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

[Ta2Don]

That is Awesome Mate! My son just bought his first motorcycle and I am enjoying watching him act like I did when I got my first bike...
The yesterday was the other son's birthday, Jeremy, and I was needed to help replace an Alternator belt in his Mazda Protege5... So far yesterday has been the hottest day of the year topping out at 34C... Full sun and the car parked on very Black blacktop... The best part was Jeremy thanking me because he is learning more and more about wrenching...:metal

Glad Hannah is eager to lean as she builds, that is truly a blessing!!!

Now I get to change the oil in our car and probably Geena's car as well and then some truck time...

Cheers!!!

[markeb01]

That is so very cool! I taught our youngest daughter how to change starters, spark plugs, etc. It's so nice to see kids of all ages interested in learning and having some interest in mechanical things. That and appreciating how handy it can be having a willing and helpful parent to share/work with.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

That is Awesome Mate! My son just bought his first motorcycle and I am enjoying watching him act like I did when I got my first bike...
The yesterday was the other son's birthday, Jeremy, and I was needed to help replace an Alternator belt in his Mazda Protege5... So far yesterday has been the hottest day of the year topping out at 34C... Full sun and the car parked on very Black blacktop... The best part was Jeremy thanking me because he is learning more and more about wrenching...:metal

Glad Hannah is eager to lean as she builds, that is truly a blessing!!!

Now I get to change the oil in our car and probably Geena's car as well and then some truck time...

Cheers!!!

Originally Posted by markeb01

That is so very cool! I taught our youngest daughter how to change starters, spark plugs, etc. It's so nice to see kids of all ages interested in learning and having some interest in mechanical things. That and appreciating how handy it can be having a willing and helpful parent to share/work with.

Thanks guys. I really enjoy it.

Hannah texted a photo on Wednesday of herself proudly standing next to her boyfriends VW Golf with it loaded with pallets. So I guess its tools out again over the weekend.

I may have found some horse shoes too which will see her start welding a bit.

In other news....... Regarding Nicola's WW1 commemorative display.


Seems most people get it. One "lovely chap" on UKGSER did not get it. And managed to stall the thread with a hugely negative reply. But eveywhere else people appreciate it.

Whats nice is that Nicola's manager shared it with her regional manager who shared it with the zonal manager and they all were blown away that she made the effort.
She was also approached by "Funeral Service Times" an industry publication for August to write up a short article and submit photos to go with it. She was shocked but I was really pleased that someone saw fit to escalate her efforts.

Too many people these days are too lazy and cannot be arsed to make an effort.
Its always easier to break down than build up or go the extra mile.

Thanks for all the support.

[Ta2Don]

Congrats to Nicola!!!

Cheers!!!

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Congrats to Nicola!!!

Cheers!!!

Thanks Don !!

She had emails from three levels of management last week to say thank you.

Yesterday she called me from work (very rarely does that) and told me that their national director had just called her to say thank you for making the effort. I am pleased they have noticed this, as you can so easily be forgotten in big companies.

Her next big thing is a charity drive for Macmillan Cancer support.
We already have ideas around a load of clocks and time flying....... watch this space.


This weekend Hannah brought Luca, her Sicillian boyfriend along, and they had collected pallets through the week, which came in the back of his poor abused Golf.

Plans included a spice rack(s) and some other ideas she had neatly written and drawn on a piece of A4 paper. Known as "The Blueprint"

After a good bootfair session on Sunday, and brekkie at McD's as is customary, we headed home and they started preparing for battle.

I took the truck out the garage and up the drive a bit so that I could address all the sheets of ply I had harvested at a local catering equipment factory, being crate sides, they were filled with nails and these were all duly removed.

Hannah decided to start with the cable drum coffee table she wanted to make out of some cable drums I had stashed in the garage rafters.

So they started by sanding it all to a smooth finish, then assembled with 4 small screws (nuts n bolts)

At this point my father in law arrived with Ruby, the retired Greyhound who wanted to help with the sanding as well.



Deciding the undeside had to be a cream colour, she proceeded with that after careful masking off.



In the mean time Luca proceeded to start coating the £3.00 bootfair bargain, Indian marquetry table they had bought as well with what ended up as 5 coats of Danish oil. The life has really been breathed back into what was a tired piece with loads of potential.



At this point the weather changed and it started raining, so play was halted and moved into the garage where the tabletop was coated in 3 coats of quick drying varnish, I have added two more coats yesterday, so 5 coats should see it resisting all the abuse that may be thrown at it.

We love the smell.......



And job done.

Cups for perspective of size.



We never got to the next lot of pallet wood items, but there is always next Sunday, as we will be going on an Alpaca Trek on Saturday, and to visit Robert, the guy I bought the Chevy truck from.

I also want to teach Hannah a bit of welding, and have managed to get some horse shoes through a biking friend, David Slevin, who managed to ride home straight into the eye of a thunder storm with his wife on the back of their new Harley after delivering the horse shoes..... SORRY MATE !!.

She has some ideas of what she wants to make, but I am sure there are loads of things one can make using them.

Post up your ideas, or pics of what you have made before.

[flashed]

I love those tables she came up with ,very creative .I have to ask, what is a boot fair ? And congrats to Nicola on her display ,our funeral services dont do any type displays like that ,I think its pretty cool.

[Ta2Don]

Originally Posted by flashed

I love those tables she came up with ,very creative .I have to ask, what is a boot fair ? And congrats to Nicola on her display ,our funeral services dont do any type displays like that ,I think its pretty cool.

I'll help Grizz out since it's past his bedtime... a Boot Fair is what we colonists call an outdoor flea market...

[flashed]

That was what I figured it was but never heard it called that .

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

That was what I figured it was but never heard it called that .

I guess also known as garage sales.

Cars park up in a huge field and you sell whatever you bring in the car.

My father in law called earlier to say that the display and Nicola's name was featured in a local newspaper today.
She was also asked by two funeral trade magazines to do a write up about Chatham's contribution to WW1 and to submit some high resolution photos for publication in the August and September issues.
I am glad many people are "getting it"

[Ta2Don]

Morning Mate… If all works out I will be taking a ride up to Strawberry to see Donnie aka Dwcardfan and pick up my new to me frame...

Glad the DD has AC… as the Heat index is forecast to be around 42C today...

Oh yeah, almost forgot… What, no Alpaca pics???

Cheers

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Morning Mate… If all works out I will be taking a ride up to Strawberry to see Donnie aka Dwcardfan and pick up my new to me frame...

Glad the DD has AC… as the Heat index is forecast to be around 42C today...

Oh yeah, almost forgot… What, no Alpaca pics???

Cheers

Still have not got around to showing Hannah how to weld, but did some neat stuff this weekend.

On Saturday we went down to Romney Marsh to "Annie's Alpacas" to do Alpaca Trekking.

I got to walk with Hershey and Nicola had Bertie, I think they tend to walk us more than we walk them.




Then we went and spent just over 4 hours in Rye, which included a really good "Cream Tea" with two large scones each, and strawberry jam and clotted cream, I opted to change my tea for a rather good latte coffee.

Today was Bootfair again in the morning, out the house before 06.00 and hit two followed by McD brekkies.

Then back home and Hannah and I went to the garage to address the little step ladder I had scooped off the pavement earlier this week.

Today I let her do most of the prep by herself, so the first thing was to remove the bottom step and replace it with good wood.



Next up some plywood was marked and cut to create a top and bottom shelf.



Followed by prep and paint.





And finally there was a show and tell.



So that was today's lesson to a 22 year old radiographer.

[bj383ss]

Awesome Rian. Its great your are passing on your skills. The new bookcase came out great.

I'm about to post some woodworking in an update you will like.

Bret

[Oregon 1967 GMC]

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Still have not got around to showing Hannah how to weld, but did some neat stuff this weekend.

On Saturday we went down to Romney Marsh to "Annie's Alpacas" to do Alpaca Trekking.

I got to walk with Hershey and Nicola had Bertie, I think they tend to walk us more than we walk them.

I like the T-Shirt brother. You are a lucky and blessed man. What a lovely family. Take care over there. Nice truck too!

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Oregon 1967 GMC

I like the T-Shirt brother. You are a lucky and blessed man. What a lovely family. Take care over there. Nice truck too!

Thank you friend.

I do feel blessed and am thankfull to have met Nicola.

As you know, she made me buy the truck.

[Ta2Don]

She's turning out to be quite the pupil!
She will be melting metal together in no time...

Here's a couple of screen shots of my phone at 2020 this evening..Bloody HOT!
Cheers Mate...

[Grizz1963]

Thank goodness for longer summer days.

After work tonight I popped down to the local spot where I get a lot of cast off crates, plywood and pallets.

I have been planning to create a "clean space" inside the garage for a while, so that when I start the body work on the truck, all the dust stays in one part of the garage.
It will also act as the spray booth one I have done all the preparation on the truck.

My garage rafters are about 2.3 meters high on their underside, so the 2350mm height of these panels will be just fine. There are two at 4 foot wide and two are 6 foot wide.
The guys at the unit said they were unloading another crate the same as the one dismantled and removed today.

Today's pile........ and they are looking for people to take away as much as possible, as it means they do not have to create regular bonfires. Wood is at ME3 Postcode area.







Back home waiting for me to empty out the garage of trailers etc, and to put up the sides.

I will also build in a decent sized door that I can get my R1200GS out when I want to go ride it.




Did I mention FREE is GOOD ??

[bj383ss]

Awesome score mate.

Bret

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by bj383ss

Awesome score mate.

Bret

Thanks Bret, see my comment above.

I just think people live such priveleged lives if they can throw stuff away, on the other hand, over the years I have had people say stuff like: "You must be doing well, getting paid too much or where did you get the money?" when they see my tools, toys and then are shocked when I mention that it was repurposed, saved, repaired, bought at 10% of the original price when I hit Ebay etc.

[Grizz1963]

Last week I noticed this trunk in the passage where all the broken equipment gets slung while trying to see a customer, so I texted my mate who has to ensure written off/broken equipment gets slung into the industrial sized skip on site mentioning what I had seen.

On Friday he texted to say I could pop around to collect when I wanted, as he had put it aside for me.

I had thought it would be perfect for mate Martin to stick in the back of his truck to store tools, tie down straps etc.



When I got there he asked if I had any use for another, slightly smaller one as well ?
Perfect, as it has wheels and would be perfect for the tools I have been putting together for Hannah when she moves into her own place.




While walking to my car a few weeks ago, I noticed a small table that had been outside a unit for a couple of weeks, so I buzzed the door buzzer and spoke to two ladies from different departments who confirmed that it was meant to have been taken away as scrap........ "Could I have it???? "Yes please take it away" was the reply.

I had the perfect function in mind for it when I saw it........

Nicola does a Macmillan Cancer care coffee morning every September at work, as everyone of us is or has been affected by cancer in some way. And if nobody is going to do anything to help others, we may be the next ones needing help.

She was saying recently that she wanted to set up a small table with coffee/tea cups, teapot and a cake stand etc. in the window, with a pair of small "Bistro Style" folding chairs (which we still need to find) as she gets no financial support in doing this, so it gets done on the cheap.

So yesterday I cleaned and gave the table two coats of fresh Dulux non drip enamel....... Looking just fine now.



I also made some signs up to put in the window.

The theme this year is "TIME TO GIVE" which I think is very appropriate seeing as most of us know someone who has been affected by cancer.
And if nobody does anything to help, we may be the next to need some help.



As well as doing a top hat I thought I had given away before, in the style of Alice in Wonderland's Mad Hatters hat. I used an old neck tie and a Chinese food tray cover to make up the card.




Lastly, here are the clocks we have collected so far. Half were purchased, a few were about the house and some donated.
Nicola set a limit of 50p for the clocks we buy at bootfairs, unless it is exceptional, in which case £1.00 would be the bid.
The large white one was badly damaged, but I reprinted the white face and straightened the arms.
The wooden one on the left was in bits with the rear cover missing and the pendulum retrieved from a different box, I made a new cover, cleaned up everything and gave the wood two coats of Danish oil. Both donated by a boot fair house clearance trader.



The clocks will be suspended in the front window from fishing line, some keeping time, and for instance an electronic digital clock will not be set, but left to blink non stop to draw the eye ato the display.

I have a few more ideas and want to buy some "clock wallpaper" that I saw on EBay to cover a pair of 4 foot tall sheets of ply to use as a backdrop to the rest of the display.

Nicola has also sent 50 letters/flyers around to local businesses requesting support, as one needs to start early, but had no response......... Still, if you do not try, you will never know.

[flashed]

Im with you ,free is good .

[Grizz1963]

This photodump is a month old........

Sorry if you are not interested, but there were some C10's in there.

Just a bunch of holiday pics I took last month in Turkey.

We had two weeks there, and did all sorts of activities, one day was a safari and I spotted a yard with a load of wrecks in it.

At the end of another days trip the guide did a detour for me, and we managed to pay the 75p entry fee to go walk about the yard.

Saw a few Chevy C10 trucks from the 60-66 model year.

I also took a load of random pics of "stuff"

Interestingly, the tour company was called........








MOT ?? Nope....... perfectly functional transport.




















































Can you say patina? RatRod?

















And one for my mate Martin who would love a GMC grille on his truck.













So that's the lot.

[Grizz1963]

Well, Mate Martin got back from two weeks in Florida today.

Along with a liter of Baccardi Rum I had ordered from him, he brought in about £170's worth of bits for my truck that I had ordered.

Thanks to Amanda for carrying my stuff in her baggage.



He also brought me some "Man Porn"



And a plate for my collection.




MOST IMPORTANTLY....... Some rare parts to fix my trucks dash.

The radio has been mounted in a hole made by an angry Badger.
And I have some gauges fitted into the heater control plate, they will be relocated and the dash cleaned up.

Thank you to Martin and Ta2Don for searching a yard for me and finding these parts.




Little by little the parts are coming together for the truck.

Next big one will be all the side trim pieces when I can afford them.

[Grizz1963]

Pics later when I have uploaded them.

Started my day by going to mate Martin's home with friend Ian, to help him dismantle the rear suspension, axle etc from his chassis and then to pack everything into his garage, followed by getting the cab back into his carport so he can start his bodywork..

Once done there at about lunchtime, we came over to my place to fit my new 2 inch lowered front and rear springs and shocks.

............. NOT MUCH FUN.

Took a lot of banging and bashing to get the drivers side lower ballpoint to separate out. Upper went quicker.

Now for the ball ache.....

Before the new spring and shock was fitted on the drivers side, the height from top of wheel arch to floor was 29 inches.

AFTER FITTING THE 2" DROPPED SPRING AND SHOCK THE SAME MEASUREMENT WENT UP TO 31.5" SO A GAIN OF 2.5"

WTF?!?!?!?!?!

No idea what happened there.

Any ideas??

[Grizz1963]

Some more observations....

New spring is just over an inch shorter than old.
New spring material about 2mm thicker than old.
New spring has one whole loop more than old

I do believe the new spring is located in the pocket at the bottom, as I looked at it specifically.

Rocked and rolled the cab/body after fitting it.

And I do believe, after speaking to Brothers in the USA this afternoon that the parts I have are correct.


The prospect of cutting out a single coil from the new springs is becoming very tempting.

What is the experience out there with cut coils??

[Grizz1963]

I have decided to do a dual update, running over two days this weekend.

Started by going over to mate Martins place at 07.00 on Saturday with another mate, Ian in tow to help him with the final stripdown of his chassis and then to get it into the garage and then to move other bits about, including the cab into the carport so that he can start the welding marathon he has ahead of him.

I will let the pics do most of the taking.......

Needless to say, there is a lot of rust and we managed to strip off a few bolt heads. Fortunately Martin has purchased many new parts for his build.

This is the lever bar we used on quite a lot of the bolts n nuts.



Because I was there to take photos of the progress, I ended up working for a change.



it was not a sunny day......



Pooping my pants or farting ?



Unfortunately we did not have any smaller tools.



U Bolts cut as there are new parts in store.



Getting the rear spring off nearly gave Martin a hernia.





Between fetching cups of tea and biccies, we did allow Ian to pack the tools away.



DONE !!!!!




Next up we moved the cab in under the carport and then all pilled into cars and went back to my place.

££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££ ££££££££££££££££££££


So back at my place I pulled the truck out and got all the bits ready.

But not before I had pre-cooked 20 Peri Peri chicken wings and got some sausage ready for Ian to do us a BBQ later.

He was also on kettle duties.....

Just starting to take the front wheel off.



Old vs New shocks. New shocks were ordered at -2"



Martin and I getting our heads together.



And then it got spicy...... Martin was all over me like a cheap suit.

There was a lot of huffing and puffing to get old nuts and bolts loosened.

Thank goodness these trucks are built in Man Size.

In the mean time Ian kept us tanked up with tea and coffee as well as passing, collecting spanners and taking some photos.



At some point, after much bashing, we got the spring removed.

It seems the original spring was cut down by 2 inches and refitted, and over time it, along with the shock absorber had become very saggy.



Once done with the drivers side we reassembled and put it back on the floor.........

Using my special measuring stick expectantly, to see where the 2 inch lower than standard shocks n spring had taken us, I was shattered to find the front stood 2.5" higher than before. AAAAARRRRGGGHH !!!

At this point it was getting to be dark, and Ian had cooked us all the spicy wings, which we ate directly off the fire/grid along with the sausage in hotdog rolls so we pushed the truck back into the garage till this morning, when Martin was back at my place by 07.45 (It is truly great to work with someone who gets up at a sensible time) My appologies to Martin's Amanda and my Nicola for having tosit around while we got down and dirty.

After Martin left I posted up threads on the Chevy C10 board and Garage Journal and Rods n Sods looking for advice. Much was offered.

So when we pulled the truck out this morning and jacked it up, I crawled underneath to inspect yesterdays fittings.

YUP..... The spring had not been located so after some grunting and adjusting, we dropped it down again and found the new height was 10mm taller than the old parts. PERFECT !!!



On to the passenger side, which took a lot less time to do.

By 11.00 Martin had left to go shopping, and I shut shop to get out and spend some time with Nicola who was waiting patiently for us to finish.

Next job will be getting the rear suspension sorted, possibly also replacing the lowering blocks.

A couple of other observations on this job included non matching nuts and bolts keeping the suspension together, some very worn fittings and also front brake lines that need replacing sooner than later.

Shock absorber top mount bolt.



And lastly, the parts that came out.

Original springs cut down by a coil, giving 2" lowering.



That's all folks.