1965 Suburban Resto-Rebuild

[hemifalcon]

Good eye Cap'n...
That truss will be coming off of there.. I'm guessing that was another rancher "fix" due to the rough terrain this thing lived in.. It's very poorly attached to the axle.. I'll be removing it this week..
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[hemifalcon]

Here are some of the earlier pictures of disassembly. These were on another memory card which I had forgotten about.








Here you can see the cylinder head that came off of the 292. There were dozens of cracks in between the valves and when initially taken off there were crystalized and wet areas around the cracks from coolant..

[hemifalcon]

Well, here are my parts that arrived from Early Classic Enterprises today..

I've got a set of 2" front lowering springs, and 4" for the rear.. I'm worried however that the rear springs may sag a little too much with the weight of the suburban. Anyone experience this yet? I know CPP has an HD set of rear lowering springs... Am I going to have to swap them?? I just don't want this thing dragging it's tail.
I've got the rear shock re-locator and the adjustable panhard bar. Also all four new shocks and new rear axle bearings. I've got new axles inbound from a drop-ship location from ECE as well. I went ahead and got a set of fresh backing plates from ECE as the ones from the '71 C10 donor truck plates were shot.

[hemifalcon]

I also spent some time cleaning up the really nasty parts of the frame.. This was primarily the trans crossmember and the second frame crossmember behind it. I notice the crossmember which has the parking brake assembly fixed is only bolted to the frame. I was pondering cutting out the rivets on the trans cross member and using some grade-8 hardware to remount it. Anyone have any thoughts on removing the rivets in favor of bolts? I was going to do this for ease of cleaning and removal of the trans in the future--should that be necessary. Anyone have any insight into this?

before....





After...


This nasty bellcrank setup for the clutch sucks-and I am pretty sure the frame mount is not supposed to be 'open', as it appears cracked.... Where can I get a replacement, or an upgrade??


Frame numbers....

[67swb72klb]

nice start clean body these subs are coming up a lot here lately

[hemifalcon]

Originally Posted by 67swb72klb

nice start clean body these subs are coming up a lot here lately

Thanks.. Just trying to stay on task.. :-)

[hemifalcon]

I went ahead and ordered the HD rear 4" springs from CPP.. I'll be returning the other ones to ECE.. Oh well.

I spent some time cleaning up the forward part of the frame today in preparation for a hard pressure wash to get the rest of the stuff off. I just needed to get all the thick concrete-like dirt off which had been collecting for years. I started on the rear where all the rearend oil was being flung off of the pinion yoke while the seal was bad--apparently for years. I got a lot of it off and then doused it with some Purple Power cleaner..
I didn't take any pictures of the stuff as this is hardly interesting work.
I did remove the stock shocks and took off the bellcrank for the clutch. I now see why that slit is in the frame bracket--I think I'll have to find a new bell crank as there isn't much left of this one (kinda worn out). How many of you guys go to hydraulic clutches??
Oh well--more cleaning tomorrow.. I disassembled the entire heater box assembly on the engine compartment side. I have a friend with a blast box that will let me start saving money on doing that myself for the small stuff.
Gonna read a couple of the other threads on here--and call it a night.

[RockTonka]

That's not a bad evening at all, I just wondered around ours in circles wondering what to do or not to do...

[hemifalcon]

Originally Posted by RockTonka

That's not a bad evening at all, I just wondered around ours in circles wondering what to do or not to do...

:-)
Well.. I planned on blasting all the heater parts tonight--didn't happen.. I did get a new master cylinder and brake booster as I think I'll go ahead and go with the 1971 setup-but will possibly get the adapter that I believe CaptainFab sells..
I did some more work on the frame after cleaning stuff up. I broke out the welder and fixed some of the grinding grooves I put in the rear frame area while hacking off the old farmer hitch/receiver. I had to beef up the far right rear body mount as it was the only one with too much rust which ate away at it. I did beef up the drivers side/middle mount as well which was getting a little thin. I need to get a burr bit to clean them up and I think I'll add some more weld to make them nice and strong again. I then tended to the trailing arms which had some garfs in them from jacks and jackstands beating them up over the years. I wrapped up by painting the new backing plates for the front brakes..
..unfortunately it has gotten cold here again and with snow on the ground--it puts my plans on hold to get the chassis outside for a steam bath.. ughh..

[hemifalcon]

..no pics after today..
I cleaned up the frame/body mount holes in the rear and smoothed the welds.. I also used a friends blast box and got all the old paint off of the heater box. I'll be painting it black tomorrow and reassembling it this week.. I may start busting apart the chassis tomorrow.. maybe.. :-)

[b2948kevin]

Originally Posted by hemifalcon

This nasty bellcrank setup for the clutch sucks-and I am pretty sure the frame mount is not supposed to be 'open', as it appears cracked.... Where can I get a replacement, or an upgrade??

I am nearly certain that the frame mount for the clutch "Z Bar" is supposed to be open like that. Mine is and it allows you to drop the stud in after you've got the engine side one set. LMC Trucks sells rebuild parts for that system, and even has a really nice diagram of that area. I don't remember what you're planning on putting in engine-wise, but if it's a 6cyl, make sure to grab the engine side mount for the Z Bar. If it's a SBC, scrap that mount and buy the stud that screws into the SBC block in that same location. PM me if this isn't clear.

[hemifalcon]

Originally Posted by b2948kevin

I am nearly certain that the frame mount for the clutch "Z Bar" is supposed to be open like that. Mine is and it allows you to drop the stud in after you've got the engine side one set. LMC Trucks sells rebuild parts for that system, and even has a really nice diagram of that area. I don't remember what you're planning on putting in engine-wise, but if it's a 6cyl, make sure to grab the engine side mount for the Z Bar. If it's a SBC, scrap that mount and buy the stud that screws into the SBC block in that same location. PM me if this isn't clear.

Kevin,
I did notice that when I finally removed it that the opening is supposed to be in that bracket.. I wasn't aware of that until I removed the bell-crank, or Z-Bar. I will be re-using the 292 during the restoration--and getting this piece put back together with a little less "wiggle" will be ideal. I'll check at LMC for the rebuild parts for certain. Thanks for the heads up..

[hemifalcon]

Tonight.. I got the rear end out from under the chassis.. I didn't disconnect the front of the parking brake cables, so those are still hooked up through the backing plates. I will finish removing the rear end tomorrow and begin disassembling the front suspension. Everything came apart nice and easy with some work from the MAP torch and some PB Blaster (no air tools late at night on a week night.) The passenger side trailing arm forward bolt was a M-----F----R.. The hacksaw took care of that though and the trailing arms are free.. I'll get pics tomorrow..

I also painted up all the heater box pieces.. I'll possibly re-assemble tomorrow--I'm considering getting the heater core checked--just to ensure there aren't any leaks that weren't apparent before..

[hemifalcon]

Okay, so here is where I'm at as of tonight.. I have the suspension completely off and out from under the frame.. It was pretty straight forward getting everything undone--but prior to getting going on making a mess and lots of noise for my neighbors... I observed something strange last night. If you look at the first picture, does anything look out of wack?? I noticed the third cross member from the rear end of the frame is unevenly placed. If you look at the pictures, it's pretty obvious.. Yup- the frame was sitting level from side to side on the tires when this first picture was taken.


you see in this picture, on the drivers side it is located approximately 14 1/8" behind the next forward x-member


you see in this picture, on the passenger side it is located approximately 15 1/8" behind the next forward x-member

I checked from the tail edges of the frame, and all the other cross members are evenly spaced, but this one is off an inch or so from the drivers to passenger side.. Is there a reason for this? I probably won't straighten it if it was merely a build flaw--as nothing bolts to it except the panhard bar on the one end.. Just kinda curious.

this picture is just taken for reference... or for the sake of before-after shots..


crappy picture of the passenger side


crappy picture of the forward passenger side


I started hammering away on the drivers side--and working fast to try and get done making lotsa racket for the neighbors..yeah--I try to give them courtesy by not hammering or running my impact late at night--past 9:00pm...


overhead view of the drivers side control arms.. just for reference...


close up with flash on drivers side..


closER up..


drivers side was done.. passenger side is coming apart..


passenger side coming apart.. just for reference..


passenger side showing three spacers vice one for each on the drivers side.


THIS was the drivers side front coil spring.. Guess someone along the line put the quick lift piece in there after the coil spring had broken at the bottom coil...niiice..


front cross member out... Just needs to be cleaned up really good..


here's the rear axle.. Showing the lovely brace work done some time in the past.. it'll be coming off.




anyone need some extra springs? Howabout drum brake front assembly's with spindles??


and.. here's the bare frame...


I have some sandblasting do to on the control arms and I have to get the '71 upper and lower ball joints for the front disk spindles. Lots of cleaning now at this point. I'm still waiting on my rear axles from ECE.. And, my rear HD lowering springs are on the way from CPP... all torn apart, now gotta get it all pretty to get put back together..

[67swb72klb]

nice solid rig keep up the good work

[hemifalcon]

Originally Posted by 67swb72klb

nice solid rig keep up the good work

Thank you sir.. Trying to keep my forward motion.. It's hard when your damned furnace craps out on you and the repair guy charges $400+ bucks for 1.5 hrs of work.. But, my house is warm.. works for me..

[Captainfab]

That crossmember is supposed to be at a slight angle like that. I believe it has to do with clearance for the panhard bar.

[chevy_mike]

Actually it's angled not so much because of the panhard bar but to keep the frame from "racking". If all of the crossmembers where square to the frame, you could actually push (with enough force) the frame into a parallelogram. The frame rails would still be parallel but one end would stick out further than the other end.

By having this angle crossmember, it creates a triangle effect in which the rails would have to deform and spread apart. The other crossmembers prevent this from happening. Basic geometry. Those GM guys were pretty smart.

BTW great build and can't wait to see it continue.

[kikkegek]

definately want to follow your progress...nice Burb man!

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by chevy_mike

Actually it's angled not so much because of the panhard bar but to keep the front from "racking". If all of the crossmembers where square to the frame, you could actually push (with enough force) the frame into a parallelogram. The frame rails would still be parallel but one end would stick out further than the other end.

By having this angle crossmember, it creates a triangle effect in which the rails would have to deform and spread apart. The other crossmembers prevent this from happening. Basic geometry. Those GM guys were pretty smart.

BTW great build and can't wait to see it continue.

Well now, doesn't that make a ton of sense.
Thanks for the explanation, I would have gladly squared that off and not given it a second thought!

[hemifalcon]

Originally Posted by chevy_mike

Actually it's angled not so much because of the panhard bar but to keep the frame from "racking". If all of the crossmembers where square to the frame, you could actually push (with enough force) the frame into a parallelogram. The frame rails would still be parallel but one end would stick out further than the other end.

By having this angle crossmember, it creates a triangle effect in which the rails would have to deform and spread apart. The other crossmembers prevent this from happening. Basic geometry. Those GM guys were pretty smart.

BTW great build and can't wait to see it continue.

Chevy_Mike.. Spot-on information from what I understand.. Thanks for that as I had contemplated squaring everything... But then thought "what the hell", it isn't bothering anything.. But, i appreciate the technical explanation..

[hemifalcon]

Well.. I'm on my couple days off from work--back at it tomorrow.. I spend yesterday down at the Chicago Auto show seeing all the new stuff on the showroom floors, and drooling over some others.. I decided to do some carving today on the '65 Truck Cab.. Here's what I did.. I chopped the roof off as I'll need the header portion of the roof "eyebrow". I did that surgically with the trusty Sawzall and then decided to see how my Blair 3/8" Spot-Weld cutters worked. I"ve never used these before and this is my first real bodywork job I'm doing with this suburban.. So, why not practice on the truck cab? I decided to start by getting the fresh air boxes separated from the cowl as I'll be doing some cutting from the cowl for repairs on my suburban. I was able to located the spotwelds after some trial and error, and got these things off. I'll not be needing them, so they'll be sold.. Also took the cowl structure off so that I could cut the wiper motor mount off for Nobby. I had decided before hand that I would keep the dash because it's completely uncut. My Suburban dash has a couple extra 'accessory' holes, so I will be putting the one from this cab into the Sub.. There are only a couple dents in this one which will easily come out. But, the radio hole is uncut and there are no extra hillbilly holes in the piece. Pretty easy to get in and out with 6 bolts and about 6 spot welds (give or take). I'll be parting out the rest of the sheetmetal from the cab. I actually am going to try and remove the rockers complete--as the inner rockers are perfect, as are the cab corners.. Anyone need any parts from this thing? I have no plans on letting this go to the scrappers. If nothing else, I'll be saving pieces for later sheetmetal repairs on another project down the road.

Here's the current dash in the Sub..


And, here's what I'll be replacing it with.. I may consider putting in a block off plate for the radio as I plan on having a decent stereo in the sub, but will not be cutting the dash..

[hemifalcon]

Here are my pics from today.. I decided to hack all the bull$hit truss material off of the rear end. As it turns out, the only really good weld was on the driver side.. The rest, wacked it right off with a hammer and chisel. Cleaned it all up--couple of weld pits that I need to clean up a little with the welder.. then she'll be good.. Waiting on my axles still from ECE. And, I still haven't popped the cover off of my 12-bolt, but how many of these trucks came with a posi??











Anyone need a '71 C10 12-bolt with all componets 'cept brakes?? The one in the back of the pics needs to go..

[hemifalcon]

Here are some pictures of the heater box assembly, post-paint.. Not very exciting.. But, it's all black and I'm waiting on some extra cash to get a new blower motor (bad screaming bearing in the old one)..

[protrash64]

Cool build and excellent progress!! I'm really digging all the 'burbs on here as it's inspiring knowing all this work is going on all over the place. Having the body off is definitely the way to go as far as doing the suspension stuff; I've never had the pleasure!

Where is Antioch? I'm from Peoria originally.