1965 Suburban Resto-Rebuild

[hemifalcon]

Originally Posted by 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.

I'll admit this project was unplanned but after the engine let go--it became the plan... It's good that I found this site and I'm able to tap into all the minds here... Protrash--I've checked your stuff out--- good work you got going on....
BTW---Antioch is in the far northeast corner of the state on the stateline--25 mins from Lake Michigan...
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[hemifalcon]

Here's pics from today... I decided to start cleaning the 12-bolt in hopes that when the new 5-lug axles arrive, I can have the housing and backing plates ready for reassembly.. Well, I found something that made me happy.. After a couple hours spent with a wire brush and the die grinder with brush attached, I pulled off the rear cover to reveal... a posi!! I had no idea this thing had a posi unit inside.. Nice little surprise.. Oh well--here are the pics..

Code on the passenger side axle tube is HC 5 D 05 W






Code on the ring gear is 3817778 11 41GM 4 65 1 27


So, if my research is correct, this is a 3:73 gearing in my stock rearend.. I looked around to try and decipher all the numbers... No luck though..

[Alan's Classic]

This link might help.

[hemifalcon]

Originally Posted by Alan's Classic

This link might help.

Awesome.. That HC code for a '65 Makes it a 3:73 geared posi-traction rear.. thank you Alan..

[Alan's Classic]

Also taking the numbers off the ring gear 41 divided by 11 also confirms that it's a 3.73.

I bet the posi was a nice surprise.

[hemifalcon]

Originally Posted by Alan's Classic

Also taking the numbers off the ring gear 41 divided by 11 also confirms that it's a 3.73.

I bet the posi was a nice surprise.

Yeah.. it was a great surprise.. when I pulled the rear out--I shoulda known when the wheels wouldn't spin independent of one another when trying to pivot it from under the frame...

[protrash64]

Originally Posted by hemifalcon

I'll admit this project was unplanned but after the engine let go--it became the plan... It's good that I found this site and I'm able to tap into all the minds here... Protrash--I've checked your stuff out--- good work you got going on....
BTW---Antioch is in the far northeast corner of the state on the stateline--25 mins from Lake Michigan...
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I see you have a set of welding sandals too! Required safety gear when it's 100* + out here. Thanx for looking at the trucks; just having fun with them and trying to improve my skills as I go.

I'll keep checking in and seeing how things are going.

[hemifalcon]

Originally Posted by protrash64

I see you have a set of welding sandals too! Required safety gear when it's 100* + out here. Thanx for looking at the trucks; just having fun with them and trying to improve my skills as I go.

I'll keep checking in and seeing how things are going.

Hahahahahah.. I can honestly say those were only on my feet for the pictures.... No welding or other dangerous activities involved in those... Besides its only 50 degrees--(maybe) in my garage!
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[Captainfab]

That is always a pleasant surprise when you pop open a rear end cover

That is what I consider the heavier duty posi unit. In my first experience with them, they were referred to as a 'Dana posi' unit. They have very stiff springs that sit in aluminum plates, which push on the clutches. I did not know they were made with the 30 spline side spiders.

[hemifalcon]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

That is always a pleasant surprise when you pop open a rear end cover

That is what I consider the heavier duty posi unit. In my first experience with them, they were referred to as a 'Dana posi' unit. They have very stiff springs that sit in aluminum plates, which push on the clutches. I did not know they were made with the 30 spline side spiders.

Well.. From your comments Captain-- I guess I got a little lucky with this unit.. I'm more glad now that my gears look good as even though this is a full-resto--I'm trying to keep from replacing as much stuff as possible. The ring and pinion look really good. I'll be pulling the axles today and I'll finish cleaning up the axle housing and use my friends sandblast box to clean off the backing plates. It'll be all black again. I'm thinking of putting a little shine on it and getting a finned rear aluminum cover.. Not sold on it yet though--

[hemifalcon]

I finished removing the backing plates today.. And, when rotating the housing--these four little pieces of metal came out of the center of the housing... Any idea what they are? I had noticed some little "peck" marks on the inside of the rear cover--had no idea what would have caused it--I'm guessing these were the culprit after getting snagged by the ring gear at some time..




and, I spent some time removing some parts from the parts-cab.. I got the rockers off (they are in pretty damned good shape--- no rust through or scale on the inside or outside. Only rot is on the passenger side at the top lip on the inside near the toe/floor board.. It'd be an easy fix. I also removed the portion of trans tunnel and the cab corners.. They are in great shape except for the very bottom flange area on the one side.. It'd be an easy repair..

[Captainfab]

I really can't think what those pieces out of your rear end are from. It is possible they could have been accidentially left in there as something used for installation of the springs.

[hemifalcon]

Yeah... I couldn't make any sense of those pieces...
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[hemifalcon]

Well.. Here's where I'm at this week.. Just been cleaning parts.. Brake pieces, and slowly working towards getting to the frame for clean up. I spent hours in a blast box blasting some of the small parts.. I'm about ready to put the heater assembly back together, but I want to get the core boiled as I ran some hot water through it for about 10 minutes and junk kept coming and coming and coming... well, you get the point.. I make sure it's clean and all before slapping it all back together. I dropped off the front control arms today at the local NAPA to get boiled before I blast them--they were so dirty.. I spent some time on my new bench grinder/wire wheel cleaning up brake parts a couple days ago and today spent a couple hours cleaning up the front suspension cross member. I'll take it to a blaster to have it roughed up a little bit along with the trailing arms.
I ordered the AG111 Master Series kit to do the frame and suspension bits. I went ahead and Rustoleum'd (Semi-Gloss Black) the rear backing plates and other small pieces. I've always had good luck with the spray can stuff.. So, i'll keep using it until otherwise.
I think that's about it. I'm gonna set a goal, that will probably not work out--but I'd like to get the frame/chassis back together by the end of the month.. We shall see.
Here's the no-frills pics from the past 10 days or so.

I flipped the frame upside down tonight too..


I have one little crack to weld up back here..











Oh, and I got the '71 ball joints today--they cost $200 for the U.S.A. made ones.. These are the upper and lowers..as much as I don't want to--I don't think I'll be going straight to the local parts store when it comes to prices like this any longer.. I'm building a Chevy, not a Bentley.. :-(

[hemifalcon]

Here’s the most recent pics of “progress” as I’ve not taken any pics lately. It’s been slow moving also since the process of sand-blasting is not all that exciting so I didn’t want to bore any of you with pics of cleaned metal.. I did decide to take the trailing arms and frame to Strip Rite in Union Grove, WI to have them blast them as I had no place to do them myself. The cost was fairly decent and I figured it was the best way of ensuring a good clean surface for proper coating. As far as coatings go—I did chose to go with the Master Series line of coatings to include their sliver primer and their AG111 TractorKote kit. You will see the pictures below as silver is the first part I did. I started with a foam brush applying the primer to the control arms, but I don’t like the way that was looking. I decided to pay out some $$$ for a nice Sharpe FX3000 HVLP gun. I was able to buy it from the local NAPA and they just happened to be on sale so I got a really good price in comparison to some online markets. I also ordered the 1.8 tip for spraying the primer, but they got me the 1.0 on accident. I decided to use the 1.5 tip that came with my gun, and it worked really nice. NOW, “really nice” may be subjective as I’ve never sprayed paint from anything but a spray can before, but the pattern was really decent on a well contrasted background when I tested the gun initially. I really didn’t have to do much as the gun seemed to be spraying very nicely straight out of the box. Along with the gun I ended up buying some extra desiccant filters from Sharpe, another regulator mounted directly to the gun, and a small cup so I don’t have to use the large one for small jobs. The coating went on nicely, no runs in any of the parts, and I like how the spray can get into all the nooks of the parts without trouble. Needless to say, I feel this was a good investment for about $260 in total cost.



And here are the control arms, trailing arms, and front cross member all coated.











The heater is completely rebuilt with the core having been flushed and pressure tested. (I tried to blow all the crap out and flush it out with hot water—but I had no way of getting all the junk out of it..) I put a new blower motor in as the old one whined really bad—then re-sealed it with some of the rope caulk. I cleaned up each little sheetmetal screw and managed to NOT lose any along the way even after launching them across my garage with my bench grinder/wire wheel

































I also bought another toy this past Friday as I have recently been introduced to estate sales hunting. I picked up an old (but brand new) Enco 12-spd floor mount drill press. It runs perfect and had I gotten to the sale a little earlier, I would have had a whole mess of vices and pieces for the work table.. Oh well—I’ll catch those parts at another sale hopefully.

]

[hemifalcon]

Here's all the bolt on parts to the frame.. Planning on spraying the first coat of the TractorKote Black tomorrow..

[likaroc13]

very nice! that's looking really clean

[hemifalcon]

Originally Posted by likaroc13

very nice! that's looking really clean

Thanks for the compliment...

Here we go.. Everything that bolts to the chassis is now black.. The frame will be coming back to the house this week (weekend) and will be made black as well.. I had to order another of the Master Series AG111 kits, as I ran out of material just painting all the peripherals..

[Nobby]

It's been 13 days...Whats going on with the build

[hemifalcon]

Nobby...
I am sidetracked with reorganizing my garage.. I'm determined to get rid of the crappy plastic shelving.. I got some neat old metal shop cabinets today... Gonna get them up tomorrow and free up some floor area..

Here are the pictures of the cabinets I grabbed from a retired body-man in Beach Park, IL.. And the new concrete floor which will serve well for doubling the size of my mom's garage. It'll now be a full 30'x24' interior...

[hemifalcon]

Okay.. so, here's the finished version of my garage after my reorganizing project.. New (old) shop cabinets and my self-constructed pipe-framed bench with 1 1/2 Maple butcher block top. I moved a bunch of flack outta the the garage into my storage unit just to free some work space up. Now I just have to keep it clean.

Here is the before and after..











And, here is some fat-trimming I did on the Burb tonight. I drilled out over 100 spot welds on the drivers air box and took the main cowl suppot off. I had to do this to find all the cowl rot. Well, it's pretty significant, but I am pretty certain the old '65 truck cab will donate 90% of th enecessary parts.. So, here are some pics.. Rust-Surgery maybe starting this next week.. I have some other non-project car things to deal with $$-wise..I'm glad I got to practice removing these same parts from the old truck cab--made it easier for sure..















"sorry for the crappy phone pics.."

[Captainfab]

Your garage looks good. Those cabinets cleaned up real nice. I never would have thought of using steel pipe and fittings to build a bench frame, very ingenious.

Yeah, that is a lot of spot welds in removing the cowl pieces. I don't think I have ever seen one with it mostly removed. Seeing that makes me wonder what customizing could be done there.....hhmmmmm.

[hemifalcon]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

Your garage looks good. Those cabinets cleaned up real nice. I never would have thought of using steel pipe and fittings to build a bench frame, very ingenious.

Yeah, that is a lot of spot welds in removing the cowl pieces. I don't think I have ever seen one with it mostly removed. Seeing that makes me wonder what customizing could be done there.....hhmmmmm.

"Ingenious" I think would be better reserved for the plan had it stopped at the cash register. I won't disclose how much all that pipe, elbows, and couplers cost.. But, it was expensive.. But--the one part of it--is the bench is infinitely adjustable in height, width and length by swapping out pipes.. So, it's kind of cool in that regard..

Captain--there wil likely be no customizing here--but I may pull off the other air box although there is no rot on the passenger side. I am thinking of welding the seams completely together on both sides to elminate water getting in there again in the future. But, as far as customizing--I like the no-rust way of customizing.. I'll take photos as I go..

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

I don't think I have ever seen one with it mostly removed. Seeing that makes me wonder what customizing could be done there.....hhmmmmm.

I thought the same thing when I saw the fresh air cowl off and the vent right there. The 72 Lemans have a really cool little mesh vent port in about that location too... probably would look pretty cool on the sides of these rigs as well and delete the top loading fresh air all together.

[hemifalcon]

Hmmmmm.. Like old crotch coolers found on the early trucks???
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