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New 1952 suburban project


Bigscooter

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Hey guys, I'm new to the forum. I just picked up this 52 suburban. At some point it was lifted with a forklift Crushing the fuel tank And destroying the drive shaft. I'm hesitant to build an expensive modern drive shaft for it because I think it would be more practical to change out the rear end and transmission First. I keep hearing about A Ranger 5 speed transmission swap, but I can't find anything specific about it. Could someone please point me in the right direction, maybe with some links?

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Go over to the truck section, then hit the search button and type in Ranger od.  You'll find some posts on the 5speed amo.ngst other posts regarding differentials

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Is the 5th gear a 1:1 ratio to the axle. If so then you don't gain anything without changing the differential. The overdrive driven properly also gives 5 gears and a better ratio on 3rd and over which is essentially gear five (5). That's why I like the OD. 

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I was wondering about that. TKS.  Saw this at church today. It's not stock underneath the body. The owner, a friend of mine paid $25,000 for it. 

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Awesome! I am looking forward to watching your build come along. I too recently picked up a '52 Suburban. My floors weren't too bad, but someone tried to wedge a 4-spd '49 dodge tranny and bell housing under there, so they had to cut out the tunnel. Bummer, because it will be much more work, but it's my winter time project. Did you create your own floor panels or use pre-made pieces? Keep up the great work!

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On 11/6/2018 at 12:00 PM, leadheavy52 said:

Awesome! I am looking forward to watching your build come along. I too recently picked up a '52 Suburban. My floors weren't too bad, but someone tried to wedge a 4-spd '49 dodge tranny and bell housing under there, so they had to cut out the tunnel. Bummer, because it will be much more work, but it's my winter time project. Did you create your own floor panels or use pre-made pieces? Keep up the great work!

We should make a sub-group of '51 and '52  Suburban restorers/refurbishers! Seems to be at 4 or 5 that I have seen in recent posts.

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I see that you are right, my error, there was no easy click to 'create' hot key that I could find either nor instruction within the header for new opening new groups, so looking back to the time this was brought up by GTK as a forum upgrade, I located the blurb on the idea and it seems that GTK will need to be contacted for the creation of this sub-group and the appointment of a moderator to oversee the membership and posts.....so it seems one would have to contact GTK and be available to moderate in order for the initial footwork to be completed....seems all you need to do is VOLUNTEER

 

 

 

 

 

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On 11/6/2018 at 12:00 PM, leadheavy52 said:

Awesome! I am looking forward to watching your build come along. I too recently picked up a '52 Suburban. My floors weren't too bad, but someone tried to wedge a 4-spd '49 dodge tranny and bell housing under there, so they had to cut out the tunnel. Bummer, because it will be much more work, but it's my winter time project. Did you create your own floor panels or use pre-made pieces? Keep up the great work!

 

I bought the 2 front ones, The left one was just barely usable, the right one was absolutely unusable. I just took a bead roller to each panel before I weld it in. The pre made rear panels on eBay are a total joke, and expensive.

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Good luck on your build and please post your progress. Think a t5 transmission upgrade is a good choice. There’s some good kits available for the swap   Done a lot of upgrades to my 52 suburban

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2 hours ago, JOHN EDGE said:

Good luck on your build and please post your progress. Think a t5 transmission upgrade is a good choice. There’s some good kits available for the swap   Done a lot of upgrades to my 52 suburban

 

that looks fantastic!

I actually have a few T-5s laying around.  I haven't found any specific information on it though. Any chance you could point me to a kit? What rear end are you running? I love the color too!

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My choice for simplicity is vintage metalworks. Dave farewell. 330-322-3102

retain all the factory clutch linkage change the  throw out bearing,pilot bushing and clutch disc. Small adapter to bell housing 

used stock rear end and made new driveshaft with spicer type u joints

if you want to retain a stock appearance then locate an overdrive unit. Really makes these old vehicles into a driver with an extra gear. Call me if you want  John Edge 813-245-0444 

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