My Suburban project from Ohio.

[slim67 2,737]

Well i picked up a really nice gas tank at tractor salvage yard the other day since mine was wasted. It came off an old Simplicity and was unbelievably in nice shape especially the inside. It is more like the style found on Sears where is is more squared vs the rounded Wheelhorse tank. I will have to make new straps anyways and have some work to do in that area of the hood.I will post some pics tomorrow but its coming along.  I am getting some gasket material tomorrow and will start putting trans back together this weekend. 

[slim67 2,737]

well i got more done and hood is stripped and etched, gas tank painted, rear wheels cleaned and ready to be primed and seat and front wheels primed. About the biggest problem is the work the hood will need. Fortunately my Dad has restore a few pedal cars and gave me some good pointers. Im just going to have to be patient with it. I used rustoleum etching primer on everything and now going to rustoleum light gray for the finishing part .I dont know if the dent in the tank was on purpose or not? Im not that worried about since there is already enough against this tractor to keep it from getting a prize but as I said iin the beginning, I want to use it.

[WHX?? 49,485]

15 minutes ago, slim67 said:

dent in the tank was on purpose or not

Not that I am aware of, probably someone dropped it or some freak accident or something. Wouldn't worry about it too much unless your looking for show trophies or such, doesn't look like it leaks and won't see much of it unless ya look up under the hood. Speaking of which good luck with that. Gonna need to weld up something from the bottom side & bondo. Piece of  for a body man which ain't me!  Rims & seat look

Edited February 15, 2017 by WHX9

[slim67 2,737]

8 minutes ago, WHX9 said:

Not that I am aware of, probably someone dropped it or some freak accident or something. Wouldn't worry about it too much unless your looking for show trophies or such, doesn't look like it leaks and won't see much of it unless ya look up under the hood. Speaking of which good luck with that. Gonna need to weld up something from the bottom side & bondo. Piece of  for a body man which ain't me!  Rims & seat look

LOL no shows for me unless its looking at everyone elses! I did weld a tab for a strap although I wont be reusing originals. I may not even put fuel in the tank depending what motor ends up in there. It came out of a Simplicity just like the 2 that TIGman picked here recently. Thanks for comments.

[953 nut 56,161]

Rather convenient being able to read the news paper without moving the hood!      

   How are the back and leg doing? My guess would be good considering the work you are doing.

[slim67 2,737]

7 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

Rather convenient being able to read the news paper without moving the hood!      

   How are the back and leg doing? My guess would be good considering the work you are doing.

They are coming along fine thank you. I hope to return to work this Monday which will slow my progress on the tractor. I am happy to have had all this time to work on it anyways so something good did come of all this. The feeling in my lower left leg has returned quite a bit. Thanks again for asking and back to the hood, yeah its going to take a little work but im sure others have fixed worse. It will be worth it.

[ed lincoln 33]

The gas tank is from a simplicity/allis garden tractor B110-112 around 1965-67. they have 4 knurled bolts holding the hood on. Tank has dent for left side rear bolt.

[slim67 2,737]

40 minutes ago, ed lincoln said:

The gas tank is from a simplicity/allis garden tractor B110-112 around 1965-67. they have 4 knurled bolts holding the hood on. Tank has dent for left side rear bolt.

I thought the dent looked like it was intended for something but couldnt tell. I didnt pay attention to it when I was removing tank because it wasnt visible. I would have bought the tank anyway due to overall condition. Thanks for that info Ed. A neighbor up the street had an Allis/Simplicity that his spouse sold when he died. I dont know what model but I never knew they were selling it either.

[slim67 2,737]

I picked up some J-B weld the other day and glued some galvanized patches under the worst spots. It is curing so I will start on it this week. I also got a gallon of this light weight filler that i cant wait to try. The weather here is going to warm up this week so I will probably put a second coat of paint on the already painted parts. I will put trans together tomorrow and give that a second coat to. The wheels are pretty much ready for paint also. I was thinking of Ivory or Almond as opposed to White. The seat still needs a little fill around center bolt hole and a few more coats of primer before its ready.

[953 nut 56,161]

5 hours ago, slim67 said:

I also got a gallon of this light weight filler that i cant wait to try

Unless you have used bondo before I would suggest you practice on a scrap piece of wood first. Also, you want to use several thin coats and pick up a "Surform" with a half round blade to do the rough forming. Don't put on the bondo and come back in a few days to try and sand it down, you will work yourself to death.

Edited February 18, 2017 by 953 nut

[slim67 2,737]

2 hours ago, 953 nut said:

Unless you have used bondo before I would suggest you practice on a scrap piece of wood first. Also, you want to use several thin coats and pick up a "Surform" with a half round blade to do the rough forming. Don't put on the bondo and come back in a few days to try and sand it down, you will work yourself to death.

I hear you on that one. I have used bonds in the past and yes, I did go with a skim coat to start with. I know this will take a lot of patience to get it right, so I definitely will not rush it. I will post a pic of some work I did this evening between the hood and honing the axle shaft bearings. Thanks for the advice 953, as always much appreciated.

[slim67 2,737]

Beautiful evening to be in the garage. I had to hone the axle tube bearings in order to get them to fit and trimmed off the excess bearing in the differential. I am dry fitting everything and it is good so far. I am honing the pass.side cover as I type this. It's been a stop and start procedure with the honing. I am using a hone for brake cylinders and it's taking some time but the first one has a real nice fit to it. Getting ready to call it for the night. Here are some pics of progress.

[953 nut 56,161]

If you get some time on your hands and want to see some fine body work take the time to read over this post by @JPWH. I think the body work part starts about the third or fourth page of posts. Jay did a great job of documenting the build and got lots of good input, the tractor came out great.

 

[slim67 2,737]

6 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

If you get some time on your hands and want to see some fine body work take the time to read over this post by @JPWH. I think the body work part starts about the third or fourth page of posts. Jay did a great job of documenting the build and got lots of good input, the tractor came out great.

 

I sure will thank you. I remember checking out johndeerelfmans thread also and his looks excellent. The hood is always the first thing I notice on the RJs/Suburbans. 

[slim67 2,737]

Just updating this thread a bit but no progress since last post. My Dad needed a water pump replaced on his S10 pickup and I need bodywork done on my hood. He has restored a few pedal cars and has some skills in doing bodywork. He is very good at what Ive seen him do and is meticulous. His shoulder has been bothering him lately so I offered to trade labor. He will take over the work on my hood and I already did his water pump this morning. I still have to flush system when weather warms up. I will start transmission assembly hopefully tomorrow and will post pics. I guess its a father/son project now! Thanks for following my thread.

[slim67 2,737]

This thread is dragging, i know but I am getting ready to start back with reassembling. My Dad did an outstanding job on the hood and I told him he got the short end of the stick on that deal. I will certainly make it right though. I found a nice k91 for 175 bucks that looks like it was kept up or even rebuilt. Do you guys think thats a good price? Im thinking it is considering availability these days. I picked up two real nice 4.80-8 Carlisle trailer tires today for 20 bucks also for this project. He even threw in an extra thats an exact match to another tire I had in the shed.

[WheelHorseJunkie71 2]

Keep up the good work, I've been following.

[slim67 2,737]

8 hours ago, WheelHorseJunkie71 said:

Keep up the good work, I've been following.

So much going on right now at work and around the house. Some days I am dragging when I get home, but its getting there.