Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Looking forward to updates as well.

Marc or any of you other guys building Burbs.
If you need anything let me know.I have some ( not much) original items sitting around.
They will go on EBAY soon. If you need something I can check if I have it.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Iceburgh-

I'm pretty well set with original items. I'm still looking for a rear splash pan but I it not a must have at this point. I know you sold yours a while back.

Very cool gesture to give us first dips though.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks Mark..

The plans for the Burb will be quite a bit different than the truck. The finished product wont be as polished as the truck but It will get used more often with the whole family. More of an ultra low family cruiser.

Good to hear you have wrenching in your family as well. We have to keep this hobby going..

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Well I got some garage time this weekend. First over the past month or so I worked on adding a 80K BTU natural gas heater. This should make wrenching during the winter months more enjoyable. I included a picture of the diver side quarter panel that I patched using a lower driver side door patch. A picture of my seat riser. I had to restore the bottom edge and weld up some small holes. Then it was sand blasted and put in primer.

The last two pictures are just to prove that I still have my Suburban..ha ha ha

I heard that Porterbuilt is getting pretty close on the AD kits. The body is now ready to come off the frame. I'm concerned how I'm going to separate the two. I don't have a hoist. Anyone out there that can share a method that worked good for you would be appreciated. I'm guessing just get a bunch of strong friends to help lift it off.


Thanks
Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

I also spent some time making these stands. They work great for working under your truck an allowing it to remain at ride height.


Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

congrats on the heater and garage time. coming along nicely. the blocks are def a great thing to have, like and idiot I don't have mine made yet.

as for the burb body. I'd nail two long 2x4's together to make a nice sturdy plank. Lift the cab off the frame enough to slide the planks under so they stick out past the Running board brackets. You'd have to do one plank up front, maybe not back. Jack up cab so its off frame put jack stands under the planks, slide frame out. Kinda hard to explain but you can't just jack the cab up and brace it cause the RB brackets would hit the jacks, so you just gotta use the plank to get the jacks out past the RB brackets.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Marc, shop looks great, heater should keep you warm. Burb looks good...Jim

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Great gesture on the parts Iceburgh.

Great idea Reaper, appreciate the share.

Looking good Marc! A warm shop is a wonderful thing. Looking forward to updates!

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Keep up the progress Marc! Can't wait to see this thing on the road.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks Mike

I plan on separating the frame from the body within the next two weeks. I told Paul to eat his Wheaties when we get ready for the heavy lifting.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Spent some time Sunday and build a body cart. I will support the body with 4x 4's and cement blocks. Then the plan is to drop out the frame and slid in the cart to support the body.

The weather was in the 50's today which is very out of the norm for Michigan in the middle of December.....so I decided to take the 48 for a drive.

Thanks
Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Great picture of the pickup, looks mean!! Suburban is coming along nice

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Cart should work out great, truck looks super as always...Jim

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

here is what i did to get the body off by myself. i just kept jacking it up a few inches at a time till i could run some 4x4 out each side past the frame.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

a buddy with a lift always works out great
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...psinygtzal.jpg

drop it on your cart in about 30 minutes or less

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks Chizzler. I have a similar plan. I have some cement blocks and a couple of 4 x 4's to get the body high enough to slide the cart under. I really liked the idea of a cart with wheels so that I can move it around. Tomorrow night is the night. I have the jack stands on the ground and a couple buddy's are going to lend a hand. I will take some pics.

QUOTE=CHIZZLER;6961679]here is what i did to get the body off by myself. i just kept jacking it up a few inches at a time till i could run some 4x4 out each side past the frame.[/QUOTE]

Thats' cheating....I could have gone without seeing that pic...ha ha..

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

should be a good time. good luck

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Have fun Marc! Good looking cart you have.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks AD looking forward to this step.

Thanks Chizzler, I will take pictures of the divorce.

Reaper....Check!! I told my buds it should only take a bout 30 minutes and a case of beer to complete. I spent some time last night staging things to make it easier tonight.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Well after 61 years a divorce was inevitable. Good thing for us it wasn't and ugly one. It went really smooth. After screwing around with jacks for 30 minutes we decided to just lift the body off. This went great. We took our time and I had 4 friends over to help with the drinking oh I mean lifting.


Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

One of the body on the cart. The caster wheels that my cousin donated work great the big ol burb rolls around effortlessly...

I added an eyelet to each side of the cart and I plan to ratchet strap the body to the cart to keep everything where it should be.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Nice job Marc, hey your one buddy had his John Deere green on, should of had him bring a tractor with bucket to left in up:devil::uhmk:..Jim

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Jim..you are a thinker. He probably had one too. He left early to get to bed as he starts work at 4 am.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

awesome....every step you take puts a smile on your face. Now you will have plenty of work over the winter.
What is the plan for the frame?

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Great fun, I see a lot of smiling faces!
Good progress last night.

Are next steps the chassis or more on the body? I remember you have a deposit on Porterbuilt components?

If you replace the floor maybe follow Iceburgh's example....the way I went is a lot of work / hours.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

I think that I will focus somewhat on the chassis. There are still some rivets that I need to knock out. I would also like to have the frame sandblasted. The frame is in very good condition. According to Porterbuilt there are close on the AD kits. I have heard that for awhile but at least I should be ready when they are.

I think I will also start working on removing the rear wood. I will revisit Iceburgs build to refresh my memory. I did use his hole saw technique to free up the rear body mount bolts. They were a bear to get to and the carriage heads just spin (as I'm sure that you know). Your floor will turn out great. I have a few ideas for a different twist on the flooring but the size and shape of my rear notch will dictate a lot.

I hope my progress is more frequent that it has been.

Thanks
Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Yes, I made some work for myself which is OK as it has sat idle longer that I would have hoped. I plan to continue to strip the frame down. I have a deposit down on a extreme bagged drop set up from Porterbuilt. They are still in development on a kit for the AD trucks. Mine will be one of the first kits offered to the public. This Suburban will be bagged.

How's the paint/reassembly coming?

Thanks
Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Hey guys a couple updates so you know that I'm still alive in well.

My frame is ready to head to the blasters. I will try to get it there in the next week or two. I heard from Nate at Porterbuilt and they are telling me 4-6 weeks on finalizing the AD kit. He will send me some pics in a week or two.

I found a source for the interior of my Burb. Like my 48 I plan on doing quite a bit of the work myself but it is great to have a contact to handle what I can't and he is a good source for materials as well. Apparently he covers all of the seats for Wise Guys seats. My friends that own Dutchboys hotrods http://dutchboyshotrods.com/build high end cars/truck and this guy located in Southern Indiana does all of their work.

It was great picking his brain for ideas. I'm thinking of taking some time off of my normal job and going down to work for him (for free) to get a better understanding of upholstery. I had fun putting the interior in my 48 and I learned a ton. I am also buying some carpet off him to make some matching floor mats for the 48. Its nice that I can buy what I need since he has the materials on hand.

Here are some pics of a 67 high end Camaro that Dutchboys are finishing up. This is a 6 figure car and very nice. I also took a pic of the box weave carpet color and leather swatch that I like the look of. I have this same carpet in my 48 but in black. Again I'm a long ways off from needing an interior but finding good people is 1/2 the battle.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

well it is winter and you do live in MI, heck I live in Md and don't get much done in the wnter

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

True, but this fall I did install a 80,000 BTU heater for my work shop so I really don't have an excuse. I'm kinda treading water until Porterbuilt finished the AD kits.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Working for an expert to learn is a great approach. Cool idea Marc.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Marc, I'm with you, I've also wanted to help an upholstery guy to learn. Like your leather and carpet...Jim

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Hopefully he thinks its a cool idea as well... ha ha
Yes, in talking with the guy that is how he got his start. In talking with him I'm not that far off when comparing techniques used.
Thanks, I'm just adding these samples to the idea file.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Great looking car. If you decide to do your own interior try www.yourautotrim.com

they are reasonable and helped me with many questions. I am attempting my own with the exception of the seats that I got from a conversion van already done.

If you want I can make patterns of my headliner before I put it is place and send up to you. Not sure how it will turn out being my 1st attempt but should be fun

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Marc,
I'm sure the Family truckster will be cool and have been following.
On your 48 what did you use for rear fender bolts?