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

[McMurphy]

Those really do look good sir!
The Grizz logo, is that a brand, as in super hot branding iron?

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by McMurphy

Those really do look good sir!
The Grizz logo, is that a brand, as in super hot branding iron?

Hi Michael,

Thank you for the reply and compliment. I still think you guys are the masters, I just mess with wood as I do not have the metal working skills you guys have, though that will have to change when I have inspected my truck in the next day or two and ordered the patch panels I will be needing, as I cannot see myself making up repair panels from flat sheet metal at this point.

The Grizz Logo was kindly made by a guy called Shep, who frequents www.ukgser.com which is a BMW GS motorcycle forum I play on.
He completely randomly sent me a PM and asked if he could make me a brass heat brand to mark the stuff I turn.... of course I said yes please, as it was always something in the back of my head.

Drew up some artwork and had a friend who is clever on PC's etc do a vektor pic that he then fed into the work machine cutter and he produced and posted me the brand.

Here is a link to my wood turning thread on Retro Rides's "Readers Other Modifications" section

http://www.retrorides.proboards.com/...gain-16?page=1


As delivered:



I just use a pair of long nosed pliers to hold it in the butane flame of a weed burner I found at the tip, as it loses a minimal amount of heat and thus heats up fast, not wasting gas.





Used it on the inside and outside of the Electric Cigar Box Guitar I built about two years ago as a challenge.

BUILD THREAD LINK: http://www.retrorides.proboards.com/...having-youtube



And a pic of Harley, the security cat stuffing her face. She loves the woodwork shed and garage.





Always checking if everything passes security.




Right, the garage calls.

[TJ's Chevy]

HAHAHHAHAHAHHA!!!! My cats are the same way! lol!

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by T.J. MCCAULEY

HAHAHHAHAHAHHA!!!! My cats are the same way! lol!

We have three rescue cats, all different and would not change one.

They do fill a special gap, like dogs and gold fish....

[Grizz1963]

This is a bit of a cross over reply.

I bought a 210 liter compressor from a mate for £100.00 a while ago, but the thing is £&%$$%£ Heavy.

So I decided to add some wheels.

Original plan was to buy four with single bolt fixing......

But then I said to Mickey next door that a shopping trolley would work well.

He then got me a broken bakers trolley from a skip at a job he was on.

So the trolley was the Tip Treasure.

[img src="http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm90/niknakpix/Billybob178_zps45c5bf60.jpg" alt=" "]

Said trolley



Stripped wheels off.



Had some 10mm steel plate to cut to size for mounting the wheels onto



Was going to engineer and drill holes, recess the heads etc, to recycle the allen head screws and nuts, but decided it was a PITA not worth pursuing. So welded the holes onto the plates and tacked the corners and edges.



Went out for the afternoon, getting home around 16.00 and then back to the garage.

It was already getting dark, but then who needs light when you weld??

I used the small jack to lift the tank to the right height and a couple of magnets to hold the wheels in place.





View from outside.



JOB DONE......Mobile compressor.





Close up time for today.





Tomorrow I need to get under and about the truck to see what bits of patch panels I need to order in from the USA.

Looking forward to getting on with the body work and of course paint in the new year.

[Ta2Don]

Just thought I'd log on to say Hello Mate!
Great job on the wheels for the Compressor...

…also had to share this, it belongs to my State Health Dept. Inspector...


Cheers!

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Just thought I'd log on to say Hello Mate!
Great job on the wheels for the Compressor...

…also had to share this, it belongs to my State Health Dept. Inspector...


Cheers!

LOVELY Car Don !!

I guess it is kinda rare in the USA..... they are over here.


Martin in popping over on Friday afternoon, as he has to collect his one power drill from a friend up the road from where we live.


I think I will be trading him for a cuppa coffee for a tutorial on how to fit my Rev Counter Tim gave me in August.



I did not want to fit it before I had painted the truck, and as the interior is getting a complete repaint, I should not either, but my butt is itching to do it.

Think this will look quite neat on the dash in the corner, or somewhere slightly out of the line of direct sight, as the SatNav lives there.

Any pics of dash mounted Rev Counters appreciated.

[Grizz1963]

Had another day leave today.

Filled it with all sorts of yard jobs, and went to the farm to see if Charlie had some bits of weathered fire wood for me to make stuff from. Followed that with getting the truck out and doing an inspection.......

Came back with a few bits off his firewood pile, and a couple of longer bits of old oak.



My favorite piece once cleaned up was this former top of a gate post.

Not sure if it will become a candle holder, table lamp or possibly a large mantle clock as it is a good 300mm high.



Next up and interesting bit of fire wood. Sanded it and cut the top and bottom so that I could work with it.
Belt sander, hand sanded and then mounted inside this old wooden tray, it will be good as a tealight holder on someone's windowsill or a shelf.



Next up I made Charlie the farmer (remember the combine harvester last year) a doorstop for the farm house.

Handle from some rope I plaited from one piece and thenfed through two sides of the hole I drilled in the lump, and fixed internally in the holes.





I still have some more pieces to process, but need to think of the best stuff to make to maximize the effect of their scars etc.

[Grizz1963]

When I bought the truck, I knew it would need a complete resto and repaint to get it looking the way I want it to be.

I originally had a colour change in mind to a traditional mint green and white combo, or a real farmer brown green colour with off white detailing. But within a week of buying the truck, I knew it would stay the "in your face" red that it had been painted 10 years ago before leaving California.

I also knew it had some rust, and that is was very little for a 47 year old vehicle.

However, I was surprised at the rust when I started looking around under the truck.

There are a few holes that will need new metal welded in after surgery, and then some dents and scrapes to fix. All of these I am prepared to give a go, however, I will be buying and importing some steel patch panels.

I am happy to hear from anyone who has experience in using the panels that are available in the market from the likes of LMC, Top Banana and others, which are best for quality and fit.

Below are a few pics of my fenders and also the front, bottom corners of both doors.

Passenger door underside. The fender on this side seems fairly intact, but I may just bite the bullet and replace that whole side while on the metal work and paint.



Driver side fender corner...... this is bad, it is loose, and the inner support is rotten as well.
I suspect you could pull the whole bottom off without much effort.



Inside view...... made me want to cry. I will get the whole support for this side, rather than patching it up. The passenger side seems totally solid.





Drivers side lower door front corner. I am happy to make up path panels for the two doors as they are out of sight.



As mentioned above, please do add any comments and advice you may have for me regarding repairing the rust.
The trucks sills and cab corners are completely solid, and there are small bits of rust on the inner fenders just behind the grille and front support.

As can be seen in this pic.




==================================================================================================== ======



The other thing I looked at today was the placement of the rev counter my buddy Tim gave me in August.

I did not want to fit it till the truck was painted, but realized that placing it and wiring it up will not stop me from the paint and prep. I plan on going for a satin black dash, or satin black and red combo.

My question is this......

Where do most people place rev counters?

Sensible, practical, visible etc.....

Here is mine, just held in place or placed in position to get and idea.

Opinions, advice ??



Somewhere in the left hand corner.




Over to the right ??




Looking forward to ideas etc....

Thanks, Rian.

[McMurphy]

OMG I love that MG grill !!
Any idea what year/model that came off of?

Your wood stuff is cool too LoL sorry not meaning to be a total cad

[bj383ss]

I would put the tach on the column but that's just me. Mine was mounted this way before I tore it apart and I have my Caprice that way as well.




As for the patch panels I bought all my stuff from Top Banana and other than a little bit of tweaking it fits great.

Bret

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by McMurphy

OMG I love that MG grill !!
Any idea what year/model that came off of?

Your wood stuff is cool too LoL sorry not meaning to be a total cad

Hi Mike, the grille is off an MGA, but I do not know what year.

I paid sensibly silly money for it at a bootfair last year and still need to clean and polish it (winter job) then it will go into my office or the garage as wall art.

The searchlight/spotlight next to it was a $1.00 purchase, came off a WW2 ambulance. Guy was not interested in it, saw it as rubbish.

Cad???

I enjoy wood, as I am not a magician with metal like you guys.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by bj383ss

I would put the tach on the column but that's just me. Mine was mounted this way before I tore it apart and I have my Caprice that way as well.




As for the patch panels I bought all my stuff from Top Banana and other than a little bit of tweaking it fits great.

Bret

Hi Bret,

It seems most votes are for column mounting.

Top Banana are also getting all the votes.

[markeb01]

I mounted my tach on top of the dash, because it was the most popular location back in the 60’s:



The story was having the tach mounted line of site would keep your eyes on the tach and the drag race starter at the same time. The reality is the main reason it was put on the dash was to show off that you had one.

Everyone else put there’s on the steering column, and I’ve had some mounted there as well:



Back in high school I mounted one in the upper left corner of the windshield just because I thought it looked cool.

[Ta2Don]

If you read through my thread, you will see my passenger wing looked like yours, and after a few light taps with a small trim hammer I had this…


This was the inside…



After cutting away the rotten inner support…


And the Outside after…


Cheers Mate!!!

[Grizz1963]

Thanks Don.


Fish and chips for dinner, then a long evening discussion of cars, bikes and trucks with Martin who came over...... We also Skype called Ta2Don in Arkansas to share our dinners with him, followed by a lengthy Skype Mobile chat with Kieth in Tulsa to discuss the merits of cutting the BBW metalwork out of a cab and mailing it to the UK, as Martin has Big Back Window envy and desperately wants to convert his truck to BBW. Just when I thought it was safe and he was going home, he started to challenge me about what I will be doing with the rust on my truck, which panels to buy etc.
"Come lets go see your cab corners, they must be rotten" he said, "Not at all" said I..... famous last words.

In the end we went down to the garage just after 22.00 to spend another hour there.

This is always time well spent of course. Garage time with Buddies.

Cab corners were fine (told you so) as were the sills and a variety of other parts of the sheet metal.

I also started poking into the passenger fender inner mount..... OOOPPS.... rust, but repairable.

If I could find a complete 66 passenger door, I would be happy to fit it, but as it is realistically not going to happen, the solution will be to cut and weld plate in on the door bottom, or to order in a patch panel.

Then we dug out some Blue Dots I wanted to give to Martin for his tail lights, as I had a spare pair, bought years ago. I will be fitting a pair to my tail lights later.

At this point Martin discovered my MGA Grille and also the World War 2 Ambulance spotlight I bought for a lucky 50p at a bootfair this year, and offered it up to the Drivers side A-Pillar..... PERFECT FIT !! And the door still opens.

So Martin has now created even more havoc in my life, as I quite like the look.





Laughing like a mad man, as he knew he was creating havoc in my mind.



Opinions ???

Midnight here on a Friday night, so bed time I guess.

[Ta2Don]

My friend's Lotus happens to be the Twin Turbo V8 Model...

Ashtray... Hint Hint...

Polish that Spotlight and mount it...

Ashtray... Hint Hint...

As for Martin and the BBW Envy... I'll be watching!!!

Ashtray... Hint Hint...

Cheers Mate!!!

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

My friend's Lotus happens to be the Twin Turbo V8 Model...

Ashtray... Hint Hint...

Polish that Spotlight and mount it...

Ashtray... Hint Hint...

As for Martin and the BBW Envy... I'll be watching!!!

Ashtray... Hint Hint...

Cheers Mate!!!

If you pay your own postage...... I may just catch the hint




What does the collective think of Blue Dot rear lenses?




I have some dots, gave Martin a set last night, and want to fit a set to my lights, but as always, there are loads of opinions and experience on here.

I do believe that in the UK, I would get away with them being fitted.

[Grizz1963]

Thanks to Martin putting ideas in my head, I spent quite a few hours today with this view.

The view did actually make me smile a few times, looking at the woodwork shed, and thinking I was really lucky to have a wife who has encouraged me to create these spaces where I can work and play.



Next up I completely dismantled the search light and started to polish the bits.

Being rather old meant that the degeneration and much stuck to it is quite significant.
I started polishing by hand but after about 45 minutes realized this was going to be a machine job.






Just this bezel ring took well over an hour, and had me using my favourite bad words.

Now you could see the before and after difference. At this point I did wonder why I had even started this or why I would want to finish the job.



Unfortunately the buffer is quite small, and easily stopped by pressure from the work piece, so it was slowly slowly...



Quite a lot of pitting, but I will look for a decent wax polish.



And the under side.
The rest will get polished tomorrow or the next day, and then reassembled.




That was all for today.

Looking forward to finishing it, and dummy fitting it, hopefully it will work out.

[mjh1965]

I am glad to help looks like you worked hard today.i expect to see it fitted soon just give me a shout if you been a hand Martin

[markeb01]

Nice progress!

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by mjh1965

I am glad to help looks like you worked hard today.i expect to see it fitted soon just give me a shout if you been a hand Martin

Morning Martin..... Seems every time I need help you show me more work to do.

If this turns out well enough (it really is very rough, and the bezel has two 10mm stress tears in it) to fit to the truck, we may just have to get you and the Rivnut gun here to fit the stainless nuts for my mirrors as well as the search light.

Once you have found your photos of your old builds, we can scan them here and start you your own build thread showing off your Mi-STRESS.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by markeb01

Nice progress!

Thanks Mark.

Must say, I do wish the searchlight was in much better condition for starters, but it is different enough for me to carry on with for now.

Was showing Martin the Fog Lights you sent me recently and have to say, I cannot wait to get the truck sorted so that I can fit them.

[Ta2Don]

Love the Blue Dots...

The Searchlight looks much better with the sweat and bad words poured into it...

As for the hint, I just shot an e-mail off to you Mate...

I may be getting a small bit of truck time in today...

Cheers and Merry Christmas to you & Nicola

[Grizz1963]

Carried on with the last few pieces of the light today.

Finished the machine polishing, then carried on hand polishing it all, followed by reassembling it all.

Found a patent number on the support arm, also ended up polishing off the chrome on it, which came off really easily, leaving a solid brass arm.





Finished light against the cab for detail.





Proposed position for the light on the truck.



So quite a lot of time spent getting this light from before to now and I must say, the wear on it actually appeals to me.