Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

Doug-

So if I followed along correctly you just cut the wood floor outside of the flange then went back later and removed the bolts and remaining wood that was left under the flange? Looking good.

Yard work got handled. I strong armed my 7 and 10 yr old boys into helping..
I also made some progress on the burb.

I like the progress your making..

Marc

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

Marc-

Glad you got your yard work done! When our kids were still at home it was almost more work to get them to help than to just do it. And I get a lot of help with it today. Wife typically mows and I handle the mower maintenance.

Yes that is exactly what I did and if I had to do it over again, I would remove the cross sill's used for the number 3 and 4 body mounts before cutting the wood. The cross sills bolt in and cutting / grinding the heads off would probably be a good alternative to unbolting them.

When I dropped the floor down I "discovered" (because I didn't pay enough attention at first) the cross sills were too wide to fit through the bottom as the sides curved in. Usually I take a lot of time, would unbolt the cross sills and make use of them again. I had a mess I caused with the floor hung up on the body sides so I sawzalled my way out of it.

Not much I dislike less than a carriage head bolt in wood that is slightly rusty. After the fifth one tightened up and spun, I took the alternative course to cut along the edge. That did make it easier to grind the nuts off the carriage bolts around the perimeter. The one or two inches of wood material remaining didn't want to release from the flange as there was a sealer applied.

I could have taken more time and done a cleaner job ....it was a bit messy though it is out.

Appreciate the comments about the progress. Typically my progress moves at a glacial pace as I travel a lot for my job. We've been putting in a lot of hours on the week ends making up for the 10 years this Burb languished in the back. And I have wanted one of these for a long time!

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

Hey 99 that looks real good!

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

48' thanks man. I'm rooting for ya on this build. Its crazy how you can't imagine being in certain states of your life, then they come. Its all a journey and you will be driving her soon. When I built my 51' I had zero mechanical skills, well could change my own oil!!! Huge transition in my life, now almost 5 years later I'm stacked to the brim with projects.

Nothing more satisfying than building your own ride, its nice to have forums like these to post your progress and give and take great information from.

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

you found out like I did the floor is a ***** to get out any way you look at it.
You did better then I did getting it out in one big section.
I ended up using a hole saw above all the bolt heads....lifted it and cut it in two with a sawzall.
Then went back and cut the bolt heads where I could get leverage on them.
All the more reason I am going above the side strips that hold it down.

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

Thanks 99. My plan, when we started in April, is to swap the body to the new chassis, install powertrain then hit the pause button while we finish up the 35. Really want this one on the road so will see. It is very good to share ideas and kick them around....especially since I am winging this part of the build.

Iceburgh, you went midieval on yours too. Cool. You told me they were a ***** and you were right. Here is a Burb with the wood on top of the flange and it looks good. http://www.tricktrucknrod.com/hh/Pro...?productId=282

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

Ever have one of those days in the shop where things just don't flow? Yep, that was today. Had goals for the day and didn't really get to the starting point. And that is way OK as I enjoy about any day in the shop.....mower surging, diagnose fuel solenoid, ordered, get home Friday night, wrong part came in.
Power goes out today and that really stopped progress, found some rust...still a great day.

Cleaning under the body flange came across said rust. Patched that. Then patched some more...thought I had gone big enough.

One interesting item I learned today while using the Cleco's to hold the small patches for sanding, the heat doesn't transfer to the center pin of the Cleco.

The pieces for the floor were fabricated this week and they made it to the shop. Still in the back of the truck though.

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

Any progress is good progress.

Marc

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

the floor sills look sweet. I feel you on those ironic days. Today I sliced my finger twice, big blood blister and a huge slice on my leg, one grinder died and the typical "where is it" screaming....ya know all you tools play hide and seek.
all those days, hard work and time, money, stress goes out the window when the project is done and your pounding the pavement.

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

Patch looks good and so do the braces...Jim

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

Well said 99...we really slammed it one year to get the black '48 truck on the road for the Frog Follies in Evansville. Worked until it hurt, took asprin and stayed at it. Left with 20 miles on the truck. About the time the soap bubbles (from putting in the new glass) appeared it was all worth it.

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

Thanks Marc, Thanks Jim...at least I didn't slice myself like 99 did.

The body cart is great and makes it convenient for doing work on the body. It isn't providing us the information we need to build around the rear differential and especially the air bag mounts. So we dropped the body on the new chassis this afternoon. Had planned a "box" in the flat floor for the top of the differential for when the truck "airs out".

A flat floor may be a little too tight for the air bag fitting at the top of the mount. May have to do a bit of a kick up in the floor. Have to run a string / straight edge across the flange then stare at it a bit.

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

luuuuv that last photo, and the lighting in your shop, sweet. moving right along

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

AD-

No fair....all of that shop space and a hoist....I'm really glad I picked myself last to finish now..I feel you on the rear floor. I really want to run all 3 seats in some form or fashion but I'm quite a ways from figuring that out. I'm still waiting on an ETA and pricing for my Porterbuilt set up.

Looking good.

Marc

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

AD, sweet looking shop, body on frame looks great...Jim

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

Thanks Guys, we are pretty fortunate on the shop. And we planned, budgeted, worked hard to have a nice shop. We did it a little at a time over 30 years...cause with my humble skills I need all the help I can get. I remember a build thread couple years ago where a guy was building a 67 to 72 Suburban in a gravel driveway. He wanted that Suburban so bad and I was so impressed / humbled with his determination. So as everyone knows what really makes the difference on a build is the effort, skill and determination of the builder.

Marc - I've followed PB's development of the AD drop member and look forward to seeing the install in your truck. And I will take pictures of the rear floor fabrication on our Suburban. Hopefully can get a good start on it next week end.

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

Thanks AD, me too. I look forward to seeing your rear floor fab.

Marc

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

Here is where the floor fabrication was on Saturday morning. A clean slate.

Decided we wanted the extra 1 7/8" on each side for tire clearance, so wife and I removed the wheel tubs on Friday night.

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

Here is the direction we are going for the floor fabrication. Can't recommend this approach for anyone else as it is unproven. Will probably be more stable than a wood floor though.

We are installing the cross channel pieces up under the original perimeter floor flange and plug welding through the flange.

Under we fabricated some support brackets with four 5/16 holes on each surface for plug welding.

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

The support bracket for the second cross channel piece fell right on top of the fuel fill. Since we will be using a rear mount tank I filled the hole. Wife made the pattern and as usual it was near on perfect.

The Cleco was really handy as I remember many times when I would lose a patch like this down the back side.

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

My Son in Law showed up to help out and we really made good progress with the fabrication.

He is a good welder and more nimble than I am so the second cross channel was quickly installed. The first picture the channel isn't boxed in yet.

He hit them with some weld through primer, drilled all the holes in the boxing plate 3" apart, welded them in and ground the welds smooth while I thoughtfully stared at the body mount under the third cross channel.

The 16 gauge thickness of the top boxing plate makes for a flat surface with the top of the original body flange.

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

Fabricated body mounts for each side from some 2" wide steel stock inside and on the bottom of the cross channel piece, plug welded the flat steel pieces to the cross channel after locating the body mount hole in the cross channel piece. Maybe should have gone the full width with the flat steel.

After the pieces were welded together we drilled a 3/4 hole through them for the anti crush pipe installation. The 3/4 " pipe runs from the bottom of the body mount to under the cross channel top plate. Of course this keeps the body bolt from crushing into the floor.

Used a piece of 2" box steel for the drop (replacing the wood 2x4 that was there when I cut the wood floor out), then plated the bottom of the 2" box with some 0.250" flat with a hole of course for the body bolt. Left enough space for a rubber truck mud flap body mount.

Doing all the measuring, cutting, accurate drilling (ok mostly accurate) takes some time and everything lined up when we were done.

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

Boxed in the third cross channel piece, actually correctly located the hole in the top plate for the pipe, drilled the holes 3" apart and welded in the top plate.

Here is where we ended on Sunday night. Ran out of steam about 5:30 and called it good. Doesn't look like a lot of progress and it really is the result of about 20 hours hard labor.

Next up will be lifting the body from the frame to install the rear most cross channel piece as it won't clear any other way. Have to build those body mounts too.

Then on to the fabrication over the bag mounts, rear end and wheel tubs. Have it pictured in the "mind" cad cam and believe it will work out.

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

very nice work, its easy for others to think this or that won't take long. To do it yourself, do it right and or do it with any type of skill adds up on the clock no doubt. I'v kept track of all my hours on my current build for that reason. The hard work will pay off.

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

Ad-

Looks good. One question I have is how did you suppor the body while making the mody mounts? Did you use the hoist to support the body as you removed the original mounts?

Marc

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

Thanks guys.

Marc, the body is supported on the first, second and fifth body mount on the frame. Hope it didn't sag!

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

Posting late today, damn nice work AD, 99 is correct on hours they just keep adding up...Jim

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

Thanks Jim, trying to do it right. Have learned a lot over the years and still have tons to learn.

Marc, I will string the body flange to check for sag this coming week end. If there is any I will correct before welding in the floor. And we will know the support on the first, second and fifth mounts wasn't enough for when you get to yours.

99 to life, I took a quick stop by the welding and manufacturing business that has provided the steel for the floor and took these pic's for you. Really busy place in a town of about 400 people. The press brake is massive! Apologies for the quality.

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

I just love those pics. I really dig old and new machinery that makes all this fabbing possible. I was just thinking this weekend how nice it would be to have a huge sheet metal sheer. My oh My its cool to see small business like that still around.

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

Marc - Used a string front to back along body flange on both sides and there was no body sag.

Wife made a pattern for the flat floor section from wrapping paper as this section widens from front to back. The paper was lined in a grid pattern on the back so that was useful for cutting to size.

Transferred the pattern to the sheet for trimming to fit then completed the lay out for the plug welding holes.....again 1/2" from the edge spaced 3" apart.

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

Drilled a large number of holes and before welding this front section in place we used bottle jacks to bring the three cross channels up to flat. Like the front floor these too were dipping in the middle.

Did end up using self tapping screws in every other hole on one of the rows to bring the cross member and the floor together.

Son-in law made quick work of the job.

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

Fabricated the fourth cross channel piece the same as the third, made the mounts, welded in the anti crush pipe, hit the channel with weld primer, and welded the top plate on.

Wife made a pattern for the rear section, we cut it out and have it in place for marking for layout tomorrow.

Really good day with our Daughter, her Husband and the Grandkids here.

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

AD...what is your rear out of?

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

The rear is a new housing and came with the chassis. Believe it came from Johns 9 inch factory.

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

looking real good, thats real cool you can spend time with the fam and work on something so cool.

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

AD, super nice job, looking great...Jim

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

Thanks 99 and Jim. Always appreciate your words.

And 99 it was awesome when the entire family was in the shop, having fun. Oldest Grandson (7) was digging by the front walk to the shop and turned up a 45 cal shell casing, a set of ignition points and a glass screw in fuse. He was having a great time finding "treasure".

Iceburgh - What oil pan are you running? Once wife and I wrap up this floor we are moving to that end of the vehicle. Thanks.

Today we did more trimming / fitting on the rear section piece, completed lay out, drilled and plug welded in.

Started on the section above the rear and hope to have something worthwhile to show next weekend.

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

I have the truck pan on...it is about "1/2 below the cross member so I might change it.
But they are salty so I will wait and see.
My pan is 3" off the ground....it will be close

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

Great progress AD....
You and Iceburg are doing your part. I'm slacking on mine. No really progress to report, on my end but I really like where you are going with yours.


Marc

Re: 48 Burb, bagged, 5.3, 20 year wait
 

progress on the floor looks really good. reminds me off when we did my burban.