53 Surburban "Family Truckster"

[99 to Life]

nice work, digging the trans tunnel. I'm more of a square tunnel fan in most builds. allows more utilization and most time I just like how they look.

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by 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.

Eugene

I will probably sandblast the welds then treat them with some black rust guard prior to using kitty hair.

Marc

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

nice work, digging the trans tunnel. I'm more of a square tunnel fan in most builds. allows more utilization and most time I just like how they look.

Thanks, I'm getting anxious to get the seat riser welded back in and getting the trans tunnel welded in so that I can get the front floor are all buttoned up.

Marc

[lower50's]

Love your green truck. The Burb is lookin good and will be awesome.

[Sim6]

Marc, great work.

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by lower50's

Love your green truck. The Burb is lookin good and will be awesome.

Originally Posted by Sim6

Marc, great work.

Thanks guys.. I should have some progress to report soon. Porterbuilt is getting close on the drop member that they are building for me. I also made a few changes to my 48 so that has eaten into my garage time. The weather has been nice as of late so I have been enjoying driving the 48.

Marc

[oldman3]

Originally Posted by youngrodder

Thanks guys.. I should have some progress to report soon. Porterbuilt is getting close on the drop member that they are building for me. I also made a few changes to my 48 so that has eaten into my garage time. The weather has been nice as of late so I have been enjoying driving the 48.

Marc

So don't keep us guessing, what did you do to the 48, looked perfect to me...Jim

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by oldman3

So don't keep us guessing, what did you do to the 48, looked perfect to me...Jim

Well Jim, It started with a leaking freeze plug in the front of the block. Once I changed that, it snowballed into a couple other changes. Some changes are more visible than others. Here's a run down.
1 - Upgraded to a new bigger radiator. Needed to create room to fit.
2 - Painted a lot of my billet Street and Performance pulleys and brackets. Billet was too hard to keep polished. Black is the new chrome.
3 - Changed the collectors on my exhaust system and added some SS flex joints.
4 - Re-welded one of the mounts for my tail pipe that cracked (see item 3 above)

You know how it is, after putting miles on them you decided to fix/change some stuff.

I will take a couple pics of engine bay to give you an idea.

Thanks
Marc

[oldman3]

I know what you mean, did you go aluminum with rad...Jim

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by oldman3

I know what you mean, did you go aluminum with rad...Jim

Yes, but a 4 core. Because of the location of my steering box, I have a radiator that is 4" shorter than a stock radiator. I have never been pleased with the way my previous 3 core radiator cooled. Some of that might have to do with slug that was in my engine from sitting all of those years. I learned after my initial start up that Dexcool when mixed with air turns to a slug. I flushed the block and radiator a crap load of times. I think maybe my old radiator was partially plugged so I figured what the heck lets upgrade to a new 4 core while I'm at it. needless to say I have no cooling issues.

My truck never overheated it just ran hotter than I was comfortable but well within spec for the motor.

Marc

[lower50's]

Sounds like some good upgrades!! They all need some TLC from time to time.

[Advanced Design]

Nice upgrades on the 48. Looking forward to seeing them....no rush getting back on the Burb.

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Nice upgrades on the 48. Looking forward to seeing them....no rush getting back on the Burb.

Hey that's my line...ha ha

Here are a couple pics.

I included a pic of the shrink band that I used. If you have never used these they work great and look clean. I basically changed out the motor components and ss radiator hoses to black and had to notch the radiator panel to make room for the radiator.

Thanks
Marc

[Iceburgh]

That truck is just bad ass

[youngrodder]

Thanks man....

[Advanced Design]

Really incredible! Have looked at those bands before and never seen them installed. Were you happy with how they worked out so far?

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Really incredible! Have looked at those bands before and never seen them installed. Were you happy with how they worked out so far?

Yes, I was skeptical because I always seemed to chase coolant leaks but from day one these sealed up tight. They are more $$ than clamps but sometime its the details that are the difference. I plan to use them on all my builds.

Marc

[CHIZZLER]

Very clean marc. Looks great.

[IWanna49]

Marc! Saw your spread in Street Trucks....absolutely gorgeous!!!

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by IWanna49

Marc! Saw your spread in Street Trucks....absolutely gorgeous!!!

Thanks man...I'm pretty stoked about it.

Marc

[IWanna49]

If they gave you digital copies, I'd love one of the straight on shots for wallpaper!!!

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by IWanna49

If they gave you digital copies, I'd love one of the straight on shots for wallpaper!!!

I need to play around and resize the image as the files I have are hi-res. Let me see what I can do

Marc

[youngrodder]

Due to an expected/unexpected job change I have not been spending anytime on the burb. I did get out there tonight and I plan on working on it more and more now that I'm a couple weeks into a new job. Porterbuilt is close on the AD kits. Here are a few pics that they have shared on Instagram. A few of that changes are now the front and rear will be a bolt in unit. The rear rails flow like the stock rails. I was told they just need to fab the front radiator support and there done. In the meantime I will get my frame blasted in anticipation.

Marc

[Advanced Design]

Very nice parts. Looking forward to seeing them on your chassis!

[youngrodder]

Well I spent a good portion of last Sunday in the garage as well as today. I was able the get the floor out. The problem that I ran into was the rusted carriage bolts that held the wood in around the perimeter. The nuts were rusted and the bolts simply spun. I ended up spot welding each one so that they would not spin. I also removed the rear sill. I was not certain how this was to come out after snapping the heads off of about 12 bolts and cutting a few spot welds I was able to easy it out. I needed to remove it to properly replace the rear driver side cab corner. Here are some pics to prove it.