This is one of my new projects itbelongs to "extd56" one of the board members. I will be doing all the panel and rust removal as well as a full build up. extd56's plans for it are to fix all the rust(3 rockers and inner panels, both kick panels,cab corners and as of last night the passenger side winshield post and both passenger side doors. Then shorten the frame 12" (it is a long bed now) but leave the rear stock behind the rear wheels. Once this is done I will shorten the bed to fit and install a 91 burb 42gal gass tank under the rear and add a gass filler door to the passenger bed side. Next is to install a 91 TBI 454, AOD and T-case, 4" lift and 35" tires. Also I will be rewiring the truck with a painless harness, doing body work, smoothing the fire wall, paint the inside, door jambs and inner doors and the fire wall. If things stay the same the out side will be orange with a white top and burb trim around the cab just below the windows.

I will be posting pic's as I go and try and explane things as I go or as questions are asked. I will not get to all of them just because time is short and I am building this truck after a full days work. I will also be doing small jobs for others as they come up and inbetween steps on this project.

Just a quick note on this truck. It started out as a Suburban that was chopped behind the third door and a truck cab was grafted on the back. Who ever did the work originaly did it right and used the tops of the truck doors instead of leaving the square tops that so many people do when trying to build a truck like this. The top skin was cut off and laid back down an inch or so lower to get rid of the high roof on the stock burbs. Then it was placed on an 80's crew cab long bed frame and adjusted to fit. ight now it has a 350/350 combo with a T-case on the back.

First task will be the drivers side rocker..

Kevin

Well all the parts are now here or at extd56's house so it is time to get started. First order of buisness is the rockers and cab corners. Tonight I started with the drivers side rocker, inner rocker panel, kick panel and "A" post bottom removal. This week end I plan on cutting out all the rust , treat the affected areas and replace all that was removed (minus the pile or rust) and prime. Then maybe start on the other side. I hope you all enjoy the build!

Kevin

The fun begains!!

Kevin

Holy crap what a mess. It's good to see you at it again. Post some pics of the truck so we can see it....:)

Looks familiar! hehe, should be a nice project. Whatever happened to the 67 extended cab? Is she still in the works or done? Thanks for the pics and keep us updated. Jeff.

Get that rust,"outta there!!!"Said like an umpire on the third steerike.It`s going to be nice.Question:why not a standard shortbed?I guess this question is for Extd56.

The extended cab is on hold for now not knowing of its fate at this time.
Reason for a shoter bed but not a short bed is for two reasons. extd56 likes it as a full on long bed crew cab and I think it should be a shorter than short bed. It is his truck but I guess I wined enought to make him want to shut me up so he is letting me shorten in ftont of the wheels to give it a shorter look but keeping the real long to hide that 42 gal fuel tank. Trust me that tank will take up every bit of that over hang..

Kevin

When I read the title, the first thing that came to mind was Extd56. :)

Are you going to leave it a 3 door or are you going to add a left rear door?

That rust looks worse than school lunches........have fun working on the truck.

:agree:

Looks like it should turn out really nice keep us posted..

Yes it will be a bit of work removing and replacing it all:crazy:

Wel I started the morning off finishing the cut away prosses. Then I bent up some inner rocker panels that have a nice return lip for the floor to sit on as well as a small return lip at the bottom to add a bit of rigdity to the rocker. Then it is a matter of clamping it all into place and test fitting it all. Once you are happy with the first round of fitting then I like to use self tapping sheet metal screws to hold it all in place while I test fit the door. Once that is to my liking I remove the door and unscrew it all, clean and paint all the parts with rust prevenative paint/ primer.

Time for lunch then weld away!

Kevin

and

Looks great. It always amazes me what good body guys can do in a short period of time.

I really enjoy watching your builds. Gets me motivated to practice my welding and metal skills. I like that trucks look. I'd love to find one like it someday.

Looks great. It always amazes me what good body guys can do in a short period of time.

Agreed, are you for hire? :lol:

One down and two to go:b69:
It is ready for a light skim coat, seam sealer and paint!!

Kevin

One more unexpeted find! I stared to remove paint for the drivers side cab corner replacement and found way more bondo than I expected! The quarter panel is almost 3/4" out past the "door jamb" area. It might be easier to just remove it and fab up a fourth door:crazy: The truck cab's door jamb is still in place and a B post would not be the hardest thing to scratch build, but who knows! I need to dive into my magazine archives and find that 2wd 4 door crew that was built a few years ago. He listed what he did to get a fourth door.

Kevin

Funny, I was just talking about the crew cab tonight, and BAMM heres a post. Love the look of the crew cab, keep us posted on the progress.

I vote for the fourth door. It's nice to have when 3 people are seated in the back. Also it is easier to get a bench seat in. And bolting down the left rear seat bolt to the floor might be difficult unless the sliders move the seat far enough forward. At least in a burb you have all the space to get behind the seat. Nice work. Keep the progress pics coming!

so, I am not familar with the 70's pick ups, is that a true crew or is it something someone fabbed up?

When a burb and a pick up get in a head on this is what happens! Burb front half of the cab and a truck rear section grafted together.

Kevin

sweetness i wish i could find something like that it be cool to drive

Nice work!

could you do me a favor and take some pics of the body mounts? Im going to be putting a 70 cab on a 79 frame and would like to see what they did for the body mounts. Thanks

Just curious Rokcrln, from start to finish on the floor, rocker repair,etc. about how many hours have you got in to it? I'm going to start replacing panels next weekend. I'll be way slower but I'd like an idea.
Thanks.

The body mounts are removed and re-adjusted for a correct fit. If the frame is the same width all you have to do is re-locate them for the proper cab to body allignment.

From start to finish it was about 10-12hrs.

Kevin

Very nice work.

SLIMJIM

I will be keeping an eye on this one. I have a spare burb just sitting waiting for a crew cab treatment.

Keep the updates coming!

Aaron

Well I only spent a few hours working on it today and most of that involved a cut off wheel! Looks like we are heading in the 4th door direction. After looking at options to fix the rear cab corner correctly I ended up cutting off the skin and finding tons more rust. After a bit of looking I think the 4th door will not be as hard as most people think. extd56 is looking for some more parts and we will put to gether a doner list of pieces.

Kevin

Kevin, more great work! Thanks for giving us the pics and updates. How do you weld your rockers on? Do you weld around the edges, or do you use pilot holes and fill weld? Thanks, Jeff.

Kevin, more great work! Thanks for giving us the pics and updates. How do you weld your rockers on? Do you weld around the edges, or do you use pilot holes and fill weld? Thanks, Jeff.

Depends on how bad the structure is to begain with. This one was so bad in the front I welded everything solid for more suport. The rear was plug welded to the jamb and the threashold was also plug welded. If the front had been in good shape and ONLY needed a rocker cover I would just plug/spot weld it. Hope that answers your question.

Kevin

Looking good man its good to see others repairing stuff correctly instead of just covering rust up with new panels. Nice work man and on that 4th door u should be able to use a left door and just shorten it and use a door post outta truck in the rear and then just fab the center post,but im sure u got that figured out seeing the great work u do. THUMBSUP

I've said it before, you do awesome work! Incredible to see how much you get done in such short time.

That was what I was wondering. I am using plug/spot welding on mine and just wondered if you went the same route. Your welds are so good I can't see them. Mine aren't quite that good.:o Thanks, Jeff.

Awsome work, Kevin! Love to watch a master at work, and still have the time to document so well! Should be awsome when finished. I'll be following closely. Jamie.

It's funny that I just found this thead. I have been thinking about building myself a 4 door truck like this in the future as a daily driver, and found a suburban just last night, lol. Looks like someone is telling me to do it!. I'd be interested in seeing pics of how/where the rear panel was added on.

Here are a few pictures of the donor truck that I found for the cab parts that Kevin needed.

:phat:

Lookin sweet. Looks like the back window would have been a challenge to roll up and down with all the rust in the roller jam. It will be a head turner when you get it done, no doubt.

So now if you have to work on Prez day it is double time right:rolleyes:

Looks like I will get to have a busy four day week end!

Kevin

Excellent job, both the metal work and the thread on it.:D

Love watching your threads. Keeps me motivated on mine.

Love watching your threads. Keeps me motivated on mine.

Heck mine is sitting in the corner collecting dust as I am working on everyone elses. But I am getting motivated to finish mine, sell it and start a real wild project idea I have:cool:

More pics to come, I will be working on extd56's project over the long weekend and should get quite a bit of stuff roughed in. I will be starting to smooth the running boards Thursday night:confused:

Kevin

I got the donor cab all cleaned up and unbolted from the frame, its ready to do its part to help out the crewcab.

I'd like to see some pictures of the rear floor. I'm curious how much of the floor had to be notched to clear the frame rails. I'm thinking of using a 85 SWB frame under my 67 standard cab but the frame kicks up under the seat area on the 85 and the 67 frame kicks up after the cab requiring the notch.

Were the mounting brackets relocated on the frame to match the locations of the cab? If you could take some pictures of the bottom side it would be very helpful to me.

Here are some shot of teh body notch for the newer frame. Yes all the body mounts were relocated and bolted in as needed to keep things mostly lined up.

Note: This was done by the P/O not by me!

Kevin

looking good

Looking good man its good to see others repairing stuff correctly instead of just covering rust up with new panels. Nice work man and on that 4th door u should be able to use a left door and just shorten it and use a door post outta truck in the rear and then just fab the center post,but im sure u got that figured out seeing the great work u do. THUMBSUP

Thanks~ The PO liked fiber glass as a rust repair! I will be doing the 4th door in that direction you mentioned but take a close look at your B post on your burb. The owner wants the same door to door look on the drivers side as the passenger side. The pass side has different hinge placement on the second door as well as a diferent strike place and location on the pass front then the drivers side has for hinge clearance. I have started to fab the new post and door opening and by monday I should have some pics to post. It has tuned out to not be as simple as we first thought but it is very doable and will be a great addition once finished!

Kevin

You do Awsome work! And very informative too. Love watching the build of this. You Rock! :metal:

im curious to know the demensions for that inner rocker panel? im gonna need to make some as well.
thanks!

Another day down! Today was spent building a new driver side "B" post, door strike, door strike jamb area and mounting plate. In order to make this crewcab look factory once it is completed I had to match the passenger side "B" post and related items. It is a major difference between the two sides of a burb. Their was alot of thought that went into making a third door work properly. This means a good bit of one off parts to make a fourth door work as well.

First thing I had to do was rebuild the jamb (parts came from the donor truck extd56 picked up for this project) are for the new strike plate. If you notice the strike plate on a stock drivers side is at a slite slant and the pass side is vertical. This is done so the third door hinge's can mount to a flat surface and not interfear with the front door strike. Then I made the new strike to a mirror image of the pass side and it took 3 strike plate to built this one. Next I modified a stock drivers side nut plate for the strike to bolt to. Last thing before closing things up was to build a mounting plate retainer since you will not be able to get to the nut plate like you can on a pick up.

Once all that was finished up I started on the new "B" post it self. I am using 18ga steel to fill in between the two jambs. It extendes 2" into the post and will have a second plate on the out side once the entire post is fabricated.

Hope you enjoy the pic's

Kevin

The rest of the pic's!

Kevin

i'm gonna leave all that fabrication to you, seems too complicated for me. what's sad is nobody's going to know all the engineering that took place in the buildup of this truck unless you tell them.

i'm gonna leave all that fabrication to you, seems too complicated for me. what's sad is nobody's going to know all the engineering that took place in the buildup of this truck unless you tell them.

If nobody knows what was done, then my job was done correctly! The best part will be when that guy come up to you and says my dad had one just like this!!

Kevin

I hope you are taking good notes for when I need replacement parts or you want to convert a burb to a 4 door.:)

How much $$$$ are involved in the job? I'd like a 4door as well,but I'd really just like to have an ex-cab.Any idea what you would charge to do one? Thanks

How much $$$$ are involved in the job? I'd like a 4door as well,but I'd really just like to have an ex-cab.Any idea what you would charge to do one? Thanks

In simple numbers~ ALOT!
I won't know untill this one is done. Then I am thinking a 4door Tahoe would be slick!

Kevin

Too bad you are so far away.I'd have you rebuild the floor,rockers,cab corners,ect on my 67'. I've never seen someone work so fast on a vehicle.:cool:

Your super "leet" skills make me want to throw up on myself.......

I can barely tie my shoes in comparison to this crap......blah.......you make me sick! :barf: Maybe one day I can be a tenth that good.

I can barely tie my shoes in comparison to this crap......blah.......you make me sick! :barf: Maybe one day I can be a tenth that good.

Heck I would be happy if someday I am as good as you all say I am! But thanks for the good words... Well the shop should be warm by now so time to get cracking!

Kevin

Lunch break! I will start the rocker build after I eat a bite or two! Once the rocker is finished then I can skin the out side of the "B" post with its final layer and it will be time to start fab'n up a fourth door!

Kevin

I like your project Kevin. I can't wait to see that thing put together.

You are my hero. Keep up the great work.

Aaron

Excellent. Love to watch your builds.

Well it is almost a swinger!! I jot the rocker built an dscrewed in place untill the door is complete and working. I then cut down a drivers side truck door as my donor for the fourth door. I cut out the un-needed section and slid them together and just tacked the inside and cleco'd the outer skin. I modified the lower hinge mount on the door to recieve the lower hinge. I still need to section the upper hinge mount and lower it a few inches. That will be another day!! Back to work tomarow so progress will slow a bit on the truck since I only get 1 or 2 hours in the evening to work on it during the week.

Kevin

A few more!

Kevin

DONE ALREADY??? wow close though. that's just amazing and i can't find ANY flaws since you seem to be a quick thinker, and a good engineer. looks great!

This is impressive.

Nice work Kevin!

Mike

You are a Freak'n Magician!

Hot Damn! that looks good. I can't believe how fast you work and how good it looks. Amazing. Freak'n Amazing.

It is now infact a four door crew cab!!!!

After lowering the top hinge and doing some clearance adjustments it now has a swing fourth door:b69:

Their is still alot of work to be done to get this door and jamb 100% comlpete but I feel the hard part is over.

Kevin

dang.:jdp: u've got some amazing body work skills. wish i was half as good as that.

when do you want your 1st place trophy? i thought you had very little time to work during the week.

wow!!!....

WOW, nice work and quick as well...

I can't wait to see this done, going to be a one of a kind that's for sure.

And to think it took me 3 days to put 2 rockers on my truck, sheesh :lol: