1970 GMC Suburban... for the family

[jbclassix]

Well I'm out of panels to weld up until I find a passenger door, or something else to weld in. I am getting some pieces from sharpie, but I can't really move on to that yet. I didn't metal finish any of the welds because I didn't want to wake up the kids! So tomorrow I will hammer and grind. I'm glad I started here because my welds still aren't up to par for what I want to be able to do for visible panels. I checked over everything and don't see any distorting, but only time will tell! One of the trim holes off the 72 door lined up right where I had cut the Suburban piece for the weld seam. I decided to leave it rather than fill it.



This is my boo-boo so far. I cut through the window rest not even thinking. Of course the front door needs to be shaped into match recess. I am fairly certain it wont be too much to weld the rest back together.

[jbclassix]

Got this piece cut out and shaped for the latch mechanism.



The front of the rear doors are quite different from the front of the front doors.




This shows how I will have to modify the curve for the front of the B pillar



I am starting to make a hinge panel. The hinge mounts need to come together 1.5". I made a template off the top hinge mount and transfered the pattern to the lower hinge mount for the door stop hole.




There is also a "taper" to the front door that will need to get straightened. I plan on using the hinge panel and the support and grafting it onto the door shell.




Chopped and tacked



I'm trying to keep the inner support as in tact as possible.

[Dieselwrencher]

Great work. I don't like watching this part of your build because it gives me bad ideas! And congrats again on your son. He's a cutie. My daughter just turned 3 months old today.

[jbclassix]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Great work. I don't like watching this part of your build because it gives me bad ideas! And congrats again on your son. He's a cutie. My daughter just turned 3 months old today.

No idea is a bad idea, just a more frustrating idea! Happy 3 month birthday to your daughter! Have you got the 12 hours of sleep a night yet?

[Dieselwrencher]

Originally Posted by jbclassix

No idea is a bad idea, just a more frustrating idea! Happy 3 month birthday to your daughter! Have you got the 12 hours of sleep a night yet?

Thanks! Nope, shoot I was lucky to see 5-7 before she was born. It's my wife that was the 8-11hr sleeper and now she's hating it! And, yes it is a bad idea because that is one more darn project.

[jbclassix]

Metal finishing! I am getting REAL tempted to just leave the welds under the door panel alone and not grind them! If I ever do this again, I am changing my cut-n-splice locations! The joint that runs down the rear lip where the door panel sits is DRIVING ME CRAZY!!! I got a little too much heat and there are a few tiny waves that are very hard to get too. I may just end up templating a perfect spot and making a dolly just for that raised section!

[jbclassix]

Finally, something! I did a little trading this and trading that and ended up with this! Today was my day off, so I loaded the family up and we headed up to cut out the B-pillar for the 4th door. It is real nice that my wife wants to be involved in this project. I'm hoping to have it trimmed, fit, and tacked tomorrow!

[jbclassix]

Cut off the inner B-pillar



Trimmed the B-pillar using the drip rail as a guide. Pie cut the weather strip lip to pull the upper portion in since the rear door is not vertical.



The upper ledge I trimmed, and ended up re-bending to fit the C-pillar (this was not the final fit)



The lower ledge was just trim to fit



I'm gonna add the rest of the C-pillar before anything gets tacked.



This is a question for the experienced body guys following this build. Should I bend the quarter panel around the C-pillar and spot-weld it in place or should I trim the quarter back and corner weld the skins together? I don't know if I left enough to bend the quarter skin and have it look good.

[y5mgisi]

Always wanted to do this! Now, Not so much! lol. Great job on everything so far!

[PHAT TONY]

I'd weld the corner; can't imagine being able to get a nice uniform 90 deg bend on the quarter nice enough to meet a door edge and make a decent gap.

[jbclassix]

Originally Posted by PHAT TONY

I'd weld the corner; can't imagine being able to get a nice uniform 90 deg bend on the quarter nice enough to meet a door edge and make a decent gap.

I guess I should add that there is about one inch of the rear of the cab still attached, so I could also butt-weld that, but the alignment isn't perfect... would it be a good idea to do the but weld then cut the spot welds and align the panel? You should be able to see how much is left in one of my previous posts. I cut the cab right in front of the fuel neck grommet.

[PHAT TONY]

It'd be ideal to hang the door, tack the quarter to the new metal, drill the spot welds, align everybody at the same time then start stitching it all up....that's alot of balls to put in the air at once, but then you know it all fits as you want it to.

[jbclassix]

Got the passenger door I needed! This gives me everything I need to finish the left rear door! I decided I am going to build the B-pillar, build the door, then finish the C-pillar. That way I am not cutting it back off later. The B-pillar is probably going to be the most difficult part to squeeze into my budget. I don't have a break so having someone do my bends might get pricey. I'm going to get the rest of the door frame from the same cab I got my C-pillar piece from. I am thinking I can use the section of the passenger door around the vent window for the section around the small window... I sold the original panel because I intended to use a door skin like Rokcrln did, so I don't have this piece.



The extra truck left door will get restored later and stored for my brothers truck.

For those wondering when I am supposed to be moving to CA, I am too! The company does not have a start date for their contract yet, so I am holding onto my mining job for now.

[pickup67man]

Sounds like you are just collecting more junk for the move.
Thats why I can't move.

[jbclassix]

Made a little progress on the burb door while the kiddos were napping today.

I had hacked off the window frames of the two truck doors. you may be able to see that the grey one is cut in 3 parts already



Here you can see that I hammered the screw holes for the wing windows flat. I will weld up the holes since this will now be the top of the window frame



I Started with the grey door for the upper front corner of the window frame. I cut frame at the upper edge, and then trimmed both sides at 45deg to get the 90 needed



This is the front of the Right Rear Suburban door.



This is the rear of the right pick-up door, which will be the front of the Left Rear Suburban door.

[67chevy1series]

looks good! keep it up!

[jbclassix]

Thanks Rick! Glad to see you following along!

[67chevy1series]

oh i always am! love this build!

[pickup67man]

I built my window frame before I had the door fitted to the suburban. Once I had the door jamb fit closer I found I was close (the gaps were not gaps but contact points) and had to adjust the size of the window frame. My final fit isn't done yet so I haven't finish welded the corners of the frame and the frame isn't welded to the door yet.
Just trying to save you some cutting wheels to undo some welds.

[jbclassix]

yeah, i plan on making a mirror of the right, but for now I am just working on pieces. That is a great piece of advice. Also I just thought that I should make sure the inside of the window channel is the right shape since this used to hold the wing window seal!

[67chevy1series]

yes tweak everything how you nee it before you tack it! well maybe it will be a little tighter and seal better with it being for the wing window seal?

[Dieselwrencher]

Great work. I really want to do one of these soon. Um, yeah, ok some day when all other projects are done. Is that possible?

[jbclassix]

Tonight I worked on the rear of the window frame. My wife helped me work out the pattern (and let me use her cutting board ant cutters) for cutting the door. There's a strong possibility that I will get it cut tomorrow... maybe tacked

[jbclassix]

This is how I am getting the corners for my window frames. Sorry for the slow, uninteresting posts...

[y5mgisi]

I really cant wait to see this thing done. Its impressive how much work it is just getting one extra door!