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

[Grizz1963]

Once we were done chatting etc, it was time to go push the Chevy chassis and cab out the garage.

Did I mention it’s been 18 months.



The shy retiring JohnnyBravo behind the cab with Sam checking out the holes,

Mr Bravo loves to solve problems.

http://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/...heels-on-wagon



How do you draw a circle with calipers when there is no centre?

Create a bridge of course....

Once the bent metal had been pulled back to ground zero.



Sam double checking.



Then using a keyhole powerfile that I bought years ago, I cleaned the paint around the excess holes in preparation for the welding up.



Once the new circles had been screened, I welded up the holes outside the perimeter and then used the Dremmel tool to cut through the wasted steel.



At that point, Craig climbed in with a second Dremmel tool on the drivers side.



Flap wheel to tidy up the welded up holes



Once the holes were tidied, inside and outside, it was time to get the airline on the Joggler.



Joggler result at its best.

Recessed surface to allow for flat welding a panel in to cover space.



At this point the next step was to be measuring and cutting the patch panels.

More in a bit.

[Grizz1963]

Next up, mark out the patches.



Cut out and tidy up.



In order to maximise fixing the new steel it was decided to drill 3mm holes and clean up the steel on both surfaces, than to puddle weld the patches in.





Craig held the steel in place for maximum contact and fit.





First series of puddle welds.



By 3.30 we shut shop as I had achieved all I wanted for the day.

And fire and beer sounded so much more interesting.

Packed tools etc away, pushed truck back and locked up.




MoJo Team.

JohnnyBravo, Samta22 and CraigRK chatting.



By 6pm the party was over as everyone had a fair distance to travel.





It’s really not enough to just say thank you, but that does sum it all up.

It was a great day to end a lovely weekend.

After the guys left, Joy came over for a couple of hours.

Thanks for checking in.

This week I will carry on with the welding and grinding.

[realvc]

Congrats. on the shop time and truck progress and hosting a great meal.
So glad to see your back on the truck build.

[Palf70Step]

Good to see you back at it on the truck. Nice work today.

[ibrown50]

18 months! Life goes by to quick doesn’t it.

Great start on the speaker holes, they will be great when it’s finished, are you going to fit seatbelts?

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by realvc

Congrats. on the shop time and truck progress and hosting a great meal.
So glad to see your back on the truck build.

Thank you Vince.

So am I

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Good to see you back at it on the truck. Nice work today.

Thanks Bill,

I am very pleased with the progress I made.

Perfect day for me.

Originally Posted by ibrown50

18 months! Life goes by to quick doesn’t it.

Great start on the speaker holes, they will be great when it’s finished, are you going to fit seatbelts?

Hi Ian,

Time certainly flies.


The speaker holes were a real issue to my head as I prefer the clean metal look.

Yes, I plan on fitting seatbelts, they are a part of my psyche, so I feel mush better with them fitted.

Do you have advice?

[Grizz1963]

Thought I would add a short clip of JB driving the joggler off the compressor.

C10 speaker hole delete. Joggle - YouTube

Certainly a tool worth its price if you are doing panels with good metal.

Not sure how much hard work a manual one is.

[flashed]

Congrats on the speaker hole repairs , they look great . You do good work.

[Indian113]

Not to bring up a subject on safety but it looks like your whole crew needs some lessons! I know what could go wrong RIGHT! They do wait to break out the Beer that is a good thing.

[ibrown50]

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Yes, I plan on fitting seatbelts, they are a part of my psyche, so I feel mush better with them fitted.

Do you have advice?

Hi Rian,
I too am going to fit 3 point seatbelts. When thinking about how I might do this, the task that perplexes me the most is how to fit and weld the threaded retainer plates into the cab pillars for the upper (shoulder) mount. It occurred to me, perhaps too late now, that the speaker holes would provide the perfect access.

[Grizz1963]

CALLIN MARTIN

CALLING MARTIN......


YOU STILL HAVE NINE FINGERS.


COME,TELL US HOW TO FIT THESE THINGS PLEASE.

Originally Posted by ibrown50

Hi Rian,
I too am going to fit 3 point seatbelts. When thinking about how I might do this, the task that perplexes me the most is how to fit and weld the threaded retainer plates into the cab pillars for the upper (shoulder) mount. It occurred to me, perhaps too late now, that the speaker holes would provide the perfect access.

Martin was explaining today Ian.

There are a few ways to do it.

I want to find a set of red retractable belts.

And will fit a third seat belt too.

[Grizz1963]

Copied from a thread I started elsewhere.

Thanks Michael

Originally Posted by uk54

Hi Rian

Have a look at tips and tricks section at www.lugnutz65chevystepside.weebly.com shows everything you need for 3 point install, good to see you back working on your truck

Michael

This is excellent Michael, thank you.


Need to source a set of red belts now



Link to Lugnutz’ advice.


https://lugnutz65chevystepside.weebl...tallation.html


Thank you too, Lugnutz.


And then eBay has these sexy items

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RED-Unive...19.m1438.l2649


Certainly would have them.

[Grizz1963]

Long, hot, tiring day at work.

Got home by 6pm, fed cats, got changed, set sprayer up on lawn with 60 minute timer and headed into the garage

Mickey popped over too, the moment he saw the door open.

I had decided that I will be doing repeated, no’s 2,3:4 of the edge welds to the steel patches, as I want to fit 3 point safety belts to the truck.

Cleared out the scrap cut out on Sunday



Mickey did the camera honours.






Round two done, two more to go.



Happy guy, yes.

Good to be back.



Having consulted Lugnutz’ guide on fitting these modern seatbelts it became apparent that I would need to s cure the patch panels fully before fitting a backing plate and mounting holes.



Tomorrow I have a date, so there won’t be any progress, but the next step will be to dress back the welds and correct any flaws before measuring out where the new s at belts will get mounted.


Thanks for checking in.

[Grizz1963]

Had a dinner date last night, so only got 30 minutes to go down to the garage, between getting home, feeding the cats and having a shower before leaving.

Of course you can do “Something” in 30 minutes

Moved bike out of the garage and a couple of bits from the cab so I could move freely.

Grinder. With 80 grit flap wheel, not too aggressive if you handle it gently.

Original plug welds and holes all look a bit scruffy, but should fix OK.



One side done, more welding to be done next time to fill recess between patch and body panel.

Clean and ready for welder.



Other side done.



Looking forward to next chance to pull welder out.

[aggie91]

Nice work. Every little bit of work is progress.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Nice work. Every little bit of work is progress.

Absolutely agree.

When I built the teardrop trailer, I used to get an hour or two every day, before work from 4.30am or work till 11.00pm




I promised non Truck, random stuff.

Dennis in St Louis, Missouri seems to have run out of storage space for toys and tools.

So what do you do next.?

Build a replica Vintage Gas Station........

Dennis has decided to build a Shell themed station, so if anyone has any Shell items to give away, donate, whatever.....

You know where to send them.

So the Polebarn guy started this week.



First roof rafters up.



Rear view



Front view and what will be the forecourt.




WATCH THIS SPACE.


No truck work tonight, but did go dig around in the garage after Bret in Austin, Texas challenged my thinking......

His Garage and Woodwork thread: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/...d.php?t=185236

Did I have an air driven cutoff tool?

So I headed out and found some stuff....



All the gear, no idea.



Also, having the right lodgers, helps.

40, 80,120 grit flap discs, 1mm cutting discs and thick grinding discs brought to add to my collection of tools, only problem is that they are 230mm discs, there goes the guard on my 115mm grinder for the flap discs, not the grinding or cutting discs.






Hopefully by Saturday or Sunday I will be back on the welder.

Thanks for all the feedback and sharing Guys.

Much appreciated.

[Palf70Step]

Nice tool run!

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Nice tool run!

Nice to find stuff you forgot you had



Quick Dennis update.

Progress is good at the moment

Friday afternoon.





Most of my weekend was committed to Joy, pictures, mirrors, shelving etc needed to be fitted, fixed and made up.

Her cat, waiting for dinner.





So I checked my pile of stock



Made up some shelving, extensions etc.

Found this unit in the garage.



Prozac packed.



Arrived at Joys place and got onto all the things that needed doing.



One of many jobs done.



After I finished, Joy made us dinner.

Wyzz was hoping for a share too.



More about the weekend soon.

[Grizz1963]

Further to the weekend actions.

Withnmy usual insomnia waking me and being out the house by stupid-0-clock, I moved a load of tools, obstructions into my secure spare shed, yes I have that.

Leaving the truck chassis, Snapon toolbox and motorbike as the only three things that now need moving about if I want to weld and grind. Toolbox may head into the next door area of the garage too leaving even less obstructions to move every time I want to work.
I do like my garage so that I navigate in the dark, without killing myself.

This will mean that I can literally steal an hour here and there to do little bits of work.



Easy now.

No excuses.



Decorated the welder trolley and covered some damage on the toolbox with a couple of stickers, sent to me by Dennis in the USA and also Euan and Rogan.



Then a bit of welding, after doing my ironing for the last two weeks and some laundry.
Mixing the pink and blue jobs effortlessly here.

This was round no 5 of the welding, I am happy to attach a seat belt to the B pillars now.



Of course, while welding my helper, who has no bloody fear, had to come and inspect too.

Insisting on pointing out the faults.



Funny furry creature, weird how she loves being there where I work.

Maybe she is on standby to call an ambulance if I do something stupid



Finished the welding, not flattened the last welds back yet, had to shower and get over to Joys place.

Will be feeding the backing plate for the seatbelt mounts up the side from below.

Then tacking them in place for fixing the anchor points.



One of the things I fixed for Joys place was an old frame that needed glueing and clamping for a few hours.

I found the frame years ago, and could not see it become landfill so rescued it.

Now the plan is to mount it on the wall, and then create a collage of smaller frames inside it, all with the same theme.

Should look good once done.



My only worthy find at Sunday’s single Bootfair, was a small, pretty smoking pipe for my collection.



And lastly, some more of the weekends results, many more to go up, but planning,and mounting Joys lifetime of photos and family memories has taken time too.

More to come.



Hectic week ahead.

Be safe.

[Palf70Step]

Sounds like a good weekend Rian!

[Indian113]

Rian, Slow and Steady will get the work done. Looks good Glad you bought that welder, seems to keep you motivated.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Sounds like a good weekend Rian!

Absolutely Bill.

It is great to feel my life has purpose again.

Originally Posted by Indian113

Rian, Slow and Steady will get the work done. Looks good Glad you bought that welder, seems to keep you motivated.

Welder certainly is a joy to work with. As is Joy and her animals.

And agreed.

Slow and steady will get me there.

[Grizz1963]

To all of you who have chosen to reach out with your friendship.

Thank you.

[Grizz1963]

Well, it’s been a rough week so far.

Work pays the mortgage, but it does make one tired.

Dennis has seen progress.







He has started withthe floor joists (is that the right word)






Today I found a few bits in two places along the South Circular

A hardwood chair for my deck.



The coffee table already went to a new home.



Today a parcel came from Darkspeed......

125mm grinder to take the flap wheels my lodger gave me for the truck resto.

Thank you mate.



Headed back in this direction.

Loved this pic of the truck at the time.



It’s been a hot day.

Tonight even Dukey joined me for a couple of cold beers as it was too hot for the garage.

[Palf70Step]

Yeah sometimes we just need to sit back. Had some issues with my truck's ac install (again) and just left it from Friday till today. Sometimes it is better to take the break, than smash it with a BFH! But it was sure HOT in that metal building. AC feels so good when you put the tools down. Enjoy my friend!!