53 Surburban "Family Truckster"

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

haven't checked on your build lately, good progress so far
job change and life changes get in the way, eh?

i saw this pic... dang that's huge
That's one of the main reasons for the build...more room for the WHOLE family to cruise out in style...

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Marc,

Here is the seat riser sitting on the floor section I removed. We are looking at it from the front toward back.

Pic 1 red circle is where the front support ends and aligns with the hole in the seat riser.

Pic 2 is the original floor under the seat riser. As I thought I only had one support.

Pic 3 is the bottom of the seat riser showing the hole that aligns with the support.

The supports originally went from this position toward the rear. The floor section in front of the risers is depressed.

Hope that helps. Need anything more please let me know.

Ogre - They are roomy. I figured I put 55 sq ft of floor in mine.

Thanks Doug. That makes sense. I remember the floor being depressed, I didn't think how that effect the seat braces. It makes send that they only extend in the rear of the seat riser which is also where more of the weight will be when sitting.

Marc

[youngrodder]

Thanks to help from Doug I got the seat braces sorted. I welded in the braces and then welded back in my seat riser. I also seam sealer on the floor. I also put down some under coating under the seat riser.

Next I will mount my front driver side seat so I can get the correct positioning for the jump seat. You will see I made my floor flat and one piece on the passenger side. From the factory it came with this strange looking flat metal piece scabbed over the recess in the floor.

Marc

[Scott2]

Originally Posted by youngrodder

Thanks to help from Doug I got the seat braces sorted. I welded in the braces and then welded back in my seat riser. I also seam sealer on the floor. I also put down some under coating under the seat riser.

Next I will mount my front driver side seat so I can get the correct positioning for the jump seat. You will see I made my floor flat and one piece on the passenger side. From the factory it came with this strange looking flat metal piece scabbed over the recess in the floor.

Marc

Marc,

Great job on the floors! Did you bend them up yourself? You make this part look pretty easy - I'm considering making a rear flat floor for my truck. Any words of wisdom for me? Would you change anything if you did them again? I noticed you rolled in some strengthening beads in the front section but not the rear. Is this because of the seat riser welded on top of it?

Also really like the trans tunnel approach. Any finished shots?

[Advanced Design]

Looks good Marc. Really glad you brought this up as I didn't know there were two. I will have to make one for mine.

Plans for the rest of the floor?

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Looks good Marc. Really glad you brought this up as I didn't know there were two. I will have to make one for mine.

Plans for the rest of the floor?

Yes mine both needed repair. I have the driver seat mounted and I'm going to fit the jumpseat to get the correct location to drill and bolt it down. I'm going to raptor line the front cab floor and keep my back section open at this point until I get my suspension sorted...

Marc

[oldman3]

Marc, nice job on the floor and riser...Jim

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by oldman3

Marc, nice job on the floor and riser...Jim

Thanks Jim

[youngrodder]

I have made some progress. I got my jump seat mounted. I need to get a picture of it.

I purchased my drivetrain. They threw in the Camaro for free.....(: It is a 2001 Z28 with an LS1 and 4l60E automatic trans. I plan to use as much as I can and sell off the rest. The car is actually in great shape. No rust or body damage and I have a clean title. I drove the car home about 70 miles. It ran good. The car has 125,000 miles. I know you can get craiglist motors cheaper but it is always a crap shoot if you get a junk motor.

I heard from Porterbuilt and all of my goodies are shipping next week. Here are a few pics. Hopefully they don't mind.

Thanks
Marc

[oldman3]

Marc, not a bad looking Camaro. I agree with you, this way you know you have a running engine, etc.. Can get everything you need, then sell the rest. I know your ready for the PB stuff, can't wait to see pics and then you putting it together...Jim

[FarmerSid]

That car almost looks too nice to part out. Those PB parts look awesome.

[Advanced Design]

Great plan on the Camaro. Friend of mine is doing same for the powertrain on his 65 Pontiac wagon. I wonder if 20 years from now we will be kicking ourselves for doing this?

Those Porterbuilt parts always look really nice. Looking forward to seeing them installed. You will likely finish yours before I finish mine!

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by FarmerSid

That car almost looks too nice to part out. Those PB parts look awesome.

It's funny people keep saying the same thing...ha ha

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Great plan on the Camaro. Friend of mine is doing same for the powertrain on his 65 Pontiac wagon. I wonder if 20 years from now we will be kicking ourselves for doing this?

Those Porterbuilt parts always look really nice. Looking forward to seeing them installed. You will likely finish yours before I finish mine!

It's funny we keep jinxing each other by saying who will finish first..I still have a lot of research to do on what oil pan to use and stuff like that. Since I'm using PB I will need to figure out a certain amount on my own

Marc

[99 to Life]

nice score, your rocking now.

[CHIZZLER]

Nice score on the camaro marc.

[lower50's]

It's always nice to buy a running drivetrain.

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

nice score, your rocking now.

I hope so...

Originally Posted by CHIZZLER

Nice score on the camaro marc.

Thanks man

Originally Posted by lower50's

It's always nice to buy a running drivetrain.

Yes, I just need to convince my wife not to keep driving it so I can rip it apart..MY 48 the motor sat for several years and it just added more bugs to work through.

[DeeJayNOLA]

Yes, I just need to convince my wife not to keep driving it so I can rip it apart..MY 48 the motor sat for several years and it just added more bugs to work through.[/QUOTE]

If your wife is anything like mine with their need for speed (Top Gun voice) then really Good Luck with that. But great idea to buy it running. It's a 2001 so I'd definitely give a good looking over once you've pulled it out and cleaned it up. Like some of these other guys asked, keep the pics coming

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by DeeJayNOLA

Yes, I just need to convince my wife not to keep driving it so I can rip it apart..MY 48 the motor sat for several years and it just added more bugs to work through.

If your wife is anything like mine with their need for speed (Top Gun voice) then really Good Luck with that. But great idea to buy it running. It's a 2001 so I'd definitely give a good looking over once you've pulled it out and cleaned it up. Like some of these other guys asked, keep the pics coming[/QUOTE]

Thanks, will do. I plan on pulling the Camaro in soon for the lobotomy. The motor at first inspection looks very good. It does not leak any fluids and is fairly clean overall. Over the winter months I look to make some progress...

Marc

[69CST-V]

Is it winter up there yet???? JK. Looking forward to your progress pics.

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by 69CST-V

Is it winter up there yet???? JK. Looking forward to your progress pics.

Funny that you say that. It actually snowed today. Just flurries, nothing stuck but it sucked just the same.

I will be pulling the Camaro in to start tearing it down. I need to get this done to get back on the chassis because the chassis shares the same floor space as where I will tear the Camaro down.

I should also have some progress pics soon on the body. I have been working on it a lot but not a lot that will show up on camera. I'm just about ready to hit the back half with epoxy seam sealer and then add raptor coating on the lower inside parts of the body and bottom of the floor. My dropped spindles showed today and the PB freight shipped this week.

Marc

[Advanced Design]

Cool....uh oh, I better get busy!

[oldman3]

Let's see Tab A into slot B, can't wait...Jim

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Cool....uh oh, I better get busy!

Come on Doug, you've seen how fast I move. You have plenty of time...

Originally Posted by oldman3

Let's see Tab A into slot B, can't wait...Jim

You and me both. I know I sill need to remove one cross member (oh how I lover messing with removing rivets) but I need to get the front DB installed first. I promise to flood with pics soon. With this build there has been too much text and not enough pics as of late.

Marc

[reaper71]

Yes Marc I would agree, A good air hammer works wonders (ingersoll rand) is the one I have it's pretty awesome, and makes it so much faster for removing the rivets.

Mark...

[youngrodder]

Well I had a productive day. I was able to drop the motor and remove it from the cradle. It was a lot of work but I feel pretty good about my progress.

I only have one broken exhaust manifold bolt to deal with but there is a decent part of the bolt left so I should be able to get ahold of it and work it loose...That's the plan any way.

Now all that left is to reassemble the cradle so that I can sell the car.

I also bought a cherry picker for cheap. I barrowed it from a friend and asked how long I could barrow it for and he said no need for it back anytime soon. Then he said hey how about I sell it to you cheap...Hey I like cheap.....so I bought it.

Thanks
Marc