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

[mjh1965]

You can only put the badge on the front if you upgrade the motor use your old truck motor and get a big block for the truck problem sorted

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by mjh1965

You can only put the badge on the front if you upgrade the motor use your old truck motor and get a big block for the truck problem sorted

Been suggested elsewhere too.

I suspect a 2.0 litre 16v would shift pretty well..


For now, just staying as it is though.

[Grizz1963]

Another early day into London......

Also the first really nice looking day at the station by 07.00 with blue skies fighting to get through.

Loads of flowers out now too, especially daffodils.

Life is starting to look good again.



I do love technology.......

Some time through the day there was an email notification that Disasterbus had quoted me on Fartsbook.

Funny how life unfolds.

Remember my car getting damaged while parked up? Well, the agency I work for has a very greedy policy, so they have taken £150.00 from my salary to cover themselves as an excess..... while I am out doing my job, really flames my shorts. Feckers.

So Disasterbus had a free lawnmower to offer, the one I had bought last year on EBay, to replace the one I found about 7+ years ago at the council tip has not delivered and keeps wanting to die when I mow the lawn.... then the excess on the car, and Kerry saves my assss with a mower I would have had to go buy to replace the dying one.

Thanks mate, I owe you some good Guinness.... bit of a bargain then for one of us.



Made it home tonight with a bit of light left.

So got out the suit and into garage clothes, reversed the van up onto some ramps and got onto swopping the rear silencer.

£140.00 quoted for the job, I got one delivered for £37.00

20 minutes later........... job done.





Perfect.



Next up, I thought here was a bit of time to get started on the front grille change.

Removed the grille.





Then removed the double helical Citröen gears from the grille and masked up, then keyed in the centre bar of the grille so that when I painted it Satin Black, it would kind of disappear from the rest of the grille.

I did not want to cut the bar as it has a fixing tab under the hood release.



Unmasked, you can see the illusion created on the right of the grille that the satin black brings.



Not a great photo but hopefully you get the picture.

Chevrolet Berlingo ??



Starting to shape the way I like it.

Opinions?

Needs the wheels to get finished, collect the mower from Disasterbus and then do a few other little jobs.

Maybe another few weeks.

Thanks for looking in, hope you are still enjoying the ride.

Later guys.

[realvc]

Lookin' good Bro.

[Palf70Step]

Very nice Grizz. It looks like that Chebby belongs there!

[65sub]

Chevy Berlingo. That will leave them guessing

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by realvc

Lookin' good Bro.

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Very nice Grizz. It looks like that Chebby belongs there!

Originally Posted by 65sub

Chevy Berlingo. That will leave them guessing

Thanks guys.

Interestingly, you could have a Peugeot Ranch in Mexico, which is the same car, with the steering on the correct side

A few more badges and I will be done.

[Grizz1963]

Between a cat on my head, and a small little chainsaw in bed next to me, I was out of bed by 05.15 and surfing the web with a mug of tea by 05.30

Then ironed 13 shirts while trying to keep quiet so the chainsaw could rest and hit peak revs all at the same time.

By 10.00 it was brekkie time, giant crumpets with apricot jam and a good mug of tea.

Followed by cleaning with thinners, and priming the wheels I blasted yesterday.




Next up the glass came out of the Berlingo.



All needs washing, cleaning and drying.

Fortunately Katy was here to supervise, I nearly messed up twice, cutting wrong and facing the film the wrong way.

Than lay out the tinting film, cut to size and fit.



Squeegeed out the water used to float the film.



Result.



Contrast.

Interestingly, once fitted to the van, you can see out very well, but trying to see in is a lot more difficult



Once we refitted the glass, I was pretty pleased to say the least, as this was another one of those things I thought was worth trying.

Then up to the farm for a couple of pics to show the result of our work.








After this we came home and I thought it was a perfect time to complete painting the wheels.

I am really pleased with the outcome of this all, good prep, priming and a decent result.



Tonight Katy and I are taking it easy and she is still,cooking dinner....... lucky me.

And of course tonight I probably deserved my Rum and Pepsi Max.

Tomorrow.....?

Who knows.

[Palf70Step]

Wheels and windows came out nice Rian.

[flashed]

Looks great .

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Wheels and windows came out nice Rian.

Originally Posted by flashed

Looks great .

Thanks guys.

I am really pleased with the way it came out like, and it still makes me happy..... not a bad result.

More update in a bit.

[Grizz1963]

A quiet day.

Kind of weird for me to do nothing or as little as I did today, but it was a good day.

CraigRK used his new wagon to pop over to Disasterbus early morning to pick up the lawnmower that I had been given.



Katy has a tough day job and was shattered yesterday so crashed and fell asleep on the couch after dinner, then this morning I was up early as usual but forced her to sleep late and then stay in bed reading a book, relaxing, taking her tea in bed etc.

We went shopping around 11.30 as she had stuff to sort out.

A nice coffee at Coffee Republic, people watching and then home.

We were expecting Ian "Overload" from UKGSER.com to pop in to deliver a new, unused towbar for the Berlingo.

He and partner Julie were here at 13.30 with their two awesome dogs.

Cuppa tea, Digestives and we were off to the garage to look at all my stuff........ I think Ian felt a kindred spirit in my wombling

One towbar delivered......... but it has a mystery attached.




The label on the packaging reads "Opel Corsa Combo" or Vauxhall Combo would be the same thing I suspect.

Who knows for sure.......??

Was there a floorpan share between Vauxhall and PSA or the Peugeot/Citroën meaning the Berlingo and Corsa take the same Towbar?




Time with Ian and Julie flew by and all too soon they had to hit the road home.

I went back to the garage after taking the Prozac-Mobile down there and started to mess with it.......

Get my drift?





Debadged.......



Not yet fitted, just held in place with some masking tape.

I still have to prep these badges with automotive tape so that I can fit them to the tailgate.



Another weekend over.

Next stop, next weekend.

Thanks for looking in and commenting.

[flashed]

I love the Emblem placement ,you are really going to confuse a lot of people over there .

[Palf70Step]

[aggie91]

Nice work on the "HD Blazer"

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

I love the Emblem placement ,you are really going to confuse a lot of people over there .

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Originally Posted by aggie91

Nice work on the "HD Blazer"

Thanks guys.

It will confuse some and agitate some

Perfect.

[Grizz1963]

Got home from work tonight and did a load of admin, followed by cutting the grass, then painted the insides of the alloys black as well, and then solved the problem of how to fill or cammo the holes where the side trim is affixed.

2x2meter and 135 mm high means the holes can be managed before moving to the next phase.

I ordered red and white.



Next up.....

QUESTION TIME.

When I bought the car, it only had this one key.

It has central locking, so not sure there was a remote central locking key.

Where can I buy a spare coded (suspect it is) immobiliser key for sensible money??






Any advice on getting a duplicate key made up, appreciated.

[Palf70Step]

Not sure Rian. I have not seen a reasonable key that had gadget stuff in it ever. Most places you get a blank, then the the dealer programs them. I use the valet key on my wife's car just so I don't have to have a key fob. I suspect the valet key is even programed. The 64, 02, and 07 trucks all just have normal keys and standard locks.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Not sure Rian. I have not seen a reasonable key that had gadget stuff in it ever. Most places you get a blank, then the the dealer programs them. I use the valet key on my wife's car just so I don't have to have a key fob. I suspect the valet key is even programed. The 64, 02, and 07 trucks all just have normal keys and standard locks.

Thanks Bill

I have a plan forming in the back of my head.


Found this pic on the Berlingo forums.

However, it is just a guidance pic

Who knows what front lips, spoilers, splitters etc are out there on existing cars that can be transplanted or grafted to the front of mine?

I know Mk1 Golfs had them a long time ago.



Bad photos of current front end.





Thanks guys.

[flashed]

I love your creativity on all your projects .

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

I love your creativity on all your projects .

Thank you very much John, that is very generous of you.

I am always thankful that there is stuff I can mess with and get a random result from.

[Grizz1963]

Away from home for four days this week, I was just down the road at Heathrow in the line of Terminal 5's flight path.

Training, followed by more training and planning, strategy and sales talk. Three days of a throbbing headache, too little sleep and too much good food.

Ohhhhh, and I dressed up.




Got home late afternoon, and Harley of course made it known that 4 days of opening her own tins of tuna just was not on.
So she then followed me the rest of the day, garage, house and back.

The cat does make me laugh.



Once I got the laundry started and had a mug of home made tea......

It was time to get down to the shop and get the Berlingo up in the air and the rear wheels off, followed by the brake hubs.



Getting those barsteward Torx screws out of the rear hubs was a nightmare, thankfully Stuart my neighbour two houses down had a decent Torx bit and used my impact driver and a hammer to unseat the very rusted screws that I had repeatedly wetted down with penetrating oil.



Ultimately this was what came to the fore.

Drivers side brake cylinder leaking, badly.

Needs new shoes and brake cylinders.



I will order the brake parts online tonight and collect tomorrow morning when I go collect the bandsaw I got off Facebook marketplace earlier this week, that friend Paul F went and collected and paid for,for me. Thanks mate.

The biggest challenge may be to get the brake lines undone at the backplate to the Brake cylinders, seems it is a know problem too.

While working on the brakes, I also primed and painted two of the signs Darren at Unit Signs made for me.





When I got back the stickers I had ordered for the sides of the car had arrived as well.

And I took the cars new alloys into the house (my house, my rules)



About three years ago, I bought this Lazy Susan table top piece for silly money, brobably £2.00 form a young couple who,had carried it back from a trip to Australia and yet had never used it.

Pretty much the same here........ till this day.

CLICKY LINKY:

Lazy Susan for wheel painting - YouTube

Another 10 yard hand painted finish.





Pretty pleased with this outcome too.

Now just need to get the brake lines loose tomorrow, replace the brake parts and reassemble.

Then of course get the wheels and tyres switched around, may only happen next weekend, but looking forward to it. Along with removing the side trim and replacing with the stickers above.

That's it for tonight.

Thanks for checking in.

[realvc]

Looking like James Bond in the fancy duds.

Those wheels are pretty cool. You are personalizing your new ride in the "Grizz" way.

[Palf70Step]

That red really pops on those wheels. That little box on wheels is looking real good Rian!

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by realvc

Looking like James Bond in the fancy duds.

Those wheels are pretty cool. You are personalizing your new ride in the "Grizz" way.

Thanks Vince.

I am trying to keep it cheap and cheerful.

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

That red really pops on those wheels. That little box on wheels is looking real good Rian!

Makes me happy Bill, and that is probably the most important thing.



Take two.......

Not what I like to do when the iPad deletes a long winded write up just as I want to post it, especially after another bad night not sleeping.

So yesterday I took advantage of Eurocarparts' "Up to 55% St Patric's Day Discount" to buy the rear brake parts I needed, shoes and wheel cylinders. I decided to replace the lot, rather than just one side which some people would do. The passenger side shoes and wheel cylinder are fine, so if someone needs them, collection and a cuppa tea.

Back to the discount, so despite these mostly being predetermined and not really affecting profitability of companies, the counter price for the parts was £79.88 or something like that, while the click and collect price is £54.88 so technically I saved some money, and of course when I got there, the wrong parts had been picked..... oooopps.




What I got for my money.




I had been lubricating the brake line nuts and bleed nipples for a week, as they are known to be a problem.

When I tried to undo them with my normal tools, it became clear that I was headed for a heart ache.
So I popped around to my neighbour a few houses down to see if he had advice, he is a mechanic. Spent 90 minutes chatting to him while he finished off some work and then he grabbed a few tools and came around, open ring spanner, vice grips and not very long......



This lot was ready to be replaced with new parts.



All 6'7" of him crouched in front of the job. I did help a bit.

Copper grease going in everywhere appropriate so next time could be a bit easier.



I had also had to remove the centre console to release the handbrake cables so that I could get them off the rear brake shoes.
This was a good thing as I managed to set it right after my test drive once everything was reassembled.

While I was under the car, I tried to offer up the Corsa Combo towbar I got given, but it was not going to fit.

I noticed the spare wheel condition and decided to replace it with the spare, spare that Laurence had given me when I bought the car.



After cleaning, washing and then prep n prime, I gave it a few coats of satin black and refitted it under the car.



With much light under the car, it became apparent that the bias valve return spring was rusted off and needed replacing as it is an MOT fail if not correctly in place.
So it seems I will be spending another £22.00 on a spring as well.
But it needs to be done.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-Be...wAAOSwepJXWmtn

Ebay ad for the very overpriced bias valve return spring



Once I had reassembled the wheels, put away my tools etc, I took the car for a drive up to the farm and bedded in the brakes as well as using the handbrake repeatedly to stop or slow down the car.

When I got back home I readjusted the handbrake some more and refitted the centre console etc.

The brakes are now really great and I feel confident to use the car fully in any traffic.

It still makes me smile and as I said to a mate who asked if I would sell it, the. Reply was a definite yes, and I would replace it with another the same.

I really like the simple lines of the Mk1 model, and specifically the Multispace with its rear door that creates such a great overhang.

Lastly, a photo I took yesterday of one of the alloys just put in place on the hub.

I like it and am certainly looking forward to getting the tyres switched over.



Not as far out as it seems.