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

[Grizz1963]

And there you go.

No wonder I feel like crap.

Positive test for Covid, Sally tested me because she wanted me to stop complaining about feeling rubbish.



This does not suit me.

[Braunschweiger]

Oh.... that sucks, get well soon.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Braunschweiger

Oh.... that sucks, get well soon.

Thank you very much.

It is the second or third time for me.

I hate how it slows things down, and really just takes the motivation out of you, while you hurt everywhere

[Grizz1963]

Covid does weird stuff to our bodies and minds.

The last three days I have struggled to read intermittently and not watched any TV or YouTube

However……

The impending attempt at an MOT with the Rezin Rockit has my crazy hat firmly back in place on my head.

Now we know, 99% of what we dream is just that.

Dreams.

But what about the 1% ?

Could it be made real?

Rezin Rockit being a case in point.

So would it be that crazy to wonder about marrying a Frog with Sushi ?


And please, do stay with me, even if just till you looked at the pics and laughed.


So: Measurements.






Remember the donor for the Rezin Rockit?


Helped keep me busy for a while before becoming an overpriced Smeg appliance.







Then chop away all the excess, obviously in a sensible way, removing, reducing things like the wiring loom.

A fair amount of thinking to be done.

And skin that little frog, add some wasabi paste and soy sauce…….

Serve up.








Now before you call the cops, mental health services and the Environmental agency, give it a think.

Many ratrods out there run random mixes of parts etc.

Could this be made to work, SAFELY?

Go on, knock yerself out.

[Grizz1963]

Just posted a regurgitated version on the Blog of the BBQ that I built 10 plus years ago.

Covid is not allowing me to do anything physical right now, so a revisit to an old build may work for some of us.

https://www.grizzmakes.com/2023/02/b...bq-if-you.html

Enjoy, regardless.

The revisit made me smile, and realise how old and chubby I have become.

Later, coffee time I guess, and ginger nuts.

[Grizz1963]

Rezin Rockit is being a dick right now…. Had it up to the farm yesterday testing for MOT, and it was spluttering and farting, dying etc. covid means I just brought it home and parked it after adding 20 litres of fresh fuel.

https://youtu.be/eMWr4mk9yLU


Not sure what, could be a plug, blocked injector, anything really.

Will maybe look later as I still feel a bit rough.

Burger !!

[Grizz1963]

So this afternoon @nickwheeler popped in for a few hours to chat and drop off the RivNut tool so that I can refit the passenger screen wiper.

We chatted about a load of stuff, including the permutations of building “Le Lunatic”

https://forum.retro-rides.org/thread...v-meet-lunatic

Back to the Rezin Rockit running like poo, it was due a service at some point before or after MOT.

Maybe all the turning it on and off, not running for 4 years at least and stale fuel all came together to create this little mess…….
.

https://youtu.be/Qta7tc2krjA


So I went down to Euro Carparts to fetch a few basic bits after inspecting the airfilter and trying to find just where the oil filter lives.

Did you think it was easy ?

Nope, but YouTube university showed me,,small, black, hidden in the most awkward space.

Found it.



Needs a special tool, on an extension it seems to get it unstuck.

Would be interesting to know when last, if ever this was changed.



Air filter has certainly seen better day as well.

Camera does not quite capture just how grubby and filled with muck it is.





So,£63.00 later.

Oil, filters, spark plugs and an oil drain plug

And as advised by @Kevins and @mk2cossie suggested, sparkplug leads could be degenerated and part of the problem.



Here’s to hoping that it works out on the new parts.

Fingers crossed.

[Grizz1963]

So a quick photo report of today.

I was not planning on going out as it was damp, 8’C and intermittent drizzle rain.

Covid can be quite unforgiving, but stuck indoors pretty much for 8 days was getting to me.

So I went down, spares in hand.

Got the car up in the air.



Changed some parts around.

Air filter.



Oil, oil filter changed.

Filter put up a bit of a fight, but not as bad as one years ago that ended up skewered with a screwdriver.

Oil was terrible and thick.







Plugs changed, old ones seemed decent to be honest.

But what do I know.



Old vs new.



Made a video of the proceedings, including the engine running afterwards.

VIDEO.

https://youtu.be/Ofbc92AfoDg

After closing shop, showering and chatting with Anthony the lodger for a bit, I fed George and came over to Sally’s

She offered to make us dinner, I declined, insisting on a kebab and chips with chilli sauce and garlic sauce.

The Turkish guys who run the shop always are so nice.

These were ordered as “Small” not sure what a large would look like.





Back home, there were more chips, and I had ordered a single small portion.



Dinner was good, and I have enough left for tomorrow night.

Still need more investigating to get this all right, and the clutch is not engaging well, so may need some modification or further adjustment.

Very lazy weekend with Covid slowing me right down, but a few small jobs done.

Weekend over, just like that.

[Grizz1963]

2 Random short blog posts coming up for the non-forum types.

Rezin Rockit woes summarised.

First entry's here

No2 to come

https://www.grizzmakes.com/2023/02/r...o-what-to.html

Alternately, just keep reading here.


.

[Grizz1963]

Headed out, late in the day, to open up and see what the throttle body and air system looks like.

Suggestions have been that it may need a clean up.


Lets see what today brings.


School of YouTube showed me some stuff.

.

[Braunschweiger]

I keep my fingers crossed that Rezin Rockit gets on its feet.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Braunschweiger

I keep my fingers crossed that Rezin Rockit gets on its feet.

Thank you Harald.

Almost there.


Greetings from Siberia, buddy Stas sent a pic of himself wearing a T-shirt I sent him.

The world really is a great small place.



So today was a slow day, lazy, other stuff to do, weather, you know…… excuses. Lots of them.

So I opened the air feed to the throttle body and cleaned it out in position.

A lot more came out on the micro fibre cloth with carb cleaner.



Resulting in a bit cleaner airways after cleaning this mess, both sides of the butterfly.

Needs more doing to it.



After starting it up, it was hunting for a while.

Then warmed up and settled mostly at 900 rpm.

Video below shows a bit more.



VIDEO:

https://youtu.be/ZETKPq4u0VU


While the motor was doing its own little thing, I checked the lights one more time.

Including the rear foglight.






Once the rain became unpleasant, I headed indoors and sat watching some YouTube videos supported by the second best thing after a good rum with friends…..

Coffee.



So, weather permitting, tomorrow I will revisit this thing and also investigate the air supply or lack of it.

Dinner was good, sweet n sour pork with spring rolls.

Boooom !

[Grizz1963]

Sunday was a slow day, a few small jobs on this build and some other stuff that needed dealing with and filming for the YouTube Channel.

First job was to replace the one Riv-Nut in the screen holding the wiper motor in place, and then setting the sweep so both are symmetrical in their action.

Few minutes to undo and remove, and refit a fresh one.



Need to look carefully on the screen for the final setting…….



Next up was the engine, and to be honest……

After starting it up, it died twice before settling into an even idle at 900rpm

I will call that good for now.

So I drove up and down to the farm a few times, including taking Mickey for a ride. He is like a dog, loves to be part of everything and does like a car.

He gave it the stamp of approval and told me not to go onto the main public road till the car is fully insured (wise words from a drink-driver). I soooo wanted to do a few miles, but the short 1km farm road will have to do as a test for now.

Pleased with the engine settling down I thought it was a good time to wash the car, clean the dusty engine bay and interior.

Does look so much better all cleaned up.





Interior…….

I think it looks good enough for what it is.





Engine bay and engine wiped down a bit as well.



I have a busy work week ahead, but will try find some time to see if I can get a one day insurance policy, like I did with the Scruffy Micra.

Once insurance is sorted, book an MOT for hopefully next Saturday afternoon, and weather permitting (some snow is forecast) we can try get it through an MOT test.

My fingers will be crossed, but really, everything seems to be working now.

Thanks for checking in as always.

[Braunschweiger]

I'm so happy for you, Ryan. Nice that Rezin Rockit has thought about it.
Today I also had a conversation with a test engineer, who will probably examine my truck,
I still have to buy data sheets from our TÜV and he can then accept it on this basis.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Braunschweiger

I'm so happy for you, Ryan. Nice that Rezin Rockit has thought about it.
Today I also had a conversation with a test engineer, who will probably examine my truck,
I still have to buy data sheets from our TÜV and he can then accept it on this basis.

Thank you Harald, yes, a lot of thought went into it, and also an attempt to improve its basic, but legal status.

You guys do have a crazy time with the TÜV guys.

Americans would die if they knew about the rules.

I remember when I fitted the “anhanger” towbar to my Taunus Transit that Thörsten said that in Germany it would be a failure due to not being factory standard.

[Grizz1963]

[quote author="@kevins" source="/post/2771336/thread" timestamp="1676887338"]Before you take out a days insurance have a ring around a few of the specialists, for us mature types it can be ridiculously cheap to insure some 0f these things (I pay less than £100 for my elan).[/quote]

That was a good and shrewd comment.

It was possibly dancing around in the back of my head, as daily/hourly insurance can be convenient, but extremely expensive.

[quote author="@joem83" source="/post/2771370/thread" timestamp="1676902535"][quote source="/post/2771336/thread" timestamp="1676887338" author="@kevins"]Before you take out a days insurance have a ring around a few of the specialists, for us mature types it can be ridiculously cheap to insure some 0f these things (I pay less than £100 for my elan).[/quote]Agreed, give Brentacre a try. My mk2 is £160 p/y fully comp with all mods declared (only thing standard is the shell), also agreed value & salvage retention rights.[/quote]

I went to my usual first stop, AIB, after “Veygo” by Admiral insurance who did the Micra previously referred me to a hyperlinked email service, which sent three responses, including a human, asking for more information than make, model, registration.

Firstly, Veygo tried via their suppliers, and then responded later in the day to say they could not quote, but did I want to insure anything else with them……. Errrmmm… No.

More on AIB in a bit.

[quote author="@jamesd1972" source="/post/2771374/thread" timestamp="1676903212"]Just as another thought- even if not planning to use it for a bit once insured it’s covered for loss anyway- worth thinking about if anything happened when parked up.
Nice to hear it’s up and running.
James
[/quote]

Really good and valid considerationJames, and thank you.


So……

I called AIB and the agent who took my call has spoken to me before.

He is spectacularly “by the book” in his information gathering.

A longwinded (but thorough) interview and then questions like what excess I expected to pay, what would I think is a good premium etc had me somewhat amused and irritated in equal measure as I was now parked up on a garage forecourt, wanting to fill up the company car at 11.00.

Long story short .

Car valued at £3500.00 (yes it cost a bit more than that in labour and parts to build) excess at £150.00 and limited to 1000 miles per year, or 1600km per year which sounds like very little, but keeping in mind it is a No 3 car behind the company car and Chevy S10 and if I wanted more miles I can call and alter the policy.

So the policy offer with Marker Study insurers was £175.00 per year.

To which my response was a bit rude and abrupt, possibly shocking the agent.

I had mentioned that I had also approached two other insurers and was waiting to hear back from them, but that his quote was way more than the £90.00 to £120.00 people on the forums I frequent were paying. He asked for a moment while he sharpened his pencil, which I agreed to. And ten minutes later the offer was £132.00 per year for the same cover.

This sounded much more in the ball park and I asked him to send details so that I could compare to the offerings from the other companies.

I went to work and felt better about the price.

At around 12.45 while on a meeting with a colleague to try sort out my suicidal work iPad a call came through…… the eager agent again, I answered the call and said I would call him back later.

When I left Woolwich I called him back, but unable to speak with him, I spoke to a colleague who went into the file and told me the young gun had continued to dig around after our first two conversations and managed to somehow get the price reduced to £110.00 per year for the same cover.

I think the fact that this is a summertime , good weather only car, reduces the time on the road and and thus the risk to the insurer.

Lesson for today then…… Sometimes it makes sense to challenge and also be nice in equal measure.

I have booked the MOT test for Saturday afternoon so fingers will be crossed that I/we @nickwheeler had a huge hand in this build have managed to get it all together the way it will make it a fully legal and safe vehicle.

I spoke to the guy at the scrap/steel recyclers and he will charge me £5.00 for a weigh bridge ticket to weigh the car, something I am absolutely fascinated with.

Full tank weight…… I have tried to guess, but really have no clue, but if it comes in at 800kg wet weight, I will be pleased.

I need to call Green Flag who are the recovery agents for the S10 ever since I went to @frankenhealey to collect the lawn tractor and see if they will add the Rezin Rockit for recovery to the policy.


That is probably it for now, unless we have storms and snow on Saturday, in which case…… no game.

[Grizz1963]

Dennis sent a pic of the GMC he was not going to do anything to, just drive it.

Now with completely new paint, it is also getting a new exhaust system.

Looking forward to seeing it if I do go on a USA road trip this year.




.

[Grizz1963]

.

NEW BLOG ENTRY FOR TODAY.

Date will look wonky as it shows 11th but here you go.

Biltong, making your own. (Like Beef Jerky, but not.)

https://www.grizzmakes.com/2023/02/b...ngdom-yes.html

These are dying arts in some communities, so a share and a link to a UK home industry maker included.

He will sell and mail out to you at cost. Follow the link at the end.


.

[Grizz1963]

Did a few small final jobs tonight after work.

Glued panels in place, including the surround on the instrument cluster..

Plus I made a masking tape sign for the fog light switch.

And finally a small, overdue job…. Got the wiring loom in the cab wrapped and tucked away.



So tomorrow morning I will test lights etc all one more time, you know how stuff stops working to or from the test station.

As mentioned before, fingers crossed that I have managed to check all the checks.


.

[Grizz1963]

28 August 2020 is when I started this thread.

Nearly 580k views just on Retro Rides, and at one point it was over 1000 views per day.

I am not sure many threads get that sort of viewership or interest. There are a bunch of other forums I contribute to and they all had high viewerships and interest

I would guess the global views are well beyond 800k over 2 years.

This build was a very singleminded vision of something I had wanted to do for a long time……… BUT, so many people from Siberia to Southampton and Auckland to Arkansas Cape Town to Cairo contributed in so many ways.

Materially with parts, specialised tools (just think Void Bush Tool), machining and fabrication, thanks @nickwheeler and a bunch of others.

Anyone who feels forgotten or missed out, here is your thank you.





So today I actually drove the car for the first time, going beyond 3rd gear, which was as much as I dared do out on the farm road.

I drove to the scrapyard where so many bits of steel and scrap has come from over the years for various projects.

Onto the Weigh Bridge.

Me inside (120kg) and about 35-40 litres of petrol.

Result, you do the maths.



900kg minus me, gives a decent light weight.



From there it was over to the test station, a bit early, but rather that than late.



And onto the ramp.

They have a lowered ramp to get abnormally low stuff onto for testing.





And up they went.





All four the testers in the centre came to take a look, pointing a few things they liked, out.

One thing that became apparent once the front crossmember was in the air and the wheels and bearing were being inspected was that though within tolerance, the passenger side wheel bearing needed to be tightened or replaced.

Other than that, the comments ranged from awesome, cool build and tidy installation to I wish I could drive this on a track.

High praise indeed.

I will take out road tax next month from the 1st of March as paying a months tax for one days use makes no sense.

I will check out and probably replace the front wheel bearings on both sides.

Also take it for full alignment on a digital machine.

Tonight I am really pleased, thankful and happy for all this community and helpers have helped me,create and achieve.

Thanks again.


.

[Braunschweiger]

Congratulations, spring is already around the corner and you can then enjoy Rockit Rezin on the streets.
I wish you a lot of fun with it.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Braunschweiger

Congratulations, spring is already around the corner and you can then enjoy Rockit Rezin on the streets.
I wish you a lot of fun with it.

Thank you.

Now we can start testing and fixing things.

[Grizz1963]

Checked out the tax online for the car. £295……. That’s a lot of money. If you add £110.00 insurance, £202.00 recovery service and £50.00 MOT test, getting on the road is not cheap.

Still, the more you drive, the cheaper it gets.

[Grizz1963]

Any vinyl sign or sticker makers on here?

@ems1 who did all the work for the “Not a Project” Chevy Blazer was going to do these logos for me, once an MOT was attained.
Unfortunately, he is now not able to do this.
He does however still have the artwork for these stickers and can forward it if needed.

I need a pair of bonnet stickers made up like below….. as always, at a sensible price or less.

And probably cut lettering in white vinyl to stick onto the black stripe, instead of cutting it out of the black stripe.


Bonnet looks like this, and I am NOT going to do any work to it.

Stripes will run up the side, like on Wrangler, Sahara and other models.


[img src="https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/grizz/12be1d9422bf.jpg"]


[img src="https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/grizz/ae303c14d37b.jpg"]



Ideally I want the sign to be 100mm high and up to 950mm long, but 800mm minimum

Using the top one of the lower three in Black.





Please discuss or PM if you are able, or know someone.

I think it will be a nice touch.

[Grizz1963]

Got home early today.

Off work after all….. Taken the next 4 Fridays off, as we lose our vacation if we don’t use it by end March.

Chilly,5’C with a brisk breeze.

Went and checked what was thought to be the wheel bearing.

Turns out that with all the fitting, and removing of the 4x108 to 4x100 adapters, I must have omitted to lock it down the last time I reassembled the front end.

Will take a drive tomorrow to go have the alignment done and feel of the vibration has ceased.



And George who has become a garage cat/follower down to the garage, also insists on watching and waiting for you to get showered.



I checked the rear brake light, bulb filament was intact, and I could not see if it worked when I hit the brake pedal.

So will try later in the dark.

Been thinking, considering this is very much a summer car, I think insuring by direct debit on a monthly basis, despite it being more costly on a year on year basis, not paying for 6 months when the weather drives us indoors, may just be a sensible move.

Opinions?