The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Panels 'N Burbs I must be Crazy to Restore a 47-53 Suburban

I hear ya there. Are you planning on doing your final body work and painting?

Looking forward to more updates.

I do plan on doing some of the bodywork myself. Definitely all of the metalwork, since that's what I enjoy, as for the final bodyfinishing, etc, I have a friend who is a body guy, and I think I'll have him work with me and I'll be the apprentice on this one. Big flat bodypanels and I want them straight. I said I would be his 'sanding fool'. I have no problem spraying sealers, or primers, but I am not sure I want to spray final on this burb. I still have to decide.

I have been the "helper" on my patch panels so far, and I want the final finished product to be completed by a "pro". Can't wait to see more of your progress and hopefully this winter I can get back on mine. Keep up the good work. At the rate your going I might just have to make a trip down to see yours in person.

Hey patrick, awesome photo work! Did your sub happen to be an old military rig?
I just purchase a '52 Sub that originally came from Idaho. It has military markings and is similar in color to yours. The guy drove it back and forth from Mn to ID for a number of years. I have some of the Idaho registration paperwork too.
Good luck on your project and keep us posted!

inuke

'49 Chev Sub
'52 GMC Sub
"49 Chev Fleetline

No, it wasn't military, it was used as a carpenter's truck and has lived in Southern California it's entire life as far as I know. I bought it through Bill from Bill's truck shop in Ontario. I used to live in Canada, and have always stayed in touch with Bill over the years, and when I was looking for a Burb, he knew where he could get a clean one and he hooked me up. I had it shipped back here and payed more for a junker than I ever have, however, it was well worth it and would have paid more for parts and time in the end. I am using a bunch of original pieces in the truck, so it was well worth it. The truck was the guy's grandad's who I bought it from and I have the Cali title as well.

Just to give you all an update since my last one, I managed to burn up two weeks being in Canada while my father was in the hospital. He had a heart attack and was out for 7 minutes. Of all place to be when he coded, he was at the racetrack in Peterborough Ontario. Two off-duty paramedics saved his life who were sitting in the bleachers behind him. They stopped the race, and de-fibbed him three times, which brought him back to life. They are by-passing tomorrow. He is one lucky cat, that's all I can say. The paramedics said they usually don't get to shake the hand of people they have done CPR on for 7 minutes. Anyway, I'll probably fly back up there this weekend and see how he is doing after his surgery tomorrow.

As for the truck, while I was gone, my good friend sprayed up the body in sealer for me. I'll try and load up some pictures tonight. I spent most of the weekend bailing my lawn after two weeks and doing yard chores. (yuck) I also spent it cleaning out the RV after living in it for two weeks in Canada. Most I have done on the frame is swapped front and rear ends and plumbed 75% of the brakes. I should be able to get the plumbing done this week and hopefully get the gas tank back in it and clutch and tranny.

Hi all. Just a quick update for you on where I am. I have been making progress, but it's been slow. I have been trying to figure out tiny tech issues which I have been posting in the engine and driveline section. Thanks to Tim and others for their help. I think i'll just plug and not use a bypass filter at this time, and I think I have the flywheel and starter combination knocked out. I am going to use the 168tooth flywheel with a matching 12V starter and order a clutch through the guys at Fort Wayne Clutch in Indiana since its a hard clutch and plate to find.

Gas tank is in and I put in a new sending unit as well and measured and bent it up to read right.

I uploaded a few pics of the engine bits I got back from the coaters. I hot coated the Clifford Headers and had the intake done in thermal dispersion black. I also had all the aluminum bits clear coated as well so I never have to polish them. Well worth it for me. He charged me 260 bucks for everything and did a bang up job. He's right here in Durham NC too.

Haven't touched the body since I got back. I need to get the floor pans in, but it's been raining here, and I figured I would finish up this drivetrain first. I already have this 4 speed rebuilt and ready to go in the truck with a shift kit from Patricks, but now having second thoughts on the 4 gear versus a T5. Oh well, I will try and pick the best rear end gearing to give me a nice mix of highway and city driving hopefully to make up for it.

Patrick,
Thought you were raising babies? Hope your family is well.Check out mt post on fliping the passenger seat and see my progress as well.Check out the column drop I made to retain the stock column and shifter.

Raising babies? Yes, I am! Braydon has been sitting in his stroller in the garage with me while I pound away on the truck. It's been a blast. I can't wait until he's old enough to start turning wrenches with me.

Making progress, but it's slow. I am still working on the chasis but getting closer. I am definitely tired of making 10 dollar part trips to the FLAP for bolts, fittings etc.

Here's what I've managed to get done since the last update:

Gas lines are plumbed and ready to go to the pump. Need to still run lines to the Carb
Fuel tank and sender and fitted and ready to go
all brake lines are done to the rear end. I think I'll rebuild the rear while I am at it, so the hard line is just sitting there waiting on that
Clutch, PP, flywheel, Starter, and Tranny are in.
I await an order from speedway to make my shock mounts, and tie down the brake and fuel lines and make up some spark plug wires next

That's about it from here. I haven't touched the body in a month. At this point for the sake of time, I am tempted to call my friend and have him do it all for me. We'll see, I won't make that decision until the new year. Hope you are all doing well out there!

HI guys, for those of you who have been following my progress, here is another update.

I got the shock mounts in and ready for shock measurements once the body is back on

I decided to replace the passenger floorpan since it was a little shoddy, and part of the drivers too. I should have the drivers done by this weekend hopefully.

I worked with my friend who is a body guy to start blocking out the sides. It's quite straight, and should require very little sanding

The Engine bolt on bits are ready to come back apart and reassembeled for fire up in the upcoming weeks. I plan on starting this part next week. I'll go through it and torque everything down, go over it with a fine tooth comb, add fluids, etc.

I have a complete third row seat now! Yeah! Still need springs for a second rown and a clean jump seat. PM Me if you have anything.

I uploaded some pics here.

http://gallery.mac.com/patrick.plummer#100287&bgcolor=black&view=grid

Nice photo-log of your project. Thanks.

Would you mind taking a few photos of where the hinges would have been mounted in a rear-door-equipped Suburban?

Your works looks rear nice.

Tim not a problem.

.... someone has been very very busy! All I can say is nice job. Do it once do it right! Looking good.

pplummer's 1949 Suburban photos

Plus a few 1951 photos at the end. Rear doors became available in 1950, so in prior years there were no hinge-holes in the outer body for rear doors (they can be seen in the 51 photos but not in the 49 photos). Thanks for mailing me the additional photos.

Wow,this is a great project.Thanks for keeping a album of photos.I know i will be referencing them.Looking good !!!

Hey Guys, I wanted to share my learning experience with you from yesterday. My friend who is a body repairman extraordinaire was guiding me through pulling some very difficult dents last night at the top of the clamshell door. It was smashed down about 2 inches through the moulding strip, etc. With his direction, I pulled it back out. Yup, that's right. Absolutely incredible. With some stress cuts, a massive slide hammer and a pair of special vise grips, and a stud gun. I had so much fun last night learning, it was awesome. I would have probably just cut and fabbed it all out, since I am better with metal fabrication, but I was concerned about the hours and time it would have taken me and the final outcome. Mike really knows his stuff. It was a total blast. Next toy, stud gun and slide hammers. While my arms are hurting from pounding on getting this dent back out with so many creases in that area, it was well worth it. I also managed to finish filling all the holes as well with metal to give my arms a break between hammering. What a blast. I love learning new things.

Oh, if anybody has a picture of what the original floor should look like on the passengers side right up to the wood floor, if you could email it or PM it to me, that would also be greatly appreciated. I think this has had a patch, and I want to check the condition of it.

I know there is a piece of metal under the jump seat that looks like a patch.They came out of the factory this way.I'm sure someone will post some pictures.

The floor is the same as a truck, the difference is the seat risers. The truck is a full width and the suburban is 2/3 width. Where the jump seat mounts is a steel plate. It's about 1/8" It covers the floor indentation that is normally under the truck seat riser. It flattens out the floor so that the jump seat brackets can mount flat. I will see if i can find some pictures later, unless someone else can post them first.

Speaking of pictures, where's the ones that show you pulling out the dents on the clamshell?

Thanks guys I guess it's factory then! Man, they did some interesting work back then. If you guys could have a look at my pics and concur, it would be great. GMONIZ, I did post a couple of pics of the final and progess that I ended up with, but they were crappy photos with an Iphone. I will post some others out there when I get back. You can see the original dent in some of the original photos before I started stripping.

I would be very interested in seeing photos of the floor under the passenger "jump" seat of a 47-55 Suburban.

pplummer, if you have a photo in the album at your link above, what is the photo name/number?

Thanks,

Nice updates! Will this photo of my jump seat floor help out?

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2515070550031183259svksuN

Thanks, Phillip.

What a job. You are moving along nicely.

The floor photo helps a little but I do not understand the rectangular metal piece in the center under the passenger seat. Maybe you could post another photo in the future - when you have the passenger seat in place?

What do you plan to do about the linoleum floor mat in the rear?

Phillip, you could have least vacuumed it before you took the picture! I don't remember the bracket with the 3 screws. The 1/8" metal plate mounted on top of these brackets and filled the indentation that can be seen in the photos. The floor pan is identical to the truck floor pan, just the risers are different. You can see the slope and the floor ribs under all of that dirt and rust!



Tim, the metal brackets will be covered with the sheet metal and you will not be able to see them when he installs the seat.

Tim, I am not sure what do about the linoleum floor mat. I'll be looking for help on that one when the time comes


Yup, the old weird floor bracket is already gone. I can get the floor cleaned for you and polished by the weekend!

Phillip,

There is an option available for your floor mat (brown). Unfortunately, 54/55 used black linoleum and a thick-enough sheet is not available in North America.

George,

I am interested in seeing photos of the "original" sheet metal plate (and, measurements of its three dimensions).

Tim

Here is a picture of original sheet metal under the jump seat.I thought it was patched,but was told it's original.It has a few spot welds that hold it down.

sheet metal under jump seat
sheet metal
Pegs behind jump seat

That is pretty ugly. Originally, was there a rubber floor mat that went over that?

Tim,I don't know if there was or not.There are little pegs sticking up where a rubber floor mat would attach in the hall way area(when jump seat is flipped forward to access the back).This is all new to me,hope to hear more on this.

I have never seen the original floor mats, but as bowtie says, there are little pegs to attach them to under the jump seat.

I added a picture of the pegs in case someone wanted to know what they look like.The link is in my post above.

Hi all, more updates: I managed to finished welding in my drivers floor and fixing up the drivers rear cab corner by welding in some new metal without taking out the entire corner this weekend. It went fairly smoothly. I need to buy stock in cutoff wheels and other abrasives! :-)

I am hoping I will get the chance to hit the low spots with some bondo, and prime the entire truck out over the holidays and start blocking it out. I will probably end up doing that part myself with my friend's guidance. He's slammed with Deer collision work at the moment and hasn't been able to help much, but I am sure when it slows down, he can help me out again. The frame has been sitting in my garage collecting dust. As I get closer to setting the body back on the frame, I'll get the engine ready to fire and pulled down and built back up again.

Interesting to see the thoughts on the plate under the jump seat. I am still in need of a cleaner jump seat than mine and springs for the second row if anybody knows where I can get that. I will probably end up laying carpet all the way from front to back and urethane the wood to protect it, and maybe lay linoleum at a later point. Not sure yet.

Hello All.

Hope everybody had a great Christmas. Mine went fairly well all things considered. I took a week off during Christmas and new year's and spend a few days working on the truck. I managed to get it the bodywork finished on the shell and have it wet sanded ready for paint on the outside. Now I have to focus on the interior. My wife decided she wanted to come out and help me for the day to wet sand. I also finished up those low spots that still needed a bit of work. (Pics on the website)

The rear clam has had a previous hit and I can't get it aligned. The part of the cross member on the body where the hing attaches underneath has had an ugly previous repair, so I am going to have to cut it off, fit the door, and re-weld. I think a 1/2 day should cover that.

Trying to decide on wiring, paint color and interior scheme next. Wiring first and foremost so I can be one step ahead when I sit the body back on the frame. I put a 21 circuit kit in the 51, but I think i'll just wire this thing back to original since I am only adding A/C and a radio beyond stock. One of those kits is probably overkill.

Realistically, I think it won't be until the end of the month before I get it in color. I have some more sanding to do on the hood before I wet sand. Bodywork is just tedious work. I guess that's why they call it 'bodywork', not 'bodyfun'

Your making nice progress!

Good progress for sure, cool that your wife is helping out (quality time with you, I guess).

53 Panel. You live on Oakwood? Where? I grew up in Woodville and Cannington! :-) 5 minutes away!

Yep, NW of Oakwood, could have hollered at you, likely.

Patrick,
Boy howdy your Burb looks great!!
I have been gathering parts and a chassis will be under mine real soon.

Sully,

Glad you're doing well. Hopefully you're not experiencing this cold snap we're getting here in NC. We've barely broken 40 degrees all week. It's nuts!

How do you keep your beer cold when it's that hot?