The Bufmobl Build
 

It took 3 years to get here. There have been a lot of changes to this point. Some for quality sake, others because of money.

Finally got the body mounted to the frame and the doors and front end on. I waxed every painted surface before I assembled, took almost a whole tub of wax. Bought a nice cover, real soft on the inside. As soon as I got it on, the snow started. So now I'm in the garage doing all the little stuff like sand blasting, painting and zink plaiting door guts.

P.S. Do any of you need a custom built Suburban/Panel body cart. I'm done with the one I built for this and it's in the way. Check the for sale ads.

Re: The Bufmobl Build
 

Love the color scheme. That's a great looking truck!

Did you do all the body work on the cart? I'd like to see pictures of it.

Paul

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I did all of the sheet metal work on the rolling chassis. Then I moved to a rotisserie.

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I wasn't sure exactly where to mount the rotisserie on the back. We ended up putting it on the inside and bolting and welding it to the lower part of th door jamb. One reason for the rotisserie was for sandblasting, primer and replacing the rear floor.

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Then I put it on the cart for final fitting, primer, block sanding and paint.
Also, I was worried about getting overspray on the powder coated frame.

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Found a side shot of the cart.
It supports the body at factory mounts 2, 4 and 5 on both sides.
I put a bunch of pictures in the ad.

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Looks great! Cant wait to see it come together.

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Found this in my little town down the street from a friends house. I watched sit there for 5 years. The front window was missing and the PO had lift the front window rolled down. The tree it was under had grown thru the openings. Had to cut branches to move it. Oddly enough it belonged to my wife's kindergarten teacher. It was a 350, TH350/NP205, D44 front, 12 bolt rear with a broken trans case and blown up rear end. $200.00 later, it was mine. That was 1998.
Couldn't find any pictures of this. Found one of what it looked like before I started this restoration.

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Loving the color combo, can't wait to see it finished!

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That cart looks like a great idea. I'm rethinking how to go about body work and paint. I was going to remove the body from my donor truck, put it on the rotisserie for sandblasting and rough body work then onto the frame for final bodywork and paint. That isn't going to work because the engine already on the frame.

Paul

Re: The Bufmobl Build
 

It went thru a LOT of changes. Made it run, found TH350 case and swapped all my parts over. Found a Dana 60 in the rear of a 69 C10 in the junk yard. Had the correct 6 bolt pattern for the wheels. The tag in the glove box said HD REAR.
Was my daily driver for years. Good "snow car".

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I got the body off the frame and on the rotisserie. Took the rotten plywood floor out and sent it to the sand blaster.

$2500.00 in sheet metal replacement.
$700.00 for used rotisserie.
$1500.00 for sand blasting and primer.

Was a factory rear a/c Burb.

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How I mounted the rotisserie at the back. This is as low as I could mount it and still spin 360*.

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Had to learn how to take the rear floor "puzzle" apart. Removed all the bolts and braces. 90% by cutting with a torch. Removed the spare tire tub. Then slide the "key" in the right front corner back till you can remove it. Slide the main piece of floor to the right and Fannys your aunt and Bobs your uncle. I used mine as a template to make the new one.
The next problem was finding a 5' wide piece of plywood, 5/8" thick, to make the new one out of. Well, you can buy a 5'x10' piece 13/16" thick that's used for making concrete forms. Also, it uses a waterproof glue to bond it together. We had to mill the front and rear ends and all the areas the braces go to 5/8" so it would fit. At the edges, the bolts go thru and have washers and a nut, so the thickness didn't matter.

P.S. That's not me. My friend Jon, the best carpenter I've ever known.

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The pic from the rear on the rotisserie, is it bolted to the top side of the plywood floor? I appreciate (and have saved) all the pictures!

Paul

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Painted it with a marine grade primer and reinstalled.
I turned the rotisserie on its left side and put the pieces in. They didn't fit right. I figured we had cut something wrong because it was so far off. Come to find out, these things flex, a lot, on a rotisserie. At least an inch off. (See why you don't do bodywork on a rotisserie!!!) So I turned it upside down and it fit great. Bought new nuts, bolts and washers and put it back together. I couldn't find the special flat head bolts that go at the back doors. I did find some with the right size thread but the head was too big. My solution was to chuck them in my drill press, spin them and grind them to the correct shape. It worked great.

Plywood $100.00
Primer, nuts and bolts $100.00

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I knew I couldn't leave the bottom in primer, so I covered it in bed liner. I used UPOL Rapter and tinted it the same color as the outside. One bedliner kit was not enough, took two.

2 bedliner kits $260.00
Tint $35.00
Bed liner/under coating gun $10.00

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It's about a 1/2" over the metal strip at the back door. I could just get the plywood out. If I had to do it again, I would cut the arms of the rotisserie off at the inside edge of the jamb.

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The plywood floor on the donor body is in great shape so I'll probably leave it in place unless there is a reason is should come out.

Paul

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I'm Back!
After being married for 30 years, my wife decided we needed vacation to celebrate. Kauai is assume.
2 days before I left I was running a snow blower. Now I have to get used to shoes again.

But I digress.
While the body was in paint jail, I worked on the frame. Got it powder coated, installed a 6" lift from Off Road Design and put axles on.

Re: The Bufmobl Build
 

I said it had been thru some changes.

The Dana 60 rear was fine with a small block. I decided I needed MORE POWER. So I built a 496. 550 lb.ft. of torque is awesome! Until you put on some new mudders and step on the right pedal. It will shear the axle flange right off the end of the shaft. When my wife asked "how did you do that" the only reply I could think of was "stepping on the gas".

That required a new axle or 2. Come to find out the 70's and 80's military GMC pickups (M1008 I think) have 14 bolt rears and Dana 60 fronts that bolt in with only changing the rear shock mounts. They come with 4:56 gears with a Detroit Locker in the rear and a posi in the front.

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So now I've got way more engine then I will ever need and extra heavy duty axles so what is gonna go next. That's easy, the TH350. So out with old and in with the new TH400 and NP205. Now you get to move everything around so it will all fit. Now that it fits why not buy new drive lines because they don't fit anymore. Neither does the exhaust.
Now I'm glad I sent the boy to welding school.

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After sitting in paint jail for more than a year, I told the painter I wanted it back ASAP. He told me if I wanted it back I had to come up with $9400.00 for labor and $2500.00 for materials. This was $9400.00 more than I owed him. I offered him $3500.00. He said no. So the Burb came home. Found another painter that quoted $3500.00, so I took it to him. I thought it came out very nice. Only time will tell.

In the mean time, my sister called me to tell me about an LQ4 and a 4L80E in a truck I could buy for $500.00. Needless to say, I bought it and installed it but that's in an LSx swap swap thread.

Here is a picture today with the front end and door handles on. Going to need all new glass as mine is all scratched and pitted. Need to find $1000.00 somewhere. That trip to Hawaii sucked up every penny and then some.

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I bought a zinc plating kit from Eastwood. Used it on some door parts. It worked great.
Bought stainless hardware so everything would match.

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Wow really nice!!! Looking good.

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Perfect Color choice.. thumbs up!

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I like that color... is it a factory green?

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Doing a great job on that suburban!

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Yes, that is the factory color. The code is 529 it's called medium blue green poly. The paint store told me poly ment metallic back then. The roof is the basic white Chevy used for years. The paint code in the glove box said 532 special paint. This breaks down to 529 (green) and 521 (white).
I used this color because it's different. It's also a pain. All of the interior pieces are the same color. Nobody reproduces anything in this color. It's all in pretty bad shape so I thought about a dark gray interior. Any opinions?

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Dark Grey would work good. I don't know if SEM makes a vinyl dye in the Blue/Green color or not. If they do you could have the seats and door panels done in a matching color and dye the dash pad and visors. I have had good luck with the SEM products.

LockDoc

Re: The Bufmobl Build
 

Got a couple small projects done.

Because I put headers on I can't use my old dip stick. The installation instructions give you a p/n for a new one.
Got sticker shock when I found out a new flexible dip stick costs $65.00. So I staired at the one that came on the engine. I figured a little time with the bender and I could make it work.

Here's what I came up with.


Pic of the original. Stick way up there. Easy to get to.

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Had to straighten out the top end and very carefully cut off the mounting bracket. Found it easiest to grind the spot welds down till you can just make out the outline where they attach to the tube. Then wiggle then till they break. Had to cut the mounting bracket down to about 3", put a little twist in it. Used one of the bolt holes on the front of the head. Braised them back together and painted. Uses the original dip stick.

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Got the fuel pump in the tank.
I have noticed that the older I get and the more something costs, the more likely I'll read the instructions. Then I find it goes together kind of like it says.

I bought a fuel tank for this 10 years ago. At that time all I could find was a plastic one. I'm cool with it because I live in wet area so I'm not worried about it rusting. This stuff is about a 1/4" thick.

I have a flat spot just big enough to mount it.

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Like I said "kind of like the instructions".

After taking all of the measurements, I find out this kit is going to be a little short. This is the tallest kit they make, I'm told. So with a little welding and making the hoses a little longer, it's just the right length.

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Because the tank is so thick, some of the screws aren't long enough. So some longer screws and some plumbing and it's ready to go in. I'd love to here it run.

Any thoughts on the old pick up tube? Should I cut off all of the tube I don't need and weld it shut? Or just plug the end and leave it long? I don't want a leak. Anybody dealt with this?

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Haven't got much done because of some bad weather and having a regular job and all.
Got the computer reprogramed. Got the harness about half done. Got most of the plumbing done.
Made my own fuel filter bracket out of a piece of 2 1/2" stainless exhaust tubing. Mocked up everything on the bench. Gonna install tomorrow.

Re: The Bufmobl Build
 

Looking good! Do you have any rubber cushion around the pump anywhere? You might have some noise transfer if you don't. Just a thought....

LockDoc

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The pump is in the tank. The last picture I posted is of the filter and a bracket I made out of a piece of 2 1/2" stainless exhaust tubing. I did line the inside of the bracket with rubber. All of this is mounted on the inside of the left frame rail about a foot back from the trans cross member.

Re: The Bufmobl Build
 

ahh, gotcha.

LockDoc

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Is that rated to be submersed in fuel? If not it will become goo fairly quickly