Mark, those last few pictures sure bring back a lot of memories to me!! I think all these AD styles have the same ailments!!! By the way, nice work. The list has to be getting shorter!!
Ok. Had to put the wife's car in to the dealership for the 10 year, 120,000 mile warranty on the timing chains. She's on her 10th year, 115,000 and some change. Good timing. Lemony car. Second timing set!! But that's not why we're here! She get's the crew cab for a daily driver, I get the Burb!
So, the corners are welded in, but that's about it. I gave it a quick coat of rattle can so it wouldn't rust since it is rainy around here. So I figured, good time to smooth out the rear gravel pan. Pretty flimsy. So I made a plywood buck to hold it and that seems to help. Currently spending some time on that.
Today, I had the chance to run the rear seat frames down to the powder coater. They should be ready in two weeks. Maybe. He always says two weeks but it ends up being more like three. $120.00 Usually a decent deal out of him. That's blasted and coated. While I'm waiting, I'll smooth out my clamp brackets since they are currently rough cut.
Tomorrow morning, I get up, head an hour South to find me a new rear bumper and a pair of running boards. I figure it's about time. I was going to have the chrome shop do the rear bumper but it's not original to the vehicle so I have no attachment to it. I'll stick it somewhere out in the yard in case I change my mind.
Once I throw some paint on the gravel pan, I'll roll the Burb back in to the shop and smooth out the rear corners. Also, finish the passenger outer to inner wheel well. And, I have a few holes to patch between the drivers door and rear fender. That should be it for rust until I do the engine swap. That's when I'll address any firewall/floor issues.
I have a punch list on my dry erase and that list is getting smaller. Soon, it will be time to paint. Maybe even this summer!! I do have a few shows to attend. We'll see. It wouldn't bother me to roam around with partial paint!
Got a lot of little punch list things done. Trimmed the rear door panels so they match the side panels. Not easy since I was trying to save money and TIG together the left over pieces from doing the side panels. The aluminum wasn't cooperating but cooperated enough to accomplish the task. We'll see how it holds up.
The rear gravel pan is smooth. Just needs paint. I'm thinking I might as well take it all the way, since I'm getting close to painting anyway, and put some color on it.
Today, if I find time, I'll install a door switch for the dome lights, on the rear doors.
Door switch for dome lights installed. Open the barn door and you have light! I couldn't quite reach to the jamb from the side panel opening. I bought a double nutted adjustable type of switch. I don't like the self tapping style. Well, with how far you have to reach in to put on the back nut, my fingers were just out of reach. Didn't want to do it because I knew the screws were stuck and I had already painted the jamb, but I removed the cable plate anyway. I had to drill out the screws. It made a great place to put the switch. I used stainless screws to reattach the plate and will touch up the paint at a later date as I have other areas to touch up anyway. I'll get a pic later. Today, I want to move the Burb back in to the shop to finish the wheel wells and rear corners.
Got the seats back from the powder coater. Reinstalled those. Pretty!
Rust in the wheel wells is about gone. Rear corners getting a little filler. Going to start working on the body to running board seal area. Plus I'll patch a couple of holes between the drivers door and drivers rear fender.
So, I was reading my gallery and read where it said that ya'll want to see videos. I mostly have POV from one point or another in or on the Burb. I'll see if I can find some vids of me actually doing some push starts.
Okay, back to the good stuff. Updates! I think I'm about done with the rear wheel well/corners. I need to let the epoxy cure a little, then coat the wheel wells with some 3M rubberized undercoating. While doing this work, since space is at a premium, I put a blanket on top of the cab and store my fenders up there. The back is full of running boards, rear bumper, and fenders for my '98 C3500. The rear wheels are on the front seat. So, we let the cats go play in the playground, as long as I'm not painting in there. Don't need any cat hair in the paint. I guess one of them had a near miss, grabbed on to the blanket to save itself, and yanked the passenger fender to the ground. No major damage. A chip on the lower edge and some deeper than surface scratches on the fender. Small gouge on the passenger door. Stuff that can be fixed when I go to do final paint.
So, I need to coat a few more brackets and stuff. Mostly the retainer for the bottom, body to running board skirt. Plus I need to second coat the rear splash apron and the brackets that support it. Then it's time to reassemble and maybe make the Twilight Cruise-in at the NHRA Museum on Wednesday the 1st. Nitro Revival, Irwindale on the 18th, maybe the Lion's event in June. Then, I might just blow it all apart and put some color on the thing! You'll know when I know and you'll probably see it here!!
Haven't chime in lately, Mark, but I can see your still getting in your 15 minutes a day!!! Good work my friend. Looking at your suburban makes me sort of sad I sold my panel about 4 weeks ago......Now i have more time to do some needed work on the 37 pickup and the 50 coupe is about ready to paint.
Thanks for the posts. I feel like I've been right there helping you all along. hehe Alvin
No work for this last week and next week I have a show to go to on the 18th. After that, I have another in June. But I might seal the valve stems between the two shows.
Meanwhile, I'm getting a little work done on the house and started milling some intake plates for the '30 Ferd Roadster. Gonna try to build a blower manifold for the V6 that is going in it. 4-71 blower.
