The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network - 1966 Suburban...Sort of...Trailblazer SS SWAP

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1966 Suburban...Sort of...Trailblazer SS SWAP

Here is a little background on my most recent project. In May, 2015 I purchased a Trailblazer SS locally as a doner vehicle. At that time, I wasn't completely sure what Body I was going to use. My intent was to use as much of the Trailblazer as possible. Since this vehicle came with a 400hp LS2, 4l70E trans, 4 wheel disc brakes (Drilled and slotted rotors), nice 20' Wheel with good tires, leather interior, all wheel drive, etc I felt that buying this as a doner vehicle was most likely more cost effective than sourcing all of these parts individually. The price was right on the SS, so I pulled the trigger. I will remove all of the SS wiring, run stand alone engine and transmission computers and wiring harness from PSI.

A few weeks later I found a '66 Suburban body for sale. After verifying a few critical measurements (wheelbase, track width, distance from firewall to grill) I decided a 60 to 66 Chevy would fit pretty well. That was good news for me, as I have owned at least a half dozed of these in either the truck or suburban form. I picked up the Suburban and started cutting...

Over the last few months I have repaired rust down the driver side of the Suburban, and shortened the body 3" so the wheel wells would line up with the SS. I actually only needed to shorten it 2", but noticed that the wheels seem to line up better on these when an additional inch is removed. Same amount of work, so why not?

Last weekend I removed the entire steel floor section from the Suburban. I will remove the wood floor soon, but wanted to leave as much structure as possible there. My reason for removing the floor from the suburban is I will utlize the floor and firewall from the trailblazer. It allows me to channel the burb as low as I want, retains the proper brake booster, steering shaft locations, as well as seat anchoring points, and NO RUST!

I have just started the process of dismantling the SS. I will cut the body off down to the inner rocker panels and firewall, then drop the burb body over the SS and begin the process of filling the gaps and extending the SS floor bracing to the burb inner rockers.

While this is alot of work, its the kind of stuff I like to do. Its really not difficult, just alot of measuring, cutting and welding.

I will post up pics as I progress. If you have questions, post 'em up!