53 Surburban "Family Truckster"

[youngrodder]

One of the body on the cart. The caster wheels that my cousin donated work great the big ol burb rolls around effortlessly...

I added an eyelet to each side of the cart and I plan to ratchet strap the body to the cart to keep everything where it should be.

Marc

[oldman3]

Nice job Marc, hey your one buddy had his John Deere green on, should of had him bring a tractor with bucket to left in up..Jim

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by oldman3

Nice job Marc, hey your one buddy had his John Deere green on, should of had him bring a tractor with bucket to left in up..Jim

Jim..you are a thinker. He probably had one too. He left early to get to bed as he starts work at 4 am.

Marc

[Iceburgh]

awesome....every step you take puts a smile on your face. Now you will have plenty of work over the winter.
What is the plan for the frame?

[Advanced Design]

Great fun, I see a lot of smiling faces!
Good progress last night.

Are next steps the chassis or more on the body? I remember you have a deposit on Porterbuilt components?

If you replace the floor maybe follow Iceburgh's example....the way I went is a lot of work / hours.

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Great fun, I see a lot of smiling faces!
Good progress last night.

Are next steps the chassis or more on the body? I remember you have a deposit on Porterbuilt components?

If you replace the floor maybe follow Iceburgh's example....the way I went is a lot of work / hours.

I think that I will focus somewhat on the chassis. There are still some rivets that I need to knock out. I would also like to have the frame sandblasted. The frame is in very good condition. According to Porterbuilt there are close on the AD kits. I have heard that for awhile but at least I should be ready when they are.

I think I will also start working on removing the rear wood. I will revisit Iceburgs build to refresh my memory. I did use his hole saw technique to free up the rear body mount bolts. They were a bear to get to and the carriage heads just spin (as I'm sure that you know). Your floor will turn out great. I have a few ideas for a different twist on the flooring but the size and shape of my rear notch will dictate a lot.

I hope my progress is more frequent that it has been.

Thanks
Marc

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by Iceburgh

awesome....every step you take puts a smile on your face. Now you will have plenty of work over the winter.
What is the plan for the frame?

Yes, I made some work for myself which is OK as it has sat idle longer that I would have hoped. I plan to continue to strip the frame down. I have a deposit down on a extreme bagged drop set up from Porterbuilt. They are still in development on a kit for the AD trucks. Mine will be one of the first kits offered to the public. This Suburban will be bagged.

How's the paint/reassembly coming?

Thanks
Marc

[youngrodder]

Hey guys a couple updates so you know that I'm still alive in well.

My frame is ready to head to the blasters. I will try to get it there in the next week or two. I heard from Nate at Porterbuilt and they are telling me 4-6 weeks on finalizing the AD kit. He will send me some pics in a week or two.

I found a source for the interior of my Burb. Like my 48 I plan on doing quite a bit of the work myself but it is great to have a contact to handle what I can't and he is a good source for materials as well. Apparently he covers all of the seats for Wise Guys seats. My friends that own Dutchboys hotrods http://dutchboyshotrods.com/build high end cars/truck and this guy located in Southern Indiana does all of their work.

It was great picking his brain for ideas. I'm thinking of taking some time off of my normal job and going down to work for him (for free) to get a better understanding of upholstery. I had fun putting the interior in my 48 and I learned a ton. I am also buying some carpet off him to make some matching floor mats for the 48. Its nice that I can buy what I need since he has the materials on hand.

Here are some pics of a 67 high end Camaro that Dutchboys are finishing up. This is a 6 figure car and very nice. I also took a pic of the box weave carpet color and leather swatch that I like the look of. I have this same carpet in my 48 but in black. Again I'm a long ways off from needing an interior but finding good people is 1/2 the battle.

[duallyjams]

well it is winter and you do live in MI, heck I live in Md and don't get much done in the wnter

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by duallyjams

well it is winter and you do live in MI, heck I live in Md and don't get much done in the wnter

True, but this fall I did install a 80,000 BTU heater for my work shop so I really don't have an excuse. I'm kinda treading water until Porterbuilt finished the AD kits.

Marc

[Advanced Design]

Working for an expert to learn is a great approach. Cool idea Marc.

[oldman3]

Marc, I'm with you, I've also wanted to help an upholstery guy to learn. Like your leather and carpet...Jim

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Working for an expert to learn is a great approach. Cool idea Marc.

Hopefully he thinks its a cool idea as well... ha ha

Originally Posted by oldman3

Marc, I'm with you, I've also wanted to help an upholstery guy to learn. Like your leather and carpet...Jim

Yes, in talking with the guy that is how he got his start. In talking with him I'm not that far off when comparing techniques used.
Thanks, I'm just adding these samples to the idea file.

[Iceburgh]

Great looking car. If you decide to do your own interior try www.yourautotrim.com

they are reasonable and helped me with many questions. I am attempting my own with the exception of the seats that I got from a conversion van already done.

If you want I can make patterns of my headliner before I put it is place and send up to you. Not sure how it will turn out being my 1st attempt but should be fun

[MIKESAD50]

Marc,
I'm sure the Family truckster will be cool and have been following.
On your 48 what did you use for rear fender bolts?

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by Iceburgh

Great looking car. If you decide to do your own interior try www.yourautotrim.com

they are reasonable and helped me with many questions. I am attempting my own with the exception of the seats that I got from a conversion van already done.

If you want I can make patterns of my headliner before I put it is place and send up to you. Not sure how it will turn out being my 1st attempt but should be fun

Thanks Iceburgh, I will take you up on your request.

Originally Posted by MIKESAD50

Marc,
I'm sure the Family truckster will be cool and have been following.
On your 48 what did you use for rear fender bolts?

Thanks. I used this type washer.http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS+Performan...83502/10002/-1 don't remember the size but they offer them in different sizes. I then used a SS flat top allen head bolt. This combination works good because it help distribute the pressure on the bed side. A lot of bed sides are cracked in this area. I know mine were.

Here is a close up to give you an idea.


Marc

[Sssingo]

No tben on the forum in a while. Looks like I've missed a lot. Good work

[youngrodder]

Ok, so I have gotten out in the garage a little bit lately. I constructed a tranny tunnel out of cardboard. I also bent up some metal at my friends hot rod shop (Dutchboys) yesterday. No pics of the finished product yet...due to being to f'n cold.

I also started working on the body more. I removed all of the lead from the joints. The ones in the back corners of the roof where in bad shape. This seems to be a pretty common area of decay in these burbs. I also picked at this "scab" on the roof. I knew I would have an issue there but I wouldn't know how bad until I dug into it further. It looks like at some point a tree (or something) might have fallen on the roof. During removing the filler I found all of these worm holes. I was told that this might have been an old technique for pulling dents. I have an idea how I will fix these issues but I would like the opinion of my friends dad (also from the Dutchboys) on the best way to fix.

Oh also the hole below where the rear tail light mounts. I assume it needs to be filled. Any Suburban owners out there have a similar hole in the same location? It looks to be a square hole that's why I think it should be there but I was not sure.

Pics (round 1)

Marc

[youngrodder]

pics (round2)

[Iceburgh]

same hole here.... I assumed it was there for a bracket for a license plate holder but I do not know that for sure.
The door on mine was beat all to hell and fixed with plastic over 1" thick

[Advanced Design]

Don't know if I have the hole on mine since that area is filled over with plastic too. That is the area just below where the bullet shaped tail lights mounted on the sides?

Wonder if all the holes were for the old time filler to take a bite? Are you going to replace the leaded over joints with butt welded 19 gauge?

Glad you had some shop time Marc. Looks pretty cozy with the tv up in the corner.

[CHIZZLER]

Not sure if this helps. I think it holds the license plate bracket.

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by Iceburgh

same hole here.... I assumed it was there for a bracket for a license plate holder but I do not know that for sure.
The door on mine was beat all to hell and fixed with plastic over 1" thick

Thanks Iceburgh. Yes, I found a few minor dents that were just buttered over with filler instead of just pulled.

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Don't know if I have the hole on mine since that area is filled over with plastic too. That is the area just below where the bullet shaped tail lights mounted on the sides?

Wonder if all the holes were for the old time filler to take a bite? Are you going to replace the leaded over joints with butt welded 19 gauge?

Glad you had some shop time Marc. Looks pretty cozy with the tv up in the corner.

My friends dad offered to re-lead it for me. I'm not sure if I will trouble him or just use some modern reinforced filler for these areas. I just want to preserve them from getting worse.

Originally Posted by CHIZZLER

Not sure if this helps. I think it holds the license plate bracket.

Thanks Chizzler, I will have to look through my parts to see if I have a rear plate holder. I assumed that it just attached to the tail light.

[oldman3]

Marc, glad you got some time in the shop, thanks for the update...Jim

[alaska gasser]

Looking good. I dug all the lead out of my '52 panel due to rust under it. I sandblasted and filled it back in with fiberglass kitty hair and it held up great.