want to replace those, but they work for now. The level of fuel in the filter didn't seem to change, but I know the pump is good and the engine runs fine so that's just the way it is.
Leaky Radiator, took it to the radiator shop. They replaced the V-cell core with Tube and Fin and made it look nice. A new V-cell core would cost another hundred. I didn't want to flush rust from the old radiator into the block, and I didn't want rust from the block getting into the new radiator. While the radiator was out I ran a hose into the block to flush it out. I held my hand over the lower pipe and filled the jacket up and released my hand and let it all run out. I did this several times until the water was clear. I found a lower hose that works from the auto parts store, but no upper. I installed the rebuilt radiator and filled it up to the thermostat housing before putting a new thermostat in. I thought that would get most of the air out. I let it run for awhile and the thermostat opened when it got hot enough. The radiator overflow trickled onto the ground. I'll have to put an overflow reservoir on it, unfortunately the new tube runs to the bottom. I may have to cut it near the top unless the reservoir works as is.
Before I drive, I'll need to be able to steer and stop. The brakes work good, but I want to see the condition and the parking brake doesn't work. I put it on jack stands and removed the wheels. Disconnected the pitman arm and could not turn the wheels. I couldn't grease Three of the kingpin Zerks so I sprayed penetrating oil on the kingpins everyday for a week. I can now grease the tops, so still spraying to loosen the bottoms. I'm ready to buy new Zerks for the bottoms. I reconnected the pitman arm and I can hit the steering wheel and it spins from one end to the other, still on jack stands. I removed the brake drums. The rear look ok, the front driver's side is groovy, so off to the machine shop. Not enough meat on the bone, the shoes look ok, so I greased the bearings and put the drums back on for now. I found the intermediate parking brake cable is frayed. I'll replace that and see how the rear cables function. I removed the access cover for the brake master cylinder. The cap is metal so I sprayed it with penetrating oil, I'll try to open the master cylinder to check the fluid level and bleed the system.

[Russell Ashley]

Looks great. From the pic it looks like you found a nice one with minimal rust, and sounds like you are enjoying it. It just needs a nice set of wheels and tires and a good scrub job and you are ready to cruise.

[mongocanfly]

I like it..wish I could find a good ad or tf burb...

[Dan in Pasadena]

I really like this Burb! What are your plans for it? I re-read your post and it wasn't clear to me except you want to get it reliably running.

I'm NOT a "patina" guy mostly because what most guys called patina is decades of serious neglect. But this truck has REAL patina to me. Once you get it mechanically reliable and repair the cancer, I'd suggest you give it a color sand with a very light hand, say 2000 grit and polish it. You may go through to the primer in a few spots but that is true patina and not neglect in my mind.

Please keep posting pictures as you make progress. Enjoying your project from afar.
Best, Dan

[Valarius_Starchaser]

awesome burb I'm in for this one!

[Second Series]

Thanks for the words of encouragement Russell Ashley.
Mongocanfly, just keep looking, there is one for you somewhere.
Dan in Pasadena, I was about to get serious with my ’47 panel of 20 years, It was a daily driver for awhile, but just sits nowdays. My son likes to look out the window when we drive, so I bought him this Suburban for his Second Birthday. Dad logic for a family car, makes sense…or not. I’m enjoying getting my hands dirty, going through the systems, fixing and upgrading in no particular hurry, just need to continue. It may spark an interest with my son, and he may be the one who decides what we do with it. I look at it as an investment that I can spend time with. What I’m doing so far doesn’t increase the value, but rather retains value. The Patina. It looks good from 20 feet. It’s a green truck with one layer of red and has some areas with shiny steel exposed. Probably stored inside for years. I really need to paint it, but it needs rust repair too. I’m working on dirt and it’s raining again. The paint flakes off the dash. It could probably use a complete teardown, but I do what I can.
I think the first thing that I did was replace the oil and filter, I didn’t mention that before. When I went to the auto parts store, I asked what kind of oil I should get and was told to try Non-Detergent Oil. I was not aware of that variety. The Clerk said his brother’s truck smoked bad when he changed the oil, and that when he changed it again with Non-Detergent the smoking stopped. I have never had that happen with my ’47, but I went with it anyway. I am not in a big rush on this project, but I have been anxious to get it off Jack stands before the rainy season. I put the old Zerks back in. I received a new Intermediate Parking Brake Cable. It was the same length, but the treaded rod at the end was longer. This means I will not be able to tighten it more than the original Cables loosest setting. I tightened what I could up front, but I may need to cut the threaded shaft. The rear cables were seized. I tore apart the Drivers side rear brake assembly to remove the Parking Cable. My eyesight isn’t what it used to be so I do what I can. I was feeling along the cable to try to figure out how it attaches to the frame. I put my finger up in a bracket it goes through and felt a clip. I blindly used a screw driver to knock the clip out. That was easy enough, but how to remove it from the backing plate? Maybe I could put a hose clamp on it to compress the fingers. I’ll try another day. Checked on the forums and someone has used a hose clamp to remove it, so I’ll try that. It came out with a little effort. I sprayed it with penetrating oil a couple days, but decided it may not be worth the effort. I waited for another sale to order parts. Two new Rear Parking Brake Cables. These have a plastic coating on the cable and are really loose, I like that. Tried to remember how to re-assemble that rear Brake Assembly, got it. The passenger side rear, I didn’t want to tear down and re-assemble especially since I’m not replacing anything other than the cable. I have a set of wood chisels from the discount tool store that I have abused for demolition. One good rap and I severed the cable against the backing plate. Removed the old one and installed the new without tearing the assembly apart. Small victory there. I put the drums back on and adjusted the shoes, and then adjusted the rear cables. The Parking Brake lever under the dash gets close to the starter button, too close. I put the wheels back on and started it up and went up the drive in front of my house. It steers real easy now, maybe too easy, I won’t know until I get it on the road. Parked it and set the parking brake. I keep telling Henry that this is his truck and I tell him I’m fixing this or that each time I work on it. I told him it was ready to go and so he decided he wanted a ride. He gets in the passenger seat, and I push the starter button-nothing. The parking brake lever shorted it and blew the in-line fuse. We got another fuse in and I took him on a very short ride up and back the drive in front of my house. I then convinced him to have a ride in my ’47 panel, same short trip. He was over sensitive to loud noises this last year, but I think he’s getting over that. For awhile he acted terrified to go near either of these old trucks. So another not-so-small victory. Nap time for him and I’ll remove that radio bracket. Now I feel comfortable with driving it(to a custom shop if I go that route), but it’s not legal, no lights. Started tracing wires, I’ll need to study the wiring diagram, and get a fuse block. It doesn’t seem to have a distribution block, just a bunch of connections at the voltage regulator and random in-line fuses. Next on the to-do list: new Shock absorbers, and rewire. I think another swap meet is coming up in Monroe, I saw some fuse blocks last time. I actually enjoy electrical troubleshooting and rewiring, so I’m looking forward to this part. I am an electronics tech by trade.

[speesh]

I will be watching this one, as I have a 57 suburban. I guess I would call mine a survivor too. They seem pretty rare. The first fifteen years I had mine I think I saw about three of them, that was pre-internet!

[Second Series]

I haven’t done much, but I did clear out some junk from the back and set a bench seat from a mini van behind the front seats. My son likes to sit in his truck. We sit in there and eat Hazelnuts from our tree and throw the shells through the hole in the floor. Our cat will come over and when I open the door, she jumps in and hangs out with us. My son can shift between 2nd and 3rd, although his feet don’t reach the pedals. He seems to be driving this project as he has requested that I open the passenger window. I’m still fighting with the screws to get in there. I do run the engine on the weekends if we have time, it usually fires right up when I prime the carb. Awhile ago I fixed the parking brake.
The 1955 second series suburban has a horizontal hand lever under the dash to the left of the steering wheel. This setup was used for many years, I used to have a ’62 panel with the same type, but that one never worked. The hand lever is connected to a rod with a clevis on the other end attached to a bell crank. I adjusted the front Clevis as much as It would and still have room to move. The end of the threaded shaft will bind with the crank if the gap is too small. The bell crank is connected to a cable, that goes through a hole in the cross member, to a pulley. The pulley must be disassembled to replace the cable, I removed the pulley bracket from the frame. The end of the cable has a ball that connects to a lever. The rear brake cables attach to the lever by clevis. I adjusted these as much as I could and still have room to move. The lever goes through a slot in a bracket. The slot determines the ultimate end points for lever movement. The replacement front cable is the correct length, but the threaded shaft is too long. With the brakes released, the lever rests at the end of the slot and the hand lever must be pulled as far as possible, but the brakes don’t seem to hold. My solution was to cut the threaded shaft to match the length of the old cable. I readjusted at the clevises and now the lever sits in the middle of the slot. The hand lever still doesn’t “feel” right. It is stiff and only clicks once, but the brakes hold. I personally prefer the other style of brake lever that mounts to the right of the transmission and comes up through the floor. My ’47 second series 1 ton originally had the floor lever going to a cable to the rear drums, but that had been removed when I got it. I put in a transmission from a dump truck that had the parking brake on the rear of the transmission. That lever feels right and works every time. There is a small amount of movement after I set it, I suppose from the u-joints settling.

[Second Series]

It’s been awhile since I posted an update. I did get the passenger window to roll down and up. Several screws snapped while removing the door panel, so I have that mess to clean up. Since then I have used heat to loosen rusted bolts, and will do so moving forward. I start the engine about once a month until this spring. It would not start. I decided to take the carburator from the ’47 and put it to use here. The carb on the ’55 has a throttle, but that’s all seized up. The carb from the ’47 has a choke. I put it on there and it fired right up. The next time I tried to start, no-go. I looked at the electrical system for days, weeks. I finally put a jumper across the ballast resistor, and it started right up. I was messing around and discovered the screw was seized on the ballast resistor, and would not tighten up. The wire to the coil was making intermittent contact to the ballast resistor screw terminal. After spraying penetrating oil for a week, I finally got the screw off, and then back on. Now it starts right up. Now the brake pedal has gone soft. I have not been able to get the filler cap off the master cylinder. I decided to remove the master cylinder. I thought I could use the master from the ’47. I removed the ’47 master, pulled back the boot and discovered fluid so that is not an option. I then proceeded to remove the master from the ’55. Something was making it difficult so I gave up for that evening. The next day I searched here and found the solution. I also learned the ’47 brake master is different than the ’55. The ’55 has a pivot on the front. It was easy enough to remove the pin and the cylinder was out. I put in in a bench vise and got the filler cap off with a 22mm socket. I found a replacement master cylinder from Napa for $50, or $120 from the parts websites. When I got to the store, they informed me that it’s no longer available, located one for $200. The dual reservoir are a little bit more than that, and dual reservoir with booster for not much more. The one I have looks o.k. The plunger inside looks like anodised aluminum, so I’ll guess it’s more modern? I wiped it down and put it back in. I found the screw that holds the pin keeper would not tighten, so guess the threads stripped. Now in the process of bleeding the system, solo. I use a hose into a jar of fluid, seems to work o.k. Now that I’m getting older I get to use a droplight, maybe someday I can get a floor to work on. I started on the rears, and ran out of fluid. It also got dark. I was hoping the mosquitoes would get caught in the spiderwebs, it’s not so bad crawling under there, I’m having fun.

[dsraven]

wow, that is some kinda patina you have on that one.

[dsraven]

a little at a time and soon you step back and look and go, wow, thats not bad progress.