GRIZZ’s English 2001 S10 Extra Cab 4.3 V6 Truck

[Grizz1963]

So for anyone interested in this intergalactic build.


Yes, I am travelling back and forth to get things done here….


Next step was painting the outer edges of the rims in Cream.


SURPRIIIIISE !!!









[URL=https://app.photobucket.com/u/niknakpix/p/93f47532-31b9-4132-b00f-0246d9e2fdeb][/URL



And then as an afterthought.

Whatcha think?

I like.

[Grizz1963]

Forgot to show the alloys wheels on.

Bit of a Marmite look.

Well, a lot really.








Sorry to the CDO gang for being out of sync.


.

[Grizz1963]

Don’t you just hate it when you are trying to make a plan come together, and it fails.


Thoughts….






.

[Palf70Step]

Good luck on the job thing Rian. Hope you are not drug out long on the thing.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Good luck on the job thing Rian. Hope you are not drug out long on the thing.

Thank you Bill.

I guess it is prt of modern life.

Risk.






Mate JB Math shared a great pic of his Godzilla powered Cobra.



.remember the counter chair I got for Dennis In Iowa?




He ordered a new seat surface and fitted it.



Impressive for sure.


Now it will fit into the Gas Station.


The road trip keeps giving.

Yesterday Dennis needed to cut down a massive Oak tree that partially overhangs the workshop.

Remember one of them ended up on the roof last year during a storm.







Mate Jessie sprang tomthe rescue…..


50 Ton will do the job.








Seems the tree is now awaiting a future bonfire.


Problem solved, we hope.

[Grizz1963]

Weekend saw me clean the carport and rearranging stuff.

Great way to get started.

Except, I did not get started. Instead I did other jobs, like helping Sally in her garden, and a few other house jobs.

Sunday I decided not to go bootfair, unusual, but also evidence of my state of mind currently with the redundancy bollloxx hanging about.

So I used a foot pump (small compressor power switch seems to have died, along with the compressor) to pump the Rockit rear tyres, both were at 1 Bar, and got them to 3 Bar.

Sat around for a bit, then headed out to buy another pair of trainers, as the last expensive pair give zero support when walking the fields. Followed by some food shopping, stuff sure has spiralled from a price point of view.

Lets hope new trainers are better.


As I got home, @nickwheeler arrived, bringing Hotrod magazines and staying a couple of hours to chat.

Of course we drifted down to the garage.

Various discussions around both cars.

Including the right wheel nuts to be bought for the alloys.

I found one in my stash……



So we decided to lift the car, remove the steel and try the painted and tyred up wheel.











I am still liking the direction this is headed.


And discussed an added bit of paint with Nick.


He is a lot more “conservative” than I am.


Have a good week all.

[Grizz1963]

Ordered new chrome (obviously Chinese quality) nuts for the painted alloys.



Should look decent till the first wash, or rain or wet road hits it.

Still, worth doing.

[Grizz1963]

So I am back on UK time, after the USA Roadtrip.

The job situation is currently up in the air.

I interviewed for my own/old soon to be revamped and not mine, job, last Wednesday.

No idea if I will stand a chance, despite past successes and track record.

These days it seems the process decides.

Anyway, seems the winners and losers (everyone gets a prize, even if it stinks) will be informed next Tuesday.

In the mean time, I just keep doing what I am paid for.


Back to the UK and Roadtrips.

Adam, Dennis’ son, wife Hanna and son Tripp, along with her mum and husband Ginger and Clark came over last weekend to spend some time in the UK as tourists.

AirBnB was their choice, near Paddington.

Of course the country ended up in all sorts of turmoil with the death of the Queen and subsequent actions, including cancellation of tours of Buckingham Palace etc.

So they were somewhat left to their own devices to entertain themselves and a one year old.



Yesterday I took a day vacation and hired a 9 seater Ford Tourneo van, 10 years old and a bit rough around the edges, but for £110.00 including some diesel it seemed good enough as other local companies could not help

Mickey next door gave me a kiddie seat to use, though they brought theirs along as well.

George loved it.



Said transport.



After a late start, dictated by Tripp, they took an Uber from Paddington to meet me at Rochester, plan was originally to take a train.

From there we headed down to Dover, our target.

Clark wanted to see the white cliffs and we managed to get some of that done, visiting the lovely Battle of Britain memorial.

Memorial is a lovely place.









Planes.







Clouds really enhanced the pics and mood.





From there we headed to Dover Castle.

A venue one really needs a whole day for.

Great mix of very old history and more modern (1945-ish WW11 era)

We only got there at 3.00pm and did one short tour of the underground hospital, then decided to pull the plug on being tourists and headed back to Chatham for an early dinner.





Return trip was uneventful.



Group pic of course.





And inside of course.

Tripp charmed all the staff, a lot like his grandfather Dennis.







Food as always amazing.

Affordability is certainly something offered here, along with service and being welcomed as family.



After dinner, the tourists took the train back to London from Rochester.

I returned the hire car, and discovered Tripps entertainment centre under the seat.

Ooooopppps.

And of course an overnight postal delivery was impossible, as the postal,service is striking tomorrow and Saturday.

And Adam and co leave at midday tomorrow.

So Clark took a train to Lewisham this morning and we met up to give him the last part of the puzzle.



All in all, I was really pleased to have a day off work, and more importantly, spending it with friends

Life is good for sure. .

[Palf70Step]

That Memorial looks really good Rian. Glad ya'll had a good day.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

That Memorial looks really good Rian. Glad ya'll had a good day.

Absolutely beautiful place Bill.

Worthy of the fallen.







I forgot to post these pics.


Dennis had ordered me a super cool zip up hoody.


He felt the legend on the back was reflective of me…….


It was not delivered in time when I traveled there, so he sent it, along with some models along for me with Adam.







On display, pretty rare, collectable,

I just like them, from mate the late Ray, his wife Eve wanted me to have these.





So the Roadtrip just keeps giving.



Back in St Louis, Dennis was fitting a newly painted door to the race truck transporter yesterday.





That was until son Adam’s best mate since school, and all round great, not just good, guy, Tyler and he returned from Indiana where they had fetched Tyler’s dream-bucketlist car.

A 1960 VW Beetle.

All of 1100cc aircooled power.

For a guy in big displacement cars and trucks, including his “little” S10 4.3 liter, this is an interesting departure.

But we know about itches.







And typically, Dennis was straight in there to get it running.





Looking forward to seeing what Tyler does with this car.

[Palf70Step]

Love the jacket and especially the Dodge A100 model. Old bugs are a blast. Slow, but cool none the less.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Love the jacket and especially the Dodge A100 model. Old bugs are a blast. Slow, but cool none the less.

Dodge was my favourite of all of them.

Had two Beetles and a Baywindow camper before.

I like them.





Right

Good news.

Thanks for all the support from those who knew I was made redundant.

I get to keep my job. Thankfully.

Guess another excuse not to progress too fast on projects.

[Palf70Step]

Congrats on the job Rian.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Congrats on the job Rian.

Thank you Bill.

It is not ideal, but constant change seems to be constant these days.

One just needs to keep adapting.






Wheel nuts for Scruffy came in the post.


I am not sure they really should be called “chromed”

The finish is shoddy, and if they survive one season without falling apart on the chrome aspect, I will be surprised.





Still, we have wheel nuts, so the alloys can be attached, once it passes MOT.

[Grizz1963]

Remember the LACE PAINT idea?


Well, Poundland delivered.

May be a better option, or a fail, but at £2.00 each. These Halloween spiders web tablecloth’s could work better than the planned old lace curtains.

We will see when the time comes to lay them down.



Weekend is here.

Stuff to do.

[Grizz1963]

@nickwheeler popped in today for a coffee, a chat and to have a dig (around) Looks like there is a lot more to be done here.


And yes, it will get done.








Not much else done today.

Cut the grass, finished up the small trailer I got on Tuesday.

[Grizz1963]

Had a clever little plan.

But it failed (probably)

Bought a cheap 4x3 foot trailer from a deceased estate.

Sight unseen.

Collected it.










Should have gone to Spec Savers or another optician.

Still……….

Committed.

[Palf70Step]

Nice work on the trailer Rian.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Nice work on the trailer Rian.

Thanks Bill.

As always, a bit of effort goes a long way.

[Grizz1963]

This morning I got going early and got the Micra up in the air.



Laid out the first job.



Prepping some of the parts and surfaces needed to reinstate the exhaust system.

Cleaned up, drilled out the studs to enable the use of nuts and bolts.



While crawling around I took a decent look at what the four corners looked like.

Not inspired.









Still……..

I felt up to the challenge.

When @nickwheeler arrived with his welder we got straight to getting the bolts welded onto the catalytic converter





Once I reintroduced the downpipe and had the Lambda sensor refitted that Nick had removed from its plug, the rest of the refitting, including some clear silicone on the gaskets and contact surfaces (clear silicone does not degenerate with excess heat) it looked good.

Nick tried the start up and I could feel there was no leak or blowby.

Perfect, just bloody awesome.



Looking great.




That was a good way to start the day.

Coffee next.





.

[Grizz1963]

Once we assessed the rust damage, and what was needing attention….. including a lot of screwdriver poking, mashing and banging, it was time to make a few test bits up.

Once you go to complex folds, there is a better or worserer sequence in which to fold the metal in preparation for welding in.

Even a Z-fold with unequal sides has a sequence.



Tappy Tappy and away we go.



I took the wheels off as well, as it clears up space to work and get tools in.

And of course mounting the car as high as possible helps too.



Drivers seat removed, carpets and side panels out the way, rather safe than run for a fire extinguisher.



Going to the passenger side, more SPECTACULAR BODGERY became evident.

Bits of plate siliconed and then seam sealed over rust.

Impressive MOT you passed there mate.

And a lot more on both sides became evident as we proceeded.



So making two outer sill plates and everything else in a 600mm or 24 inch length became the plan of action.

Starting on the drivers side.



Then I climbed in with the grinder and Knotwheel of truth (TM @pauly) exposing as much healthy metal as I could, creating two existing reference points on the underside where plates joined.

Making sure these points are absolutely pristine, means the welder just does exactly what you ask of it.

After cutting some back, before cleaning.





Nick climbed in with the welder, fixing the first Z-folded plate at the ends, then carefully welded it all together down the inner seam

Fitting and finesse first.



Prepped for inside puddle welds.



Weld next.



After this, the outer plate was prepared for a load of puddle welds.

And welded on.

Patiently, with the use of multiple vise grips to prevent misplacing or distortion.



Once fully welded it was left to cool off.



At which point I got onto the welds, grinding them back to a decent finish.



At this point it was 18.30 so we stopped welding, things seem to take a touch longer when you start to chase previous mistakes, bodges and have to custom fit things.

Part 2 of side 1 was to create a plate, again multi-contoured for the back section of the repair, looks easy, but a few aspects to considder.



I made a CAD that works as a mirror, so both sides are created at the same time.



Cut them out of the 1mm plate and started the shaping, which Nick completed with a hammer and dolly shaper on the vice.

Ready



I will carry on with the welding as I get time after work this week

The preparation is what takes the most time.

And this is not an MOT bodge to squeeze another year or two from a car.

Have a good week.

[Grizz1963]

Got home from work and cooked dinner quickly, easy to heat up later

Then headed to the garage.

Unpacked tools.

I wanted to complete the rest of the drivers side rear arch repair.



So I continued shaping the plate for starters.



Offered up.



Welded in three pieces to make up a total repair.

The used some seam sealer to tidy up the joins after grinding the welds back.



Happy with that.



Passenger side next, and then underseal for both sides once I mask the sills off to prevent overspray.

Need to hope the weather plays along.

Getting chilly already.

[CG]

Looks like one of those funny three wheeled cars stuffed back in the corner at the place you got the mower. I think Top Gear did an episode on those things.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by CG

Looks like one of those funny three wheeled cars stuffed back in the corner at the place you got the mower. I think Top Gear did an episode on those things.

HeynCG !!!

Correct.

Reliant Robin.

The seller has a load of weird stuff laying about.

[Grizz1963]

Busy weekend with yardwork and “Decorating”

Short video clip showing the tractor being abused by the previous owners brother.

So it certainly used to go…….

https://youtu.be/0TLZo8mXwWM

This week I was also given/offered another non runner…….

And a spare seat and some better wheels for the one I have.

Thank you to “Unknown Member” who can make himself known here, should he want to.

Needs to be fetched about three hours away.





So no tractor or garage time this weekend.

Weather still mild, but rain today, may lift later.

Yesterday I managed to fall out a tree, off the top of the ladder when it spun around a fixed pivot point.

Yes, I landed hard, only sprained my middle finger….. despite caution.

Accidents are so instantaneous to happen.

I skipped cutting this tree down last year and this year I wanted to cut it below the last pruning point.



Halfway, more to get done.



Thats a lot of branches to process and dispose of.

Anything more than a broomstick thickness will be put aside to dry for the fireplace next season.



Much better.



Will go up and tidy all the shoots that are sticking out everywhere.

Sally made me a white bread, bacon and two soft fried eggs sandwich today.

What a bonus.