48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait

[oldman3]

AD, can't wait to see the next section...Jim

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by Iceburgh

I have the truck pan on...it is about "1/2 below the cross member so I might change it.
But they are salty so I will wait and see.
My pan is 3" off the ground....it will be close

Thanks Iceburgh. I'm pretty sure the truck pan won't work on this one and I need to research what will. Probably look that over when I set up the powertrain in the chassis. Man, your 'burb looks great and you are so fast...plus skilled. Killer combination.

Originally Posted by youngrodder

Great progress AD....
You and Iceburg are doing your part. I'm slacking on mine. No really progress to report, on my end but I really like where you are going with yours.


Marc

Thanks Marc, Iceburgh is amazing and I am more like an old plow horse....just keeping trudging forward. Shop time was more difficult to get when the kids were little and at home....and I am glad it was. Their game / play / recital / open house always came first and now they are grown up and gone. Anticipate you are keeping the priorities in order.

Originally Posted by CHIZZLER

progress on the floor looks really good. reminds me off when we did my burban.

Thanks Chizzler! I was lurking on your build which motivated me to start on this one after waiting....and I went back and looked through your build as I am doing these floors. Great info there!

Originally Posted by oldman3

AD, can't wait to see the next section...Jim

Me too Jim! Had a rare Monday night at home and got a bit of a start on it. Believe it will work out.

Having the best time on this build.....great husband / wife / family time and input / comments / suggestions / kind words from you guys really helps. Thank you for that.

[Iceburgh]

Here is a pan that I will switch to if needed.
Pans in a scrap yard just are not available around here and when they are they are $300 or more.
https://www.holley.com/products/ls_p...ns/parts/302-1

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by Iceburgh

Here is a pan that I will switch to if needed.
Pans in a scrap yard just are not available around here and when they are they are $300 or more.
https://www.holley.com/products/ls_p...ns/parts/302-1

Thanks Iceburgh, Holley has a good product there. Street and Performance has a modified Camaro pan (though I couldn't find it on their web site).
I also was thinking a stock Camaro pan (if it will clear the cross member) will give good ground clearance.
http://www.jegs.com/i/Chevrolet+Perf...28771/10002/-1

[99 to Life]

pretty sure all the car pans should work 98-02. check ebay found cheaper GM ones than the jegs price. Shame you can get an LS for 300 bucks these days but guys want 300 plus for a pan that will work for the application, I don't get it.

I have a 54' panel lined up to finish for a friend, its bagged,sub framed and LS, he has the harness already done, I have to put the engine back together and wire it all up so I'll be watching what you got going on!!!!! my first LS experience but have had one sitting for over a year, just haven't had time to get on the project its goin in.

[Advanced Design]

While we still have some trimming / fitting to do before welding in the section of floor over the differential, here is the direction we are going.

Inner fenders are 67 to 72 truck pieces and the hump has a 6 inch radius with a 1 inch lip on either side.

Debated and imagined a number of solutions
- building a box in the floor over the center housing of the differential.
- leaving the stock inner fenders in place
- widening the stock inner fenders for more tire clearance.

We settled on this because it looks decent and was simpler than other solutions. Really wanted something more elegant than the box steel....and once it is covered with sound deadener / carpet you won't see it.

And we've had about all the fun we want in the floor installation category after @ 55 square feet of it.

[Advanced Design]

When we first test fit the truck inner fenders to the floor a gap at the side wall was evident.

Wife hit on the solution to simply rasie the fender up 2 inches so we built this framework. Again I wanted something more elegant than the box steel and nothing was coming to me. Used the fender against the side wall to template where the 1 1/2 inch angle iron needed to be positioned. Used the channel pieces going across to provide a support for the "hump".

The 12 inch diameter of the hump allows clearance for the differential center section and air bag connections.

Raising the platform for the fenders allowed the fender to fit tight against the wall and provided more room for the center section of the differential.

We boxed in the channels with two pieces of 16 gauge flat to create a flat transition from the cross channel piece to the top flat surface of the angle iron for floor mounting.

Then we cut, drilled and plug welded in the floor sections.

[Advanced Design]

Filled in between the two floor sections and on the box steel for a flat mounting surface for the fender.

Since the distance between the fenders is wider at the top than the bottom, we made a pattern from poster board. Wife found some at Hobby Lobby that had lines on the back. Probably overkill as we should have been able to get close enough with measuring. Anyway, made the pattern and traced that on the hump.

Close enough would be good enough since to finish that area I'll use a piece of 1" angle in 19 or 20 gauge then stretch to form a curved close out for any gap.

[Advanced Design]

Before final installation of the fenders and the hump we need to fix this mess that was hiding under the trim and also repair the rusted out section where the rear fenders mount.

After a few times hitting my head on the rear upper gate hinges my wife decided to "baby proof" them. Quicker than taking them out right now and that was her solution. Better than my repeated head cracking.....

All in all a great week end. Even took time with the Grandsons Friday night and Saturday.

[oldman3]

Nice progress, yeah the wives have to keep us out of trouble now and then...Jim

[youngrodder]

I had to take a nap just looking at everthing that you accomplished. I bet your tired as well.

Nice work.

Marc

[Advanced Design]

Thanks guys, wife has kept me out of trouble many times over the years.

Wife and I did that work on last Monday night, this Friday night, Saturday and then Sunday until noon....so Marc you are correct we are tired. Took lots of pictures for you.

[68 Four on the Floor]

Your guys attention to detail is awesome.

[STOCKISH]

Looking amazing man. Makes me want a burb bad.

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by 68 Four on the Floor

Your guys attention to detail is awesome.

Thanks 68 Four on the Floor....will have to see if the attention span stays engaged with fixing the rusty rear fender mounting area. And the 2 x 2 box tube still really bugs me....have an idea to make it better... maybe.

Originally Posted by STOCKISH

Looking amazing man. Makes me want a burb bad.

Thanks Stockish. Your truck and chassis build is awesome! Progress will be slow this week end as we are heading to the Frog Follies in Evansville, IN.

[rusty76]

Wow what work you have got done in a short order of time! Killer work. And man I dig it.

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by rusty76

Wow what work you have got done in a short order of time! Killer work. And man I dig it.

Thanks rusty76! Frog Follies show (48 and older) on Saturday in near 100 degree heat, plus high humidity, sapped the energy pretty well so I wimped out Sunday afternoon and took it easy. Plan to be back on the 'Burb next week end.

[rusty76]

Man sakes alive. I don't like the heat at all. I'll let you guys keep it...lol.

[Advanced Design]

We had a reception gathering for 50 people and didn't get anything done on the Suburban yesterday. Had a great time and ended with a cleaned up shop out of it.

Lot's of perplexed questions from attendees about the projects--"Why do you want it to go so low?"..."It didn't come with a V8, can you do that?"...."Not painting it....?" perplexed look.

Had a lot of fun.

[Advanced Design]

Happy Labor Day!

Ok, got the shop back to normal, threw the body back on the body cart for easier access to the area the rear fenders bolt to and started cutting out rusted metal.

Left side is not too bad and the right is a little worse as the rust is into the outer body lip. Ground out some bondo and found the damage. Will form (I hope) a piece to duplicate the rolled body edge just above the rear fender.

The rest of the repairs are pretty straightforward though time consuming.

[99 to Life]

not too bad, so you'll have this done tomorrow!!!!! that thing is still much better shape than panels and just about all my trucks.

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

not too bad, so you'll have this done tomorrow!!!!! that thing is still much better shape than panels and just about all my trucks.

Hey 99 your generous estimation of my speed and skill makes me smile. Thanks man.

Removed the rest of the rusty metal then took a pattern shape of the body lip. Use the pattern shape to make male and female dies from some plastic type material we had laying around. Rigged the dies together to make a small hammer type form. Slow easy repeated trips through the form while making good use of a hammer formed the piece from 19 gauge material in a one inch wide strip.

Formed a pretty rudimentary body lip and will re-evaluate using it tomorrow.

Slow progress today. Twinged a back muscle yesterday crawling around under the body cart (kinda funny, laying on my back like a helpless turtle while my wife looked on), poor night sleep so ran outa steam pretty early today. Still a great day....even when interrupted by an insurance salesperson.

[Advanced Design]

Decided that piece was good enough for a '48 Suburban so went ahead, butt welded it in and metal finished it out. Looks decent but not great and only took seven hours to make and replace nine inches of the body lip.

Wife was helping and the original body wanted to burn through. She actually said "You're right honey, you do need a TIG welder." My plan is working... Piece of copper strip behind the butt weld helped a lot.

Started making the piece that goes across to the inner body wall. Piece curves front to back so used the shrinker on the flanged edged to create the curve. Have it fitting well for welding in tomorrow.

Yeah, like I mentioned, this is slow work. Yawn....

[youngrodder]

Nice progress. Any progress is good progress.

Marc

[68 Four on the Floor]

Hobart! I've got a little 150 tight and stick machine that runs decent. .