Suburban rust repairs
Question:
If you plan to replace the body, make sure it’s from the same model year, or check that the wiring harness is the same or close enough so you don’t have to mess around too much. Of course a 78 shouldn’t have too much computer stuff/sensors etc.
I replaced a 89 S15 cab with a 88 (s10 or s15) body and ran into a lot of problems with wiring. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > I’ve been given a 78 Suburban 454 with automatic that spent too many winters
> in the salt. The body is rusting to pieces. I have holes to the road
> through the bed and passenger side floor. Mechanically the truck is 100%
> and I want to keep it alive for hauling firewood. Question is what to do
> when I put my foot through the floor.
> I have two local wrecking yards to draw from. Is it practical for a
> relatively inexperienced shadetree type to replace the entire body? How
> about using a pickup cab and building a flat bed? Any suggestions
> appreciated.
Response:
I was in a similar situation – had a 78 GMC that looked like swiss cheese. Rather than replace the entire cab, I replaced the rusty sheetmetal with new rust repair panels (a LOT of them!). I’m no expert – just a shadetree type as you say. If you don’t really care if the parts are US made or not, JC Whitney has quite a good selection of sheetmetal parts for the Chevy/GMC pickups & suburbans. I replaced the front fenders, floorboards, door sills, rockers, cab corners, & door bottoms. The bed was too far gone, so I replaced it with the help of about 6 friends – I don’t care to ever do that again! I had no experience with welding up until then, so I bought a gasless wire welder & used flux cored wire. Took some getting used to, but I was able to successfully weld the new panels into place, in addition to using rivets & urethane sealers. Truck didn’t look too bad when I was done. This would probably be a bit easier for you than to replace the body – both ways would be a lot of work, but I think replacing the metal would be the lesser of the two evils! BOB * Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet’s Discussion Network * The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet – Free!
Response:
I’ve been given a 78 Suburban 454 with automatic that spent too many winters in the salt. The body is rusting to pieces. I have holes to the road through the bed and passenger side floor. Mechanically the truck is 100% and I want to keep it alive for hauling firewood. Question is what to do when I put my foot through the floor. I have two local wrecking yards to draw from. Is it practical for a relatively inexperienced shadetree type to replace the entire body? How about using a pickup cab and building a flat bed? Any suggestions appreciated.
