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

[Grizz1963]

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Don’t forget to Support this worthy cause.











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[Grizz1963]

Third MOT that I am taking this little van that can to on Saturday


A few new stickers and a wash.


Will that be all we need.


Looks like it may still be a few miles short of 90k miles by the time we get back.







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[Palf70Step]

Just getting broke in!

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Just getting broke in!

Absolutely


Of course under use could be bad too.


I was asked elsewhere, what treasures I brought back this year.

Some of you know the randomness of my collections.

Some will recall that I have an unfinished 1966 Chevy C10 truck to restore in my garage.

Got a few bits for the truck too.



Not right, but right enough, should I choose to fit it.





Truck parts.

Thanks to Dennis. He won’t be needing most of these with his NASCAR C10 build.

Which he has started messing with again.





My truck never had a rear view mirror.



Made some cool stuff at Andy’s place in Oklahoma again.

One cross for Sally too.



License plates, old story.

New Missouri plate from Adams Hellcat that he sold as he was not using it.




So there you go.

Treasures.

[Grizz1963]

Recently replaced a gate at Sally’s place.

Kept the old one, then last week she painted all her fence panels, blue, as they have been for years.

So I thought a welcome sign was in order.

Robbed a plank.



Prepped and base painted.



Progress.



Halfway there.



OK, really done.




Happy girl??


Yes of course, she was surprised, which is a good thing

[Palf70Step]

Very nice Rian. Earn them brownie points

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Very nice Rian. Earn them brownie points

Never enough of those ehhh Bill.





Got here early.

MOT today.

Straight in.

On the ramps.......

Fingers crossed. Again.




And passed with flying colours.



Changing the subject.


Any of you know these cars at all??


What fails, what to look out for etc?


What are they like to live with?


http://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/...nel-style-1500


Thanks for any opinions etc.

[Grizz1963]

Well......

How suddenly can things go tits up?

Pic at 11.30am on Friday, at work, responding to Sally asking me on WhatsApp what I was up to.

Told her I had just been blown out again by a department that could not help me set up a meeting, but that I was headed to plan C next and all is fine in my world, hence the selfie.



So I headed to another department and had some mild success, then headed out there, being 4th floor, took the lift, as it opened, I felt like my shirt was a bit tight and a little dizzy.
Anyway, went to another department where I needed a customer to help me sort something, asked him to just randomly check my blood pressure, I was not feeling bad, just a bit of a headache, that had persisted from Thursday, through the night.

He did it, and his words were “Best you go to A&E right now and book yourself in” when he saw the reading, I tried to get him to do me the favour I needed, and he just said, get this sorted, work can wait..
of course I am 30 miles from home at midday on a Friday, not ideal, so said I would drive home to my local hospital that’s only 10 miles away. He suggested calling security to stop me leaving..... as something could go wrong while I was driving.


What he saw.




What happened over the next six hours.....

I have to say, and have said it before..... people should complain less about the NHS.

One of the senior registrars that I previously trained and see in the department when I pass through there, recognised me and asked whether I was training today, so I said, No, I was sent here by another department.
He immediately took me on as his patient and with his junior, I certainly had the best treatment and care anyone could want.
Remember, I happen to know their job too, and was I am assessor, they would pass.
I can also say that because my eyes are open, I saw them and the rest of the team, manage patients equally well as I was being treated.

The NHS is so short staffed, and yet, this department just continues to function really well.

So observations, done about 10 times while I was there, interestingly, they do BP bilaterally, and in my case the arms read differently, my left arm consistently lower than the right.

Bloods, urine, ECG, an incredibly thorough history by two doctors and the triage nurse.
Also a 3 minute (really 5 minutes) neurological checklist and examination.
Thorough !!!



This little guy stayed in right up to discharge, so they would have instant access to my veins should things go a bit weird and they needed to jump on me.



Highly impressive ECG machine, and also identified a problem which will be followed up after a visit to my local GP next week.



Four hours later, this was how I felt, tired.



They also started me on some blood pressure lowering meds that they made me take in department and wait 45 minutes to see if it worked and if I did not react to it badly.

Then discharged with a script for 5 tablets.......

Made me smile, £9.00 for 5 tablets..... ouch.

But 6 hours of care, investigation and tests etc = £000.00 charge.

Discharged, a 20 minute wait for pills, and then an hours drive home.



Got it at 7.00pm

Relaxed as much as one can.

Rubbish night and took my pill this morning, that’s a new one for me.

Some things that need to change, sent by a good friend.....

My life is over.




So the future seems to have a lot more of this (walking and exercise ), and other changes in store for me.

[Palf70Step]

Glad you are doing better now.

[Grizz1963]

So.......

While some of us are working.

Mate Craig is in London for al all day Board meeting and sent this.



Others have been told to rest, destress, don’t think of work, distract ourselves, get some exercise, stop drinking, eat less salt, chocolate, drink less coffee and try to get the meds to work in the mean time.

Casualty of Friday, a missed, pierced vein, least of my concerns.



I have been doing all of this......

Well, kinda some.

Stopped all alcohol last week, no coffee since Saturday, less salt, not using any, walking 2 miles or 3+ km a day, no chocolate (almost) taking meds, head still sore. Cannot ignore work calls and mails, my head would explode in a different way, trying to distract myself getting the caravan to clean out and gut, pressure clean, then paint white.

So, the price of a caravan, and add £10.00 for a beer and fight for Mickey next door who towed and fetched it for me.

Pork pies and a lump of cheese.



So this morning Mickey and I went to fetch it.

Sweet old man, knowing that I am not 100% he hooked and loaded it, would not let me do any labour.

Pumped the knackered tyres on site.



Home



Back home, Steve the night shift electrician neighbour on the other side and Mickey pushed it through, amazing how these guys look out for me, we all,do, but it’s weird being on the receiving side.

Inside.

Well beyond terrible.

Will be torn out in its entirety

It has a small gas fridge, condition unknown, which will be available for prompt collection, if anyone wants it.





Bad panorama, but you get the picture.

Pressure cleaner and paint.....

Then purpose.




Waiting

But I have other light duty tasks first.

[Grizz1963]

After the delivery Mickey and I had a cuppa and a chat.

Kinda relaxing and therapeutic



Asked by my buddy Stas in Siberia what the caravan was worth, I said nothing based on condition but Google said its still more than the pork pies and a lump of cheese I gave for it.



So the rest of the day I did some very light carrying and moving,

Clearing rubbish into Prozac the van that can.



Its part of my therapy and trying to get back to stuff I enjoyed before

Big hospital day tomorrow with an appointment at the Rapid Access Cardiac clinic.

[Grizz1963]

Right.......


Caravan conundrum plays out thus.


Cardiac event last week, a timely warning, reminder that you get one chance really.

Saturday morning, Sally asks me if she can help me with rebuilding the Red Truck, she has been pushing me since day one, despite all the distractions I created or experienced

So I say yes, that would be awesome but winter is here, my garage is filled with stiff..... gotta love her: “Well, let’s clear some space, then you can weld and prime all the smaller bits over winter.

No. But. Yes. But. No. But..... I start........ In winter the garage temperature is between 3-7’C so too cold to spend time down there, and certainly not warm or dry enough to paint.

Then I get the clever idea of posting up on my local area FB group that I am looking for a FREE or CHEAP two/three berth caravan.
Remember, there is one already parked up, stripped back and painted magnolia a few years ago, filled with truck parts and scooter panels.
Less than 10 minutes after posting up my request, there is an offer.......
You have seen the pics by now.
It is mucky, messy, pretty dead, but it’s free, well, the price is two pork pies and a lump of cheese.
BARGAIN

SO THE IDEA IS TO GUT THE CARAVAN, PRESSURE CLEAN INSIDE, PAINT IN WHITE EMULSION, FIT LIGHTS, EXTRACTION SYSTEM AND USE AS A WELDING, GRINDING, PAINTING BOOTH THROUGH WINTER FOR SMALLER PARTS FROM THE ‘66 C10

It will be parked outside the garage, in front of the main door, which can still be opened.

If I could find a small roller shutter door to fit to the rear where the window is smashed out with the help of Mr Sawzall, in order to get bigger stuff in than what the regular door will let in, that would be cool too. I did look for a piece of checker plate ally at the scrapyard today, none to be found.

I can heat the caravan within 15 minutes with an oil heater, then work as long as I need possibly with the heater on low. My woodwork shed is like that.

Sally can keep me company, learn to weld, grind, paint, make tea, sandwiches and pick up,any limbs I may hack off, on the way to hospital, but most importantly having her there will be great.


Caravan purpose now cleared up. I guess.


.................................................................................................... ......................................................


So at the same time as this thing kicked off:

Free From another forum..... as my hoist did not have one.

Engine balancer bar.

Will be great for refitting the motor in the C10, kinda like a sign.






Will be recovered it from Cambridge in exchange for a welder and possibly the fridge from the small caravan once gutted, from mate “Sparkplug’s” place.

Of course, this blood pressure thing and it’s associated issues means that stuff even now just does not happen as fast as anticipated, or as I want it to. I find that I do less, slower than before.

But as Ta2Don always said “Progress is Progress”

So clearing a load of clutter, scrap metal from the drive and garage has to happen first.

One bike trailer sold to CraigRK, some Chevy alloys passed on to a friend, whose steel wheels are on the C10, other items to be sold or skipped etc.

Current driveway and garage Status.



Harley is chuffed the garage is open again. Straight in she went to inspect





This was my welding table.



Yup, truck still waiting in here.



Some may know that I have had a new lodger since August.
He happens to be a builder, and lecturer at college.

So the plan is to employ him while all this is going on, to break down the most of this wall which got broken by a fir tree that I planted too close to it. Tree will be drilled and poisoned to stop further damage, but ivy or some creeper encouraged to cover it.

The curved Wall will get moved back from existing space by 600mm and a tighter curve created, while I am going to put up an 8 plus foot galvanised post in advance of a carport that will go up some time.




So there you have it.

Caravan conundrum clarified.

Chevy C10 back on track too, Sally said so.

There is another couple of changes, events, things happening in the background but they will be exposed as they happen.


Bedtime now me thinks

[Grizz1963]

So what to do if you wake up by 04.00

Well, read, and get out to shops early, food and two pairs of boots for,Sally, with her walking with me now, her old walking boots chose to self destruct and she needed some going out boots.
Now here is the point..... Sally dislikes shopping, so she researches online, we walked into two shops, and within 10 minutes were done.
Then food shopping and home.

My kinda shopping.

Had to top up,her cars oil, check vitals and then we started on the caravan

Cleaning up before you,destroy.



Sally actually did all the heavy hyping as I am supposed to be on light duty.



Giving Stuart my neighbour a call to come fetch the fridge he had asked for, for his MX carrier van.

Sally always has a camera at hand.



Yup, big guy.



Interior shifted.



Cooker and sink is available for anyone who can use it.

Prompt collection expected.



After much clearing and cleaning.......

Ready for paint.



Yes, lots of space.

I kept a few shelves up on the walls for storage.



31p and a gold chain.

Along with a few other random items, like a litre of power steering fluid.



Done for the day.



Paint, position, tables next.

Chuffed.

[Grizz1963]

So this morning Harley was unusually quiet, just sitting in the kitchen, Imwas headed to the council tip with Prozac and a load of caravan insides that Sally packed yesterday.

Then found this little guy, sitting in the kitchen, picked him up and took him to the garden and released him.



Headed out.



Found this at the tip, guy said if he turned his head away, he could not see me taking it to my car.



When I got home at 9.30 mate Kevin’s VW pulled up as I got out of Prozac.

He stayed for three hours, also helping me move the caravan to where it needed to be.

In front of the garage.









After he left, all I ended up doing was masking up the holes in the interior and getting some plastic over the missing rear window.




Tonight Sally sent me this after she went home.

Nice evening outside.

[Grizz1963]

Update from Dennis in St Louis.

Gas station progress all in finishing touches.



Fitted a fly screen door.



And added an awesome Pepsi pusher.




And a moon pic from Sally last night.




Of course, being told to stay home and rest, ie watch telly, sleep etc this week, feels so wrong and weird.

My manager and contract manager were both very adamant that I do not even do online training this week.

Hospital visit on Friday culminated in more meds added, rest recommended and also put forward for Echocardiogram and following that, an Angiogram and whatever follows, based on findings.

Weird thing is that though I feel really tired, and out of breath with a headache, I do not feel sick, like when you have a cold.

So plan of action for the week will be minimal anything.....l

Will do my best.

[Grizz1963]

Postman rang at the door today.

Parcel for you, please sign here.

Opened the box...... sender: Ernie “PedalcarJoe

Thank you very much.



Aftershave bottle in case you could not figure it out.

[Grizz1963]

Bloody hell, being sick, sucks big time.

Rest they said, it will be go for you they said.

How much recorded Nat Geo and History Channel can you stand.

Was chatting with Stas in Siberia and Andy in Tulsa through the day, thank goodness for time,differences

Eventually after 2.30 I needed to go for a bit of a walk as my head was hurting.

Fetched these out, high density foam tiles.



Floors needed help.



So I helped, in fact, I believe that despite it all going real slow, I was relaxing a bit.

This was a comment made by mate Paul, a wise man.

FWIW I think your doctor has failed to understand what you (and I) view as rest and relaxation. You are quite relaxed, stripping out the caravan, happy to be recycling 'stuff' and a tip trip is decidedly therapeutic; whereas laying on your arse watching reruns of Friends would only serve to make you anxious and depressed. Rest is not a 'one size fits all' solution but getting that across to the caring profession can be challenging. Crack on




10mm high density foam floor, felt great to walk on.

Almost no physical effort, but made my head and heart smile.






Next up, hardboard sheets over the foam.





Done.



Tables assembled, this one may get tossed out, it feels wrong.



Job done, table no 2, may end up being the not one used for welding on.



Have to say, this has turned out much better than expected.

Ready for bed now, let’s hope I get to sleep.

Later.

[flashed]

Rian , I agree , being sick sucks big time . I had what I thought was a cold that kept getting worse . Went to Dr and had a bad sinus infection , 2 weeks of meds later and it's almost gone now . The meds sucked too as I was exhausted and they wound me up like speed , very little sleep that week. I'm finally getting about 5 hours of sleep per night . Hope you feel better soon .

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

Rian , I agree , being sick sucks big time . I had what I thought was a cold that kept getting worse . Went to Dr and had a bad sinus infection , 2 weeks of meds later and it's almost gone now . The meds sucked too as I was exhausted and they wound me up like speed , very little sleep that week. I'm finally getting about 5 hours of sleep per night . Hope you feel better soon .

Thank you John,

Certainly does suck.

[Grizz1963]

Had to go get some food as I had not left home in a while.

Went via an electrics wholesaler and got a sealed LED unit.

£36.00 my biggest spend so far.



Around 4pm I was again needing to just get out the house.

Free paint, thanks Sally.

Makes a difference.



Honestly regretted starting, 10 minutes into the job.



An hour later, done. Just needs to reflect maximum light.




All because mate Kevin had a discarded, once used welding curtain of 4x8 in a dark plastic to help make it slightly safer. Maybe.







Getting the curtain over the weekend.


.

[Grizz1963]

Had mate Fil “Sparkplug” from UKGSER.com over this afternoon for a lovely extended visit from Cambridge, also to drop off the engine hoist support bar he picked up in Abingdon for me last week.
Its bigger than expected and not what I thought it was. Need to figure that out.
I thought it was the right size to fit my engine hoist/cherry picker to get the V8 and transmission back into the truck safely and horizontally later when the time comes
Mate Martin said to me recently that this bar is for Front Wheel Drive motors. I have no idea.
Maybe can still make it work for the V8.



Harley took to him instantly.





After tea, chats etc, garage tour and rummage, I had to get onto a 4pm training online, Skype, and we got the bits I managed to force on him, into his campervan that he is building and see him off.



What a great way to spend time.

I had started to watch the Breaking Bad box set this morning as a way to keep me indoors, unfocused and “busy” but its a lot nicer having a likeminded guy about.

Back to the telly next.

At least till ”Nurse Sally” gets here.

[Grizz1963]

Engine spreader bar traded.

Balancer bar will work for getting 350/350 back into C10

[Grizz1963]

I am amazed at just how slowly things are now happening compared to my usual project pace with this whole cardiac thing.

But it still beats sitting in front of the telly 24/7

So today, Sally again put on her “garage clothes”, stolen from Ryan, her younger son and came to help me, shifting, carrying, advising, mocking, teasing and generally being helpful, she also weeded the whole garden and cut the grass for me....... yup, I know it’s going to cost me somewhere in the future.

Looking as unflattering as can be, hair back, old tracksuit, boots, and lugging an engine balancer bar down to the shed.....

My kinda girl.



So.......

Yup, truck still waiting in here behind all this and the rest.



So started to clear out garage, so that I can get to the C10 and it’s parts that are stacked up high in the rear.

Put this in the market as I decided not to build the little kart as planned, sometimes thanklessness deserves a zero......



Removed the small, tall table, and though it does not look it, fitted and fixed this one, made of a kitchen worktop offcut.



Slowly, getting there.



Done, actually got loads of little jobs done.

Tomorrow we will start of the old welding table, not yet started there.

I seem to be doing two hours and call g it a day.

Done for today.





In the mean time, Dennis is now again going full steam ahead with his 66 C10 NASCAR build.

Hendricks Motor is ready to fit.

He got some complete AP Racing brakes all round yesterday, and fitted them today.





NASCAR Spec front end too.



This thing is going to ROCK !!!

Later.

[flashed]

Rian , take care of yourself , love the little camper . I have been searching for something similar over here but they are way expensive for junk ones . One will find its way to me eventually .

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

Rian , take care of yourself , love the little camper . I have been searching for something similar over here but they are way expensive for junk ones . One will find its way to me eventually .

Weird how over here they become worthless mostly..




So Sally supervised, helped and mocked me all day, well, after 12.00 when my guest Michael who also has a bunch of older aircooked VW’s including a split bus.

He came from Southend to collect the Hazet trolley and another toolbox I had.

Two hours later he left.

I really love this community, we are all connected.

After a cuppa and chat with Sally, we headed down to start the slow ask of sorting, packing and clearing logically the work benches in the garage.



Paint cans for storing.



SomI used a modern woodworkers vies.



One of the jobs was to make a safer step for the caravan using some Oak that we already inside of Prozac for the tip.

Through the day I was chatting with Andy “OldIronFarmer” in Oklahoma and Sennis in St Louis.

All good.

Andy also shared this lovely seat tree he had seen.






One of the jobs was to create space for my panel beaters hammers and dolly’s.



It is great having company in the form of Sally and also Harley, who always comes to wherever I am busy.



Security cat seems to approve too.



And lastly, painted this guy and put him at the door.



Closed shop before 4pm as I had had enough.

Tired again.