This is what the "donor" parts looked like when partly removed from the
58 Suburban body. The roof unbolts along the sides, and I cut the
ends loose. The floor also unbolts at the sides, again I had to cut
the ends free.
This is the work on the frame. I cut off the original frame just
behind the cab, and added a (longer) rear frame section. The wheelbase
increased 24 inches over a normal short bed frame. The cut is angled,
and there are fish plates on top of both flanges, as well as on the outside
of the frame (not yet installed in this picture). It's held up for
5 years now. I also lengthened the fuel and brake lines, and the
driveshaft, exhaust, and parking brake cables..as well as the rear light
wiring.
This is a test fitting of the new side panel. Note the horizontal
slit, about level with the gas filler hole, where the Suburban has some
curvature that I needed to remove by adding a pie shaped piece. The
window frame is also shortened from the stock Suburban size.
This is the roof area. I cut off part of the edge of the Suburban
roof, and bolted it to the new quarter panel.
Now it's all welded up, and ready to finish. Here you can see
the section of Suburban roof that fills the hole. It did not go in
quite right, so there are some bulges in the roof. An English Wheel
would be nice, to make a compound curved roof panel.
This is the bottom, looking forward on the drivers side. You
can see the fish plates on the frame, and the Suburban body mount and cross
sill.
This is a look inside. It's not finished yet, but that let's
you see some of how I built it. The front seat is 58 Suburban, the
rear seat is old school bus. You can see the beige colored part of
the side (quarter panel) which is from the Suburban, the original pickup
interior is gray. The part below the window was filled in using the
top part of one of the other Suburban window openings...as the Suburban
comes with sliding quarter windows. The quarter glass is now stationary.
The floor looks just like the floor in a Suburban, sort of. That's
becaue I took the floor out of a 58 Suburban, and used part of it in this
truck.
