Suburban Rat

[Achto 27,908]

My 1960 Suburban as I found it. This poor girl was in bad shape, nothing moved and calcium chloride had ate the front rims. A big win was getting the steering apart. Decided to make this a rat project, didn't realize how hard it would be for me to clean parts up so they would work and not paint them.   

Edited January 5, 2016 by achto

[953 nut 56,153]

That looks great!  Don't change a thing, get it running and enjoy.

[Achto 27,908]

Hub and axle key ways were worn out. Instead of buying new parts I cut a new key way in the axles so I could use a strait key and utilize the unused portion of the hub slot. When I opened the tranny I found a nice surprise, the inside was a rusty muddy mess. Got the trans cleaned up, installed all new bearings, bushings and seals. I also drilled and tapped the hubs so there would be a set screw over the key,

[Achto 27,908]

The engine that was in it was wrong and locked up tight, not worth trying to save. Now please don't hate on my engine choice, the wrong engine is the wrong engine don't matter where it was made. Opened the box on my new engine and tore it apart, different cam, valve springs, piston, rod & filed the flywheel key to advance the timing. I would have changed the flywheel but I don't plan on spinning any faster than 3600 RPMs. Big air filter will require some extensions on the brake peddle and left foot peg. Made a new header pipe so I could fit the 2 1/2" exhaust.

Edited January 5, 2016 by achto

[AMC RULES 37,141]

Way more than just a rat...    

I see some hot rod going on there too. 

[slammer302 2,155]

I kinda did what your doing but didn't go rat rod but used the predator engine and have been very happy with it. I didn't do any upgrades to the engine so i'm curios to see what results you have with the mild build you have going on. Are you still using a stock carb & what cam did you use? I assume you are using a cam thats helps with torque in the lower rpms sense you don't plan on ruining past 3,600 rpms. I ask because i thought about all this when i built my suburban and went stock so i could still use the mowing deck i was afraid a light weight flywheel would kill torque     

[Achto 27,908]

Nice looking ride! I see you were able to use the stock air cleaner buy removing the top cover. I used a Dyno Cams CM, seemed to have the best profile to build static compression. Keeping the stock carb for now, I will have to drill the main jet out a little at a time to find the sweet spot. A change out on the flywheel is only nessasary if you want to do a big change on your timing or if you plan on going over 4500RPMs. Your stock flywheel will come apart around 5000RPMs, with the mods I made plus a new flywheel you could run out to 7200RPMs with these engines.

[slammer302 2,155]

9 hours ago, achto said:

Nice looking ride! I see you were able to use the stock air cleaner buy removing the top cover. I used a Dyno Cams CM, seemed to have the best profile to build static compression. Keeping the stock carb for now, I will have to drill the main jet out a little at a time to find the sweet spot. A change out on the flywheel is only nessasary if you want to do a big change on your timing or if you plan on going over 4500RPMs. Your stock flywheel will come apart around 5000RPMs, with the mods I made plus a new flywheel you could run out to 7200RPMs with these engines.

Yes i was able to use my stock air filter with no problems. I have a air filter adapter but didn't want to lose access to my brake/clutch pedal sense i do mow the grass with it i wanted to keep it comfortable.  The only problem i have is my fancy dual exhaust gets very hot on the legs I love the look and the sound but i think it will be removed sometime in the future i think i will take it to a shop and have a proper exhaust made for it   

[Achto 27,908]

Most of us discuss different ways to clean and paint metal for our tractors. The new look is not the goal on this project, I also don't want to wait for mother nature to age any new parts I have to make. Here is a way to push mother nature along a little. Sand your new metal with coarse sand paper or a grinder. Spray some peroxide on your part then pour some salt over it.

I let the part soak this way for 24hrs then I rinse the part each day with water to check the progress. The part below took 3 days to go from a new piece of metal to its current state. To darken the color you can heat your rusty part with propane torch,

[Wishin4a416 2,191]

Looks like you have a nice project ahead of you there.Good Luck!!!

[Achto 27,908]

Not done yet, but I was able to go for a test drive. Spent the first 30 min running around at idle to 1/2 throttle. A good break in avoids a break down. Did an oil change. Drove another 30 min at idle to 1/2 throttle, just itching to open it up. The time had finally arrived so rolling a long in 3rd just above idle I grabbed a hand full of throttle... Needless to say I was quite surprised when the front end ripped off the ground & I was looking at sky.   

Quite happy with the power I'm getting out of my engine, but I think I will add fluid to the front tires so this does not happen so easy. I'm also going to drop the front end about 3" hopefully this will help as well.

[AMC RULES 37,141]

Adding one of these...  

will surely keep it's nose planted. 

 

[RedRanger 1,468]

4 hours ago, AMC RULES said:

Adding one of these...  

will surely keep it's nose planted. 

 

Is that a sale offer?  

[953 nut 56,153]

Since you are building a Rat Rod Horse how about a tank like the "Gassers" used hanging out front and fill it with cement for weight.

[Achto 27,908]

This weeks project was a belt guard. Instead of looking for one I decided to try my hand at making one. I like how it turned out, now I can start getting some rust to grow on it. I want it to look like it on my tractor since 1960.

[953 nut 56,153]

51 minutes ago, achto said:

I can start getting some rust to grow on it.

If you wash it down with Muriatic acid it will flash rust almost immediately. Put a little steel wool on it while wet and it will form pits and streaks, I would suggest practicing with some scrap to be sure this is the look you are after.

[jimkemp 526]

Very nice work on that belt guard , I like it a lot

[Achto 27,908]

Thanks for your comments guys. A mixture of peroxide, vinegar, & salt has the finish on my belt guard moving along nicely. It's been a busy week but I did find time to add some foot rests. I'm having an issue getting the drive belt to stop spinning when you press the brake peddle down. I read several posts on this problem, hope to share my idea to cure this soon. 

[Achto 27,908]

Found a cure for belt drag that worked for me. Not sure if this will work with a stock belt guard, but with my home made guard I had plenty of room. First problem I had was finding a idler pulley with the correct O,D, and a 1/2" mounting hole. Did a lot of looking, then finally gave up and got one with a 3/8" mounting hole. To mount it I welded the old hole shut in the clutch arm then drilled and tapped it for a 3/8 16 bolt. My new pulley needed a 1/8" thick washer behind it, which helped me out with my cure.

 

I noticed that the belt did not move away from the engine pulley when I stepped on the brake peddle, this caused the belt to continue spinning with the tranny in neutral and the brake peddle depressed. If i pushed down on the belt with my finger (with the engine off) the belt would move away from the engine pulley. This gave me an idea for a cure.

 

I made this belt brake to install behind the idler pulley. I added an 1/8" roll pin on the back side to keep it in the correct position.

 

Now when you step on the brake peddle the belt is pulled down with the idler pulley. This forces the belt to move away from the engine pulley, It works great, the belt stops dead in it tracks when you step on the brake peddle, even in neutral.

 

[Achto 27,908]

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was having an issue keeping the front end of my Suburban on the ground. I don't really want to fill the front tires with fluid like the factory did so I decided to try lowering the front end instead.

 

I'm happy with how my drop spindles turned out. It was a lot more time consuming than I expected. Then again I took my time in hopes to get them right the first time. The factory used a snap ring to hold the wheel on, I choose to use a bolt in the end of the axle like the later models used. I was going to just use a bolt for the king pin but I didn't like the way it looked, so I made the king pins out of left over stock from making my axles.

I had to through some wheels on to check out the stance.

 

Even if the drop axles don't help keep the front end on the ground, the lower front hot rod look was worth the work. Definite cool factor!

[wrightorchid 261]

looks great!!

[jcp0420 109]

Love it! Looks great. And those drop spindles turned out great!

[Achto 27,908]

Warm out today so I got to do some tuning on my engine. With the mods that I did it wanted to hunt really bad at 1/2 throttle and above. A #69 drill bit fit the hole in the carburetor jet perfectly so I drilled it out with a #68 drill. Close but not quite. Take it apart & try a  #67 drill. Bingo! Runs smooth at all positions, great power too. What a difference .0028" made.

4 weeks ago I posted this pic of the belt guard I made.

It is finally ready to put on. If you think paint takes along time to dry, try waiting for something to rust.

Now I have to decide if I want to paint the engine shroud red, leave it alone or start the rusting process on it. I also started building an engine top cover out of an old ash shovel I found in the garage. This will be rusty when done.

 

[Achto 27,908]

Well it's been fun building my rat rod. Didn't seem right at first to disassemble a whole tractor and not break out the sand blaster & spray gun. Was still a fun project though.

.

OK, so I did spray a little paint. I do like the look of white walls & red rims on rat rods though.

Had to add some wheelie bars. I got a close up view of my gas cap after letting the clutch out one too many times. I'm still looking for the right item to hang on the front for weight. I like the idea of an aluminum tank like they used on gasser cars, just haven't found the right one yet.

I don't think I will ever be completely done with this  project. I'm always pondering different ideas, but for now it's pretty close to done.

[953 nut 56,153]

     Love the Wide Whites on Red Rims; very old school Kool!