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

[flashed]

Im with you ,free is good .

[Ta2Don]

Free = Awesome Score... and putting the Redneck Express to work...

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

Im with you ,free is good .

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Free = Awesome Score... and putting the Redneck Express to work...

I just see the free stuff as a way of releasing cash to use when I buy bits for the truck.
Alternately, stuff will be crushed and used as landfill, or to build new refrigirators over in China.

[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]

Grizz ,I love all your recycling projects and especially the boxes .Stuff like that is now hard to come by here as the price of scrap metal has gone up most gets crushed.

[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!

[Ta2Don]

Here ya go Mate!!!

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Here ya go Mate!!!

Just had a text from him that they landed in London and were taxiing to the airport building and that he had managed to get me a bottle of Baccardi rum I had ordered........ Happy days.

Of course looking forward to getting all my spares that Amanda had stashed in her lugguage. Wooohooo !!

[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.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

Grizz ,I love all your recycling projects and especially the boxes .Stuff like that is now hard to come by here as the price of scrap metal has gone up most gets crushed.

Thanks Flashed.

I think its a mindset. It gives me pleasure seeing new uses for stuff.

And getting stuff for "Free" means I can spend cash elsewhere on Nicola or myself without feeling guilty.

[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.

[Palf70Step]

Nice pictures from your vacation/holiday! Your stash reminds me I need to order some of the same trinkets.

[flashed]

Very nice pics ,love all the old iron over there .

[Grizz1963]

Just a quick reply to some comments I got on various forums.

The guy who owns the yard buys up, restores and sells the stuff you see. He apparently collects whatever he can finf accross Turkey and seeing three 60-66 Chevy C10's and a GMC of the same vintage was a huge kick for me as I have a 66 too.

I did try to buy one number plate off the pink one for my collection but it was a distinct NO.
I had also hoped to find a couple of dash blanking plates inside them but no luck. Fortunately A friend found both I needed in a yard in Florida USA two weeks later.

Seems he is quite pricey according to our tour guide but remember that is vs Turkish incone.

There is a large ex-military airport about 30 minutes away at Dalaman that is now civilian. So it may have some bearing on the content of the yard.

As is always the case, language and culture are the main barriers but I suspect everything is for sale.

[Ta2Don]

Awesome Holiday Pix…

Posting pix from yesterday at Clem's...

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Awesome Holiday Pix…

Posting pix from yesterday at Clem's...

Thanks Don

Clem's seems to have been the place to be.

Definitely one on my "To do" list (not sure when though, and don't mention it to Martin)

06.40 here, and buddy Ian and I are just getting ready to be off to Martin's to help him with the last push to get the rear end off his chassis and get it all stashed so that he an get his cab under cover for winter, then we all come back here for a BBQ that Ian will be doing while Martin and I get on with fitting the new lowered springs and shocks to my truck.

Looking forward to that........ Let's hope it all happens without too much drama and blood.

[Ta2Don]

Looking forward to Updates...

You need to make Clem's...

[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??

[Paul Y]

Grizz,

From past experience 1 col is equal to about 2"...

Get your grinder out!!!

P.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Paul Y

Grizz,

From past experience 1 col is equal to about 2"...

Get your grinder out!!!

P.

Hey Paul, Thank you for the reply.

I think the way forward, depending on the weather today, will be to refit the driver side, in case it did not seat correctly. And then passenger side.

Then to leave it all to settle a it and do a drive up to the farm as well.

We found my front brake hoses to be rotten/US yesterday, so they need replacing first.

At the price of springs etc here, I will rather refit than cut, the disassembly is. Cheaper than replacing.

[Grizz1963]

Fixed without chops...... Springs were not seated right.

Now both fitted, seated right and only 10mm taller than before.

I suspect originals were cut by at least a coil to give 2" drop, but sagged in the end.....

Happy to leave it to settle now.

Next job will be fresh brake pipes up front.

Pics and update later when I have finished my chores

[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.