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

[Grizz1963]

So while Nick was making sparks, I carried on making dust and some occasional sparks.

I knew I had to head toward this adhesive and getting the cluster sorted.

But it’s another slow job, to get the right finish.



Cardboard template followed by Dexian shelving donor still giving.



Cut out and rough shaped.



Followed by adding some studs to have hidden fasteners.



Test fit, again.



Followed by my favourite part of the job. Paint

Mainly for preventing rust once closed up in padding and vinyl.



Once the paint dried, I messed it up again by gluing and clamping it all together overnight.



One more job before closing up the shop was to carefully line the edge of the cluster trim with black adhesive and then clamp the screen once carefully laid down, AFTER ENSURING NO FINGERPRINTS ON THE INSIDE OF THE SCREEN.



Typically, Nick and I stood talking for some time, then I dragged out the grinder and powerfile again and trimmed back the ECU bracket, that looks lovely now.

Funny how we decide to stop work and then start again, just doing that one more little job.

I fetched the dash and cluster in earlier this morning to warm up indoors, trimming the excess glue on the dash and masking the cluster for fixing the small cowl next, and leaving it alone.

Chilly outside this morning.

Onwards

[Grizz1963]

@pauly will attest to us all being young and happy once.

Or more than once.

6 plus years ago, Facebook reminded me over the weekend, the Chevy C10 was having its V8 and Transmission rebuilt and serviced.

Can it be so long already?

Of course if you,look at the “Not a Project” Prozac etc, it is easy to see.








So,Sunday morning I popped down to the garage early to unclamp fetch the dash and cluster for the next part of their marrying up.

It all takes time.



Masking up the cluster to fix the peak in position.



Once glued up, I wanted to mount my new large vice/vise on the welding table, which became a suddenly distracted clearing operation.

Including cutting up the proposed sunny day roof and trying it out on the car.

I think it is a clear NO.



After that, I got refocussed and started to measure, cut, glue the support strips for the side panels under the dash, over the tunnel.

I also created and prepped, then welded 11 studs to wide plates, to be used to pull the dash into the original fiberglass dash (what is left of it) once the vinyl and scrimmfoam,are applied, as well as switches etc.

Everything does take time



And the result.



I did other odd jobs like removing and etch priming the Land Rover door hinges, they will be black.

When @Nickwheeler came, it was coffee, chat and straight into electricals.

His mission and ambition was to connect the battery and see and hear some sort of life.

After some time he called me over…….

We could see that the ECU was alive, and how many miles the engi e had covered.



Time for coffee and sausage rolls then.

Next up, testing the front circuits.

Lights.



Then after testing he started to resplice the first LED headlight, removing the original plug, as we needed an extra 400mm length to make it all work.



On finishing soldering in new plugs etc, time for a test.

Ooooopppsss….. FAIL !!!

Perplexed we both stood retracing steps, testing plugs etc.

I had had a long day, and was stressing about Mondays two meetings, one may well affect me in a way that I do not care to be affected in.

So I actually insisted in us closing shop by 18.30 and go inside, have a couple of cheese and ham rolls and a well deserved alcoholic beverage.

Nick insisted on taking one more look though…….



But we found nothing at that point, packed away, closed shop and walked away, having hit a small wall.

Next weekend both of us have stuff on, so progress may be slower than we would like.

Hey Ho !!




For those that have managed to stay awake to this point, a quick rubbish 1 minute Video.


CLICK LINK


https://youtu.be/S6Wcetfch1I



VIDEO DOES SHOW IT ALL WAS WORKING.


SO WHAT COULD IT BE WITH REWIRING THE LED LIGHTS ?


Have a good week.

[Grizz1963]

Regarding the lighting.

Some replies below, from RetroRides



[quote author="@flingstam" source="/post/2726206/thread" timestamp="1649060375"][quote timestamp="1649058376" source="/post/2726200/thread" author="@foxmcintyre"]Does the MX5 use a negative trigger rather than a positive? Some Japanese cars had one 12V feed and 2 switched earths to operate the filaments in the bulb. That config won’t work with LED lamps, worth double checking that. [/quote]Rich has hit the nail on the head here. The MX-5 does indeed use a switched ground/earth to operate the headlights. However, at least one light  (dipped or main) should come on if there is power going through. 

This video may be helpful. It's not perfect, because he's swapping H4 halogens for separate high and low beam bulbs rather than LEDs, but he explains the wiring situation pretty well:

[video src="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxJbmIKp2KM"][/video]

This is exactly the issue I had with the Deliboy, and I solved it by buying a plug and play link harness from eBay, which included an additional power feed from the battery, and standalone relays. Of course, it did take me two attempts, as the first one I bought wasn't for a switched ground circuit. Caveat Emptor, and all that. 

[a href="https://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/215030/1991-toyota-deliboy?page=7"]The Deliboy Story[/a]

(Pages 7 and 8 of the thread contain all my headlight-related adventures).[/quote]

[Grizz1963]

Popped in at Aghabridge on the way home to get some fuel hose and proper clamps.

Also grabbed three cans of satin black for any small jobs that need a few squirts of black.

Will be useful to get the fuel lines, tank and engine sides all connected safe;y.



After dinner I was bored, so went down to get the hinges coated in black, they have always bothered me since day one.

Back side.



Front side, multiple coats and heat gun used to warm it all up.



Another 30 minute job out the way.

Time thieves.


On the way home I also popped into the scrap yard to see if they would sell an even larger vice/vise I had seen the other day.

No luck, they use it.

But I did see this little aluminium boat……

Sooooo wanted it, and yes it would be for sale.

Sense prevailed.




Later gang.

[aggie91]

Nice progress on the Rockit.

Sometimes good sense is needed to refrain from a potential for a good time!

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Nice progress on the Rockit.

Sometimes good sense is needed to refrain from a potential for a good time!

Karl,

Hard as it is, you are right, wish I had more land






One of my American buddies is building a house for a lady friend……..

I am always amazed at what people get up to.

Andy is beyond 70 and very successfully retired from the Oklahoma oilfields.

I guess some people need to keep busy.

I asked him for a pic that included him.




Wonder what I will be like in 15 years.

[Grizz1963]

Couple o random pics.

Showing where you could start and where the horizon could be,

Have decided to take Friday off work, day vacation in order to get some random small jobs done on the Rezin Rocket.






Looking forward to some small bits of progress again.

Stuff needs to get done.

[Grizz1963]

Working from home today……….

Been online since 06.00 to try figure out and sort some listings for the new boss that the office screwed up REALLY BADLY
Why can’t they leave stuff alone that works perfectly.

Anyway, what it may just mean is a longer lunch hour and not commuting 2.5 hours

Leading to you know what.

And taken tomorrow off as a vacation day

That does mean three 4 day weeks in a row.

Is life good??

[Grizz1963]

Weather changes mean George is not here as much.

But last night and this morning he was back.



I do like it when he pops in.

Minutes or hours.

[Grizz1963]

LOVE IT WHEN SCRAP WORKS.

ALL FREE STUFF MOVING ABOUT.

Drawers are off to a new home tonight.

[Grizz1963]

Vacation tomorrow, and an extended lunch, plus zero miles commute, and starting work at 06.00 meant we have this tonight.

Two hours of CAD, cutting, fitting, heating, melting, fitting, cutting, shaping, swearing, swearing, and a bit more forcing, grinding, swearing.

@nickwheeler would just have stood and laughed at my frustration.

But it gave me this.

CAD



Directed



Marked



Cut



Trial fit in hole



Then the wheel arch intake.

Awkward, very awkward.



Reshaped.



Upside down

Not a fit.



Reshaped with heat.



Looks like a better fit.



Getting there.



Trumpet needs to be refitted, with super adhesive.

As will the tab to attach it to the inside of the inner wheel arch need to be drilled and fine tuned.



Another small, but time consuming job mostly wrapped up, final fit once the body is bolted down.

[Grizz1963]

Remember the dash…..?


Vinyl got to be delivered today.

So tomorrow I need to get on with the dash.\

Need to go buy some contact glue.





More little jobs.

[Grizz1963]

Last night I got these photos.

Progress on the fuel tank.

Includes welded baffle plates to keep it tight.

Original MX5 fuel tank with pump and senders and returns.

I hope it all fits in under the floor.

I envisage lengthening of some wires to make them reach.

















Early start at the garage, Sally is off today, so I may have to payback a bit (unlikely) and mate @craigrk is coming to collect a load of stuff I collected for him and staying over before heading back to Shropshire tomorrow afternoon. Also need a tin of contact adhesive for the vinyl work once all is prepped.


Loads to get onto today.


Later.

[Paul Y]

Might have been 6 years ago Rian but I am still wearing the same clothes in the garage!

Good progress.

P.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Paul Y

Might have been 6 years ago Rian but I am still wearing the same clothes in the garage!

Good progress.

P.

Well, you will be pleased to hear that I am still in that T-shirt and my red hoody survives too.


Shorts and tracksuit pants have died along the way.







Was looking for a pic that shows how and where the fuel tank used to sit.

Looks low to be honest.

Found these pics from 18 months ago.

Just how far has it come.

Thanks to all the helpers, advisors and watchers.




Copied and pasted for my own pleasure.





So late afternoon yesterday after getting back from shops and various jobs, Sally and I were able to start on looking at, and cleaning the Piggy.

She continues to surprise me.

By the time I came out the house after doing some work stuff that needed to be dealt with, this is what I found.



And the back of it looking like this



So proceeded to get a brush, wheelie bin and scoop.....

About 1/3 of the bin filled with leaves and debris.



Moss next, and leaves under the hood.

How does it all get in there?



After all this, I went to get my pressure cleaner, forgetting that it really does not work anymore, resulting in waking Mickey up from his 6.00pm post pub sleep, he was zonked.

Got his cleaner and then proceeded with the job for an hour or so.





Only got the rear half done, as it turned cold and light was fading.

But happy so far. Need to do the rest today.



Starting with it looking like this.......



Pressure cleaner left it like this, after intense, close up cleaning



Much better, but still not right.

I thought I would try a trick I used on the Chevy Blazer glassfibre roof before.

Domestos bleach gel, brushed on neat, washed off after 5 minutes, removes the staining, giving a much nicer look.




So off to the tyre place next, then back to pressure clean the rest of it, followed by bleach to remove the stains after that, and another pass with the pressure cleaner to remove it all.

Hope to get that all done today.

[Grizz1963]

Well.

So much for taking the day off to do stuff.

But, I did manage to clean up and sweep up the whole carport and drive after yesterday’s storms deposited half the garden un under the Rezin Rockit.

Mickey was clearing out his garage, and a load of electrical tools.

Now the first thing I will say is that you have to be bloody desperate for a few beers to stand and cut all the electrical cables of perfectly good power tools.

Sadly, he does like a drink, a lot.

So before the tools ended up on the sidewalk to be collected as scrap, I put them all in the wagon and brought them home, along with a couple of small metal toolboxes, one of which will be added to the rear of the car.

@craigrk will be here tonight to collect them and some more stuff I have collected for him over the last three months or so.

Dewalt cross cut saw is in working condition as are the others.





It never ceases to amaze me how wasteful people can be, and then complain about the cost of living.

I was also speaking with,Darren at Unit Engineering this morning about a good time to collect the fuel,tank, which is now completed.

So after agreeing to “any time” I messaged Sally to ask if she wanted to go with to Sheppey.

She needed new trainers, a soft toy for Bonnie (from a charity shop) and I needed to find a large piece of high density foam to add to the inner firewall as noise absorption and to tidy up all the visible fasteners in there.
No luck on finding an inch thick yoga mat type piece of foam, but trainers and toys ✅


Then around to Darrens shop to collect the tank and scavenge as usual.


I also had marked the gearshift extension where it needed to be kinked.



So we put it in the hydraulic press and managed to get it perfectly bent.

The sort of service you do not get many places.



And easy as that.

Kinky.



Back home, Sally went off to get her seedlings potted for this year. And I unpacked the car.

First thing…………

Screw it in.

Love it.



Scavenging at Darrens yard, I found and traded two sets of gokart wheels.

One set for me, one set for Craigs wagon he is building on the chassis he bought off Uncle Bob.



Why would you want a 3 Series or C-Class sedan when you can have a wagon.

Loaded.



Love a wagon, did I mention it already?

Unloaded.



Tank needs to be dried out before assembly.

I am also going to drill and weld in a drain plug in the bottom, in case one ever needed it.

Then once fitting starts, I will make up the tabs to weld on and bolt it under the body so all access is free to the feeds and wiring.

The Mazda fuel tank parts were shortened to fit in the 10 inch depth of the new tank.



Now headed down to the garage for a late start.

What next.

[Grizz1963]

Smallest parcel ever.

Replacement fog light switch.



One of the small toolboxes Mickey threw out will become the fuel filler cover.

Mocked up with the back cut out, and lockable should work.





Back to the new tank.

Do I add in a drain plug on the underside?

Cutting this one from the old tank and cleaning and welding it in.



Made some new mounting tabs for the new tank.

Hope to get them on today.





I am hoping for around 10 inches clearance at the rear, and more than the diff once tank is filled, and new tyres are loaded.



Breakfast next.

[Grizz1963]

So Craig got in well after 8.00pm and we had fish and chips, and sat chatting till late.

Then off to bed, Craig slept on the couch, full,house at Casa Grizz.

Up, coffee and chatting by -6.15

Later we were out to gather all Craigs treasures, fetch my trailer from Uncle Bobs place, clean it and pack it all.

Then we found some 25mm square tube and also some 20mm to use as inserts…….

Craig chopped the chassis in 2 and I proceeded to weld it all up, 10 inches longer.

Shod with off-road buggy wheels, bought from John the lodger, it will be a great tool

Hacksaw at work.



And the 10 inch extension.



Braced, welded.



Some rattle can over the welds became burgundy all over it.

Mickey was already there inspecting, and then @mercdan68 popped in for a chat, declined coffee, but good to see him and chat about his boy destroying a perfectly good cat 😉



Dan left, Mickey left and by 1.00pm Craig left for his 200 mile run home, trailer behind the ML Benz.

As Craig left, Dean @gentabout and his daughter, I mean wife Yvonne arrived for a visit and to deliver some special cargo………

We sat out on the deck, shared 100 stories, great to meet up, and even nicer having good company.

Eventually they left, in his MG……….

Embarrasingly his car refused to start, as he had left the lights on when he arrived a few hours earlier.

Jump pack to the rescue, the car barked into life, and then they were off home.

Very Nice car.



And the contents of the parcel they had delivered………



Thank you very much Dean.

So answers on a postcard……

What is the paint for?

Thanks for checking in.

[Grizz1963]

So after Mickey and @mercdan68 left, Craig and I had less than an hour before he had to head back home via a detour to pick up another machine.

He came sans trailer, but left with my 5 foot, tall caged trailer and his car already half full.

So first was to generate space for the fuel pump pipes and wiring on top of the tank.

2x4 seemed a perfect shim to create and keep the space while setting up to weld the tabs.



Mickey had just reappeared to give me a nice two tin trolley jack, so took a pic of us worms, then promptly left again as they had a lunch date.



So welder out, tacking started, first two tabs in position.



At this point Craig had to leave, and s I saw him off, Dean @gentabout and Yvonne landed….. and an awesome visit followed.

Actually loved stepping away for a bit, like this mornings breakfast meeting.

Once we had done an mini inspection of the garage, they left, and I headed back down to resume fabrication.

Weird how I could not get the tank up square, the mounting holes were also not quite in position, so some drilling and filing ensued, followed by BFH action to make both step down a tad.



Tacked in, then removed for a decent weld up.



Good Sally had come back with the dog, so I shut shop early and went for a walk.



Found this oil can at the side of a farm building.

How long has it been there?



Right.

Breakfast and driving the S10 calls.

Later.

[Grizz1963]

Not been to the Kent Breakfast meeting for American cars for some time.

It had become a roving kind of meet and to be honest, bootfairs trump food any day in my world.

But they may have a new venue 20 miles from me……

So today I popped up there, after Sally suggested I need to take a break from the garage.

No regrets ultimately.

In early, had breakfast and left by 10.30

Nice to have the truck out for a proper blast down the motorway.

Company good as always, and I left early to carry on with the Rezin Rockit build.


Venue is just off the A2/M2 at Ebbsfleet near Bluewater



£9.95 eat as much as you can, drinks unlimited too is a decent deal at a pub style restaurant.



Breakfast included 3x Croissants, and two Flat white coffees from a machine that were quite drinkable.


Outside.

Stripes roolz.

















A nice group of guys, random mix of cars and trucks.

And no dick swinging.

[realvc]

Looks like a good place to eat and look at some cool rides.
Thanks for sharing the pics.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by realvc

Looks like a good place to eat and look at some cool rides.
Thanks for sharing the pics.

Pleasure Vince.

Typical brewery chain restaurant.

Decent all round.




Back home and out by 11.00 today.

Breakfast was nice, but felt like a waste of garage time.

Still, no regrets.

So I tidied up, and added a few bits to the welds.

Also opened the mounting holes on the tabs.



And on so that I could work out the next job…….

Guessing time.

What?





Once the tank is fitted the filler neck is now this low as I have dropped the tank so the MX5 fuel system can fit under the floor.



So I created a template to cut away the bottom of the toolbox that will hold the filler cap once completed.

Cut, cleaned up.



Ready for etch primer.



And primed.



I think it will be a Marmite addition to the car.

I like Marmite.

[Grizz1963]

For those who like animals, and in this case, dogs.

Went for a walk, met a German Shepherd named Gus. Adult dog.

She went straight in and was running circles around him.

Back home, typically, she figured out she could get into the bird bath for a drink.





Water dog?



Certainly worth the money the Parvovirus cost us.

Every day is a joy.

[Grizz1963]

Paging @nickwheeler

Hammerite rules.

One for you

Painted tank.



Also test fitted this one.

I know there is a change I am considering but need to consider it first.





Back in a bit.

[Grizz1963]

RIGHT………


Time for the Tech-Heads to pop their heads up like a family of Meerkats.


Exhaust and Tank were the last big jobs to get done before bolting the body down again (maybe finally)

Along with brakes, wiring etc that are all easier to get to without the tub in the way.


So on Sunday after bolting the tank into place, this was the view from the rear.



And poking a long stick in the open down pipe and resting it on the rear axle gave me this……



I could not get the Ford Ka 1.6 rear box that @kevins donated to the build, in there with it curly piece attached. And was not going to start cutting it up.

Measuring up the various length and diameters gave me this…….

Ford Ka rear box entry is 2” but the pipe welded to it is 1.75”

It will need cutting and rewelding to make it over the rear axle, fit next to the tank and hang in a way that the rear exit pipes look right.





On the engine side the original down pipe exits this flange at 2” vs the rear end at 1.75” of the Ka bendy bit.

I am happy to reuse the Ka bendy bit of course, if I can make it all come together.

Having spoken to @pauly my guru (one of many) it seems that change in diameter will make little difference in this sort of car.





So it leaves me with about 1200mm of straight 2” pipe to buy and some fiddling to make it all come together, and some welding,and a clamp or such, along the way.

Paperwork summary



Over to the collective.