GRIZZ’s ‘79 - 2WD BLAZER Challenge over in London, England. “~It’s not a Project~”

[Grizz1963]

While over at Darren’s place for a few hours, tea and cookies, to order up the new back full panel for the Blazers tailgate, I went through a collection of badges.

Found one to fit in the centre of the steering wheel, as the truck,does not have an original anymore, much as I would love to have an original steering wheel.



The Rock n Roll badge is for the infill panel between the rear lights.



While in their shop, I scavenged the scrap bin and found he two Indian heads and the deer, the Stormtrooper I had previously bought from Darren.

Plan for the Indian Heads would be either the front of two candles, as candle holders, or better still as exhaust embellishes on 3” exits, not sure it would work, but I like the idea.

[Grizz1963]

Another weekend over.

Not a lot of Blazer time, but I did a few things and also relaxed a bit.

Awake and up by 3.30 this morning, by 06.00 I had spent a few hours chatting with Dennis in St Louis, and also spent an hour chatting to Lee the lawyer I met in September.

Then I ordered a 50 meter roll of 12mm yellow signwriting or pin striping vinyl off eBay to go with these two tones of orange once I do the sides of the Blazer




At some point I had a shower etc, then went for a walk around Rochester



Found a small farmers market where I bought some awesome bread, and also three French dried sausages.



Hot chips a must in Rochester High street



Came home with my treasures, bread with real butter, and starting with a pork and Roquefort sausage, followed by the smoked version and thirdly the black pepper sausage.

Started with my Old Bear knife, then switched to my trusty Opinel using the cutting board my friend Stanislav “Stas” from Siberia had sent me recently along with a photo of Katya his wife..........



Smoked



Pepper, amazing sausage



While relaxing and watching some catch up telly, I sent Stas in Siberia a pic of my cutting board and the food on it.

Instantly a reply came back, he was impressed and jealous.

We ended up chatting for about three hours on WhatsApp sharing info, he and Katya drinking beer and wine, and me with a Bud Light and light snacking.
Gotta love technology.

Stas and Katya relaxing late on a Sunday in their kitchen.



Weather today’s in Siberia was warm and pleasant.

-8’C outside.



I also ordered some duct tape off Evilbay to stick to the trucks rims, in order to help the trim rings find a place to grip, rather than pop off.

Monday soon, two day week for me.

[Grizz1963]

There you go.


Old school Photoshop.


Just use your imagination, using the orange vinyls I previously showed, and add some yellow 12mm tape to the details and add black or red details in pinstripe.



Yellow and red n black with these colours, should work.






I think this is my final choice, despite loving some other designs as much as I do.

Like the Mucho Mondo as posted by Ian Brown, if I could be P.O. there’d to creat this type of vinyl, I would, but just too lazy.



This is rather nice, but we will be headed down boring boulevard.

[Grizz1963]

Need I say more??

I have loads of little jobs to get to while I am off work for a few days, as long as the weather allows me.

Tonight on the way home I stopped and got some,paint stripper........ not a recommended product in my world.



They recommend applying, waiting 30 minutes and applying a second coat of the stuff inneeded.

Nope, not even maybe.



Including scraping, scratching and trying to move some of the military cameo paint from the badges, which took me 3 hours, RHD results were absolutely disappointing.

After three hours



Product absolutely NOT Recommended




After scraping with a sharp knife and trying to clean up what the chemicals could not do, I have realised that the only way to use these badges, will be to paint them all one colour and then to roller the high surfaces in a different colour to contrast.



So my quick first holiday job took a lot longer than planned.

More fun tomorrow as I have garage time coming.

[Grizz1963]

Bit late after all the effort, but quote below from the guy who sent me the badges.


That will be why I failed then.

Originally Posted by mr slug

Sorry Grizz,

Maybe I should have mentioned they are painted with CARC.

This is what Wiki has to say about CARC \/

-------------------------------------------------
Chemical Agent Resistant Coating - Wikipedia

Chemical Agent Resistant Coating is a paint commonly applied to military vehicles to provide protection against chemical and biological weapons. The surface of the paint is engineered to be easily decontaminated after contact with chemical or biological warfare agents.
--------------------------------------------------



Military paint is not all bad, I once begged a can of 'grey primer' off the local airbase - it had been intended to spray paint jet fighters, and would absorb, not reflect radar waves - it made my beat up old Dodge power wagon invisible to speed traps

[Grizz1963]

Plan B activated.

Plan C will be a pair of cheap used replacement badges

Primer, then alloy wheel silver and next up once dried completely, highlight them with a small brush and some red enamel.

You can see damage that was on there in pic, red paint will fix it just fine.

Should be just fine from 5 meters.



More later.

[Grizz1963]

Postman saved the day today......


DVLA Returned my corrected V5c registration document.

Now I can proceed to MOT and get it used.


In other news, I continued with the badges after primer and painting them with wheel silver.

Started out by blacking out the background to the rosettes.



Gold and black done.



Next up I added the red, not sure if it was going to work.



Comparing them.

I think I prefer the red, still.



Completed.

I will touch them up a bit more tomorrow once the paint has completely dried.



Probably came out better than I had any right to expect.

Will still decide howmot looks once mocked up when the side stripes have been added.

Thanks for checking in.

[Grizz1963]

MOT PASS !!


With the new V5c landing yesterday, my plan was to only MOT the Blazer in the New Year.

For the American readers, and MOT test is a yearly full mechanical and electrical inspection on all cars over 3 years old, up to 40years old.

You cannot get insurance or road tax without the MOT test.

They are very thorough.


Then I woke up this morning and after a lengthy video chat with Dennis who was awake again, I decided to call the MOT station I have been using the last 10 years to see if they could test the Blazer today. No luck, it’s too big for their lift.
But I could call their other shop up the street, they said 10.15 was open.

So a quick shuffle of cars and I was off to the test station.

Stopped for gas, because I like to take pics at gas stations of the truck gathering fossil fuel.





A full inspection ensued, I felt like an expectant father at a maternity unit.

Every part was checked, even the individual safety belts on the rear bench seat.



Inspector said it was solid underneath and complimented the rust repairs, nice.



Brakes tested from inside the cab, rollers are pretty unforgiving.

[Grizz1963]

Right,

So after my successful MOT test, I went up to see PaulF whose press we used to get the bushes out of the A-Arms and previously using his brake pipe flaring tool when I was making the brake lines up for the C10.

His Split Window VW bus is so small compared to modern cars, but against this Blazer if will be even smaller.

So I asked him to take the Blazer for a drive, of course he could not say no.



We went for quite a significant drive.

The funniest thing to me, was that like me, he could not stop laughing like a deranged kid while driving thenBlazer.

What a pleasure sharing it.

While he was driving, it also became apparent just how bifpg this thing is.



After a few hours spent with him and his lovely bride Faye, who cannot do any wrong in my eyes 😁 it was time to come home, via my local village, Hoo St Werburgh where I needed to get some bread and food.

Turning down one of the street, I clocked a black Saab and a guy gesturing, instantly knowing it was Ashley, another Retro Rider.... so I turned around and we ended up chatting for half an hour or more.
Never simple or quick with me.

In the car park where I went to shop, there was a Toyota Corolla parked up next to me, had to grab a photo.

Shows again how big this thing is.



Then eventually homeward, and found the Yellow 12mm tape had been delivered.

Compared to the other vinyl that will go on the sides.



And also mocking up along with the newly painted side badges.



Lastly, the next job on the list, ensuring this is not a Project, will be getting my DA sander out and flatting back the paint that looks like it was applied with a yard broom.

Followed by getting some paint back on the sides, and then the vinyl lines and also the pinstripes

.



Well, this was a good day, in fact a good week so far.

Loads done, thankfully.

[Grizz1963]

Merry Christmas and an awesome Festive Season to all of you.



Spent this morning, day three of my leave, doing admin and online training.... yup, that’s my life.

Then wanted to paint the Stormtrooper I had bought from Darren a few weeks ago white, the new can I bought on Tuesday failed.

Had a shower, shaved and came down to find it had leaked on the counter top.



Hopped into Prozac and headed to,the village, got my money back and bought better primer and paint from another shop.





Then had a late lunch sandwich while the wind blew a gale outside.

After which I went out and flatted the sides with a 360 grit fabric disc.



Followed by a wipe down, then masked up all the bits that did not need paint on them.



A coat of primer, followed by a coat of gloss white.

This was in order to create a decent base for the vinyl to be applied to.



And eventually unmasked, the other side was finished by 4pm just when it got dark, pleased there was no rain today, just cold and wind.



I suspect that the go faster stripes will be applied with the help of a heat gun.

Hope the weathers kind tomorrow morning.

[Grizz1963]

Fighting talk.......

I really don’t care about who does not like today’s progress.

I like it, may even love it (not really) but anyone wanting to change it, the Blazer if for sale and you can then change to your hearts content.

Another rubbish night last night, seems to be a pattern, leaving me tired.

So I did clean the house, then ironed 20 work shirts etc before getting out to start with the truck.
The temperature must have been above 10’C most of the day.

Started out with a thin red pinstripe along the sewage line.

This would allow me to use it to get the rest of the Go Faster Stripes spot on and straight.





Getting the curve into the leading edge, and also the keyhole right was important, as the whole thing needs to look just right in the end.



Bottom line completed, one side.



Rear view.





Then the yellow stripe below the orange.

I would prefer the yellow a bit darker, but this was what was available.



Chrome trims fitted for the pics, but I need to prep the rims and then add in two layers of Duck Tape for the clips to kick against of bit into.

You can see where the clips scrape and try to grip when removed, so the Duck tape gives it something to kick into and hopefully they will stay in place.



And finally, photos of the job completed.





And side view.



I am really pleased with how this all,came out, certainly pleases me.

May just go for a decent drive tomorrow too, to celebrate.

It’s been a good, if busy week.

[Grizz1963]

Sunday evening.

Been raining on and off today, chilly too.

Thought I would address a few questions from various forums and FB all in one.

Mate Mat of www.dirtroaddiary.co.uk asked about the textured paint and what it came out like after I worked on it.

Starting this way.



Same spot afterward.



Clearly a look that will not be happening, after all, it’s a sunshine truck now.



Got asked by an unobservant friend if the Blazer badges were going back on.......

Ermmmm.




Right, I have ideas on this following problem, but happy to ask for a d listen to advice.

The glassfibre canopy on the rear of thenBlazer was very much fungus or moss infested at some point.
Someone who obviously tried to fix it, took to sanding off a lot of the Gel coat on the outside.

Leaving it looking like this up close.

There is loads of this sort of damage.



And from above.



Of course I am not going to gel coat the whole thing or replace it, simply because there are not stocks of random Blazer canopies in the U.K. to choose from, or is there??
I am looking for a replacement pre-81 hood and fenders too while you are at it.

My plan is to remove the hood in summer and replace the weather seal to stop it leaking in heavy rain, and then to clean the hood, and paint it in textured Rhino Liner, which I understand is also overpaintable.

Correct me and advise please.


So back to our scheduled programme.

@CraigRK did me this photoshop.

June2016/December2018



I was chatting to Dennis a lot the last few days and this morning he asked me if I still had some of the stripes for the truck.

Yup......


Why??

He sent this pic of a Factory Spec C10 Truck and asked if I was doing the hood too.




It was raining and I was watching recoded telly, so the answer was obviously nope.

More in a while, time for coffee and cookies.

[Grizz1963]

Some time after 13.00 the rain stopped, so I went out and washed the truck and the rims, as it was grubby from driving it around on wet roads.

Took some before pics. And after pics.

Top view

Before



After



Front on



Halfway



Done



Then around to the rear.

Because there are concave and convex curves mixed on the rear corner, I decided not to be clever.

Keeping to only the lover colour band, leaving the “jet wing” only on the sides.

Before



After



Quarter view



And finally a high view.



Finished by 3.45 and came indoors for a coffee again.

Now I am almost ready for a Brandy and Pepsi Max.

Thanks for all your comments, advice and checking in.

Later.

[Grizz1963]

Despite there being a few views and almost no replies........


I am off to get some normal,not Christmas food in a bit from the shops.

Then over to @CraigRK later as we are all going out for a restaurant meal (not a thing I do often)

Tomorrow will be just Harley and I here, so garage time sounds like a perfect present to myself. (Kettle will be on)

But I wanted to just leave this here.

For every one of you who helped work, gave parts, advice, moral support or popped around for a coffee, and those who take the time to post replies on this thread.

The thread is yours, and my record of how good life can be.

MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL.




And it needs some of these stickers to be made now.




Later.

[Grizz1963]

Merry Christmas all.



Popped over to @CraigRK and his family about 80 miles or 120km from my place on Christmas Eve.

They do like getting into the swing of things , I don’t......



But Craig and his wife were going to drag me there, even if it meant kicking and screaming.

I seem to recall the last time I saw Craig in a mask, things went south fast, and we ended up getting pulled over by a State Trooper with Dennis in Arkansas.

Deja Vu ?



I had taken Craig’s wife, who can do not wrong, a bottle of Prosecco, and when I got there, Craig gave me some lovely chocolates and Lorraine handed me the winning prize, three French sausages.



After a few manly chores, done including taking the dogs to boarding kennels, we headed out along wit the kids and Lorraine’s sister who is over from South Africa

To this address........





Hint in the name.



And the facilities......



Our waiter lady (sorry, no selfie with her) informed us there were free Margaritas on offer as it was a Monday evening.

Hmmmmm.....

You know this can only turn into fun, or mischief.

Craig ordered a smallish steak that he could not finish.



I was predicable......

Wings and ribs.

Wings are miniatures compared to American wings, but hey ho, I did not go hungry at all.



Not sure if the Margaritas can be blamed or not, but between us, Craig and I realised we need to go back to the USA next year, this time to make a video travel programme.......

So any advice on GoPro and legalities etc appreciated.




Everything subject to change and natural,disasters

[Grizz1963]

Christmas Day jobs.
My time.
Solo.

Harley and I ate a whole tray of Fox’s biscuits, Dreamies, some Tuna, and some other treats.

Eventually by 10.00 am I was bored with eating and sitting still and went out to mess with the Blazer.
Checked the oil, water, belts, tyre pressure, cleaned the inside glass, grinned at it, thought of the changes so far and grinned some more etc.
Then went to fetch the vintage style horn I had bought a few weeks ago, the sound system and reverse light has to wait till I have a responsible adult on site who knows how to work a multimeter and connect wires safely, but that can happen any time soon.

So the first task was to find the existing horn.......

Not anywhere in the engine bay, not to be seen up front by the radiator.

So decided to remove the headlight surround, heavy cast aluminium piece.



Found one.



And another one, which does not work.

Thinking I may look for an original grille to replace this aluminium unit too.



Supervisor in place.

She has to be around to help, weird creature.



And said offending, anti-social item fitted.



Video of previous horn vs new one.

LINK:


https://youtu.be/8HBuLyH2cbs


Before that, I had fetched the new ductape that I had ordered last week and the wheel trims and started by putting two layers of tape on the outside edge of the wheel rims in an attempt to get the stainless steel trim rings to stay in place when I go drive the truck. @PaulY made the suggestion from his past experiences that had resolved a similar issue. Let’s hope they stay put, it hurts to see money rolling down the motorway.



I REALLY REALLY LOVE THESE TRIMS.



Done.






Potential T-Shirt design.

Like it??



Later all.

[Grizz1963]

Today I posted up a wanted advertisement on two Facebook truck groups and my home page, asking if anyone had a pre-80 Grille to sell for the Blazer as well as an original steering wheel, as I don’t like the one fitted much and would prefer a standard steering wheel.

Within minutes there was a reply from a friend to say he may have one, and that he would go out to his shop to look and get some photos.
Typically. As per these modern inconveniences that are social media, someone else came into the chat thread too, asking if said friend had any other panels to sell, as he needed some for his C10 restoration, and at the same time saying to me that he had a new unused grille still in the box that he was prepared to sell to me plus shipping, It is in Mickleover in Derbyshire so needs to come to Kent, in case anyone is driving down in the next few days and can bring it down South the 175 miles. Otherwise it’s post or courier.

The new in box grille looks like the first one pictured below, with no badges and I will need to make some adjusted mounting brackets for it. It is the design I prefer as well.

These two pictured below, belong to a forum member who sold me the replacement rear light units, and he was going to sell me one, possibly the second one in the photos, once he decided which one he wanted to keep for his K5 till I was offered the new boxed unit.





I have a few emblems to choose from.
The metal one came with the Blazer, but has no fixing clips.




This afternoon I took the Blazer for a nice drive and got some food, gas (I like taking pics at different gas stations, so only put in 16 litres at a time.) and wanted to go take a few photos and see if the trim rings stayed on.



Also drove to the place in Lower Stoke where I originally saw the truck in June of 2016
Sadly I could not take the pic on the driveway again, with the new look truck that is not a Project.



Following that, I drove to the Isle of Grain where I knew of a few lovely places and back drops for photos.
I am starting to like this truck more as it evolves back into something resembling a normal car that I want to own.



And eventually came home the long way around, having driven around for over two hours, just love driving this truck randomly.

Final point to mention, is that the Stainless steel trim rings are all still fixed in position too, and did not fling themselves down the road, overtaking me.

Another good day then.

[Wikid61]

The '73/'74 bottom grill is less busy & cleaner in its layout. A round tube grill seen in my post blends in w/the era & shapes of the grill surround (round headlamps esp). the present grill screams for billet era wheels ('80's-early '90's) seen in pix. Now one more, the black tires & black wheels clash w/the bright white & the new graphics. Chrome silver or even dull aluminum painted upon those steelie's will eliminate this & liven up the scene. Yes, these are my opinions & not a formal critique of what should or should not be.

[Wikid61]

Some factory ad's on topic.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Wikid61

The '73/'74 bottom grill is less busy & cleaner in its layout. A round tube grill seen in my post blends in w/the era & shapes of the grill surround (round headlamps esp). the present grill screams for billet era wheels ('80's-early '90's) seen in pix. Now one more, the black tires & black wheels clash w/the bright white & the new graphics. Chrome silver or even dull aluminum painted upon those steelie's will eliminate this & liven up the scene. Yes, these are my opinions & not a formal critique of what should or should not be.

Originally Posted by Wikid61

Some factory ad's on topic.

Good morning,

Are you not meant to be in bed, sleeping?

I see you are in Iowa, we may be back there again in August or September.

Thank you for the replies and posting up the examples.


I prefer the look of the pre-egg crate grill, but also liked the second one, but being offered a new in the box grille for $50.00 vs LMC $40.00 price, with a friend collecting it...... works for me.

The billet grille fitted on it is in need of refurbishing, it was also painted black at some point, and the previous owner cleaned most of that off.



The wheels are an interesting option that can be edited often as one wants.

Before getting the stainless steel trims the plan was black Centre and Silver Hammerite paint around the edges.

The current black steels to me makes the chrome look more shiny or contrasts, but I will look for pics with silver steelies to see what that looks like.

I love advice, chat, observations on here because I know so little, so happy for any input.

[Grizz1963]

I recently put out feelers on forums and FB groups for a replacement grille and original steering wheel for the Blazer in my continued quest to ensure it does not become a Project.

I found two sources of grilles, and ended up buying a new in the box correct for the year, grille from Derbyshire and that probably has been collected now by my friend Kevin and his wife as they were headed right by the grille on their way to see family. I will be spending old years eve with them and some other friends, at which time I hope to collect the grille.

I had lived in hope that I would find an original steering wheel to buy to replace the nice one I have fitted, and to regain the self cancelling indicators.




You will see the replacement wheel pushes out quite far into the cab.



Then I got a text from my friend Ian Brown up in County Durham

His side of the conversation went like this.

Hi Rian, I have one of these “ in my shed” it’s missing the centre cap / horn push and it’s grubby ( would definitely need some Grizz “resto-magic “ ). I remember checking the part number and it was 73 to 80 something Blazer and Suburban. I’ll send it down to you if it’s any good?

You should be able to get someone on the forum to send you a centre cap.

Hi Rian, front & back and part number photos attached. I’ve tried cleaning a bit of it with interior shampoo ( not the best but all I have to hand ) it should come up great with a bit of elbow grease (and patience)

All the horn contacts are there too but will need a good clean
I’ve tried cleaning a small section of the wheel using Armour-all tyre foam cleaner and a very fine scotch-brite. It will clean up ok I think. I’d have done the whole thing but the tin was almost empty.

Front.



Rear.



Part number.



Hell..... Yeah !!!

Of course I would be able to use it, someone somewhere would be able to find and sell me a Centre section/horn push

I had messaged Dennis in St Louis to tell him that I had “got lucky” with Ian having one to give to the Blazer free of charge, and he said that was good, but to make sure that the three screws and a plastic piece that took the screws and a metal cup that the horn button snaps onto were there as they were not in the original pics Ian had sent.

So I texted Ian again and a few minutes later he replies that he found the parts as well, and they would be making their way down south soon.



Got a message this afternoon at 13.20 from Ian to say that he had boxed and dropped of the wheel at a courier, to make its way down South to me.

All I can say is Thank you, and that life certainly is good.

Today was a good day as well, as I had some garage time with my friend Henry who came over from Romford in Essex to give me a hand in the garage.

More Later.

[Grizz1963]

Today mate Henry came over from Essex to fit a very sexy LED spotlight in the loft of my garage.
I did not realise just how LED technology had moved on.



Lovely feel of quality



I mounted it high in the apex.



While Henry did all the clever stuff, like wiring it into the mains with a complete new circuit and connected to a mains light switch. Beats another extension cord rigged light.



And.........

Action. Bright as anything



Around 13.00 we had lunch and a long chat, then back to the Blazer out in the cold, it was chilly though the 5 layers and woolly hat I had on, but Henry agreed to help me try find the reverse/back up light live wire as it needed two hands, we also consulted the Oracle that is Dennis, and an online source plus a full 79 year service manua.

Count them......

5 cut wires and three connecting blocks.

Passenger side.



Drivers side......

Fail.



So in the end, the cold and not finding a live reverse wire to connect the LED strip light that Euan had sent, meant we packed it in and had another coffee instead.

Fight another day.

[Grizz1963]

Copy and paste.

Excuse the duplication.


Unfortunately for us over here on Mud Island (England) we do not have all the spares trucks or access you guys have over in the USA so every now and then we need to reach out and ask the questions.

I want to replace the half hearted attempt of an after market steering wheel with an original part.

My friend Ian Brown, here in England as given me what we believe is a complete steering wheel, but without the square, curved horn push cover.

Pics below to illustrate.

I need one to complete the repair........

Any one?

What I am getting.



What I need....




Part number.




What I am replacing






I hope someone has a dozen of them stashed away, you see them on the abandoned truck thread all the time.

This is a favourite thread http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=747194

Thank you all.

[Grizz1963]

Fossil fuel replenishment.

Did quite a bit of driving this weekend.

And of course the V8 sound is so bloody sweet in this truck and consequently tends to make you want to drive it, accelerate it and just have the windows down. So you use more gas as your grin gets bigger.

I also try to gas up as different stations every time, its become a bit of a thing for me, even if I just dribble in 10-15 litres at a time.

So today I popped over to Mate Martins place as I have not been there for a while, and he has been restoring two houses simultaneously after which I hit the motorway for a bit, then made my way back to Rochester.

Life’s a Gas Gas Gas....



Takes up some space even though these are modern, large parking bays.



Front view is wide, over 6 foot in fact.

[Grizz1963]

[quote author="@craigrk" source="/post/2471520/thread" timestamp="1546158198"]I was looking at a picture this morning while on holiday in Spain of the Blazer without the trims and stripes, and thinking how much better it now looks with stripes.

[quote source="/post/2461296/thread" author="@grizz" timestamp="1542097162"]Funny how the little things, like looking out and seeing this lump,outside now makes me smile.

[/quote]A quick WhatsApp comment to Grizz and he came up with this pic by return:



Now we just need that grill and steering wheel sorted to complete the next step of the [quote source="/post/2471512/thread" author="@glenanderson" timestamp="1546138107"]Q-car[/quote] transformation!!
[/quote]


Made me chuckle.


A bit like this view yesterday walking back to the car park


It has a presence for sure.