Roadster Shop '57 Suburban

[Roadster Shop]

Just about ready to head off to upholstery, but I wanted to get a few shots up before it heads out. I'll try to add more build pics later in the week.

Our customer came to us with a very interesting project. He had a monster of a 1957 Suburban that he wanted to handle and perform like one of our Chevelles. It had to be slammed, on 22x12.5" and 20x9.5" wheels, 700 +HP, 14" Wilwood’s, and have 4 doors so his kids could easily get in and out of the back. (Burbans only came with 2 doors until the late 60's where they went to the 3 door)


http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture9481.jpg

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture9475.jpg

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture9474.jpg

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture9486.jpg

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture9485.jpg

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture9483.jpg

(The truck is not completely done. There is a custom side molding that will run front to back ad help break up the "Billboard" look. And the usual after upholstery items that need to be addressed.)

[Roadster Shop]

Kenne Belle equipped LS7 that put out a little over 780 HP on the dyno. Backed by a Bowler 4L85E trans

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture9316.jpg

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture9310.jpg

[Roadster Shop]

Custom Roadster Shop Chassis

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture8990.jpg

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture8982.jpg

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture8971.jpg

[Roadster Shop]

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture9493.jpg

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture9488.jpg

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture9514.jpg

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture7955.jpg

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture7939.jpg

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/CopyofPicture7934.jpg

[Roadster Shop]

and 4 doors!

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture7950.jpg

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture7948.jpg

[ZZ3ElCamino]

That thing is DEAD SEXY! Done perfectly! :thumbsup:

[elitecustombody]

Beautiful ! Love it! I think it looks clean without the molding

[brans72]

Whoa that has to be one of the best of best right there! Do you guy's always try to make your last project look bad? Best looking burb I have ever seen right there :yes:

[cmraman]

The Burban sounds bad ass...

[XcYZ]

That's artwork...

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture8971.jpg

[Rick D]

WOW that is fricking AWSOME. I drive by your shop at least every other week I need to stop in and check out some of your builds. VERY BAD A$$ :hail:

[slamdimpala]

I love it. I also like how the silver carries around the windows. It ties all the trim together also. Great job. IT LOOKS BADA$$

[waynieZ]

Awesome build ! The lines looks so clean. He must be one happy guy.

[BBPanel]

Were the original rear doors clam shell or barn doors and how do they function now - any pics of the conversion? My Panel has barn doors and I have thought about converting it to hatchback style. Great looking Sub. Thanks. -Bob

[GregWeld]

Doesn't get much better than that!

[skatinjay27]

awesome!
i like that your guys builds always have a unique style where when you look at them you can just tell they came from your shop.

[tyoneal]

That is a very nice, "Dare to be Different". It reminds me a bit of that Killer Blue Shoebox Nova done a while back.

In any case, that engine should get them anywhere they want to go. I could sure use a mill like that in my 3/4 Ton 4X4 Burban. It weighs about 10k and the 454 feels like a Tired 283.

I hope they enjoy it.

Take care,

Ty O'Neal

[98ssnova]

sick bro :wow: :wow:

[wiedemab]

WOW - I love it!!!!!

Nice work as always!

[RPM HOTRODS]

Looks like you may have forgot to put the center caps on the wheels. I hope you remember to put those on before you deliver it to the customer. Is there an issue with them, did you balance the wheels. Is that why they're not on?

I am also every interested in what you guys may have done for child restraints in the rear seat area. I am in a position in my life with my family that it is very important to strap the kids down as tight as possible. I also need a third and maybe a forth row. Do you think there is that kind of room in there?

Just kidding!!!!! Looks killer guys. Can't wait to see it out.

[Roadster Shop]

Thanks for all the great responses. It makes the car that much better when it is so well received!

Badrs69 - definitely stop by some time. Let us know you are a Lateral-G member and I'll definitely give you the tour around the shop.

BBPanel - The original doors were the clamshell design...sort of. There was basically nothing left to the bottom of the door when it came back from the media blaster. We had to fab the entire bottom 8" all the way around the truck because it was M.I.A. Gotta love the midwest! I'll try to get a few pics up today, but we do have a lot on our web site in the Current Projects section of the Gallery.

[Roadster Shop]

Curt (RPM) we found that in wind tunnel testing, the center caps came off at speeds over 300 MPH so we are going back to the drawing board. We were going to barce them off the chassis, but we couldn't make the wheels spin at that point.:unibrow:

While the suburban is pretty big, I think that you are going to need something like this for your collection of kids!

They should do a TV show about you to replace that "Jon and Kate + 8" show.:rofl:

[GHOSTDANCER]

Wow:drool:

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture7955.jpg

[tones2SS]

I LOVE IT!!! Talk about a clean look!! Looks amazing.
The front end is sick. The engine bay stole my heart!! GREAT WORK GUYS!!:thumbsup: :cheers: :cheers:

[pacificustoms]

Very nice! Awesome work!

[Ketzer]

Incredible! The whole build is beyond belief, the level of quality, the engineering, just the freakin' panel gaps alone are re-donkulous!


Jeff-

[Roadster Shop]

Here are a few pics of how it came in to our shop. I think we were able to drop it about 2-3 feet from where it started!

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture212.jpg

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture129.jpg

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture244.jpg

[Roadster Shop]

After media blasting... (incase you couldn't tell, this was a midwest car for most of its life!)

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture399.jpg

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture404.jpg

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture406.jpg

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture402.jpg

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture408.jpg

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture409.jpg

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture410.jpg

[E.rodz]

wow looks awsome great work all the way. what did you use for the rear door hinge and were you happy with the quality? you got to love the midwest cancer. keep up the great work.

[BBPanel]

...BBPanel - The original doors were the clamshell design...sort of. There was basically nothing left to the bottom of the door when it came back from the media blaster. We had to fab the entire bottom 8" all the way around the truck because it was M.I.A....but we do have a lot on our web site in the Current Projects section of the Gallery.
Didn't see any pics of the rear door open - did I just miss them? Would like more info on how you did rear door (what type of hinges, where they mounted, latch, etc) - would like to try it myself on my Panel. Can send email addy if you prefer. Thanks. -Bob

[T-Type]

Didn't see any pics of the rear door open - did I just miss them? Would like more info on how you did rear door (what type of hinges, where they mounted, latch, etc) - would like to try it myself on my Panel. Can send email addy if you prefer. Thanks. -Bob


Sweet burban! i'd love to see pics of the workings on the rear doors as well.

[214Chevy]

WOW!!!!!!! This thing is awesome. I love it. If you would have showed me that color on a color sheet, I would have never though it would have looked that beautiful on metal. Sick, just plain sick.:hail: :hail:

[Roadster Shop]

Here are a few shots that I could find of the hinge set up. We designed and fabbed the hinges specifically for this application. I do not have any pictures of the inside of the truck, but a lot of work went into strengthening the area where the hinge mounts.

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/hinge.jpg

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Hinge2.jpg

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture2023.jpg

[Roadster Shop]

Early mock up stages of the rear door hinge

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/sidehinge.jpg

Rear door outer skin

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss79/RS-Perf/Suburban/Picture880.jpg

[wiedemab]

Is the rear door skin scratch built or a modified front door skin?

The amount of fab and the quality (as always) is impressive. I can't wait to stop in on the tour of your shop before the Road American event!

[scherp69]

:drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :hail: :hail: :hail: :hail: :hail:

[tuff57]

awesomeee, ever since I was a kid and got my first "dub" 57 burban on chrome rims slammed I always wanted to do one. Amazing work.

[G-Body]

CHAAAA CHINGGGGG ...damn nice asusal

[BigRatCamaro]

That is a great looking ride for sure very nice job:thumbsup:

[dodge]

Really nice build so far.Up there for originality.The chassis looks really cool.Reminds me of a rib cage:thumbsup:

Cheers joe

[monza]

Very impressive!

That would be the sickest thing to have and replace the use of a SUV. I hope the guy uses it. Totally sick ride, very Badass and the first suburban I've even thought about being in the Badass class.

[BuiltByBrooks]

Absolutely stunning...Wow!!

[Vegas69]

You guys always hit it out of the park.

[nvr2fst]

Very nice, cool color it fits the truck and stance

[billetman]

You brought this one back from the dead,thats for sure. The body was roached out pretty bad. Anyway it looks very nice now. I especially like the grille area. Very nice Jeff Bertrand www.jbmicrofinish.com