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

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

Sounds like a fun time .

In a way yes.

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Definitely looks like lots of fun. They ever figure out the Challenger issue?

Bill it may not be clear in my write up, but they have not even touched the car since it got delivered.

Despite my telling them that I need to get back to St Louis etc.

I am very unimpressed with Fletcher at this point.

[Grizz1963]

Right....


Back to Sunday morning on the road trip.


Been without a car for three days, and the Road trip turned itself into an Adventure.

Which meant no updates as I was even more busy getting around Arkansas courtesy of Steve Hansen "Bib Overalls" and a load of other folks.

But $358.00 later and loads of shouting by Dennis at Fletcher Dodge in Jonesboro (who proved themselves to be ultimately &#!7, sadly) the car has a temporary bypass fix to get me home for the Birthday Party, and Roger Orf's Burnout BBQ and party.

Seems like today and tomorrow may be fuelled purely by beer.

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So we left Dennis' place with Danny to go to Mittler Bros Racing to pick up some spares en route to the track 120 miles away.


When any of he 13 trucks get destroyed on track, they have to get rebuilt in the shop.

Every track has a car built to specification for that track, now you get why it's such an expensive sport.

Stripped down to a frame......




New sheet metal gets fabricated and a new carbon fibre nose added.



After which Dennis takes over for paint and finish, to get them all pretty again, just to be broken at the next race.



And for a hoarder with an eye for stuff that can be repurposed, a pile of race car panels outside that I would love to hang on my wall, tailgates and front ends, plus door and bed panels.
I could have cried.



Then on the road, which included a stop for some "breakfast at midday, and these beauties, introduced to me by Danny King.



Over the Mississippi River again, something I seem to have done many times on this visit.



And back at the track.

$40.00 per person for a Pit Pass, every day of the races, Thank you Dennis, for refusing to let me pay.

But worth every Dollar as we spent 10 hrs per day there.





Preparation of the track is non stop, to get water deep into the surface.

[Grizz1963]

OK........

Time for a bit of word writing again.

I walked around the pits a lot over both days, speaking to various people.

Saw this car that had been pretty well beaten up on the Saturdays races.

Walked into the race trailer and asked who the driver was.

I KID YOU NOT.......

A 16 year old kid says "That's my car, I am the driver"

WT actual F ???

Japanese boy, small built, confident smile, introduces himself to me "Ryu Taggart of Tagg Racing"

We start chatting (for at least 30 minutes) and it turns out this is his first season on Ovals, he raced and was a champion in Japan for the last 11 years, started in Karts at age 5 years old.

Eventually I leave, wishing him luck for the nights races.

Of course I now have a car to watch as well, no 14


I watch I'm start from position 12 on a grid of 14 and in a very messy race with at least three restarts, he gains a position every time a restart happens and ends up a very respectable 7th at the end of the race.


I predict that this boy is to be watched in future.





Ironic sponsorship.......





More views from the pits.

I hope you guys still enjoy just random pics of how sh!t gets done.



Closer inspection reveals



Off to buy more pure Ethanol, racing fuel for 850 hungry, angry horses.




Relaxing in his new race trailer, Dennis, Adam on the Right and Danny King in the rear.

No alcohol in the pits.



Always more inspecting.....

Ensuring it all stays together on the track.

Clint Conder is more of the brains of the outfit, ensuring things stay together and happen fast.




Amazingly these cars hit over 100mph on the "straight" of the short banked track, before being thrown sideways into the bend while trying to get as many of the horses down through the rear wheels.

No quarter ever given.

So how the hell does this keep it all together, it just looks impossible.

Surely all those forces will tear this all apart.



Dennis spraying some magical formula all over and under the chassis and motor to stop all the mud from sticking to, and weighing the car down.



Shooting the breeze with Clancy Boots in the pits.

These guys go a long long way back.



More later.

[Palf70Step]

Glad the Challenger sorta back.

Looks like fun, maybe next year I can make the Tuba Trucks run and the antics that lead up to it.

[mjh1965]

Looks like another fun trip . Glad you got the car fixed (we'll sort off ) so you could get back to Denis's in time .

[Grizz1963]

Back to Sunday at the races.

Clint continued to work the car.



Danny and Tyler, actually busy, despite appearances.



Best ever use of a Suzuki bread van





Race is on.



Track after all the races.

Check out the height of the berm afterwards




And suddenly it was all over.



In the trailer before packing up, Danny the teacher and I.



Hooked up and ready to go at 02.00 in the morning.

[Grizz1963]

LABOR DAY........

Monday 4th September was the USA Bank Holiday or a public holiday.

Spent in all manner of ways with friends and family.

Dennis, Debbie and I headed out in his favourite old Chevy truck, with air conditioning to see his parents and collect a load of treasures, tools etc.

Put him behind a wheel and you could drive clean across America.



Yes, two of the same.

Happy me, in a truck headed down i70



Signs of patriotism everywhere. I love these massive flags.



Into O'Fallon where Dennis' mum n dad live.





Showed some of their interior decoration last year, but still love it.



Air conditioning thermostats.





Fully functioning kitchen.

I absolutely love this as so much of it reminds me of growing up 50 years ago.






More in a bit.

[flashed]

Love it ,very tasteful decorations .

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

Love it ,very tasteful decorations .

Me too.


Continuing at Dennis' parents, we loaded a lot of treasures into the truck.

Saw this collection of hatchets and hand axes in the garage too.



Cool brass pump handle and nozzle.

Note the nozzle has a nut shaped tip to open drums.



As part of their purging, Dennis' mum was getting rid of about 7 vintage duck hunting decoys.

She offered me as many as I needed, so I took one.

Love it.



From there we went over to Debbie's younger son Bryan and his wife Katie and his buddy Johnny over the street.

Within minutes we were having a Tailgate party, but with the tailgate up.



These guys are very keen bow, rifle hunters and fishermen.

I got lucky and Bryan brought me less than 24 hr old, fresh Dove breasts and Crappie fish fillets that Debbie was to prepare for us later at home before dinner. Which was BBQ Pork steaks and a load of other food.



The breast wrapped in bacon did not even make the photo shoot.

Both tasted just awesome.

Thanks Bryan !!!




Eventually made it home via one of the neighbours.....



Outbuildings where Dennis found the 6 foot snake skin last year.



Dogs everywhere, just the way I love it.

Tally and Molly in black.



Cinch.




Headed out now to play chainsaws and tractors and then pyromaniac.

Trees to be cut down.

[Grizz1963]

One of the pieces we collected that Dennis was totally in love with is this wood plane.









It seems this is around a hundred years old.

On Tuesday, after a late start around 10.30, I headed out toward Arkansas.

First point was to see Donnie Wilson and his family.

Along the way I "always" stop at McDonalds in Corning for coffee, wifi and a bathroom break.

I had managed to drop my Opinel pocket knife in Danny Kings truck on Sunday night after the races, so I popped into the local Walmart for a new lock blade, crisps and some great Jerky.

While in there, my mobile phone picked up its WiFi and delivered a couple of messages..... love technology.

Chatting to a friend in SA she was incredulous that I had picked up free WiFi, and only a selfie satisfied her disbelief.



Loved this signage.



The. Headed out again and went through Pocahontas where you keep right, toward Strawberry.



Along the way I stopped at a random shop and managed to buy the large top arrow for a weather vane.

Same guy had this '52 Chevy hood ornament for sale at $15.00 which seemed like a good price, if it was not free.



Got to Donnie late afternoon.

His son, both their wife's and grand children were all there for an awesome dinner and specially fried Deer meat that he had hunted

Possibly the best moment to date on this trip was when he offered me English Tetleys tea......

I had forgotten to bring my own supply this time.




After dinner we went and sat out on the front porch and just enjoyed the quiet, watching the humming birds use the feeders hanging out front.

For some reason my YouTube channel will not let me load videos, been going on for weeks.

Any ideas??

[Grizz1963]

After dinner, we sat out till quite late, chatting all sorts, including trucks of course.

Cowboy, who is Donnies new yard guard, watching out for Coyotes and guarding the chickens at night spent time with us.

He also woke me at 04.00 and was certainly earning his keep.



After a great breakfast, we went for a drive over to see some cattle on Donnies land and then over to,Jimmy who has been building a new family home.

Transport.



Part way there, we crossed this stream, how idyllic.



Yes, he can stop in the water for a photo.



Then out to the cattle.

They are like kids, storming his truck inquisitively.

Then following when we drove off.



For the sake of posting photos in a group, I will put these together.

After the cattle we went to Jimmys place to look at some stuff being built, including his house.

After this, we drove back to Donnies farm and up to his scrap pile, where I managed to rob two good radiator wings off him, a speedo clock assembly to add to the parts I have to try repair my very broken one, as well as a set of Custom ally side sails.

While there, I saw other interesting stuff.

Grasshopper



A very large and beautiful lady spider, unfortunately she turned when I tried to photograph her.




And of course Donnie Chevy truck.

All tuned and sailed in now.

[Grizz1963]

So back to the self built home.

Jimmy and his wife milled their own Red Cedar and Pine trees at her dads sawmill to build this home.

It is massive, has verandas or porches on three sides.

Not everything will be to everyone's taste, but guess what.....?

It's not our home.

Bunch of photos, as I need to get to bed, today was a long, physical day.

Cabinets.



Closer



So the question stands...... "Do bears poop in the woods?"

Red cedar, cut and milled by the owners.







Kitchen





Outside view, not easy to capture.



After this we headed home to Donnies place as Wanted to leave his place by 11.00 as Jonesboro and Steve Hansen awaited.

If there was time, Searcy was also on my mental agenda, to see Ta2Don for a bit.

So we had a last coffee, then said our goodbyes and I headed out.





This is where the road trip turned into an adventure.

Next report will include a 3 wheeled Vintage EZ-GO Golf Kart and some Samaritans.


Bed time now.

Later for those still along for the trip or photos.

Thanks for checking in.

[Palf70Step]

Very nice Rian. Loooking forward to the next install!

[MP&C]

Thanks for sharing your adventures!

[flashed]

Looks fun ,love the house .

[Indian113]

I really enjoy seeing some of the members if it's only with your pictures. I am so happy that you have the ability to visit our Great Country and I'll bet the Wide Open Spaces are hard for you to get used Too.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Very nice Rian. Loooking forward to the next install!

Morning Bill,

Packing up this morning, then headed out in the Hellcat again, my just do a bit of shopping, if I have any space left.

Originally Posted by MP&C

Thanks for sharing your adventures!

An absolute pleasure.

As long as people comment from time to time, I do not mind posting up.

We all look at different stuff differently, and have different interests.

Originally Posted by flashed

Looks fun ,love the house .

It was rather special.

Originally Posted by Indian113

I really enjoy seeing some of the members if it's only with your pictures. I am so happy that you have the ability to visit our Great Country and I'll bet the Wide Open Spaces are hard for you to get used Too.

Morning Indian,

I love meeting up with the special friends I have made over here, and also hosting them in England.

Regarding the spaces and blue skies, I grew up in South Africa till age 39 and then moved to England.

So not so much getting used to as it is enjoying and missing them.

And I still feel privileged every day to know the people I do and do the stuff I get to do.

What does get me is people saying "we should do that" and then not doing a thing.

Life is good.

[Grizz1963]

[quote author="@retrolegends" source="/post/2350233/thread" timestamp="1505139974"]Thanks for the update, it's giving me a boost as I'm half way through a block of night shifts. 👍🏻[/quote]


Pleasure mate,

Waiting for Dennis to pick me up and take me to the airport, via Ethel's where Kelly should be on duty.

I hope so for all our sakes.

Then out at 18.50 US time, and stopover in Chicago and further to London at some crazy hour.


So we left off just outside of Strawberry where Jake Brakes are banned.


I had also made out like a Bandit with Donnie giving me some part for my truck that I did not have, or were badly damaged on my truck.

Another big thank you.



From Strawberry, I was headed to Jonesboro to see Steve and his wife and Lulu the dog.

About 15 minutes after leaving, and 4 miles through a town called Lynn, the Challenger cut out...

I started it again, drove 50 yards.....

Cut out again.

Single lane road, sharp drops on both sides and gravel trucks hammering down it, with multiple blind rises.....

The third time it cut out, I managed to start it once more and reverse up someone's driveway, just to have it cut out again, and then refuse to start again.




The road trip had just turned into a [s]Nightmare[/s] I mean ADVENTURE.

This was at exactly 12.00 midday.

Want to guess what next??

[Palf70Step]

Tailgate Party!!

[dwcardfan]

I enjoyed the visit my friend!!!

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Tailgate Party!!

Always a good thing.

Originally Posted by dwcardfan

I enjoyed the visit my friend!!!

It was awesome spending time with you and your family Donnie.

And thank you for the parts and the knives.

[Grizz1963]

Just for those who do not read words, and will not read this.
I am back in the UK now, got in around 3pm today
Knackered in a word.


So I try various ways to start the Hemi Challenger, but no go.

So I pull out my UK based mobile phone that will let me make a call at £1.10/min to call Dennis......

No reception.

So took some pics of the car, the address etc and started to walk toward the next home down Hiway 25 Arkansas.

Number 3001 has an old guy working in his yard, next to a trailer and 70's Subuurban.





So I look for guns and approach, explaining my situation.

He pulls out his mobile phone and says "You can use my phone" while he carries on trying to remove a tyre from a rim with some wholly inadequate tools. But he does succeed.

Long story short, Dennis refers me to Dodge recovery service, they take my exact details and say it should take an hour (I am 29 miles from one small dealer at Wallnut Ridge and about 45 miles from the bigger dealer at Jonesboro)
I get a text a while later to confirm it will be just over two hours for them to get there.
So Walk back to the car to check if it will start again, but also just to move it more on driveway.
Then I hear RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.........!!!

Look back and see this.



Old guy in his EZ-GO Golf kart coming to pick me up and run me to the car.

No luck there in the end.

We do look at this truck, found out later it was bought for the house owners son, but he lost interest fast and now has a jacked up V6 Toyota pickup



We go back to the old guys home, try to get a tyre onto the rim, unsuccessfully.
More chat, glass of water and local history.
Help him adjust golf kart throttle cable.
And then I go back to the car to await recovery service.
By 3.30 pm still no recovery, so I walk back to the house and ask for phone again......
at 4.03 a missed call, as I cannot raise the service......
Call back and it is the Recovery service owner to say they were given the wrong details and despatched to the wrong address

So I walk back to the car and at the same time y friend Steve from Jonesboro where I was headed arrives in his Toyota truck, so we chat while waiting for the service guys, who eventually get there after 5pm.



Car loaded, we head to Jonesboro, which is where Steve lives, the recovery service is based even though Dodge will only recover to the nearest address etc...... the owner Glenn says he will take the car to Jonesboro with us in Steves truck.



Once we got there, signed off the car, to be investigated on Thursday.....

And Steve and I head home via. Pizza place with cold beers.



Then home to see Lulu the dog and his wife.

Knowing we need to be back at the dealers 30 minutes away by 07.30 the next morning, we turn in early-ish.

Thursday was going to turn into a pile of steaming poop.

Bed time for me, I am shattered and back to work here in the UK tomorrow.

Later guys.

[Grizz1963]

Shock news from the Grizz House.

Morning all. Went to sleep around 9.30 in end. Woke 10.30 and 11.30 then basically slept to 7.30
So thankfull.
As jetlag kills me.
Now to start facing the real world again.

Trying to get IT sorted. Email and system passwords expired while away. Now locked out and need to get boss who is in a meeting to reply to IT desk to get that going then head out to work.

[Grizz1963]

Thursday morning first thing before 08.00 we are at Fletcher Dodge of Jonesboro.
We get the "promise" of We will do all we can and get told to leave and not make contact before midday.

So Steve and I go have breakfast at Front Page restaurant and then set off to see a few shops of his friends.

Remember George Poteets Car Farm from ladt year?

First is one of his drivers' shop.

As is often the case, there is just too much to take in.
So a bunch of photos of what caught my eye.

Vandalised. Paint keyed.



This guy has a bunch of replica shops inside his shop.







Whatcha hiding ???





Mementos from the salt lakes.

Remember Blowfish?
Some bits of it after coming unstuck.

[Grizz1963]

Back to replica shops inside shops.

General Dealer.



Inside.



Some great old advertising.





Note the bottom left corner of this real ad.

I have seen it quoted before.



Looking in the opposite direction to the other doors.

Heavenly for most of us.



After leaving there Steve had a few errands to run followed by lunch at Sams Club a setup similar to Costco. Membership and bulk buying etc.

Here we had two Nathans hotdogs each and a bottomless soda drink each.

I have only recently discovered Mountain Dew (more caffiene than Coke and said to be addictive) and got a gallon of it.

Then off to fill his truck.

I saw this little number.





Followed by a trip accross town to see Dick Valenzuela and his cars and shop.

We got to meet MeMe (pronounced Mimi) who was buzzing and loves feet. I wear flipflops.......

More about Dick Valenzuela later. I got to spend more time with hom the next day.



Seen elsewhere.



More later.