The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Panels 'N Burbs 1952 Suburban ressurection!

Hey guys! I bought my 'burb back in November, sight unseen. After a wait of four months , it finally arrived here in sunny central Florida from Michigan.I know what you are thinking,"poor sucker bought a rusty old bucket", well, believe it or not, I have yet to find a spot of rust on it. I don't know much of it's history but it has USAF serial numbers under the hood and on the firewall. It is in remarkable shape for an unrestored truck with one really bad repaint and some questionable P.O. engineering. The rear seats are missing but the original linoleum is intact and in good shape. All the windows are good and work, and all the trim pieces are there. The engine has been swapped for a 235, which I plan to keep. I am planning to resto-rod it, since I love the simple original look of these old trucks. A T-5 swap and 4 wheel disks are in order, as I want to be able to cruise it around easily. I will be posting pics as I go and will update as I get stuff done. Thanks for looking and if anyone has advice or suggestions, feel free, I'm never too old to learn!

Coffeeman

Coffeeman, sounds like you hit the jackpot at the end of the rainbow. Sounds like a plan. A good sound body saves a lot of money and time!! Nice catch.

Coffeeman,

If you are referring to the 1952 Suburban at the link at the bottom of your post, that looks real nice.

If possible, would you post a photo of the USAF ID?

Yes, that is the one. I will try to put up a pic of the ID numbers today. The one on the hood is nice, but the one on the firewall was partially obscured with overspray. I'm going to try to "raise" it.

Pictures! Take lotsa pictures!! Some days, you just can't get enough of these Suburbans!!

A couple more pics up in PB. Shots of the ID # are in there. Also, one of the really nice paneling someone put in the headliner. I will post some more later today.

Coffeeman, Nice '52 Suburban project. I too am bringing a '52 back, except mine is far worse off and spending thousands to get metalwork, floor replacement, painting and what not done. Good luck and hope to see you at an east coast show in the future. V/R, Nick, Bel Air, MD

Wow no rust. To me dealing with rust is the hardest and most time consuming part the restoration.
Great score.

Bill

The no rust thing is pretty surprising on this truck. I haven't met an AD without a hole somewhere. What is irritating me the most on this one is the PO's questionable wiring skills. I have spent the last two days trying to untangle the whole mess. I'm pretty sure a new harness is in order. I have never seen so many splices and dead ends. I still can't get the brake lights to work. It's a head scratcher for sure!

Well, today was a lot of fun. Cranked up the pressure washer, got out the Dawn dish soap and started scrubbing the engine compartment. The bottom color on the firewall appears to be Transport Blue(?). Fine with me as that's what I want to paint it anyway. I think I'm going to pull the front sheetmetal off and clean, blast and paint. I'm not going to be happy until I do! After the scrubbing I decided to strip out the interior carpet from the PO. Lo and behold, There is an entire sheetmetal covering over the original pan, held down with about 400 rivets. I am still working on getting it all out, as it is one entire piece. I do know that underneath it is a layer of what appears to be house insulation. I have crawled all underneath the truck and cannot find any holes in the floor, so why they did that, I don't have a clue. I put some more pics up, enjoy!

coffeeman, someone here calls it the "while I'm here syndrome". We do one thing and then we figure we may as well fix something else "while I'm here". Pretty soon all's that left is a bare frame Uh, yes, I'm guilty of it myself.

Let us know what you find "down under".

So, I've spent the last two days scraping on the floorboard. Progress has been somewhat slow, because the pink, house type insulation was apparently stuck down with some sort of tar. That and the remnants of the 499 rivets used to hold down the D.O.T. grade alloy faux floorpan have made it fairly slow going. I did get the exhaust off to the muffler shop, though. I'm having the tailpipe replicated in two inch and installing a shiny new glass pack! That should irritate the neighbors! More pics on the way!

Not much to report on today, still scraping away at the tar on the floorpan. I got a big box in from Classic Parts with my missing door glass in it. Maybe tomorrow...

Worked off and on over the weekend on the engine, finally got the tune pretty close. Here is a video of it running: Burb Run I think she sounds pretty sweet with her glasspack and new tailpipe! I should have the wheels and tires done this week and I'm going to drop the seats off to be rebuilt, as well. Stay tuned!

Things I got done on the Burb this week! Scraped on the floor all week. I now have about 10 hours into it and last night I got the last of the tar and insulation off of the main floorpan. I did uncover a small area of rust in the passenger side, so I retract my "rustfree" claim from earlier! Trust me on this one, though, I have seen waaaaaaayyyyy worse!! The next phase of this project is a big one...T5 conversion, rearend transplant and disc brakes on the front. Pics aplenty will be posted.

Quick update. Didn't get much done on the burb this past week. Mostly spent my time on the world wide web and then waiting for my new goodies to arrive. So far I have received a disc brake conversion kit for the front end, and four new wheels. The wheels are off to the powdercoater and the disc kit is waiting on me to get to it! I have a few more pieces to hunt down before I start but I'm getting the itch to get on it. I am still searching for a suitable T5 tranny around here so I can go ahead and do that swap at the same time. I am mating it to an 8.8 disc brake rearend from a Lincoln. I haven't seen much information on that particular swap, but it's the right width, has 3.27 gears and best of all, I had it left over from a previous project. It should work out pretty well, I'm thinking. I will post up pics as soon as I get started on something!!

Okay, the rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated! Nor have I abandoned my Burb project! Both of us are alive and well, I cannot, however, say the same for my credit card! The last few weeks have been spent on such worthwhile activities as ordering parts and waiting on the UPS man. Finally, boxes of parts have arrived, pieces transported to the powdercoater and small parts have been rounded up. All just in time for our beautiful Florida summer! Brake parts I will add more pics once I get started( basically after Little League is over)! Stay tuned!

It's like Christmas!!

We too are resurrecting former USAF 'Burb. The shop was helpful in preserving the numbers, and it still has the original flag holder. We are using a Clifford Research 292 and Getrag 5-speed - discs on the front only and heavy duty sway bars front and rear. Flight line 'Burbs were orange so our immortal shooting brake is the Great Pumpkin.
We acquired it in 1972 and drove it with 30 deg of steering play and 4-pump brakes until the 2nd replacement engine died in most spectacular fashion. We have taken it with us every time we have moved since '79 (last ran in '78). Bought a $30K F250 to tow it when we move from WA State to Tx and will send pics when it again runs under its own power. It won't look Barrett-Jackson when it's back up, but will be an ongoing labor of love when I retire.
Good on ya Bro. I know how much you love your 'Burb.

Stryder,

What is the year of your Suburban?
GMC or Chevrolet?

If you have a Vehicle Serial Number on a metal tag on the cab between the driver's door hinges, please post the code.

Any chance of posting links to photos?

Tim, a '52 ......and to Tim's questions may I add/ask, is there any info you can share on the "heavy duty" rear sway bar. Is it original or is it an aftermarket? I need to put one on my panel BAD!!

Maybe they were trying to insulate for warmth or noise reduction.
Pretty ugly, though.
The video was cool.

@Highsider- Yeah, it was definitely ugly, although if it was for insulation, I would have thought about sealing up the windows and door seals first! The floor is a little thin in some places and I think they were afraid or unable to weld. I'm just glad they didn't put it all over the rear flooring.

Stryder, It's cool that you have an Air Force 'burb, too. I don't know much of the history on these service vehicles, as by the time I got out of the Navy we were driving mid 80's D***e vans! I would love to trace it's service history but I'm not sure how to. Any info or help would be appreciated. As for that rear sway bar, what rear end are you running in it? Is the sway bar custom? I would love to see pics of the "Great Pumpkin"!

Wow! Time flies when you're having fun! The summer has been hot and it's tough to get out in the garage and work when it is creeping up to the triple digit mark. Here's what's new; All the brake conversion parts have arrived, I ordered a 3" dropped axle from Nostalgia Sid and it should be here in a few days, the wheels are powdercoated and waiting on new tires, all my little parts are in boxes awaiting installation AND I FOUND AND BOUGHT A COMPLETE SET OF SEATS FOR IT!!!! Trying to get them shipped down here now. Any help?? I posted on the hauling board, so keeping my fingers crossed. The promised pics are coming, but it's boring to take pictures of parts!

Here we go! Parts have been arriving and I have been working hard! Whoever said "The Devil is in the details" was absolutely correct. It took a month but the seats that I bought finally showed up and look pretty good. The third seat is not correct but the frame is good so I am going to fab up the correct mounting tubes. Kind of disappointing but hey, sometimes you get disappointed. Not the end of the world, just one more thing to do.I posted up some pics in my photobucket, check them out. seats I also got a really sweet 3" dropped axle from Nostalgia Sids. axle I blasted my spindles and ordered an oversized kingpin set. Problem!! The bushing just falls through the bottom hole of the spindle. Not sure how I am going to fix it. The wheels that I had powdercoated turned out to be a color that was just not right so I had them repainted. Much better. Tires are being mounted tomorrow. Can't wait to see how it looks!

Labor Day!! So far I have spent Friday afternoon on the Burb , but I managed to get the crusty old front end out of it. axle out I was amazed at how easily the captured ball steering pieces came apart. In the past I have had to fight to get them undone. The kingpins though were an entirely different story. One side required the use of a 10 ton hydraulic press! The oversized kingpin set I ordered is too small for both sets of spindles that I have. Did they make a bigger oversized set back in the day? I'm going to mic out the one that I have today, maybe they sent the wrong one. The passenger side leaf spring has a broken leaf, so that is the chore for today. I will post up as soon as...

Hope this helps someone. Owning a truck that is 15 years older than me sometimes gets me into trouble. By the time I ever even considered turning a wrench on a truck, this thing was 30 years old and so far off my radar that I wouldn't even look at one. That said, I'm flying by the seat of my pants and learning as I go along. Which brings me to the kingpins. How can a little box with a dozen little pieces of metal in it, dang near stop your heart when you open it? In my world everything is built with tolerances and bushings don't move and all that. I'm not equipped for this phenomenon of "floating bushings"! How much float is too much? Not enough? if you order the oversize kit, is it the bushing or the pin? In my instance it was the pin. Fine. If your axle hole is worn, that works great. My fresh dropped axle from Sid is machined back to factory specs, so that does not work for me. For the sake of not turning this into a rant, I will give the one piece of advice that is the most valuable. Don't order your small parts until all the big parts are back in your garage! Also, especially on old trucks, patience is a virtue! Too much reality TV out there, you can't really build your entire truck in six days! I mean, I guess you could...

Leaf spring is replaced, spring. Axle is installed, axle install.

coffeeman, both pics are the same! Do I pass the test

Your making progress, and giving some good advice!!! Keep on trucking. I remember when you joined up with the Stovebolt and your making progress. Stay at it Coffeeman, your doing a good job.

DEADLINES!! November is fast approaching and there is so much work to do! With the axle installed, I turned to the kingpin and spindle install. Turns out that I needed to order another set of kingpins (Moog #8451B). These have the standard pin diameter, .866", and oversized OD bushings. The spindles are off to the machine shop to be bored over to the correct size. What to do while I wait? There's always the brakes! My 13 year old son and I slid under and had a go at the master cylinder. old M/C The one really good thing about a former military vehicle is all the pointless maintenance (busy work) has made removing all the old stuff very easy. Its hard to believe how easy the old burb is coming apart. I haven't used a single air tool on her yet! I had ordered a non power assisted M/C bracket from Speedy Bill, M/C bracket, it was a snap to install. M/C bracket installed. Next up was the dual M/C. I used a Corvette one made for dual disc, non power systems. I forgot the number, if I find it I will add later. It is considerably larger than the original one and the bracket moves it way farther back on the frame. I was afraid that it wouldn't clear the trans crossmember, it did, but just barely! M/C installed I still have to run new lines, and get the proportioner and residual valves in, but I need to pull the trans and rearend out and put the new rearend in before I do that. No since having to change stuff around later. Keep trucking!

Coffeeman

Alvin, you'd think a guy that makes a living slinging coffee would be wide awake when he posts stuff! Haha! Thanks for the encouragement!

Sir, I've enjoyed reading your '52'Burb rebuild posts. Mine is getting metalwork done and hopefully, god willing - that I stay youthful earning extra $, I will get it back primed/painted. I'm looking at another 24-36 months before it will be ready to go down the road. I've had it 18 months. Someday we shall meet up in our '52 'Burbs. Thanks Coffeeman. V/R, Nick Cavallaro, Bel Air, MD

NJC, Not sure if Coffeeman can make it but maybe by next Sept. you could drive it to Kansas City..... One day I'm gonna meet Cofffeeman down in Fl.!!

Alvin, come on down! There are lots of bolter's down here! One day I plan to head up your way, that's my favorite part of the country.

I have gotten a few things done on the 'burb. Located a T5 for the swap and ordered the adapter from Vintage metalworks. It's more of a spacer, really. I just didn't want to go through the hassle of sourcing parts and tearing the trans apart. The next part falls under the "while I'm at it" category. Naked burb The passenger fender needed some work, so I took it off which led to , I might as well, which led to... inner fenders. Now the wiring is coming out and it just goes on and on and on...

Hey Alvin, Maybe I could be finished in another 12 months, depends on where another $10,000.00 would get me. Why? Working 64 hrs/wk only allows remaining time for family but sure is worth the effort to see the 'Burb start to come back to life after being neglected since last registered in NY in 1968. I plan to shoot more photos next 28 September and show VA/WV/MD stovebolters attending the ATHS Winchester Show (Clearbrook, VA Fairgrounds) up for a side journey nearby the restorer I am using his shop facilities. I will continue sharing progress on this site. Thanks. V/R, Nick Cavallaro Bel Air, MD

Lots going on but don't count me out yet!! I need to drive the panel, or the 37. I've got pent up angry I need to get rid of and a nice journey would sure do the trick

I've got a feeling that the week before the show is going to be full of pent up something!!!!

Worked my rear end off this past weekend. Managed to get the engine and transmission out. going fishing Caught one! Started cleaning it all up for paint and detailing scrubbing, decided to take the pan off , it's a good thing I did because this is what I found. oil pickup It looked like a PO had left a rag or something in the pan at some time. Anyway, the engine ran great before I pulled it, so I'm just going to flush it out and bolt it back together. It's monsoon season here in Florida so I'm not sure when it will get painted, but it will probably be sometime this week. My transmission spacer plate came in on Friday from Vintage Metalworks. Its a half inch thick plate of aluminum that will allow the T5 trans to bolt right up to my stock bellhousing. T5 spacer Now all I need is a 10" 14 spline clutch disc from an Astro van or full size 80's truck. I think the truck one is 9 11/16". I believe either one will work. I'm still waiting on my spindles to be done. It's amazing how difficult it is to find a machine shop around here that knows how to do that kind of work. I tried to be a hero and got an adjustable reamer and did one set myself, but managed to get the holes misaligned. Still scratching my head on that one. Luckily, I had another set. Hopefully those will come out alright.

Perseverance pays off!! Finally have the spindles back on the truck! spindles Next step is to weld up the steering arms and drill them for the tie rod ends. Because of my short attention span(and availability of help!),I went back to work on the engine detailing. Here are all the cleaned and primed parts primed engine parts , engine block block in primer and finally the engine in color color. It was getting late at this point, about 10 hours into the paint day, so the pics of everything with the clear on it will come later. Today will be reassembly day. Finally, things are starting to go back together. I've taken so much apart that it feels great to put at least one thing back together! Stay tuned!