In reply to jfryjfry :
No, I have all the panels to make it rust free and once I have them all welded in then it's getting a decent paint job. I'm leaning towards the factory yellow but there were some beautiful factory colors on these trucks. Like the two tone white/blue or the turquoise or even the green.
I kinda dig the turquoise!
HoverSuburban mod is complete
Been cutting out the old floor (very carefully) for 3 days now, it's a lot of work
Seems like there should be some Jawa's running around in those pics.
So, it turns out that Suburban repair panels are different than the truck and Blazer panels, and nobody makes the Suburban specific ones. That's ok, I'm real good at fabricating parts but it is going to add time to the process. Here is the first new piece test fitted. It's the passenger side front rocker and it had to be significantly modified to fit.
Wow, that's some major surgery.
Thanks for this I now know what I'll be following while spending the winter in B'Ham Al....
Excellent!
Drivers side rocker panel has been test fitted and it's good. Before I start permanently attaching these things, I want to coat the unseen areas with POR15 so they will not be a problem in the near future. I test fitted the floor as well today and there are some reinforcing pieces that go up the firewall and they need to be removed first.
It was impossible to get the floor into place without removing the firewall reinforcing pieces and they were welded on pretty firmly, but a drill, grinder, spot weld cutter and air chisel were used to get them off. The floor fits pretty good but it has to come back off so I can do rust treatment on all the hidden areas before the floor goes back on for good.
In reply to loosecannon : Looking good!
I pulled the hvac, gauges and all the other stuff behind the dash out and I wish I had just let the whole thing go when I had it up on EBay. I just found more problems. I'm really sad about it. I'm not giving up, I'll keep going and I'll fix it right but I didn't sign up for this. I was so depressed about what's behind the dash that I decided to have one victory and I remade a rusty piece that is on the side of the cowl, hidden behind the fender. Before and after
Your progress on this has been amazing. I've read this build a few times and loved everything from your wife's involvement to the Simpson's fish decal. It may seem like a lot right now but with the quality of your work you will be rewarded with a really nice truck. Keep up the great work.
The best way for me to forget about my troubles is to concentrate on a project. Today I concentrated on fixing the rusty lower firewall on the passenger side (where your feet would go). It has complex edges, which made it extremely difficult to recreate. I cut out the rusty bit and welded in the new bit, here's some pics of before and after. I still have some grinding to do.
In reply to loosecannon :
A project like this is kinda like eating an elephant...
you gotta do it one bite at a time.
I know it sucks, but I’ve quit a couple of big projects in the past, and I feel worse having abandoned them than I ever felt overwhelmed by the project itself.
Just remember, it’s okay to take a break from the project if you need to...
In reply to Recon1342 :
wow, a staff member looked at what I was doing today and commented how big a project it was. I said "it's how you eat an elephant....one bite at a time".
Nice job on the massive undertaking how are the kick panels? If yours are okay than that is nice.
In reply to GoLucky :
Kick panels are bad along the bottom edge and I have new ones coming from LMC
Today I made a new piece to replace the rust infested drivers side firewall. I carefully bent the piece in a metal break and I like it better than the one I did on the other side where I TIG welded pieces together. Before and after
There was some aftermarket seam sealer behind the glovebox and when I ground it away, I found a big hole that extends all the way up and out to the base of the windshield and hood seal area. It's quite upsetting. The only proper way to fix it is remove and replace the whole firewall. This also means the work I did on the lower firewall/footwell area on both sides was all for nothing. I just ordered a new one today. Here are pics of both sides of the problem.
This all looks and I imagine feels very familiar.....
I'm betting you'll have yours done before mine though!
I've got another pickup cab if you need to look/measure anything for reference. Also a new aftermarket outer cowl I'm not using, but you're probably better off using your original.
Thanks. I ordered a new firewall because this one is bad and needs to come off to fix some of that stuff. It's going to take me years
More work happened today
There were two areas behind the firewall that were rusted through and after much swearing and tool throwing, I decided to just remove the old firewall and fix that stuff properly.
And a previous owner had drilled holes in the dash for switches and cut out the stereo for an aftermarket head unit so I cut all that out and welded in a new dash
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