page 1 of 2

I bought this Suburban after looking for one for 9 months. They are hard to come by. The panel trucks are way more common. After getting advised by several experts I decided not to try to drive it home to Nashville (from Phoenix) even though the owner said it was in running condition (minus back brakes and a battery). When it was delivered it took me 2 weeks to get it drivable. Good thing I took their advice.
The main reason to get it running quickly was so I could perform a "trannsecomy" on our 90 Mazda RX7 convertible. It came with an auto that was rapidly decaying so I needed to get another vehicle running to do the 5 speed tranny swap.

After the RX7 was back on the road we started the restoration process. This meant ripping out the interior which probably looked real nice in 1975. I don't think it had been cleaned since then.

Let me point out my philosophy of restoring this vehicle.
At this point in our lives we don't have the time or cash to do the proper restoration this rare and beautiful truck deserves. We need it as a driver. It will be a cool driver as well. So....

I then began the long process of body work. After some exploratory grinding I realised my task was a little greater than I once thought. Rust had eaten away a great deal of the back fenders. The rust I did know about was in the floor. It was extremely rotted. This was evident in the photos sent from the owner. The back fenders were a surprise. So I learned to weld. I have a good friend who helped me a lot in the early stages. He even left his welder at my house for a month.

Once the grinder had been employed I discovered what a job I had before me. With Zero welding experience it was a bit overwhelming. Fortunately I have a friend who is very patient teacher and kind enough to lend me his welder.
The first step was to grind away the paint a few inches beyond the rust then cut the rust away.

There was also a huge dent on the driver's side. Along with the dent.....more rust. And...45 years of dirt. The third picture was taken after pulling the dent out with a jack.

I had to cut the bottom of the outer fender out completely. Fabricating this piece was going to be difficult because of the complex angles that had to run the length of the bottom from the door to the fender. Since there are Zero options for aftermarket patch panels I ordered a set of rocker panels. These pieces needed some cutting to work but they gave me the angles and precision I needed. Then I cut a 5 inch by 30 inch piece of steel to fill in the rest of the hole left by the rust and welded it between the fender and the new rocker- door to fender. I had to do this on both sides.

a-shelby helper.jpg	b-drivers side d...	c-drivers side d...	d-drivers side r...

For the back corner - drivers side, I shaped the metal patch as close as possible given the tools at my disposal ( a simple hammer-dolly set). I bent the metal by hand as well. Then I tack welded the patch. This proved dificult because the patch was a bit thinner than the original steel. My friend Mario actually welded this first piece in place. I then filled in the spot welds and then used the grinder to smooth it out. Until I became more experienced with the wire feed welder I was burning through the patch. We later decided to weld the patches under the hole instead of even with the surface. There is a proper welding name for this but it escapes me on 3 hours of sleep. This gave more strenghth to the patch as well.

p-grinding mess.jpg	q-pass rear fend...	r-pass rear fend...	s-pass side dent...

i-grinder result...	j-rear fender cu...	k-rear fender pa...	l-rear fender pa...

page 1 of 2