build-a-truck Suburbalanche

[Detroit Dan]

I've been wanting to get an oobs (old old body style-73 to 91) 4 door truck for a long time now as a project, either a crewcab or Suburban, but preferably a pickup. Just found one cheap but it has been hacked to hell. Was a 90 2500 Suburban, someone cut the back roof off and screwed (yes screwed) a piece of metal to the back of the cab in a half-hearted attempt to make it look like an Avalanche. I have seen it done before in a professional fashion and isn't too bad, but this one is junk. Not to mention the rear quarters have been all cut up.
So here's my question: what do you think about cutting up a shortbed to put on the back, and putting the back of a pickup cab on the back of the passenger compartment? Couple concerns I have would be that the roofline may be too different from a pickup cab at that point of the suburban roof, I'm sure I could shorten a shortbed to make it line up with the wheelwell area, however a bed not being attached to the passenger area would seem to make the body lose any support it needs, unless perhaps the cab-back idea would work. Other thought was maybe just putting bedsides on the back and tying them in the way the suburban sides were originally.
I'm not a master fabricator, but I know the oobs trucks real well, so there is a lot I could do with this truck, just don't know for sure if it's more than I want to tackle.
BTW, it's got a lift and only 60k on it.

 

[mattthebrat]

I would through truck box sides, leave the carpet and and rear seats, and get a liftoff fiberglass top, so that it is basically a longer, 4 door, K-5.

What ever you do, I hope you have a good welder!

 

[SSduramax]

:nopics:

we gotta see pics !!!

 

[Detroit Dan]

So I've been trying to talk myself out of this foolish project, had a buddy who's a body man and a bit of an oddball when it comes to steel fab projects go take a look at it for me. I was kind of hoping he would say it's a waste and to forget about it, but he says it looks like it's got a lot of potential and wouldn't be too tough to close in and put a bed on. Did I mention I found a shortbed already shortened up?
Now, if I can scrounge up some money to make an offer, and find someone else to buy it for me (people who have it hate me, so I don't want to deal with them directly, long story), then all I need to do is figure out how to slip it past my wife. Any suggestions on that? It's at least 7 feet tall, 20 feet long and bright yellow, I think she might notice it if I brought it home...

 

[Sparky8370]

A nice back rub may help.

 

[Detroit Dan]

A nice back rub may help.

I'm sure it would help, but I can't get her to give me one. Oh, you mean her? Hmmm, I would but I'm afraid the temptation to strangle her would be too great. Oh never mind, forget I said that.

 

[Detroit Dan]

Looked it over again, after researching online at how people have done it in the past. Once I had a good idea of one way to do it, I went back and looked and realized they really did it kind of half-a55ed. My idea, (and other people before me) is to use the very back of a pickup cab, cobbled onto the sub roof, with a bulkhead built up from the floor. This guy took the rear top half of the sub body, where the tops of the barn doors would meet, and put that on the back of the roof. There is no bulkhead or glass or any way I can see of adding it. I think maybe the best thing would be to remove what he did and start over using a pickup cab and bulkhead.
Biggest problem I can see is that for some unknown reason he cut out much of the rear floor and both inner fenderwells. Now the rear quarters are swinging in the breeze, only connect to the truck at the front by the rear doors. And the rear quarters are cut up, so it almost looks like it should have a pickup bed scabbed on there. I don't know what to do. I think a pickup bed can be cut at the front to meet the fenderwells, but I don't think even a longbed is as long behind the rear wheels as a suburban is. So the longbed wouldn't reach the rear bumper. So I might need to add a pair of Suburban bedsides in addition to a new bed floor with wheel wells.
It's so aggravating that someone hacked up this nice truck, and obviously went way too far. From the rear door handles forward it's a nice low mileage truck in good shape.

 

[Pepperidge]

 

[btfarm]

Been a long time since we saw that!!!

 

[jrsavoie]

Maybe you should start with a 1991 International with a DT366 instead. I just happen to know of a good project truck you could buy cheap.