The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Panels 'N Burbs 1966 Suburban Possible Purchase

So I am considering purchasing this 66' suburban. http://anchorage.craigslist.org/car/378147516.html
I would be getting it as a daily driver, maybe work on it. I like the 4wd, especially since I live in alaska and winter can be farely treaturous anywhere, especially where I live. What it doesn't say in the ad is the rust. I haven't gone to look at it yet but the owner said that it has rust in all the "usual places". He said the fenders would need extensive patching, the rockers need replacing, the rear wheel wells aren't great and the floor is soft. He doesn't know what the engine is but his wife had been driving it to work and it ran fine.

The main things I would want to do would be obviously rust repair, but also install more heaters. This last winter was REALLY cold up here and he said it's heater is only good for defrosting the windows.

I'm sure I could handle additional heaters but does anyone know if I can get all the patch panels I would need? I've seen patches for parts of the fenders or wheel wells but none for the entire wheel well. I'm not sure if the whole wheel well is bad but it would be nice to know if I can find bigger patches.

How hard would it be to replace the entire floor? Are we talking unbolt a dozen bolts from the body and the frame, slide in the new floor, or do I have to undo everything as in steering column, linkages, wiring, etc?

I would probably just go with flat sheet metal and box tubing for support. I'm sure someone has done this before, does anyone have pictures or any help they could give on that? I really want to know if I should get myself too into this or not. I wouldn't start anything that extensive for a while anyways since I would need to drive this during the winter. Unless I could manage to finish it before then, but sadly I don't have a shop to work in, nor the array of tools I need. Or the skills or know how. I'm only 17 and I only know body work. I can follow directions good though. I also have a welder but no gas tank for it, and I don't know how to weld. But i'm taking welding at school this coming school year so by next summer I would be better skilled to work on it.
Thanks

Wow...nice to see a young guy so enthusiastic!
The floor: youth and enthusiasm will overcome any difficulties with this. I've been looking at it for my '62 Suburban too. I was thinking about making a bead roller with a very deep throat to roll beads into the new metal floor and use the existing supports the truck already has.
Heater: Get the Delux heater and mount it. I've been told it'll be a small improvement over the one that only mounts under the dash. If you have a big heater box on the firewall already, you've got the Delux.
Sound deadening/insulation will also be a very big help.
On my '62, I'm going to install an underseat heater from a '54-'56 Buick/Pontiac. It's a round heater core in a housing, with a fan on it that sits under the driver's seat and aims up. The housing also diverts some heat across to under the passenger front seat, and out to the foot area of the driver's and rear seat. The can for the fan's motor pokes down through the floor, and the heater hoses also go through the floor. Probably not a HUGE help, but I'm sure it will be welcome.
You're gonna be out swingin' in the breeze for Suburban-specific patch panels for the quarters, rear doors (or tail gate) and tail panel area. Also, the wheel housings are Suburban-specific. They're rounded, while the regular trucks are more angular. You'll have to fab some pieces, and if you can find a really nice fleetside bed, you can probably make your own patch panels for the quarters.
Patches or new stampings are made for everything ahead of the firewall, except the hood itself. Doors will interchange with pick-ups, so find some good doors. All the door hardware and internals are available new.
Get a bottle on the welder and go to town. I JUST hooked mine bottle up, after trying for 10 years to get a welder. I'm 36, and just welded up the first thing in my own garage (some misc. holes in the firewall previous owners decided needed to be there). You're a step ahead of me--you've already to the welder! Took me almost 20 years from where you are now.

Good luck.
-Brad

Did you get the truck? I'd recommend that you dont start tearing things apart until you really understand what it would take to replace the floor pan... have fun and do it right the first time!!