My suburban's Twisted Little Sister

[Bomp]

First off let me say I am totally impressed. Great work and thought goes into cutting sheet metal up and fitting it back together again.
Happened to find your build last night and read through the whole build this morning.
Totally diggin your skills.

Awesome build.
Sub'd

[65sub]

Originally Posted by Bomp

First off let me say I am totally impressed. Great work and thought goes into cutting sheet metal up and fitting it back together again.
Happened to find your build last night and read through the whole build this morning.
Totally diggin your skills.

Awesome build.
Sub'd

Thanks Bomp. Yours is one of the builds that inspired the Twisted Little Sister.



Friday we got the piece above the windshield tacked in place. In the second picture you can see the problem with the repop sheetmetal. The new piece is about 3/8" wider than stock. So I guess we'll have to make some adjustments. We also tacked a patch in the bottom of the inside piece above the windshield. The last picture is the transition from the original B pillar to the new roof support on the inside.

[65sub]

We spent most of today just welding and grinding. Then we decided to cut up the rest of the roof. So we marked out the panels that will become the upper part of the doors. We set them on the truck just to see how it would look.

[Free Candy Inside]

Those are going to be some huge doors!!

[65sub]

Originally Posted by Free Candy Inside

Those are going to be some huge doors!!

You got that right. Hopefully they don't end up too heavy.


We finished the welding on the inner and outer pieces above the windshield then put on a coat of POR 15

[72kool]

just read through the entire build over the weekend...wow. you have a great vision and focus to follow it through the end. cant wait to see more on this build and to be able to see what you see everyday. i wish i had a portion of the skills you have just to fix the rust on my truck

[65sub]

Originally Posted by 72kool

just read through the entire build over the weekend...wow. you have a great vision and focus to follow it through the end. cant wait to see more on this build and to be able to see what you see everyday. i wish i had a portion of the skills you have just to fix the rust on my truck

Thanks for the kind words Kool. We are having a bunch of fun.

After a few days of testing , trimming and fitting we got the front of the roof clamped in place. Then we cut off sections of the drip rail and tacked the three layers together.

[65sub]

A few more pictures of the layers being tacked together

[Advanced Design]

Coming along really well! Love the progress...though I am feeling like a slacker.

[65sub]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Coming along really well! Love the progress...though I am feeling like a slacker.

Thanks A.D. Progress is slow and steady. Remember hot rods a just a hobby. Family always takes priority.


Yesterday we finished tacking the front roof panel on and added a strip between the halves. Then we started finish welding the front edge.

[65sub]

Today we decided to clean up the top of the A pillars so we cut off the excess. Then we made a patch to connect the two inner braces.

[65sub]

Next we cut a patch to close in the area from the roof to the inner panel above the windshield. It's tacked in now and we'll get it welded tomorrow.

[Palf70Step]

Love to watch your work on this. Very talented!

[Advanced Design]

Thanks for wise words 65sub. Wife and I were just talking about that the other day.

Nice work on the roof! Tack, wait, tack, wait....repeat infinity times. Thanks for sharing your work.

[pimpston65]

did i miss something or is my screen on wide angle, or are my eyes seeing a chopped top???? that windscreen looks alittle smaller then factory!!!!

[lower50's]

This little sister keeps getting better.

[65sub]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Love to watch your work on this. Very talented!

Thanks Palf.

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Thanks for wise words 65sub. Wife and I were just talking about that the other day.

Nice work on the roof! Tack, wait, tack, wait....repeat infinity times. Thanks for sharing your work.

Thanks A.D. Tack, grind, repeat. Some days thats all we do.

Originally Posted by pimpston65

did i miss something or is my screen on wide angle, or are my eyes seeing a chopped top???? that windscreen looks alittle smaller then factory!!!!

What? You missed the top chop? You must have been at the beach. Its 5" shorter than it was before.

Originally Posted by lower50's

This little sister keeps getting better.

Thanks Lower50's. Slow but sure, we're getting there.


We got the patch from yesterday finish welded. Then we bent up a piece to start making the door frame on the front of the roof.

[65sub]

Then, after some fitting and trimming we tacked it in place. Next we made a small piece to blend the flat section to the corner.

[pimpston65]

yeah been on the sidelines, trying to buy a 3 car garage that comes with a free house!!! once we close its ON... nice work still waiting to see the engine marriage...

[65sub]

Originally Posted by pimpston65

yeah been on the sidelines, trying to buy a 3 car garage that comes with a free house!!! once we close its ON... nice work still waiting to see the engine marriage...

3 car garage sounds cool. And a free house.


We made a small patch to fill in the corner by the A pillar

[lower50's]

This thing will be more solid than stock. Good work.

[65sub]

Originally Posted by lower50's

This thing will be more solid than stock. Good work.

Thanks Lower50's. We are putting in a lot of extra structure to support the doors.



Today we got the upper windshield frame made and tacked in place.

[Johnny_Lamebridge]

As usual Dale, you guys are doing a great job!

[Bomp]

What is your guess-ta-mation on weight of the door with everything (door panel, glass, window crank, top section of roof, rear view mirror, etc.)?

Killer work so far!!!

[65sub]

Originally Posted by Johnny_Lamebridge

As usual Dale, you guys are doing a great job!

Thanks John

Originally Posted by Bomp

What is your guess-ta-mation on weight of the door with everything (door panel, glass, window crank, top section of roof, rear view mirror, etc.)?

Killer work so far!!!

Thanks Dr Bomp. I knew the doors were going to be heavier but I never did the math to find out just how much. So today when I got to the shop I weighed a complete door, glass vent window, door panel handles. Everything but the mirror. Then I weighed the upper door skin.

Door..................................................................70 lbs
upper skin..........................................................18 lbs
extend door 70 X 1.3...........................................91 lbs
cut 8" off the bottom of door 91 X .75....................62 lbs
inner and outer upper panels 18 X 2.5....................45 lbs
upper and lower doors 62 + 45............................107 lbs

so allowing a little bit for more structural support and lightening the inner door I think the finished door will be about 120 lbs.


Today we got started on cutting the front roof support to fit the center section We also dug out the section of donor roof.