1953 Suburban with Buick V6 Power

[Dburger]

I got this truck for free almost 2 years ago. It had no engine or transmission, but previously was V8 powered as evidenced by some pretty bad mounts that were in it and some other relocated items. There is a good amount of rust, but it's savable. I decided to let my spare GM V8's sit a while longer and drop a 231 V6/THM200 out of our old 1978 Buick Skylark in.





This truck was the honorary guinea pig for testing bucket seats


With the front bumper and apron on


Terrible mounts:


Front clip removal for drivetrain installation:


Drivetrain dropped in, nothing hooked up:



Next step is to take the engine and transmission back out to make a few cuts, then put it back in with the intent to actually start. Also open to adding a turbo, but that's a long way away. Got to patch the floor and rust below the rear doors.

[Iceburgh]

Good on you for doing something different.
Not sure what kind of HP that motor makes, and these things are not light.
Safe to say that you wont be going to the 1320 anytime soon.

[Advanced Design]

It is good to see another Burb going together.

[Dburger]

Originally Posted by Iceburgh

Good on you for doing something different.
Not sure what kind of HP that motor makes, and these things are not light.
Safe to say that you wont be going to the 1320 anytime soon.

Thanks! These engines make about 125 horsepower or so, but I think I can manage until I add boost. I've got a mild 350 in my '72 Chevy a 383 stroker engine I could use in another vehicle if I wanted to go drag racing. Might put my long unused 200-4R overdrive trans with this V6.

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

It is good to see another Burb going together.

Thank you. I'll have to make some threads for my '58 Suburban and '59 truck.

[Dburger]

Almost a year later I have the Buick engine almost ready to start. It has a radiator from a 1948 Plymouth Special Deluxe like mine, and I have a Jeep transmission cooler that I'll be hooking up and then we should be good to go.

However, the previous owner of this truck really did some crazy stuff to it. The rear end isn't quite square and the u bolts are too short. Chevy 12 bolt rear end with a half Pontiac, half Chevy driveshaft that I made.
dslr51 026 by FordTorino73, on Flickr
dslr51 029 by FordTorino73, on Flickr
dslr51 032 by FordTorino73, on Flickr

Put in some brake lines and now it stops:
dslr58 002 by FordTorino73, on Flickr
dslr58 006 by FordTorino73, on Flickr

Also put in the rather sketchy master cylinder that the previous owner had in it just for yard driving purposes:
dslr57 063 by FordTorino73, on Flickr
Untitled by FordTorino73, on Flickr
dslr61 274 by FordTorino73, on Flickr

1978 Buick 3.8 V6 and 1948 Plymouth radiator:
DSC_0006 by FordTorino73, on Flickr
DSC_0009 by FordTorino73, on Flickr
DSC_0011 by FordTorino73, on Flickr

Also started shooting some clear onto the "patina"
DSC_0029 by FordTorino73, on Flickr
DSC_0032 by FordTorino73, on Flickr

Cranked when I touched a wire to the positive terminal, but I still need to hook up that trans cooler and actually put an ignition switch in.

Because Roadkill

[RockinKees]

Nice project!

A bit of an unusual engine choice but it fits nice in there

What are your further plans with it?

[iowaboynca]

Maybe find the supercharger that GM was throwing on 3.8s in the mid 90s...

not sure if intake is the same, but heaven forbid if GM ever changed anything that worked...that would make a nice little sleeper with a little work.

[youngrodder]

Pretty cool project...
I might be partial.

Marc