1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

started work on the 63 burb - here are a few pics of the work that exposed itself! :lol:

rear drivers quarter - filler was just put over rust
drivers side revealed the shoddy work
drivers side door lower
pass side filler exposed
pass fender - dowh!

decided was best to get down to metal


p s
11 mo old broke my keybrd so excuse the short words (mot all my keys r work) will add words after fix keyboard :lol::waah:
pics for now

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

Kool! how bout some more pics of interior and whole burp..:metal:

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

drivers fender was bad so picked up one at junkyard
got sandblasted

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

fenders after blast
filler panel after blast
pass side fender after blast

gotta take all that down

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

front end apart
behind drivers fender
fender ext blast and welded up holes
pass fender ext will need to fill hole

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

started fixing pass fender

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

getting close w pass fender patched up the holes
added new patch panel front and rear

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

patched up the trans cover was duct tape over the holes

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

pass floor!
drivers floor
interior started sanding

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

mo pics
added electric fan - mark8 - got it from rock auto $80

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

took out heater - going to treat rust paint and install firewall insulation
interior pics

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

Thanks for stopping by

here ya go

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

"getting Busy" Nice

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

Nice progress. Ive been looking for a 63 burb myself and this is inspiring me to get more active in the quest.

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

Looks like lotsa work but aint they all, that's the best way to do it take it all the way down. That's what I'm doing to. It's lookin good.

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

nice suburban great work and progress!!!

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

Thanks

They sure seem not as easy to find as the trucks. I would have "settled" for a 4-5-6 but glad I got the year I wanted. Thanks

Yes, alot of work. More surface area to cover. Gotta get back to work, my drivers side inner came in. Time to get the drivers fender done. Thank you.

Thanks, same with yours.

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

Looking good!!!

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

Moving right along! Looks good. Post lots of pics of when you get into the pass floor/door sill work...I've got to do the same on ours.

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

Nice work. Sure wish I could get my patches to look that nice.

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

Any updates on this build?

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

Thanks!

Will do. May be a while at the pace I am going.

Thanks! You can just keep practicing.

Yes. Better late than never.
Was not making much progress for a few years then got back on it this summer. Also purchased a bunch more parts. Still need to do more metal patch work.

Rebuilt the front end, added drop springs and shocks, dual master brakes with disc, drop spindes. New poly bushings on rear trailing arms, power steering, sway bar. new tires and powder coated the rims.

Will post up some photos.

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

What's the word ??

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

Add some new springs, shock relocators and shocks from ECE.
Before pic of w stock height and red rims.
Pics of rear end and codes on rear end.

Question: Do I have to open up the read end to check the rear ratios or is there a way to look up the code?

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

Front end started out super caked w gunk, was a pain to get cleaned up.
Got the rims powder coated black and got new tires.
Tore down the front end and got all new moog parts along with drop spindles and power disc brakes.
Brakes were shot and one of the a-arms was cracked. Got a new one from aspen auto.

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

After a bunch of scraping and sanding got the a arms cleaned up. Some pics of them before and after getting powder coated. Added all new moog parts.
Got the frame area cleaned up so could paint it.

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

Before painting etched the frame.
Cleaned up the steering shaft and marked to cut for power steering.
Got new power steering box with less turns than stock.
Got the frame painted as well as the radiator support area.

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

Not shows added all new bushing for the rear trailing arms.
Added dual master with power booster and added new brake lines.
Got an alan grove power steering bracket and got the pump mounted.
Pic sitting on the ground after reassembly.
Added a swar bar from ECE.
Drives like a whole new car now. The sway bar, new tires, working brakes, 2.5" Drop spindles, along with all new shocks, bushings and lowered springs.

Got new drum and pads as well as rebuild kit for rear brakes. Want to take apart and R&R and get the e-brake working.

Been a while since I posted any updates. Hope to get more pics of the progress.

Any comments questions or suggestions are welcome. Hope everyone is having a Happy 4th

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

Looks good. Nice to see it moving a long. Back to the rear end question. I would just pull the cover and take a look. It will give the real story of the 50+ years of possibilities and some fresh oil.
Jimmy

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

Thanks, Happy to be working on it again. Appreciate you taking the time to reply.
Will pull the cover and check it out. Been having a hell of a time getting the rear drums off. will give it a try again when I get done with the passenger side floor, dogleg, kick panel, inner rocker, outer rocker and body support. Took that on as my next project and opened a can of worms where.

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

After removing the column and upgrading to power steering really notice the play in the steering column. appears the upper portion of the column, maybe the upper bearing has some play. Well, I can't get the steering wheel off to analyze what is going on. :lol:

Was able to remove the nut but the steering wheel is really stuck on there.

Any tips on getting the steering wheel off?
How do you use a steering wheel puller on the wheel to not damage the steering wheel? Does not appear anywhere for the normal "hooks" that a puller uses to attached to the wheel.
Is there a special puller for these style steering wheels?
Thanks for watching.

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

Been trying to decide on paint color. Original color was white, and was not too excited about white. But after seeing a pearl white longbed with black wheels looked real clean and simple.
Got me thinking of doing snow white pearl for the exterior, then zenith gold for the interior.
Sprayed out a test panel of snow white pearl to see if I could pull it off. No clear yet. Just primer and base coat. Pic of how it turned out.

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

Pulled the drivers door and the drives seat to get the floor cleaned up and to asses how much sheet metal repair is needed for the floor and rocker. Hoping the drivers side is better of than the passenger side. rofl!
Seat frame is cracked so got a nice laid back seat. Removed the seat belts and started cleaning up the jambs.

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

You need a steering wheel puller.

https://www.summitracing.com/search/...wheel%20puller

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

Thanks! Will try one of those out.

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

Lift the rear off the ground and spin the pinion. Majority of the 12 bolts were 3.73. Therefore it should take almost 4 complete turns of the driveshaft for 1 axle rotation. If both wheels spin in the same direction you have a limited slip optioned diff , bonus.

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

Thanks!

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

Ok got the doors off and started in on the worst side. The passenger side floor, outer rocker, inner rocker. Then opened a can of worms and need to replace the kick panel, dog leg and body support.

Here are some photos of what I started with and progess as I remove the sheet metal.

Once I got the outer rocker off, was filled up with rusted bits of metal.

The truck inner rocker/floor sheet metal is a little different but looks like it will work.

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

Few more pics of the progress... lol. I got this, just got to keep plugging away.

Re: 1963 suburban - fixin it up
 

Your metal work is turning out nice. Any updates?