Suburban Convertible

[SpeeedRacer62]

Greetings!

Years ago at a car show Id seen an older Sub that someone had made into a convertible and thought it was soooo cool. I've thought about it over the years and now Im going to make it a reality with the help of my 2 sons before they get too cool to work with Dad.

I found a 86 C20 Silverado equiped Sub with a 454 and a TH400 and a tail gate. So we drove it home and gutted the interior and all the door hardware/glass. Ive started fixing some minor rocker/quarter panel rust spots and now I'm in the middle of replacing the rear body cross member. This is a PAIN in my rear!

Here are a few pics and my vision when its done. Dual roll bars at each pillar to tie the body together for strength. Bars connected to each other and the body with dimple died gussets. Maybe make a sunbrella top and tie it to the roll cage.

Has anyone here attempted this before? I'd appreciate any feedback/suggestions. I'll post more as I make progress.

 

[smoothandlow84]

Will you be using dom tubing for the rollcage? If so what diameter? Sounds like it would make a great hunting rig.

 

[SpeeedRacer62]

Hey Smooth, No. I had planned on using DOM, but Sch40 is so much easier to get in my area, plus its cheaper. I don't plan on off-roading or racing this. Its going to be a summertime cruiser, so I dont need the added strength of DOM, nor the cost. Sch40 will work great to provide the body support lost from not having a roof.

As for the size, its 1.660 OD, just over 1 5/8. I'm using my new JD2 Model 32 bender to make all the custom bends.

 

[donmateo]

This is a really neat idea! In MI they have some Dune Rides that did something kind of similar with old Fords/Dodges.

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[bucket]

Maybe it's just me, but I think the small diameter poop pipe might look silly on something as large as a Suburban

 

[skysurfer]

Wonder if it will pass the safety inspection? I was looking through Virginia vehicle laws and if you remove any "significant" portion of a vehicle it has to be inspected and registered as a reconstructed vehicle.

 

[SpeeedRacer62]

Maybe it's just me, but I think the small diameter poop pipe might look silly on something as large as a Suburban

I agree Bucket, that's why I'm going to double up each pillar and tie the 2 hoops together with gussets, hopefully adding girth to each. Besides do you know how much 3" tubing and die sets are? $$$$

 

[SpeeedRacer62]

Wonder if it will pass the safety inspection? I was looking through Virginia vehicle laws and if you remove any "significant" portion of a vehicle it has to be inspected and registered as a reconstructed vehicle.

Not really concerned what Va state thinks. I'll register it as an antique, which doesn't require any type of inspection.

 

[SpeeedRacer62]

Past few days been working on the rear tail pan support. As you can see from the pics not only was the support beam in bad shape, but so was the mounting areas in both corners.

After getting a new support from Goodmark I realized that I needed to cut a portion of the rear floorpan out so that I could put the member in diagonally and then pull it back into place. Before that, I had to remove the new "tail gate bottom" sheet metal from the beam.

I fabricated some brackets, supports and patches out of 16 gauge steel and welded them to good metal on both corners

 

[SpeeedRacer62]

Worked on this most of the day today, while my boys attacked the rusty rockers. It was a good day with lots getting done. I'm glad to have the rear member back in and properly supporting the rear corners. I'll be welding back in the floor section I removed and may weld in floor board material to fill in the spare well, not sure yet.

 

[smoothandlow84]

Looking good. My only concern would be the strength of the cage. Safety first. I tend to overbuild any of my off road toys. I overbuilt the rollcage for our four seat converted rhino a few years back. I was involved in a roll over and the heavy cage saved our lives. Although I never planned on a roll-over... **** happens. Now that we have Polaris rzrs and on road and offroad all the time, the rollcage was the first safety item that was addressed. The oem cage was ditched and $$$ was spent to ensure the current cages were built with safety in mind. Not sure how strong the schedule 40 pipe will be versus the gross weight of the suburban carcass. Dom is pricey, but its cheaper than the worst result of someone being crushed to death in a worst case scenario. I'm sure you have taken this into consideration. ...I'm not trying to preach...just saying. I think it's a great father son project. Keep up the great work. Subscribed!

 

[foamypirate]

That's some nice lookin' work there! Keep it up.

 

[bucket]

I think I like your method for installing the tail pan. It's something I will need to replace on mine, but the left lower quarter is nearly all rusted away so I had planned to slide it in from that side. After removing a section of the inner qtr, where the spare tire well is. I had planned to eliminate the spare tire well also. Would I be better off doing it the way you did?

 

[SpeeedRacer62]

Looking good. My only concern would be the strength of the cage. Safety first. I tend to overbuild any of my off road toys. I overbuilt the rollcage for our four seat converted rhino a few years back. I was involved in a roll over and the heavy cage saved our lives. Although I never planned on a roll-over... **** happens. Now that we have Polaris rzrs and on road and offroad all the time, the rollcage was the first safety item that was addressed. The oem cage was ditched and $$$ was spent to ensure the current cages were built with safety in mind. Not sure how strong the schedule 40 pipe will be versus the gross weight of the suburban carcass. Dom is pricey, but its cheaper than the worst result of someone being crushed to death in a worst case scenario. I'm sure you have taken this into consideration. ...I'm not trying to preach...just saying. I think it's a great father son project. Keep up the great work. Subscribed!

Hey S&L, I appreciate your input, suggestions and good words. However this is a 2wd street machine. It will never be off-roaded or raced. Just a beach/car show cruiser, tow vehicle.

I've been thru all the boards and read tons on the subject, DOM vs Sch, and to be honest I was going to build it with DOM. But went cheaper at the last minute because the bars are there for 3 simple reasons:

1- tie the box back together and prevent the pillars from flexing around. I am positive that these bars will be many times stronger than the original roof, so thats good enough for me,
2- give it a cool look, hopefully and
3- be able to tie a rain bimini to it for unexpected wet conditions.

The boys each have their own projects, but I've enjoyed working with them on this. I think they have too. I know they'll love driving it when we finish.

 

[SpeeedRacer62]

I think I like your method for installing the tail pan. It's something I will need to replace on mine, but the left lower quarter is nearly all rusted away so I had planned to slide it in from that side. After removing a section of the inner qtr, where the spare tire well is. I had planned to eliminate the spare tire well also. Would I be better off doing it the way you did?

Hey Bucket, I believe your life would be much easier if you use the method I did. You would have to cut a hole pretty high up the body line to be able to slide that member in from the left. It would have to be up just below the tail light opening height because you'd need to slide it in horizontally and up under the "shelf" of the inner panel on the right side. There is NO wiggle room. PLUS, I am confident that your corners are sagging (like mine were) if your member is rusted out now. Its not properly supporting the corners. I had to jack up both corners at the same time so the bolts would line up.

Cutting and re-welding the floor is no big deal and who cares if the body work there is so-so. I plan on painting the interior with bed liner, so you'll never see the seam on mine.