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Frankenburb the 1978? 1984? Suburban

Overview Gallery Discussion
Big Ray said:
That is a 2wd body, yes? I'll get some measurements for you. I had a 86 2wd I planned on swapping to 4wd...with parts from my ex's 89...

I did learn the 2wd floor is lower in the trans tunnel area. You might want to consider a 1 or 2 inch body lift. Or welding in a tunnel section from a 4wd unit.
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Yes, it is a 2wd body. I've got the bolt in transmission tunnel part from a 4wd truck and I cut out the raised portion behind it from a truck in the junk yard. All I've got to do is cut out the corresponding parts in my truck and hopefully it'll all fit without too much modification/fabrication.
 
So I've still been thinking about taking the body off of the frame and decided I'll just repaint the frame when I replace the body mounts. My question about this is since it's a 1984 frame, but a 1978 body which body mounts should I get?
 
I have seen it posted to use the mounts that match the frame.
But I have no actual experience.

@sweetk30 knows, from what I remember.
 
match the frame, the body side is just the flat top to the flat bottom.




even at that, on these trucks, I would be surprised if that even mattered
 
no real experience on burbs but the pickups match the body mount bushings to the vintage of the frame . 73-80 or 81-87-91 style .

I have 2 73-80 frames with 81-up bodys on them easy bolt up .
 
tunnel pics....

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the linkage is pretty standard. I didn't take my camera last week when I was underneath it...
 
I like the darker blue too, but out in the sun it looks like it's got too much metallic flake in it. I think I might just stay with with blue I've been using, though, since I've got a bunch of stuff painted with it already. We'll see though, if I could find a color in between the two with less metallic flake I think it'd be perfect.

I've gotten some small things done on the truck. Installed the bracket for the roof console and put the headliner up to mage sure everything fits. It'll need to come back down, though, so I can insulate the roof and run wires for the cab lights and anything I put in the console. If I mount my CB on the console I'll have to cut the front out and put it inside, it hangs down too far and will block the rear view.

I've also been working on the core support I got off of Craigslist. Got it cleaned up and painted as well as the headlight buckets and the brackets for the front valance. No pictures yet, I'll probably take some tomorrow afternoon.
 
Took a couple pics. Used Eastwood chassis black primer followed by their extreme chassis black.

IMG_20170406_145033.jpg

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No idea if this roof console is in the right place, but it lines up alright with the holes in the headliner.

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JoshHefnerX said:
Looking pretty good. Is that console from a later model truck?
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Yeah, I pulled it out of an '89 Suburban (I think) in the junkyard. The front compartment in it is going to be replaced with some switches for lights and things. Still trying to decide if I want to mount my CB up there too.
 
Hey Abram, I'm late to this party, but I dig the round headlight years so I'm in for this adventure.
What type of paint did you use for the wheels...I got tired of unsatisfactory white painted wheels so I went with powder coat finally. Expensive compared to a rattle can but I don't know of anything that will hold up better.
 
@76zimmer For the wheels I just used some Rust-Oleum automotive enamel spray paint. I have no idea how it'll hold up, but they look much better now so we'll see.

@Tony Vickers I haven't had any problems with the Eastwood stuff. It goes on pretty easy and seems to make a durable coating. Time will tell. I bought these cans a couple years ago for something else and never used them. I don't know if they've changed it at all since then. These do have a small sharpie mark that you need to line the nozzle up with for them to work their best. I also tend to stop up the sink and fill it with hot water and set the cans in it for a little bit (or since it's already getting hot I'll leave them in the sun for a while) before I use them. Letting the paint/can warm up helps.
 
So I'm sure the answer to this is yes, but I thought I'd get input anyways. As I'm prepping for paint I should hang and get all the doors and body panels lined up now, right?

Should I loosely put the core support in while I align the panels too? I'm going to leave it off until I get an engine installed so I wasn't sure how much it'll mess up the panel alignment to install it later if I haven't roughed it in first.
 
Only advice I'd give - I'm not a painter... Do anything and everything that may cause you to chip or scratch your paint before you paint, so you've got less to worry about after paint. If you're aligning fenders and such w/ shims - probably want to make sure they're aligned first.

I know there are pro painters on here maybe they'll chip in.
 
Finally got the passenger side all stripped, started on the back. I also started sanding the roof with 80 grit. I've decided just sanding the roof down will be sufficient. I've gotten the body panels lined up pretty good on this side too. I'll need to keep track of where and how many shims I use on the fenders, though, because they'll come back off after paint long enough for me to put my 'Silverado 20' emblems on.

IMG_20170426_101559832.jpg

The truck's tramp stamp will soon be gone
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I've also been rethinking what to do about an engine. I'm not having much luck finding a Cummins on Craigslist, although I haven't been looking too terribly hard (perhaps @mosesburb could chime in on where he sourced his). I've found a 454 is easier to find, and would fit in my budget better right now. Thoughts?
 
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