The Family Truckster- 66 Suburban Build

[Jferrante]

looks great not to far from you either. We dont get many 60-66 popping up on CL that are worth looking at, nice score

[Bennett68C10]

Originally Posted by Jferrante

looks great not to far from you either. We dont get many 60-66 popping up on CL that are worth looking at, nice score

Yeah I was pretty shocked when I cam across it locally, once I looked at it I knew I had to have it.

[Bennett68C10]

Haven’t updated in a while but I have been busy the last couple of weekends working on the Burb. Got the rear suspension all buttoned up. I added some Ridetech HQ shocks and changed direction on the rear brakes. I initially was going with the Captain Fab brackets and some Wilwood D52 calipers but I decided that I really should run a emergency brake so I sent the Wilwood calipers back and picked up a Wilwood Dynalite Rear Disc Conversion Kit with the internal parking brake. This kit also makes it easier to get the rear wheels on and off as the caliper mounts in the middle of the rotor instead of towards the top like the D52’s did. I’ll be listing the captain fab brackets and rotors in the for sale section. I also made a decision to not run the rear wheels with a spacer or adapter so I called up Travis at Pro Performance and ordered 2 new custom built polished TTII’s with the exact backspacing I needed. This was really the best option I had! I really like the way the TTII’s look on my burb and didn’t want to spend a ton of money at this time on a expensive set of billets that would only look marginally better! Just waiting for the wheels to show up now.

I also picked up a rear seat for the Burb from member richard2717. It’s a pretty nice seat out of a squarebody K5. It’s got the right brackets to easily mount it to the burb rear floor. It’ll eventually get recovered along with the original front seat.

[Jferrante]

nice! sent you a message on the rear discs

[Captainfab]

FYI to have an e-brake with the D52 brackets all you need are the '76-'78 Eldorado calipers.

[mongocanfly]

WOW...what a improvement a elevation change and wheels makes....looks great

[Bennett68C10]

Originally Posted by Jferrante

nice! sent you a message on the rear discs

Thanks, I'll send you over the info you need.

Originally Posted by Captainfab

FYI to have an e-brake with the D52 brackets all you need are the '76-'78 Eldorado calipers.

No big deal, I already knew that but they are hard to find without having to buy new ones and I prefer the internal parking brake that Wilwood has better.

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

WOW...what a improvement a elevation change and wheels makes....looks great

Thanks, its crazy the difference in how it looks now.

[The Rocknrod]

Originally Posted by Bennett68C10

...
No big deal, I already knew that but they are hard to find without having to buy new ones and I prefer the internal parking brake that Wilwood has better.
...

Do you have a picture of the new rear calipers now?

[Bennett68C10]

Originally Posted by The Rocknrod

Do you have a picture of the new rear calipers now?

Forgot to take one with the wheel off but this gives you an idea!

[The Rocknrod]

Interested in the parking brake info - Which Kit did you buy?

[Bennett68C10]

Originally Posted by The Rocknrod

Interested in the parking brake info - Which Kit did you buy?

Here is the kit I have. You can run it with 15” steelies which is a nice option. I plan on running a 15” steel wheel for my spare so it works out nicely for me. The internal parking brake is similar to what they run on Corvettes.

http://www.wilwood.com/BrakeKits/Bra...%2c+5+Lug+only

[Vic1947]

Just keeps looking better and better, Keith. Reckon it stops a lot better now too.

[Bennett68C10]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Just keeps looking better and better, Keith. Reckon it stops a lot better now too.

Thanks Vic, hopefully it stops better than the 4 wheel drum manual brakes it had before

[olrosa]

Great looking rig!

[Bennett68C10]

Originally Posted by olrosa

Great looking rig!

Thanks Seth, can't wait to see how yours turns out after the suspension overhaul.

[shearjs]

Looking good! What's next on the list? Almost time for a test drive?

[Bennett68C10]

Originally Posted by shearjs

Looking good! What's next on the list? Almost time for a test drive?

No test drive until the LS is in and running. I pulled the front clip off on Sunday in preparation for the LS swap. I need to pull that old greasy straight 6 out so I can clean and paint the frame rails and front suspension before stuffing the LS in. The 4L80e has been dropped off to be rebuilt as well.

[Bennett68C10]

Current pic of how the Burb looks. Still have to pull the steering shaft so I can get the driver side inner fender out of the way. Ran out of gas on Sunday and didn’t finish it

[Bennett68C10]

Oh and these showed up today! Really like the way they look and the extra backspacing makes for a nice looking lip! Went with a 20x10 with 4.5” BS, going to trim the fender lip about a half inch to give me some clearance on the outside of the wheel well. Definitely won’t rub on the inside anymore!

[shearjs]

Oh yea! What are the specs on the LS you're throwing in? I can't recall what all you had planned for your truck. I really need to chase this lead on a 6.0/4l80e that I have before it gets away. Those wheels look great!

[aggie91]

Originally Posted by Bennett68C10

Current pic of how the Burb looks. Still have to pull the steering shaft so I can get the driver side inner fender out of the way. Ran out of gas on Sunday and didn’t finish it

You should not need to pull the steering shaft to remove the inner fender panel. There is a small panel bolted to the inner fender where the shaft goes thru the panel. That small on can be in-bolted and removed, it leaves an opening in the rear edge of the inner panel and can then be removed from the truck with the column and shaft in place.

The blue arrow in the picture shows the slot left from removing the smaller panel that covers the steering shaft as it passes thru the panel.

[Bennett68C10]

Originally Posted by shearjs

Oh yea! What are the specs on the LS you're throwing in? I can't recall what all you had planned for your truck. I really need to chase this lead on a 6.0/4l80e that I have before it gets away. Those wheels look great!

The motor is a stock LQ9 that currently has a Tick Motorsport SNS Torquemax Stage 2 LS2 cam in it with .660 lift BTR double springs and titanium retainers, hardened pushrods and BTR roller trunion upgrade. Also running a LS6 intake and ported throttle body! Thinking about going to a little milder cam as this one was purchased for a lighter 68 Shortbed and not the family truckster and requires at least a 3600 converter.

Originally Posted by aggie91

You should not need to pull the steering shaft to remove the inner fender panel. There is a small panel bolted to the inner fender where the shaft goes thru the panel. That small on can be in-bolted and removed, it leaves an opening in the rear edge of the inner panel and can then be removed from the truck with the column and shaft in place.

The blue arrow in the picture shows the slot left from removing the smaller panel that covers the steering shaft as it passes thru the panel.

Boy now I feel like an idiot, shows it’s my first time working on a 60-66 and how tired I was on Sunday. Can’t believe I didn’t realize that! I even looked at it and told myself that it should be able to be unbolted! Oh well the shaft has to come out anyways but would be easier with the inner fender out of the way!

[aggie91]

Originally Posted by Bennett68C10

...
Boy now I feel like an idiot, shows it’s my first time working on a 60-66 and how tired I was on Sunday. Can’t believe I didn’t realize that! I even looked at it and told myself that it should be able to be unbolted! Oh well the shaft has to come out anyways but would be easier with the inner fender out of the way!

Did not intend to make you feel like an idiot, not my intention, Being tired you can miss stuff and make your work harder, hopefully it I did save you some work and ease your frustration level...I have been building the 60-66 trucks since I was 16, so I know a think or two because I have seen a thing or two...

[shearjs]

Originally Posted by Bennett68C10

The motor is a stock LQ9 that currently has a Tick Motorsport SNS Torquemax Stage 2 LS2 cam in it with .660 lift BTR double springs and titanium retainers, hardened pushrods and BTR roller trunion upgrade. Also running a LS6 intake and ported throttle body! Thinking about going to a little milder cam as this one was purchased for a lighter 68 Shortbed and not the family truckster and requires at least a 3600 converter.

Sounds like a runner! That's going to be fun! My GMC had similar specs to your LS and it would move! Can't wait to see it.

[Jferrante]

nice!