'nother question -- body removal on suburban

[Flat57]

I need to remove the entire body from my '85 diesel 2WD suburban. Anyone have any quick suggestions, or know where to find them?

Thanks,

John.

[Brianlar]

Remove front wire harness, fuse block, trace interior wires for gromets through floor, remove radiator, doors at hinge bolts, hood, spare tire, drop body bolts, pick it up.

[86burb]

The suburban has 14 body mounts,
Things to disconnect;if you choose to leave the radiator mounted to the rad support,tranny cooler lines, oil cooler lines, upper and lower rad hoses
-master cylinder/hydro-boost, disconnect from firewall and support
-steering shaft from flexible coupling
-body to engine and body to chassis ground straps
-battery cables
-throttle/cruise control linkage
-vacuum lines
-E-brake cable
-tranny shift linkage
-fuel filler neck and vent tube
-tail light wiring harness(single connection from body to chassis)
If possible use a forklift,
lift the body through the front and rear doors.
P.S. remember the ground straps and fuel filler tube(easy to forget).

Good Luck! sounds like a fun project, take lots of pics, I look forward to seeing the end result.

[Flat57]

Wow, that is a great list. I hope to get it removed tomorrow.

Thanks,

John.

[john8662]

Just out of curiousity, why are you removing the body off the frame? Wouldn't it be easier to just remove the engine/trans for your project?

[Flat57]

We (my daughter and I) are putting a 1957 chevy truck body on the suburban frame. The old chevy only has a 235 inline 6 in it, so we wanted a better power plant. We found this suburban for $600, and decided a '57 diesel truck would be kind of cool. :D She'll be driving it to school in a year or so when she turns 16.

The suburban frame gives us independant front suspension, a reasonable axle ratio (the old one is 5.14:1 :eek: ) and the 700R4. Apparently, this is a pretty common transplant.

[john8662]

OK, I wasn't sure which way you were going with that. Now I know you're going to use the suburban frame and suspension and transplant the body of the 57 onto it, will that work fairly easily? Meaning, are the body mount poins in the near same places?

[Flat57]

Haven't checked yet. I can move them if they are not. I anticipate lots of fabrication work. We intend to do lots of customizing. I'm looking at it as a good chance to spend some fun time with my daughter, and teach her some skills that every mother needs, like welding, mechanicing, body work, transmission overhauling, etc. ;)

[dieselcrawler]

What, a chick that digs the smell of diesel fuel? WOW. I need to find a chick like that, only about 10 years older! *grin* Good luck to both of you with your project, the custom ones are the best. No one else has one like it.

Greg

[Flat57]

Well, we got the front fenders and the grill area off today. Not hard at all except for a couple bolts that were hard to get to because of body damage at the corner. We started to work on the back, but one of the bolts at the very back just turns when we turn the nut. We'll have to figure how to get to it. The back door doesn't open (electric locks don't appear to work) so I can't see how to get to the top of the bolt.

We're looking forward to having the only diesel 57 chevy flatbed around . . . . . :D

[Flat57]

Got the body off today. Pretty straight forward. The only thing not on the list was the breather for the differential.

Here's the Body: (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/flat57/body.jpg)

and the Frame: (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/flat57/frame.jpg)

And here's the truck we are going to put on the frame: 57 chevy truck (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/flat57/truck.jpg)

And, what the heck, a picture of my daughter:
Alisa (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/flat57/Alisa.jpg)

Next step is remove the body from the 57 and see if it will fit. Then overhaul the tranny, then . . . . . smile.gif