Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Great time hanging out with you guys , thanks so much for the shirts and flag !

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Rian it was really great meeting you at Clem's this weekend, I had a blast just lessoning to you and martin poke fun!

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Rian it was great meeting you and all the other members at clems. I hope you guys can make the trip over every year. I will be tuned in on your build.

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Dude you already know....

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Well.

What can I say?

The USA has exceeded my "expectations" by 100% so far.

Having started in Dallas, Texas then up to Searcy, Arkansas via Sulphur Springs and Texarcana.
From there on to Fayetteville for a couple of days, up to Kansas City to pick up a spares order and down to Winfield Kansas to spend time friend Herb and his wife. On the way there a stop in El Dorado to check out a Hot Rod shop that also builds Hummers with Duramax engines that kick out 1500bhp
Then on to Ada in Oklahoma for dinner with Paul and Brandon and their families. We left there at 11.00pm and drove through to Phil's place in Norman, OKC. Getting there at 00.45am we then proceeded to talk trucks, big blocks, rock crawlers, nitrous and moonshine till 05.00. Phil and his son Austin ran us all over Oklahoma City to pick up more parts as well as a pass by Farmtruck and AZN's place and then over past Murder Nova's shop.
Next day over to Kieths place in Tulsa where he took us for long run down the interstate in one of his limited edition 2016 Kenworth trucks. Super smooth.
Most days we have followed off the beaten track. Seeking out older routes like Route 66, the i177, US Route 124 etc. makes for interesting travel.
So after Tulsa we headed back to Clem and Kim's in Fayetteville where I collected my side trim, s/s bed strips and bought a used auto shift steering column. Then today we left in the midst of a Razorbacks game with Fayetteville traffic being pretty busy.
Taking back roads we then returned to Don's place in Searcy, Arkansas.
Next up, back to Sulphur Springs on Sunday followed by Gas Monkey Garage on Monday, then down to Leander, Texas via Waco and a day in Leander on Tuesday.

So thats it up to now.

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

shoot winfield to el dorado you probably passed the exit to my place. if you get back around here be sure and tell me beforehand!

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Sounds like you are going to need a vacation to recover from this one , glad you are having a great time.

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Roughly the route so far.



http://i.imgur.com/6xEiv9C.jpg



Will get it plotted properly when back home.

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

LOL! Don was telling me about the scenic route you guys took. I couldn't help but fall of my chair laughing. Hey Texas is only a couple states away from me. Have fun guys! :chevy:

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Wow, Wow, WOW,
Um, You two don't mess around.
So glad to have met you both,
I remember hearing you had a pretty extensive road trip planned but didn't realize the extent of it. Memories for a life time.
By the way....... have you had to buy tires for that rental car yet?

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Much fun yes.

Only one phone between us for updates.

Rian will post pics etc later.

He is the wordsmith. Not as good as Bomp, but OK.

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

sounds like you are having an awesome time guys. Say Hi to Richard Rawlings for me at Gas monkey garage.

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Hi Greg

Yessir !!

We are merciless on the rentals. We paid for unlimited mileage and as gas averages at $2.00/gallon here vs our $9.00/gallon in England....... WoooooHooooo!!!

In fact, tyres was bald, brake light went out and it demanded an oil change.

Stopped in Little Rock, Arkansas and swooped out for a V6 Chevy Traverse LT with 240 miles on clock. V6 joy compared to old car.

I think we have about 1600 miles left before Thursday.

Gas Monkey Garage and other places in Dallas tomorrow for Martins birthday.


Call or text him on the iPhone after 07.00 USA time on *1 (501) 380-5483‬


Thank you all for the various friendships and support to our trip.

Priceless.

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Suspect that will never happen.

Having a blast.


Its a holiday and road trip.

Gotta be fun.

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

and a birthday to remember

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Having spent quite a lot of time with Paul "NevEno" and Brandon "White Knuckle Garage" in Ada near Oklahoma City, discussing various cool mods.........

I have decided to investigate and possibly pursue a modification that could surprise some of you. It involves a part of a F@¥€

Ideally I need to find someone who is into our trucks to help but also lives down toward Florida to help me source a bench seat and get it shipped or delivered to our shipping agent in Florida.

It's amazing how inspiring this trip has been, meeting up with all the various guys, their wives, kids, pets and learning from them all.

I now want to get onto my build pronto.

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Well, I did what various guys said to do.........

Went to see Sue at ASM Upholstery. Ass Monkey girl is lovely and so down to earth.

Then GAS MONKEY GARAGE !!!


Well, we spent almost 3 hrs behind the scenes at Gas Monkey Garage yesterday.

Knowing some amazingly cool people did help get us in. (YOU GUYS KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND CAN EXPOSE YOURSELF IF YOU WANT) Aaron was taken with us and spent at least 30 minutes of real conversation time talking to us. Incredibly bright guy. He has so much knowlege and when discussing some of the mods Martin does for disabled, he was so on top of the technology and asked about our build challenges on our trucks too. REFRESHING.
Aaron also let me photograph his one tattoo and told me it's story. (No, I was not starstruck, honest) I also watched him do some great photos with a little Mexican boy who had travelled with his parents to come see the shop.
Jonathan Mansauer the behind the scenes PR guy was great as well and spent a lot of time showing us around and asking loads of quiestions about what we do. He showed us his one owner low mileage Ford pickup on a perfectly executed static drop.
RR was in and out the shop, signing autographs and letting the "outsiders" take photos with him.

A lovely thing to have been privileged to participate in.

Thanks to all involved.

Down in Austin Texas area today.

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Now Im really jealeous!

Glad you guy's are having such a great time.

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Way to go dudes, sounds like Martin's birthday was a blast.

Well done.

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Well.

We made it through security.

Got my hand baggage rumbled due to the two LED lights I had packed.

My ski bag cost an extra $200.00 to load. But hey ho.......

Thank you one and all for all the friendship, gifts, meals, parts, good times.

This was the trip of a lifetime.

Trip report when I can get to it.

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Have a safe flight! Maybe it will give you a chance to catch up on some sleep:lol:

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

:metal::metal::metal:

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Travel safe Rian and Martin.

P. :D

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Im glad you guys had a great trip over here ,cant wait for more updates and pics and stories .

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

C U when you get back across the puddle. Have a safe trip.

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

That sure seemed like a quick trip. I look forward to reading the full story once you guys recuperate.

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Thank you all for the interest and replies on the thread.

I appreciate every reply.

Currently been sleepless since U.S. 06.00 yesterday, no sleep on plane but I have to push through till 21.00 or 9pm tonight before I crash out.

I am about to start uploading the 200 photos I took over the last 16 days and nights.

I hope you guys are OK with that many photos of the road trip.

If anyone has questions in the quotes up above, please ask them again as I am dead beat.

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

No time to recuperate really, just got to do stuff that needs doing.

I just finished raking all the leaves and pine needles in the yard as we have fall here too, then cut the grass, did all the laundry, my clean and used clothes, dried the lot and ironed a couple of pieces.
Also unpacked my parts, not I boxed, just unpacked them... Oops, just realised I need to check the ski bag to see if the steering column made it in one piece.

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Glad you made it home safe.

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

:agree:

Looking forward to the trip pics.

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Hope you get some rest Rian. As others have said patiently waiting all the trip pics and awesome story that will go with it.

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

It is great that you had such a good trip in our part of the USA. Glad that you were able to see all that you did. It sounds like it was a packed time and glad that you have all of the pictures to help remember it.

Dwight

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Thanks guys.

So am I.

Wanted to post the trip report in the general section, but not going to till I know a moderator is not going to delete or move it into some dark hole.




So for now, here goes.

I guess the first thing to do is to apologise for using the word Epic in the title. There are many more road trips and things in the world that are worthy of the title Epic. But compared to a trip to Tesco, Halfords, Walmart, O'Reilly's or Pick n Pay or Midas (shops are region/country specific to the 10 forums I contribute to) this trip in my small world was Epic.

The next thing to say is that I hope that if you take the time to read all of this, that you are enjoying the randomness of our trip and my writings. My mate Martin cannot be bothered with the sort of stuff I write, photograph or talk about, as he always says, I am the one taking photos while he does all the work. So feel free to unsubscribe or exit at this point. No offence taken.

I guess the story starts in 2014 in two ways.

My buddy Martin goes to America every year with Amanda his girlfriend to Frlorida.
He also owns a 1965 Chevy C10 Fleetside, which is ultimately to transport his motorbikes.
I own what is left of my Red 1966 Chevy C10 Fleetside which is under restoration too.
We met through the truck hobby and happen to live 15 miles apart which is kinda just too far but just close enough to help each other at times.
In 2014 Martin started to badger me to go on a small road trip to the USA (possibly Florida) but Imrefused outright as I could order the parts I wanted from various suppliers and get them landed, albeit with added shipping, handling and import duties and taxes....... Get the idea yet??
It is just not easy or cheap to restore in the UK where we both reside.

Then in December, working as a contractor for Pfizer Corp, I won an award...... Travel vouchers and a bit of cash. NICE I HEAR YOU SAY.....
Well, it would have been, if they were fair. I was a top performer out of 58 people for the year. But being a contractor, my award was worth about 1/3 of the headcount persons, and I still would only be a contractor.

I offered the £1500.00 of cash and vouchers to my wife Nicola, because that's the sort of guy Imam, she than suggested I go on a road trip with Martin.
Tentatively I agreed, as I had never actually wanted to travel the USA. And I certainly did not want to go to Disney or similar resorts, just not my thing.

I had a strong friendship,circle on both the Garage Journal .com as well as the 67-72 ChevyTrucks .com forum and had for years been face timing and sending parcels and presents to friends in the USA and trading number plates etc.

So I suggested we rather look at other parts of the country than California and the usual suspects, and go experience "Real America"

At this point we knew Clem's shindig in Fayetteville was happening on the 17th October, partly to celebrate his wife's birthday. So it became a natural anchor for the trip, depending on where we landed.

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...psm7ig47pc.jpg[/QUOTE]

Quoting Ta2Don below.

Here's a pic from Clem's the first year I was able to attend…(2 years ago)

L to R Clem, Chad64Chevy, me, Sigshooter (Robert) ;)
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5734/...5336334f_c.jpgDSC_0140 by Donald Olivo, on Flickr


This trip escalated very fast till we went on the 17th January to book our tickets on my birthday, for a holiday trip of a lifetime that would culminate in Martin having a burger in Gas Monkey Garage or Hooters...... Just something very American.

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps1d4d8adf.jpg


This year the citation looked like this in the end, due to a few Brits joining the party.


http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...psqfqwlo2i.jpg


Last year on his trip,Martin and Don met in Florida.


https://farm1.staticflickr.com/688/2...09756809_c.jpgUntitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr[/QUOTE]


I changed jobs in June, with the condition of taking a weeks unpaid leave so that I could enjoy the full time period.

Soon the 10 months flew by and we got to this point..... Selecting seats and taking off.


Booked our seats when online booking opened.

Until we booked, the seats we wanted, twin row, right at the rear, meaning more space and less people crawling over you, were for sale as a pre-booking option at £43.00 per booking.

So by waiting till it opened, I guess we each now have another £43.00 or $65.48 to spend on spares.

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps8snutst0.jpg


Now we can probably say.......

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...psxkclf39i.jpg[/QUOTE]


But even on the night before we flew, I was painting rust converter on the chassis.

Typically, I could not leave well alone.

I left out the prop shaft and diff, will do them when I get back and get more Vactan.

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...psrvtwvdmc.jpg




Pre-emptive road map of the completed trip. Dallas Fort Worth Airport to Dallas Fort Worth Airport. 14-29 October 2015.

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...psqgxxfu3i.jpg




So that is it for tonight, it is quarter to eleven and I need some sleep.


Will update further as I get time if you,want to see more.

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Glad you guys made it home fine. I can't wait till next year we all should have more truck building stories.

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Of course we want to see more. Rest up little ones. big days i truckie land are coming! ;)

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Was Awesome getting to meet face to face and have the pleasure of your company and painting skills…

Nice Shirt…;)
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/582/2...dbfd9092_c.jpgIMG_5690 by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

Thanks again to you and Martin for the goodies…:mm:
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5627/...54f8e83a_c.jpgUntitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

Found a surprise in the mug when opened…:metal:
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/763/2...5a98f3a4_c.jpgUntitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

Good talking with you yesterday...:chevy: Inspection went great...

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Yes ,we ,especially me want more when you are more rested .

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Cool.

Next lot coming up.

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

I will be doing these updates in photobatches of 10 photos maximum as Volkszone only allows 10 photos to be posted at a time.


For the trip we decided it was best I pick up Martin in my company car as I live another 30 minutes further from the airport than he does.

I was awake at 03.30 and headed to his place by 04.25 to pick him up.

This was done as the M25 motorway is totally unpredictable, and with car parking, transfer to the airport and then check in, security etc, we neede to be neurotically early for our 11.50 departure.

All this was achieved, including a massively overpriced breakfast at Terminal 5 where British Airways depart from.

11 hrs after departing London Heathrow we landed in at DFW Airport.

After checking in with our ESTA status verified, finger prints taken etc, I ended up in a loooooong wait to get my Passport checked, no rubber gloves, thankfully, but Martin who had walked straight through to baggage reclaim, had to wait about 45 minutes for me to get there, then there was a second Customs agent station to get through, we chose the wrong Q and ended up waiting for all sorts of disabled grannies in wheelchairs, off international flights to be given priority over us......

Eventually we made it out of the airport onto a bus that would take us to the Alamo car rental depot for a fast check in.

We had opted for a medium sized car at £614.00 for the period, unlimited mileage and a full tank of fuel to startups off.
The agent gave us the options of a Jeep, Ford or a Chevy Captiva.
Obviously, going to a Chevy gathering at Clem's we could not arrive in a Ford and the Jeep just seemed small for the spares we had bought and planned to collect along the way.

So we were off eventually.

SatNav set for Searcy, Arkansas which is where Ta2Don lives, we knew we wanted a few hours away from the city limits of Dallas before finding a hotel.
At this point we had been awake from the equivalent of 9.30pm USA time the day before, no sleep on the plane at all.

So we hit the i30 motorway and drove as far as Sulphur Springs and checked into a Best Western Hotel. $100.00 down, breakfast included.
We crashed by about 11.00pm US time and we're both awake by 04.00 or thereabouts.
Breakfast at 06.00 then to a local Walmart for a mobile phone SIM card that we ended up returning as we could not get it going.

We eventually hit the road from Sulphur springs around 11.00am back onto i30 with mouths agape at just how many old cars were on the side of the road, some for sale, some not.

Of course as tourists, and truck guys we loved all the cars, trucks and stuff flying by, many old cars, trucks etc that the U.S. Takes for granted made the trip already worthwhile, 250 miles in.

Headed into Texarcana we settled into an easy pace on the speed limit.

Then we passed a Body and Hotrod shop, seeing these cars outside, and took the next off ramp and drove back on ourselves along the service road with SatNav protesting loudly........


THIS WAS OUR ROAD TRIP GETTING REAL.

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...pssvrdyfgq.jpg

We went inside, shop empty, then through the service doors leading to the rear...... Nobody.

Zombies?

So I shouted a couple of Hallooooo's and got a reply from out the back door, saw a small lady in work clothes come toward us, turns out she does all the body work, prep and finishing on the cars. Enquiring about the lack of staff, she replied "Lunch time"
Can we take a look around? Take some photos? "No problem" she replied, telling us about the cars in the shop and what they built. Generous people these Texans.

So the first photo I took..... (Because I do take loads of photos) was this one of Martin next to a lead sled that was being built. Look at the firewall, and front end with the electrical actuators to get an idea of where they are headed. Much work to be done still, but it will be good with electric flip front, air ride, solenoid openers on all doors, trunk lid etc.

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...pslnx7ilsp.jpg

Other cars included 60's Fastback and Convertibles Ford Mustangs, as well as this gorgeous beauty.

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...psvumpbbnh.jpg


We were told Scott, the painter and John the mechanic would be back in a while.

Next we heard the unmistakable rumble of large bore straight through pipes and Scott pulled up.

Niiiiiiiiice...!!

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...pspnwxq8wf.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...psnq6bdevu.jpg

I just Loved the headlights.

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...pslipjiiew.jpg

Of course we had gone out to the side of the building to take a closer look and met Scott, a super nice guy, again, totally humble and unassuming.

Told us the car had belonged to his dad, who had removed the 4x4 running gear, he then later fitted Air ride to it all.
Next up will be a Big Block.

We then got joined by John with his bag of lunch in his hand, got chatting about mods and the lights on Scott's truck and at one point he looked over to Scott and said "Do we have some more of them there lights?" Which Scott confirmed.

He then asked If we would be interested in a set, Martin and I looked at each other, asked him how much, as we already knew they were 24volt LED, ex military application lights, that would cost around $1000.00 a set fitted when the Hummer was built for service in Afganistan and other places. John replied "How about three?" We looked at each other and Martin asked "How much?" To which John replied "Free, for nothing, you can have a pair for your truck in England"
So the question was of course..... Is the Pope Catholic? Just clarify, when these military vehicles meet their end of service and get sold to civilians and get converted to civilian spec.

Anyway, I ended up with another pair too for my truck. WINNER !!!

I have to say, that when the first set of lights were offered, I popped out to the car to grab a pair of T-shirts and a UK flag for their shop, as I had bought about 15 Large, X-Large and XX-Large shirts through the year and between Martin and I we also had about 5 brand new pink hoodies to give out at various places as well as a load of Union Jacks and Cross of St George flags for people's garages. It's just how my head works. These were litterally just as a thank you for their time, not the lights.

The guys were chuffed to bits anyway.

Martin and I fighting to get the lights off John. We would spend another 3-4 hours with him and his family on the way back. His daughter is seriously big Dr Who fan as well and had stolen her dads" I love London" shirt when he got home.

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...psk6q9a6za.jpg

Lastly, before we left, I had a little go in Scott's sons NASCAR car. I will build a Tot-Rod one day.

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...psccuh4gzn.jpg

My lights tightly clenched under my armpits we packed them in the car then said our good byes

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...psguedc8mg.jpg

We spent about 2 hrs on this stop, then got back in the Captiva and headed out for Searcy, Arkansas..

To see Don, at his Tattoo shop.

More with the next write up of the rest of the day.

If you are still along for the read and ride.

Re: Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!
 

Im staying along to read and ride .