Mike's 60 Suburban build

[mikesacs]

Well, life has just been moving fast lately. I do intend to start working more on the burb. I have been driving it alot and I love it! I did replace the front end with an Aulburn and 3:73 gears to match the back. It was a Dana 44. I must say the after doing the Dana 44, the 14 bolt GM rear end was childs play!

I just swappwd out the quald headlights for 9007 style bulbs and plan do do the upgraded relay type harness soon.

[mikesacs]

I just installed a new set of headlights with the 9007 bases. These are the ones LMC sells along with a relay harness. I ended up doing a lot of modification with the harness to make it work. It is installed backwards with the wiring routing through the passengers side of the radiator support. I did this to keep the power leads as short as possible. They are connected directly to the alternator. The light output is extremely better than stock. I still need to work on the aiming. I followed some instruction to adjust both high and low pattern about 3" lower at 25'. I did this for both high and low, as the instructions said. But, when I try them on the road both patters are about in the same place. Which I guess they should be since that is how I aimed them! I moved the high beam lights up some and that helps, but I still feel like I'm missing good instructions for quad headlights.

[mikesacs]

Another pic.

[McMurphy]

Did you ever get your rubber floor mat to relax?
I know Markb has one like that, and I think he provided some tips and tricks for getting his to conform and lay right....

[63suburban]

nice work, thanks for sharing.
does the floor mat fit the passenger side of the floor well?
I noticed how the sub floor is slightly different than the trucks. if you got any pics of the back and passenger side that would be nice to see.

[mikesacs]

Originally Posted by 63suburban

nice work, thanks for sharing.
does the floor mat fit the passenger side of the floor well?
I noticed how the sub floor is slightly different than the trucks. if you got any pics of the back and passenger side that would be nice to see.

Here are a few pics of the floor. Passenger side front and the other two are with the passenger seat tipped forward to show the rear.

[McMurphy]

I cannot help but wonder if heating it with the gun, then rapidly cooling it with rags soaked in ice water would not reprogram the material memory.

I guess if I were in your situation, that is what I would try next.

[mikesacs]

I installed some gas struts for my rear hatch. I thought this would be a quick and easy job, but like most things it took me 5 times longer than I thought. I planned to drill the rivets out of the original supports and bolt a ball stud in their place. I soon found out that there is not enough room to fit the ball and strut between the hatch and the body. Thus I extended the strut to fit forward of the hatch. It took several attempt to make brackets that worked well. I ended up using 14 gauge stainless and struts that are 10.5" closed and 18" open with 48 pound force.

[mikesacs]

Here are a few more pics of the hatch lifters. All parts are bolt on using the original mounting holes. The struts even help hold the hatch shut since they need a slight compression for the first 2 inches of opening.

[piratexpress1369a]

they look great ,nice job

[mikesacs]

I started working on a pair of sliding window latches. All the bending and welding is done. Next will be to drill the hole for the bolt/pin, test fit, and then do some polishing.

[mikesacs]

I've been working on the window latches. I tried a test fit and one side worked well and the other side didn't. The catch for the latch is too far back. Either the front window/catch needs to move forward or the the sliding window needs to slide more to the rear. The work goes on!

[Nobby]

Great job man! P.s. you wouldn't wanna sell the pattern for them brackets huh? Lol

[mikesacs]

Originally Posted by Nobby

Great job man! P.s. you wouldn't wanna sell the pattern for them brackets huh? Lol

I think I still can make them better. I'll do some improvements and try another set. I don't really have a pattern, I'm just winging it as I go.

[Modges'66]

Nice work!
On my gage cluster I added a couple of plugs from Radio Shack, so that I can un-plug it completely and remove it from the vehicle entirely.
I have had it out more times than I can count in order to work on other things. Besides, I wouldn't want to risk scratching the paint on my dash by setting it up there.

[mikesacs]

While doing the wiring, I pulled out my seats and added dual seat heaters by Rostra. They work great. I had been debating how to get the truck warmer in the winter. I have the hottest thermostats I can get it it barely does the job. I thought about a 12 volt electric heater, but they seem to all be very weak. I also thought about a rear heater core and fan, but finally went with the electric seats. My wife's car has them and I really like them. They heat up nearly instantly and the surrounding vehicle temperature can be a lot lower once you are warm and it's still very comfortable.

[piratexpress1369a]

heated seats are great

[mikesacs]

Did a few more projects on the burb this weekend. I added Newport engineering wiper motor that has delay and 2 speeds. It was finally time to do that! A single speed is pathetic and I had a wiper transmission break. Installed a new set of linkage at the same time.

I also finished an idea I had a long time ago. I love the cable operated vents that the truck had, but didn't like that I couldn't reach the passenger's vent knob to open or close it. I had occasional remote operation by telling the wife to do it! I installed the vintage air under dash vents and that removed the knob mount location. I bought a new throttle cable, the type with the dash knob and long cable that match the truck. Installed it in an extra dash hole to the left of the key and connected the cable to the passenger vent. Works slick!

[mikesacs]

I had some bad luck a few weeks ago. A box truck rear ended a pickup that was tossed into oncoming traffic. I was the oncoming traffic. The burb was sideswiped with damage to the bumper, hood, locking hub, door, rear panel, rear tire, rear rim, and the running boards. Luckily the guy had insurance and I just settled with the insurance company for $3700. I think that should pay for a complete paint job if I do all the labor. The bulk of the parts have been ordered. As soon as those come in and I finish a woodworking project that is taking up my shop, the fun begins!. I'll need to keep the truck together for most of the time in case I need to drive it and am thinking about taking a week off work near the end when the painting starts.

I've had some body work experience in high school and a little since then. I plan on replacing the door skin, that will be a first for me.

This is probably the push I needed to get this done.

Another lucky point was that he didn't get my rear bumper, those are hard to find!

[mikesacs]

I'm deep into the metal work on the burb now. Nearly everything is stripped and I've replaced 33 sections of metal. 2 more sections to replace that I know of now. I hope to start building a collapsible paint booth this weekend.

[mikesacs]

Nearly finished with the metal work. I have one fresh air intake to replace that I didn't know was rusted out until I removed the paint. 95% finished stripping the inside. Color matched the silver for the interior and the charcoal for the dash at the paint shop. Picked the white for the top and I already have the olive color for the bottom. Started painting a rust converter on the pitted metal. That's the black you see in the photo. I also made the stud walls for the paint booth. Waiting on the plastic to come in to finish that.

[Modges'66]

Man! Looking really good!...Now is when the real work begins! A good paint-job is easy when EVERYTHING is prepped correctly/perfectly!!!

[mikesacs]

Tried some rust prevention ideas on the new front fender. I cut a copper tab to fit under the support. It is sloped to divert the dirt entering from the top. Seam sealer was used to fill the gap at the front edge of the support that faces the tire. I left the two weep holes at the bottom of the support open. Then coated everything with 3M undercoating.

[gostranger]

nice work!
I drilled a hole at the very bottom under the lowest mounting bolt to let any water or dirt drain out and keep it from rusting out

[mikesacs]

I've been sanding a lot lately!