Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

I agree. On my 48 I kept the upper cowl vent but changed to open by power. For the 53 Burb I plan on keeping it keep the upper cowl vent OE.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

power vent, sounds cool, prolly got rid of all the mechanical linkages? got any pics of your set up?

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

No pics and now it is barried up under the dash. It was a power motor kit I bought from "Rocky Hinge" company and it came with a small motor, switch and aluminum arm. I just drilled a small hole in the side of the vent and it worked great. Yes, I removed all of the manual linkage.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Looks great Marc! You have solid corners now and will be good for another 60years. Very well done.

Way back I didn't like the vents and now I wouldn't give them up. Functional and something interesting to look at.

If you count the 10 years my 'Burb sat in the back of the shop my progress is pretty dismal....trying to make up for lost time I guess!

Keep the updates coming!

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

you going to have A/C in the burb?

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks Doug. My 48 was a long 11 yr build. My suburban I would like to complete in about 3 yrs or less. With the 48 I always felt that I had a vision and I didnt want to sacrafice the final product. People either tend to have time or money. Back then I had more time than money.

I also received a care package of parts from Alaskan Dragger this afternoon. This is the third care package of parts for from the great north that he has sent me. He has helped me locate some hard to find parts. He is a great guy and as honest as they come.

I hope to keep my updates coming.

Marc
Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

I might not intially. I have it in my 48 and I'm yet to get it charged. I like driving with my windows down alot. Since I will be running slider windows in the back it might move some decent air. I had a guy really help me out with a sweat deal on the back side glass (:.

If I run it I like the look of Restomodair. www.restomodair.com
It looks expensive but unique.

How about you?

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

AD, Iceburg and Marc, you guys are hogging up all the space on here with these burb builds, and I'm enjoying the hell out of it:devil::devil::lol:...Jim

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

If I had to pick an order of who finished first it would be the folowing:
Iceburg
AD
Me

AD and I have a track record of dragging things out.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Life is about to get in the way....I would like to have mine done by October but reality is Feb

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

It is like you know about my usual glacial progress! Betting on you to come in second! And I agree Iceburgh first.
Your floors look good too. The break over on the edge is crisp.

Hey Jim...I've been the space hog.:)....Marc and Iceburgh have been more reasonable. Just pretty excited to finally build my Burb.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

I'm not complaining, I enjoy all three builds, just wish I had one...Jim

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Looking good Marc!

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks man...It's getting there.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

So my passenger side rear fender was involved in some type of accident in its life and it resulted in a very squared off curve at the bottom as well as unrepairable damage to the fender crease/body line. The rest of the fender is in good shape and these suburban fenders can be hard to come by. I decided to get a patch from a lower fender that was not in good shape and graphed on a new lower section.

Once I cut the old fender off and lined the new one up it became apparent how flat the original fender was from the damage and poor attempt at repairing it someone else did. They recreated the curve of the fender with bondo....In on order for the fender to match the curve of the patch I made relief cuts in the fender to help shape it to the patch. I have never attempted anything like this but is worked fairly well.

Also I worked on all of my rear door latches and linkage. With what I had and some parts I received from Alaskan Dragger I was able to get all my rear door hardware handled. This is cool because I was stressing about being able to make functioning rear doors. When I purchased the Suburban the rear doors were inoperable.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Continued....

I forgot to mention my original fender was maroon in color and the funny thing is the patch is also maroon in color....

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Marc, we know that the burb fender and truck fender are different, but with you having a truck you knew what it should look like. Nice job on the repair...Jim

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Yes, and I did reference the drive side rear fender that I had as well. There was such a difference in the arch that at first I though that the patch I had was from a truck. But it was not it was just that my original fender was that much out of shape.

The other thing that I though is that these fenders are pretty narrow and you wont even see that much of my repaired area when all bolted up.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Much better then plastic...good work.
I found a pair of NOS fenders.
Guy wants $1100..... these things must be made out of gold

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks Iceburg. Yes, that is what gave me the idea to repair since most of the fender appears to be in good shape. Yes, $1,100 sounds crazy becuse then you would have another $300 in shipping unless you were road trippin..

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

That came out very good Marc!

Iceburgh, are you buying the NOS rear fenders?

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

God no.... already to close to my budget and plenty left to do.
I can make mine work

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

I did manage to get my driver side cowl welded on.
Just need to do some finish grinding. I'm a better grinder than welder...

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Looking good Marc...Jim

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

That is coming along very nicely Marc. I was thinking of your term "grelding" when i was doing my patch panel today.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Looks good and not too much bondo in that fender. :D On my panel just ahead of the right rear fender the bondo was 2.5" thick.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Nice progress Marc!

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks Mike...

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Youngrodder just went thru your build after getting the PM. Great job so far so keep grinding away. I have a 49 burb that had many of same rust issues you are tackling now. I didn't have $$ for complete chassis so cannibalized a 69 Nova front clip & rear, complete 100% boxed frame to get PS/PB & stuffed in a 1978 454 BB/ TH 400 fo go power. Put in Chevy leather interior from 2000 burb. Been on road now couple years in half primered multiple colored condition so starting to think about body work. However like you I would rather be able to not worry about fancy paint and be able to say to folks" what you mean it is already painted....." Good luck w the feat of the build.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Thanks 49 bourbon...

I coach my youngest son in youth football and we start our season next Monday, so my Surburban progress will start to slow to a snails pace (hard to slow down more with as slow as I have been moving).

No worries though I will get back on it from time to time.

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

At least you now have one....thats the biggest hurdle!

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Yes, now complete with all of the hard to find parts. That's the way I feel as well.....

Thanks
Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Hey Marc, didn't know where to post this, so here it is. Congrats on getting in the November issue of Street Scene. Truck looks great as usual...Jim

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Back again Marc, after looking over the Nats North info I also see you got a Rep's pick, congrats again...Jim

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Saw that too...truck looks great Marc! Congrat's

Looked a bit chilly at Nat's North.

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Jim-

Thanks for lookin out...the funny (sad) thing is I forgot to renew my NSRA membership so I did not receive this issue. I have since renewed and I'm hoping they send me this issue.

Ad - yes it was cold and rainy most of the weekend.

Now that my family life has slowed down some, I will get this thread updated. Not a lot of Burb progress but garage heat upgrade and a football update.

I just got back from a 10 days in Florida and I need to leave for Chicago in the AM. Why don't I get much done on the burb these days??? ha ha

Thanks guys
Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Hey Marc, when you get a chance PM me with your address and I'll send you my copy...Jim

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Great build so far youngrodder! I'll be doing a Burb in the next few months for exactly the same reasons as you! Keep up the good work and keep the pics coming!

Aceves

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

Will do. My family calendar is starting to open up and I just upgraded my work shop with a furnace so I'm looking forward to making some progress over the winter. Start a build thread for yours (if you already haven't)

Marc

Re: 53 Surburban "Family Truckster"
 

looking forward to more progress pics.chizzler