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

[Paul Y]

Nice one Grizz!

P.

[Ta2Don]

Great work Mates!!!

My buddy loaned me a Snap-On Impact (rattle gun) and that sure made getting the u bolts loose easy...

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Paul Y

Nice one Grizz!

P.

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Great work Mates!!!

My buddy loaned me a Snap-On Impact (rattle gun) and that sure made getting the u bolts loose easy...

Thanks guys.

Insomnia is a pain, so I was ready at 05.00 to get back on it after getting to sleep at 00.45

[Grizz1963]

Another one of those questions that have me wondering about stuff.

I have a standard front end with 6 lug and drums, after redoing the suspension with 2" drop all the way around, I am now thinking that I may want the front end a bit lower still.

So can I do it while keeping everything else in place without sacrificing ride quality and use ability?


What is available, from who and at what sort of money?

[Paul Y]

Hey Grizz'

The 'free' option would be to section the crossmember , a relatively easy task for your skill sets! Think that would get you 1 1/2" and retain the full suspension travel. Having looked at the various threads detailing how it is done doesn't look hard technically.

If i were to do it I think I would find a latter model truck being broken and take the front end out of that just in case I ever wanted to go back. Added advantage is it would come with 6 lug disk brakes so you could keep your wheels, which I am guessing is part of the reason for keeping the drums?

Sure somebody else will come up with a drop spindle part number for drums which is the other option.

Looking forward to today's update to see pictures out in the daylight!

P.

[Paul Y]

Here is a thread I bookmarked detailing one of the ways it can be done

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=543729

As for the insomnia I recommend taking up smoking meat, if you are going to be up you might as well spend it ensuring the correct temperature is maintained to produce the perfect pork shoulder or briskett!

Look up the BBQ bretherin and make yourself a UDS!

Hijack over, back to our scheduled program....

P.

[Ta2Don]

Since Rian is working for more truck funds, I am posting this early for him...

He is sporting his shirt from Clem and a plate I had airbrushed for him for a future project…

[Grizz1963]

Had to come home early today from London to edit my 2015 business plan which I am presenting on Thursday....... deep joy.

Found myself the recipient of a parcel from Searcy, Arkansas, from Ta2Don. Postage alone $26.00 ..... eeeek !!!

Anyway, contents included a couple of Don's shop T-shirts for mate Martin and Amanda and another one for Ian who is living with us.

THEN...... Thanks to Don and Clemdaddy from Fayetteville, Arkansas a T-Shirt that blew my mind the first time I saw it as it had a C10 on it, as well as the Sinclair Oil Corporation, and a custom made number plate for car shows that Don had designed and got airbrushed for me.





Well, that was my day.

Have I mentioned I love my truck ??

[CRGRS 66]

Nice!

[Ta2Don]

[Grizz1963]

Tonight the truck was loaded to work again.

Mate Martin will be starting his sandblasting soon, after doing some welding.

So we loaded the compressor and a crate tonight.......

Nothing like a ramp to make life a bit easier.



Ian supervising the tie down.



Can you say LOWER...?



Ready to Rock n Roll.

[Ta2Don]

Tuckin' those wheels!!!

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Tuckin' those wheels!!!

[Grizz1963]

RADICAL TRANSFORMATION !!

That is the only way I can describe how the new lowered shocks and springs on the trucks suspension performs compared to the waddling duck it had been before.

After fitting everything new, including the brake hoses, I never got a chance to go test drive the truck, but of course the compressor had to be taken over to Martin's place 15 miles away today, after which I came home and then Nicola and I took a very large wooden chest down to her work and drove around some more before coming home, so I did around 50 plus miles today.

After dropping the compressor off, I came back home driving rather briskly...... through every roundabout and other bendy bits, the truck felt a whole lot like a modern car, sure footed and going where I pointed it.

Grizz's Redneck Express delivering compressor -...

I am amazed at the transformation.

This is a modification I would highly recommend to anyone with one of these trucks. Of course there is a lot more radical stuff you can do to the truck including C-Notching, airbags, dropped spindles etc. The sky is the limit, or the size of your bank balance.

I think that with imported parts, it came to about £100.00 or $160.00 per corner to fit these Brothers Trucks parts.

After all the driving and hooning, the suspension must have settled for now, so here are a pair of pics, unfortunately, I had not straightened the steering wheel up front for the photos.






After we came back from the shops, Martin came over and we went to go look at a 1990 Chevy Dayvan.

I was interested in the steering column, as I want a replacement column shift steering for my truck, and Martin is looking for a decent 350/350 or 700R4 combo for his truck. He will be selling the 307 and gearbox he bought running out of a truck earlier this year. The rest of the Dayvan would be sold off as spares if we bought it for the asking price of £800.00

When we got there and looked it all over, the steering was locked and the ignition mullered, Martin also decided for once to be sensible and walk away as the peripheral costs of making this engine run, could end up being more than than he wanted to spend.

HOWEVER, we ended up spending a great afternoon with Wayne the seller and some of his mates at his industrial unit.

I did have to use the bathroom, and the whole bathroom was done just perfectly, and I could not resist taking this pic of the toilet seat cover....... Just perfect for an Avatar.



We eventually left there and came home via Screwfix.

[flashed]

I like the toilet seat cover and I love your truck ,it looks great .

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

I like the toilet seat cover and I love your truck ,it looks great .

Thanks Flashed. Much appreciated.


Got the following text an hour ago......

Hi Rian, I'm leaving my current job in three weeks, do you want me to pop round one evening to pull the dents out on your truck door with the pin puller ??

Message from a really nice guy I met months ago when he bought something for his son off Ebay from me.

So I guess the bodywork is about to start on the truck.

The world and life sure is filled with good stuff.

[Grizz1963]

Been clearing my "electronics" table tonight after work.

Measured the size of the potential hole, if I cut out the bottom half, and it seems to be 74mm







This will be an interesting learning for me, as its a bit of everything to restore the cluster.

Not a great pic, but the unit fitted to the truck is pretty broken.

[Grizz1963]

Just found this thread....... http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=562983

Complete thread on how to restore a cluster.

Seems it took the Theastronaut as much as 18 hours. And he has done a few before. But his work is just awesome.

Looks like I have a cold winter ahead.

[mjh1965]

Great news. A least you got to use it for another Summer . We are going to have abusywinter I think

[Grizz1963]

Spoke to Bob the dent guy for about 45 minutes this morning, I sense a kindred spirit.

He will be here next week Sunday morning for the door crease and a couple of other small dents that can do with pulling.

I took a couple of fresh photos today while doing some other bits down at the garage, preparing it for when I start the bodywork.



Does not look bad, but still worth pulling, rather than just filling or bashing from behind.

New chrome rectangular mirrors are waiting, I will clean and repaint the stalks, either black or probably gunmetal/silver.





After seeing Markeb01's garage again this morning, I was shamed into pulling finger and starting the clear up and tidy up of my own space, before I start the actual tear down of my truck over Christmas.



I started with the outside, pulling weeds, clearing "stuff" away, followed by a few hours on the pressure cleaner, inside and outside that garage as well as both sides of the door.

The other day I realised when I posted this pic, the inside and outside needed some serious tidying.



At some point it looked like this.....




Current view, the ply sheets will form walls for a "spray/bodywork booth"



So I cleaned up the interior and drive......



Done.



Next job will be to clear out and sort out the interior.

Then figure out the new walls.

[Ta2Don]

Nice Job Mate!!!

[duallyjams]

Just did a quick flip through your thread, seems every pic has some one with a big ol smile, great to see a truck lover on the other side of the pond.

[clemdaddy]

cool back yard. cleaning up some just makes you want to mess it up again.

the paint on your truck looks darn pretty good, so you're gonna just repaint the doors, right... or is this a total repaint?

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Nice Job Mate!!!

Thanks Don, I do this job at least twice a year as the wet and damp over here plays havoc with all surfaces.. Green moss etc.

Originally Posted by duallyjams

Just did a quick flip through your thread, seems every pic has some one with a big ol smile, great to see a truck lover on the other side of the pond.

Thanks for checking in !!

I guess that as a South African male, it comes naturally to want a truck.

It is also a practical tool.

Ohhhh..... And my wife said I could have one

Originally Posted by clemdaddy

cool back yard. cleaning up some just makes you want to mess it up again.

the paint on your truck looks darn pretty good, so you're gonna just repaint the doors, right... or is this a total repaint?

This is true Clem, also makes space for other treasures.

It's is nicely hidden behind this built up garden section, so you can hardly see the garage from the house.

The paint and body on my truck passes muster at50 meters.
And the truck is photogenic

However, close up there is not a straight panel or piece of trim.

Take a look at the pics below to get an idea.

Ask Martin just how much work there is.

It is definitely getting a full repaint, and all panels will get reworked, including the whole of the interior.



Next up, passenger door flipped open by wind and put a crease all the way down, taking the shiny trim with it.

Not particularly repairable in my book.



Front spear passenger side.



Passenger side door and cab trim.



Fleetside rear passenger side. Inbetween the trim there used to a sticker and some idiot removed it with a screwdriver or knife, damaging the paint.
You can see how the paint has been damaged.






Driver side, some of the trim had been bent over and pushed back.



Front grille had been struck at some point over the second "E" and repaired with a ballpein hammer.
The grille is very scratched from some "attention" it had been given in the past.



There is rust on the trailing edges of the fenders that needs repairing and a variety of other bits to be fixed when the paint gets done.

Just waiting for a very large lump to fall off the drivers side.

More later.

[Ta2Don]

Sure don't know what you mean by "waiting for a large lump to fall off…"

Here's my pass side wing…


…and today I plan on planting 2 posts, so I will be digging post holes and mixing quikcrete while the Arctic blast keeps our high today around 2C, woke up to -3C...

Cheers!!!