Suburban Assault Vehicle

I worked on the very dented wheel well today and it's not perfect but it's a lot better. With a bunch more time, it could be perfect but it's not practical to try to make this a show vehicle so I'll live with a dent here or there on the inside.

While I have been working on the drivers side, my wife has been working on the passenger side and it's looking amazing

Somebody photoshopped it in orange, what do you think? I'm not a fan of the modern wheels or fender flares but otherwise it looks cool

I'm personally a proponent of orange all the things, so I think it looks killer.  I feel something loud is mandatory for this vehicle of awesome-  orange, teal/turq, Old school dodge lime green... something along that vein. 

golfduke said:

I'm personally a proponent of orange all the things, so I think it looks killer.  I feel something loud is mandatory for this vehicle of awesome-  orange, teal/turq, Old school dodge lime green... something along that vein. 

 

 

I like your attitude..a lot

Finished up the passenger side wheel well and barn door and repaired the grill. The grill was bent and had many holes drilled it for some reason. I welded them all up and smoothed it out.

This thing is so cool.

I agree with golfduke on the color question - this thing has a ton of presence, so a statement color is the way to go. The blue/white wouldn't be bad, but orange or another bold color would be better IMHO.

Have to give you props for the work you both are doing on bringing this Suburban back to life, I have lots of respect for the quality of work and attention to detail!

And sorry to hear about the shutdown - hang in there!! I hope things turn around for you soon.

Considering it's history, whatever color you chose must be "radioactive" bright.

bOttOmfeeder said:

Considering it's history, whatever color you chose must be "radioactive" bright.

Several have suggested I put underglow on it

I know I would keep the 3 eyed fish logo on it no matter what color, but the original would be best.

TurnerX19 said:

I know I would keep the 3 eyed fish logo on it no matter what color, but the original would be best.

I love the history of the Suburban and I'm not opposed to the yellow but I plan on selling it and wonder if it will be worth more in another color

I took the glove compartment lid and and now you can see (from left to right) the original Dark Yellow, Hugger Orange, Tangier Orange. I was convinced I would like the Hugger Orange the most but the Tangier Orange is a better choice. The Hugger Orange is too bold on a vehicle this size. I had to accept that I can never get rid of all the dings and dents but I was able to get most of them. The barn doors and cargo area were particularly bad but they're looking pretty good now.

A friend did his lowered 63 GMC ‘burb - factory panel truck with windows (titled as an ambulance) In Hugger Orange. We called it the battery powered paint job!!! 

But on that 4wd I think the tangier orange would look great. Personally, I think the original yellow suits that body well, and have seen others. 

I hope you decide to keep it. I won’t be able to afford it, and can live vicariously through you! 

Agree 100% on tangier orange! 

Nice choice :)

Hugger Orange with gold or HO with black, pin striping!

I'm really proud of the bumpers I built for the Suburban but today I worked on the part that is probably going to get the most attention from enthusiasts. The pickup trucks could be optioned up with an oak slat bed with metal strips but this option was never available on Suburbans. Suburbans only came with plywood in the back but I wanted the oak slats. An oak bed kit does not fit a Suburban because the wheelwells are different and there is no provisions to bolt the oak strips down, but I overcame all that and even had to order extra boards to cut them to shape for the Suburban wheel wells. It looks amazing. Top and bottom views.

I'm lucky because for all GM vehicles shipped to or from Canada, the build sheets still exist for what every vehicle. There's a service that will send you everything on your vehicle Vintage Vehicle Services and I got the build sheet for my Suburban. Here's some interesting info: My Suburban was built 15 days before I was born and was painted a non-GM colour, it had extra horns fitted and that only 10 were shipped to Canada in this configuration. I wish I knew what those missing codes were.

The decision has been made: we are painting the Suburban the color it came from the factory and will paint/powder coat the bumpers, roof rack, wheels, seats and door panels black. We will also be adding a large atomic vinyl graphic to each side. It should look awesome.

I think the Original school bus yellow is the right choice. FWIW. Fantastic build.

In reply to loosecannon :

Thank you for preserving history with a sense of humor.

In reply to loosecannon :

Love that plan!

Thumbs up on repaint in the original special order fleet color. Your work is an inspiration for my own slog on an FJ60. Thanks for letting us come along for the journey. 

I made clamps for the roof rack and assembled the front fenders, hood, grill and inner fenders to test for fitment. I have a lot of concerns about assembly after painting but the plan is to take all the doors,fenders and hood off then paint all the jams and underside of panels then assemble and paint the exterior in one go.

loosecannon said:

 

This is such a great picture BTW!