Suburban wood floor

[kgmunro]

Just curious, you suburban guys keep the wood in the cargo area floor of your rides or change it out for sheetmetal? I would like to see pics of either. Mine is in good shape but not sure if I should keep it and refinish it or change it to sheetmetal.

[LT1 Burb]

I redid mine in 3/4 marine grade plywood.

[63burb]

Still haven't decided on mine

[Brad54]

I've given mine a ton of thought ('61 Suburban), but I haven't started it yet:
I'm going to replace it with sheetmetal, and incorporate the spare tire well for a '55-'57 Chevy station wagon, which will also allow me to also use a '55-'57 wagon gas tank and fuel sender.
I'm going to make a bead roller with a throat deep enough to reach into the center of the floor, so I can roll some wide ribs into it like a pick-up box floor.

The wagon floor center allows cleaner access to the spare tire--if I ever need it, I won't have to lay in the mud and dirt to get it out from under the truck. And we all know that Suburban gas tanks aren't reproduced.

The steel floor will also allow me to more securely anchor the rear seat and seat belts.

-Brad

[nadodave]

Hi-

Hope somebody is still watching the thread. I have been trying to remove the wood floor from my 63 Suburban panel. I have successfully removed all of the perimeter bolts (there were a few fatalities). It appears that I have to remove the lower exterior panel at the back of the 'burn to get the wood out. Is that correct? Also, the wood seems to be wedged into the side panels at the front. Does that seem right? Finally, since I have the body off the chassis, it occurred to me that I might need to brace the rear opening since there will be nothing holding the two sides together. I was going to replace the wood with some decent plywood, which evidently must be done in two halves and butt glued together. Any advice would be appreciated.

[VictoriaHardware]

remove the lower exterior panel at the back of the 'burn to get the wood out. Is that correct?

No, it will all drop out from the bottom. Therefore no need to do any bracing.

which evidently must be done in two halves and butt glued together

Yes, you will need two sheets of plywood. Use a router and make a lap joint down the middle to join the two and seal it good when you install the whole thing.

[nadodave]

Hmmm. When I removed the perimeter bolts, the wood actually sagged a bit in the middle (near the fender wells). But there appears to be about a 1" lip the wood rests on at the rear sill plate (or whatever it's called). The wood also somehow seems to be wedged in at the front. Can't see how it is removable without taking out the sill plate. Was yours different?

Thanks,

[LT1 Burb]

You have to dato the floor about 2" in the center so the seams is closed, also you will need to gently bend up the sheet metal at the front so it fits underneath it. It is kind of a pain but the other option is to lift the body off the frame.

[ChiefRocka]

Originally Posted by Brad54

I've given mine a ton of thought ('61 Suburban), but I haven't started it yet:
I'm going to replace it with sheetmetal, and incorporate the spare tire well for a '55-'57 Chevy station wagon, which will also allow me to also use a '55-'57 wagon gas tank and fuel sender.
I'm going to make a bead roller with a throat deep enough to reach into the center of the floor, so I can roll some wide ribs into it like a pick-up box floor.

The wagon floor center allows cleaner access to the spare tire--if I ever need it, I won't have to lay in the mud and dirt to get it out from under the truck. And we all know that Suburban gas tanks aren't reproduced.

The steel floor will also allow me to more securely anchor the rear seat and seat belts.

-Brad

Interesting ...

You going with a 6-pass or 9-pass style floor ??

The reason I ask, is my wife had a '57 wagon....which we thought was a 6 pass. Ordered a new tank, then realized it was different.

Turns out we did in fact have a 9-pass wagon, in which the tank was not available.

This was a couple years ago, not sure now.

AS far as belts ... I plan one fabing brackets to accommodate.

[Brad54]

Originally Posted by ChiefRocka

Interesting ...

You going with a 6-pass or 9-pass style floor ??

The reason I ask, is my wife had a '57 wagon....which we thought was a 6 pass. Ordered a new tank, then realized it was different.

Turns out we did in fact have a 9-pass wagon, in which the tank was not available.

This was a couple years ago, not sure now.

AS far as belts ... I plan one fabing brackets to accommodate.

I'm gonna use the 6-passenger station wagon stuff.
the cargo floor center with tire well and the gas tank are both available from the station wagon--I've got a '57 150 wagon too.
Interestingly, the 9-passenger wagons had different rear brake drums than all the other models. And the 6-passenger had 5-leaf leaf springs, and I think the 9 had more leaves than that, while the regular cars all had 4-leaf springs.

-Brad

[VictoriaHardware]

Hmmm. When I removed the perimeter bolts, the wood actually sagged a bit in the middle (near the fender wells). But there appears to be about a 1" lip the wood rests on at the rear sill plate (or whatever it's called). The wood also somehow seems to be wedged in at the front. Can't see how it is removable without taking out the sill plate. Was yours different?

I remember dropping the whole floor down in the front slightly. Then pulling a little forwards to get it out of that lip in the rear.

[65chevysub]

Just noticed this thread, and got to wondering. Maybe just a dumb question, but how did you get your sub body off? Crane/hoist? My floor is ok, as the grease from the u-joints and the engine oil all these years has coated the bottom pretty good. But just in case I need to replace the floor, I was just wondering how you took off your body?

[nadodave]

It was a bit of a chore, but pretty straightforward. I am trying to completely restore my 'burb, so I removed the steering column, removed the front sheet metal, removed the rear doors, removed the driver and passenger door, unbolted all of the body mounts, and then I slung a strap thorough the door openings and had a friend with a back hoe lift it off.

After I had the body on jack stands, I fabricated a body dolly (four corner pieces with square stock in between. It was a little bit of a challenge to do it by myself, but basically, I jacked up each corner and rolled to dolly corner in - and then connectd the square pieces. I can send a picture if you are interested.

The bad news is that the way I build the dolly, the rear mounts rested on the rear sill. Thus I had to screw around with jack stands to be able to pull the floor.

Whew!

[65chevysub]

Pictures would be great. I have a friend that works for the town, and hecould probably swing by while he's out on the backhoe, lol
Thanks for the info