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Stovebolters, I've decided the journal would be fun by sharing my story to bring the '52 Burb back. Photos are my eldest son John as we brought the '52 Burb back to MD from VA after the majority of metal work & exterior paint was done. Enjoy! V/r, Nick

Nick’s journey started way back in 2011. I’ve added some “as found” pictures he so graciously supplied, to make his journal more interesting to our readers. It's amazing to see how far he's come. Hope you enjoy!

Phil (Moderator of the Project Journal forum)

Looks like a great project. Have fun.

We need more of that beautiful burb!

Very nice.

Really nice burb! Looking forward to viewing your journal!

Looking good,, I dig the color. Post up more pics

Stovebolters, Worked latches today on rear drivers door

Stovebolters, Original owner lived above the border line of NJ/NY operating a cabinet/furniture business last on the road NYState registration 1967. Fellow was WWII soldier who passed away late 2010. He had no kids & estate liquidated. I , as second owner, bought it late 2011 via the NYS registration signed by original before he passed. It sat 44 years neglected. So here we are 10 years already & just about putting it all together. Pic is of shop in VA that did all the metalwork & paint. Enjoy & thanks for all the positive comments from those that continue to chim in! V/r, Nick

You lucky son o’ gun! You are definitely doing the old boy proud who originally owned it. Good on you. 🙌🏻

Sir, Original color was green & this is pic of it undergoing frame off metal replacement at firewall, kick panels, rear wheel fender wells, and underneath barn doors. Yes, I'm darn lucky to have found it with all its worts to include dented passenger side roof. The old WWII soldier kept it for a reason & I'm just bringing it back to gift it to my middle kid, whom proudly serves LCpl aviation airframer USMC deployed Japan. Thanks Ken for kind words. V/r, Nick

Giving here the justice she deserves᠁ looking good.

what a great gift to give.

Stovebolters, Pics are driver's rear door replacement hinges that are being test fitted after cleaned up, primed, and threads tapped. The originals were rusted, unsalvageable, and disposed. Now more history on the original owner of the 1952 Chevrolet Suburban. In fact his obituary: "George H. Winstedt, a long time Valley Cottage, volunteer fireman, WWII Veteran, Master Wood Craftsman and Music Lover passed away on October 3, 2010. Born June 7, 1918, George moved with his family to Valley Cottage from Manhatten. George is survived by two sisters, Wilma Peaslee of Nyack, and Evelyn Fasano of New City and nephew, Vance Peaslee and his wife Marie of Nyack.". Mr. Winstedt would have driven the '52 'Burb 15yrs between the age 34 & age 49. Prime years for a fellow and his years afterword until his death at 91 meant the suburban had remained in his possession for reasons unknown. Perhaps fond memories of its use both personal and earning a living. Thanks for continued positive comments. Enjoy!

I scrubed, washed, and air dryed the hood prior to placing it in my shed (It was at someone elses' place). Pics show it & the worst damage on the side. The other pic shows the new wooden floor (2 piece plywood) I installed using 42 fasteners. Enjoy ! V/r, Nick

Stovebolters, I drilled out 4 screws to remove the side electrical piece on the side of the driver's rear door.. I intend to replace it cause the sixty nine (69) year old wiring was showing its age. Besides difficult or near impossible to access the item. Good day. V/r,Nick

Stovebolters, I have painted the 1952 Chevrolet Suburban's replacement rear door hinges. Pics show reducer, hardner, and paint used.V/r, Nick

Stovebolters, I've worked on the rear passenger door by: 1) using fiberglass to fill bottom rust holes; 2) prepped interior side of the door; 3) used duplicolor primer/sealer.V/r, Nick

Stovebolt members, I've: 1) test fitted rear passenger door after it had been primed & a whacked out upper hinge wouldn't allow proper fitment; 2) decided to use an original upper right hinge by removing rust/apply jb weld/primer/final paint; 3) painted rear passenger door; & 4) bought new bolts for assembly of the rear doors. V/r, Nick

Stovebolt '52 'Burb Followers: 1) Switched out the passenger side rear door upper hinge & found fitment better; 2) looks like I will need to fine tune it yet by using portable body press mechanism to enable last bolt on the body side hinge to line up; 3) will next start on finishing driver side rear door. Thanks for following along! V/r, Nick

I've worked on the driver's rear inside lower barn door. For some unknown reason when I retrieved this door at restorer's shop I found he had cut the inside lower panel out. I bought a sheet metal piece & screwed it on the inside door to cover the gigantic hole. I painted it with rustoleum gloss chestnut.

Hey stovebolters, I am continuing the effort on the rear barnyard doors. I have been working on cleaning up the steel guard attachment pieces that keep the doors from opening to far. Also first paint on the drivers rear door.

Hey Stovebolters, I’ve begun restoring the rear bumper brackets, as they are pretty rusted up. I have primed one thus far & will be finishing them in black enamel. V/r, Nick

Primed rear bumper bracket.

Stovebolters, I removed the rust & paint from the rear bumper. I used gray primer & now it’s ready for light gray enamel. Why? The 1952 & 1953 suburbans had light gray bumpers due to Korean War bright work shortages.

I have applied black enamel to one of the rear bumper brackets.

On the ‘52 ‘Burb project I: 1) finished painting & mounting the rear bumper brackets; 2) painted 2 coats light gray on the rear bumper; 3) begun working on the badly rusted rear filler panel which had 4 different paint colors. The filler panel was bought years ago off of ebay; & completely removed rust & paint from the filler panel.

Filler panel before & after removing rust & 4 colors of paint.

You do very nice work. Good attention to detail, and a very nice finished product. I'm sure your truck will be a beauty when you're done

Sir, Thanks for the compliment Paul. It sure is slow going but it is satisfying seeing progress. Getting it done, though. V/r, Nick

After getting the rear bumper filler panel to bare metal, I primed it & final painted it. I have it placed where it needs to go & mounted the rear bumper. I will next get the underneath brackets for the filler panel cleaned & painted.

Today I partial mounted the rear filler panel with 2 of the 4 brackets. I cleaned the 2 interior brackets, primed, and painted them black. You can see from the pic how rusted they came. Next I will mount them .

I have mounted 3 of the 4 brackets attaching the rear filler panel. I had to use some aluminum spacers. Pics show one of the center brackets mounted to the frame.

Why the spacers?

Yes, good question. Spacers? Also before you go too far it doesn’t look like it’s mounted properly. Like it is sticking too far out from the body. There should not be a gap between the filler panel and rear body lower filler panel.

Yeah Mark & Phil, good catch. I know it's not how it should be. Will it work and will it be bad? We shall see. I compromised due to the fact the guy who did the welding on the bottom placement of back sheet metal was off an inch. That results in not slipping the filler panel underneath.

Yes it will be bad and no it won’t work. The rear bumper will not fit with the rear gravel panel sticking out that far. Good luck Sir.

Stovebolters, I finished my inside passenger rear barnyard door and have painted it. Slow but steady progress.

I made out of sheet metal the little access cover to get to the locking rails on the driver side rear barnyard door. I then paint the inside of the door and it's interior sides.

Stovebolters, Today I began addressing the bracket that holds the radiator by removing rust using a grinder, a sander, & the Dremel. Pics show the bracket & the front of the '52 Burb, which has been garaged since I last made any progress 5 months ago. Enjoy. Thanks. V/r, Nick

Stovebolters, The driver side back window opening's interior molding was test fitted as can be seen in the pic. This molding was the worst & your looking at a replacement.

Stovebolters, That 2nd pic is the opposite side, which I failed to mention. That also has been test fitted with different molding. All good!