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

[Grizz1963]

Small jobs, often we avoid them because they are awkward or easy to overlook.

Case in point, the rear light.

I knew from day one it was broken and managed to find a replacement UK Nova rear light. Slightly different, but intact.

The price resonated really well with me as well, as I support Help for Heroes being ex military as well.

So part of Sunday was spent doing house and garden jobs, including watering Mickey’s wife’s garden and seedlings, she has a lot. I also took my mower around and cut his Tetris-like lawn.

Then back to the Canta, where I knew a job had been waiting, the rear light replacement.

Interior covered in layers of fabric and Velcro, and all glued together, so I “removed” some of it to get in there.



Removed all the connectors carefully with long nosed pliers as they were corroded, and in an effort to be able to reassemble them, used some masking tape to lay them out in order.



Next job necessitated a Stanley knife and a prayer as the old light was glued in with Tiger seal or something similarly brutal.

But I got it out.



Old VS New.

Colours differ nd of course now I have two reverse lamps, so a bright red lightbulb in the fog light side, plus swapping the wires for the sides needs to happen for UK road worthiness.



Interior fitting done, hopefully not going to need to remove it again.





Fitted.



And final result.



It is a small job that took a while to get to, and then the cleanup etc took a bit of time, but I am very pleased.

Once again it shows, small jobs take a load of time.

VIDEOS:

https://youtu.be/TEXRBfVZAEs

And high speed.

https://youtu.be/2zziYzBXdr0

Thanks for checking in.

.

[Grizz1963]

Alongside workshop stuff, my garden is a place for my mental health recovery.

These days are tough for many of us, and I find myself needing therapy almost daily.

Seriously.

And the dog, though not mine, still allows me to laugh out loud.

This morning George the cat was walking behind me when I walked out to water a few pot plants, and tried to ankle-tap me, grabbing my leg, when I turned to touch him, he came up, grabbed my hand and gave it the gentlest of bites……. Because I had ignored him, sitting on the coffee table, waiting patiently for some Dreamiest. I could not stop laughing.

So these animals and other side distractions do earn their keep, by reminding us to slow down and smell the roses.

SO…….

Just some random mix of doggy madness for those who enjoy animals living their best lives.

This dog adds so much mental health support, it’s unreal.

Some days you just need to relax and smile.


https://youtu.be/vKa0XIJu624

[Grizz1963]

11.50 on Sunday already.

Hot and humid outside.

100% not in the mood to go work on anything, but I need to keep at it.

Work continues to grind down my motivation, mood and finding pleasure in getting jobs done. Kinda sucks a bit right now.

I may just go push the Canta out, fetch the roll of brown vinyl in the Grizz-Pod where it is stored, and start making templates and cutting the vinyl to shape.

Not sure if the heat and humidity really is going to be conducive to successful application.

Anyone done this stuff in mid summer weather, outside?

[Grizz1963]

Late start again because my motivation is not where I am used to having it.

But driven by the knowledge that at 5.00pm I would look out and see nothing done, I went to the garage intending to cut some templates for the roof interior upholstery, and then cutting the vinyl I have stashed to size and applying it with contact adhesive.

Vinyl is a brown, kinda looks like rusted metal, and maybe a bit lighter than the standard black fabric used.



Of course when I stated looking inside the Canta, I realised that there is another layer of fabric glued to the roof, with what’s left of a foam layer that would have been under the velour like outer layer.

This ultimately broke the whole plan for the day.

So I started to pull at the base layer, getting covered in dead foam residue and then realised there are obstructions screwed into the roof etc.

Roof.



Pulling some old fabric backing away……..



So I ended up removing the two grab handles that run above the door and A-pillar and removing the rust and old powder coating on them with a flap wheel.



Before and after……





Both cleaned up.



And once painted, they looked a lot better.

Back in once the inside is cleaned out and new vinyl fitted.



At that point I had enough of dirty, dusty work and got some more rust addressed.

Mate Kevin gave me a really decent garden machete to use out back where a jungle has grown the last two years.

So I cleaned and sharpened it, should be good on the shrubs and big weeds.



Closed shop by 4.00pm and came in, had a shower and a cold beer (one of those blue ones nobody is buying anymore, as I had bought them before a corporate giant tried to force their agenda down our throats. So I paid for them and will use them, after which no more support to them or their subsidiaries)

Dinner was burgers, nice and easy.


For those who like a movie.

https://youtu.be/F6hZc7pZZIE


Weekend over.

Again.

[Grizz1963]

George the cat has a habit of going missing for a few days at a time . Either locked in a shed, or voiding his DNA stamp.

Yesterday he was not here as normal at 07.00 for breakfast, he is incredibly regular and predictable.

So I walked down to the garage, one of his sleeping spots, and found him curled up, after we had 8mm of heavy rain in the morning.

Curled up under my mobile work table. Weird creature.

I also took the opportunity to check if the paint on the hand rails had dried.

Same as I had used on the door frames before, after the rust converter.

Completely dry.

So we know the culprit was the converter reacting, either due to not being completely dry, or just a chemical reaction.

Anyway, a good result.

Happy.



Roll on the weekend, so I can clean out the interior some more and remove the fabric stuck to it.


.

[Ta2Don]

Neat work on the Canta... Hadn't been out here in a looooong time. Have a great weekend, Mate.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Neat work on the Canta... Hadn't been out here in a looooong time. Have a great weekend, Mate.

Morning Don,

Good to see you here, though we have our WhatsApp chat as well.

Forums overall seem much less active with the advent of all the quick fix/satisfaction apps like Instagram etc.

[Grizz1963]

George last night.


I suspect there could be a few quotes added to this pic.

[Braunschweiger]

The cat seems comfortable with you and you're happy when he's with you, win win. Good progress on your roller skate

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Braunschweiger

The cat seems comfortable with you and you're happy when he's with you, win win. Good progress on your roller skate

Thanks Harald,

Animals generally gravitate towards me, or maybe I go to them.

I know cars are mostly a-holes so leave them to decide when they want my company (other than feeding time) and that works well.

George is a very low maintenance cat.






11.15 on a Saturday morning, laundry done, plants and lawn watered, excuses exhausted……..

Guess I need to get my garage clothes on and go get started removing that diabolical interior fabric in the Canta, with all its rotten foam rubber backing.
Bleughh.

[Grizz1963]

HOT

HOT

HOT.

Started at 12.00 with removing the fabric.

Spectacularly rubbish job, but needed to get done.





How many times have I cleaned the interior so far?



As @westbay said, I was happy to fetch a bag for the removed interior lining, while trying to breathe.

Fire would have been a better option.



Possibly ready for vinyl.

So many complex folds, tucks, rolls etc.





So I fetched the roll of vinyl and cleaned out the Canta, again.

Measured the first A-Pillar and cut some vinyl.

One of the issues with getting the fit here, was the triangulated bottom.



So a three or four handed job, done alone, no special tools, but I had to find and make some to tuck the vinyl in between glass and body, and body and beading.

Biggest problem with these cars of course is the fact they are built to a very sloppy specification.





Glue in and then carefully started tucking and folding, still got some stuck, swore and pulled apart.

Cut the excess off and tucked in under the beading in the doorframe.



Remember the comment about sloppy tolerances?

So tucking in the vinyl between the body panel and front windscreen it became apparent there is interference.

Kinda disappointing, but you can only work with what you have.



Cut grass, then go back and start on the drivers side, which also has the remote mirror stalk to consider when fitting it all.

I may have to swear a whole lot later today.

Objective: Drivers side A-Pillar

Wish me luck,

[Grizz1963]

Part 2 of the A-Pillar covering.

I was more fearful of this one, because the rear view mirror adjustment stalk had to be kept in mind as it all plays a role in trying to derail a tidy job.

The triangulated base, with recesses etc makes it awkward too, and of course once the glue goes off, you are screwed as I was using high end, industrial strength spray on glue.

So with a lot of careful measuring, marking, masking tape and patiently working at it, I managed to firstly mark the hole, then enlarge it to the size of a wine bottle neck inner diameter so it created a nice snug fit over the base of the grommet the adjuster has.

Once glued down I also tucked it further, right down to the actual body panel where it seats.

So it went down even more than this.

Flappy sides were mostly tucked away between the dash and body.



Because of the terrible fit, this side has huge gaps between the glass and body panels, they are riveted to the steel frame.

I will add something like a strip of high density foam in black, to the gaps to just tidy this all up later.

Result is acceptable, but certainly not what I like, still a huge improvement on what there was.



Being as it was 30’C outside, I decided to call it a day and go sit indoors, reading and sweating, drinking a load of water and eating pretzels.

The only one who really enjoyed the heat was Bonnie.

I found her a Little Tykes sandpit last year, and yesterday, she played in it, and actually just laid in the water when not chasing her balls, or watching Sally work in the garden.




I did so little this weekend, but I am hoping it was the most awkward of the vinyl upholstery work.

I will edit and make up a full video of the vinyl process once it is completed.

It may take a bit of brutal editing.

VIDEO:

https://youtu.be/8yQ6z3doG5A


Have a great week out there.

[Braunschweiger]

What a fiddling job, good that you have a lot of patience. A treat for the Dog in the heat.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Braunschweiger

What a fiddling job, good that you have a lot of patience. A treat for the Dog in the heat.

Thanks,

Yes, it certainly is a fiddly job, and far from perfect, but much better than it was before of course.

I found that pool/sandpit in a skip, and Sally said NO at first, till she saw the absolute pleasure the dog gets from it in the heat.









Modern times are so weird.

We complain about the cost of everything, even air for our tires/tyres at a gas station or petrol station costs from 50p upward.

Yet, this week saw me gain a load of junked lifting straps, ranging from 1 ton to 3 tonnes and a variety of lengths, from a maintenance job.

Expiry dates mean all these needed recertification or destruction.

SO GET THIS…… RIGHT.

They are perfectly fine to be used for another X-period of time.

But the cost of recertification is more than the cost of replacing or repatriating them.

So they were all being cut in half and thrown in a skip. Except for a few that were put aside for me.





What the hell is wrong with people, or the world.

No, do not try to explain it, I do understand, but it is crazy.

Next item, 9 high end, chemical vapour and dust masks, described thus:

3M 4279+ Maintenance Free Organic Gas/Vapour and Combination Particulate Respirator3MΓäó Maintenance Free Half Mask 4279+ is a simple and ready-to-use respirator with an integrated cartridge and filters. A newly enhanced valve assembly helps to reduce exhalation breathing resistance, and the close-fitting, non-silicone, textured face seal is soft and non-allergenic. Includes a resealable bag for hygienic storage and transportation.

Found left over from a previous job, in a store, not on inventories, so headed to the skip.

SERIOUSLY?





Also found in the same pile of now “illegal on site” left overs from 18 months ago, were some of these flame/fire retardant balaclava hoods.

I should have had them when welding the Chevy Blazer a few years ago, had more than one fireball in my ear hole, not fun.





So I was thankful to be able to say yes of course my skip/dumpster is a house, I mean house is a skip/dumpster.

Will I use them all?

Of course not, but a few friends will all get given bits they can use.

My lodger, Andy who is a welder, and helped me previously with the carport post welding during Covid and taught me some great stick welding and Mig techniques has an electric car, and I have not charged him for charging his car here, swings and roundabouts,I guess.

This week he bought and brought me a new welding mask and a grinding mask as a thank you.

Quite unnecessary as a thank you gift, but it does mean the old balaclavas will be used, and I will get my head into tighter spaces.





Have I mentioned recently that life is good?

Nope, work has been sucking the joy out of my life to a large extent.

But life is good, and as long as there is free cash about, I certainly won’t be saying no thanks.

Right, time to go play with contact adhesive and vinyl once I cut the templates for the Canta.

Catch you later.

[Grizz1963]

Canta….. sounds a lot like a rude word.

And I have used a few recently.

Started the vinyl on the two A-Pillars.

Removing the door frame beads made it easier to get a tidy finish.



Contact glue is industrial strength, and goes off in a minute in the summer heat.

If it touches, it stays.

Tucked in on returns and around the edges, then trimmed with a blade.




Happy so far.





At this point, I just wanted to point out to all those who have not tried to do this job, specifically on a ****a, this is what you have to work with and cover.

Also loads of badly joined and riveted panels.

NOW I KNOW ABOUT AUTOMOTIVE CARPETING, USED IN CAMPER VANS ETC………..

USED SOME IN THE REZIN ROCKIT.

But the vinyl is paid for, and when I started, I was not aware just how badly some surfaces would be, and the havoc it would create for me.

This sort of thing.



So I carried on, piece by piece, and had to ditch most of my plans for more complex pieces, cut in one, in fact, even having to modify some by cutting them up into smaller sections that were manageable.









So that was Saturdays progress, if you can call it progress.

Sunday I started early.

Thinking I would complete the two sides and rear tailgate frame.

Ohhh how wrong could I be.

This section worked pretty well.

Making me quite optimistic.



Result.



Then the next, big section……

Thought it could be a one piece.

But you need to be an octopus, with more than two hands to hold and lay the vinyl down.

So I cut the one piece into more manageable pieces.



Coffee break between each piece to calm down nd regroup my swearing words for the next.



Eventually I made it this far.

One side done.

I hated it.



So I shut shop and pushed the hateful thing away into its corner for another day.

Video not great, but with added Timelapse, shows my pain.

https://youtu.be/1wog_Rp-8oI

More of this horrible little thing another day.

Got matches and petrol?

[Braunschweiger]

Man oh man, what an ordeal,
what a vehicle.
You have my respect for that.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Braunschweiger

Man oh man, what an ordeal,
what a vehicle.
You have my respect for that.

Thank you.

I am not sure why I am doing all this work on a car that is already sold in my mind.

I guess it is the African in my blood, we never like to give up.






Making excuses on a Sunday morning not to go out and get started on the next bit of irritation.

So yesterday, @nickwheeler visiting, weather, looking at an Audi A2 and the heavy humid heat all made good excuses to keep walking away from the Canta.

In the end I closed shop after 18.00 but at least side number two of the body was done.

As much as I really do not like this little car at the moment, I have to keep reminding myself…..

This is not a car in the traditional sense, it is a mobility aid.

Imagine nailing a chicken coop to a Chinese mobility scooters chassis in a shed, somewhere on mainland Europe.

Then bringing a couple of them into England 20 years ago……

No support, no spares stock, no knowledge and certainly not much to work with.

After 20 plus years of very low mileage use, but a flurry of abuse, possibly years of just standing in someone’s driveway or back yard, it is removed and given a really good, short burst of extreme abuse.

Fabrics have perished and aged in the 20 plus years since it was built, plastics are brittle and still most people don’t give a sh1t about a Canta LX.

Enter the weirdos…… why go mainstream when you can try swim without arms or legs ehhhh?


So yesterday I started by trimming a couple of small bits, then ground to a halt when Nick came around (great excuse to walk away and make coffee)

Next job……..

Disassemble and remove the rear light I previously installed.

Including some wires joined by the devils joiners.



Opened area to work.



Measure, cut, shape, glue and fit.





Then the rain stopped play.

So I closed shop, went for a drive to look at an abandoned Audi A2 three miles from where I live.

Unfortunately if you check its current status, it seems a new V5c ownership document has been issued, so someone has a cheap car.



This is the inspiration for a 20 plus year old car being given a cheap but awesome new look.

Thread here: https://forum.retro-rides.org/thread...-retro-classic





Anyway, later the weather cleared again and I went back to the garage, loaded with guilt at wasting so much time that could have been spent on polishing the turd instead.

So I completed the wheel arch box and shut shop.



Next stop will be to get started on the rear door, then the side doors and roof.



11.00 on a Sunday morning and still not made it to the shop.

Soon…….

[Grizz1963]

I have had a weird fascination with the older “New Beetles” for a while.

So here is what a bit of imagination, some work and cheap (£350.00) New Beetle can get to look like.

But keep in mind, it is a specific style, ethos, group and person who likes and drives it.

​Static lowering is pretty hardcore in many cases, in order to get the look.


https://youtu.be/W7tW2-PyefY


It may not be everyone’s pint of bitter.

[Grizz1963]

I forgot to post the short clip with the last post.

VIDEO:

https://youtu.be/bPWTJDO9NoM

More later.

[Grizz1963]

So Sunday came and went, weather was again a bit iffy.

Bits of rain, just enough to support my overall loss of my normal MoJo.

So eventually I made it out the house by 12.00, where are the days when I would be in the garage by 04.00 to work three hours on the teardrop build before breakfast, a shower and heading out for work.

Today was the rear door, a job I approached with anticipation of failure, based on the job so far.

I now had a “door handle” diagonally across the frame and a lock and opening mechanism to work around.

So I photographed the door mechanism and removed it.





Also removed the number plate light fitting.



Then started cutting in the bottom and side pieces, nothing is straight or simple……



Many curves later, side pieces fit.



And then glued in place.



Followed by measurements for the flat surface and a piece cut off the roll.



After some fighting, it was glued in place to a standard that is aligned with the quality of the car.



Looking at it along with the drivers side interior….. a lot of brown.



Shutting the door, you have even more brown.

But it was starting to look like a unit, if you could even dare say that.



While I was playing with my car, Sally was at home working on her glass pictures.

She collects the glass and pottery shards when walking the dog.

These pictures are sold on Etsy and Vinted (not by her) for £25-35 and if you look at the whole process, it’s actually not a lot of money for what does into it.

Proud of her for sure.



And later in the evening, mate Matt, @pegasus sent a pic of his son, who saw the Vanta, and wanted one too……

So he built his son a Canta.



And before you could blink, the weekend was over again.

Time does fly.



VIDEO:

https://youtu.be/tT5XAqROwrE


Doors next I guess.

[Grizz1963]

Well……

Dreams come true.

I so wanted to see this little car as a burned out wreck.

So..….

Do wishes come true?




This was a Dutch Canta LX, set alight by vandals.

A bit of a busy weekend, mainly avoiding any kind of work on the Canta.

We had wind storms as well, and the wind does not go with contact adhesive and flapping strips of vinyl.

Sunday afternoon by 3.00pm I had done some yard work nd the wind was more of an irritating breeze.

So I opened up and got going.

Passenger door…..



And of course the intended one piece cover did not work.

So I did two strips on the curved sides and then the big surface, followed by the raised section which I had to dismantle partly in order to tuck the vinyl in and get is tightened down.



Starting to look half decent.



And then the final piece, wrapping it up.



I was really pleased with the way this all came out.

Way better than I expected.

Video:

https://youtu.be/60kbzRIMeI0


Remember the burned out Canta?

Last week this was what it looked like.

I am really sorry for the owner, many owners have no other form of mobility or independence.



Back to work.

[Grizz1963]

Austin 1800 Landcrab…….. Ever heard of them over in the USA?

VR Landcrab

Not VR as in Virtual Reality, but as in Verkürzt Reihenmotor


A VW VR6 engine in a Landcrab. How about that eh? In a way it's kind of an obvious choice, big capacity six cylinder designed to fit in to small FWD engine bays.


Just seen this elsewhere, thought a share was worthy.

So if ever there was a true sleeper, this has to be one of them.

And listen to the engine note toward the end.


https://youtu.be/kaSwRBZWCjc


Yes, I believe that I could live with it.

[Braunschweiger]

This is probably due to today's times, nobody has respect for other people's property, you can form an opinion about this vehicle, for some it is everything to be mobile. But lighting it up, no.
You do this with great patience and it looks good.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Braunschweiger

This is probably due to today's times, nobody has respect for other people's property, you can form an opinion about this vehicle, for some it is everything to be mobile. But lighting it up, no.
You do this with great patience and it looks good.

Agreed Harald.


Thank you. My problem mostly is that if I start something I need to finish it, even if it ends up frustrating or in this case, actually kinda boring me.





What?

Saturday after 10.00am

Here goes part 2 of the doors.

Rain forecast today, but it seems I won’t be able to use it as an excuse not to get more done to the Canta.

Coffee first, then head down to the garage and give it a go.

Seem to have run out of excuses now.

https://youtu.be/YbY-lxCH34I

[Grizz1963]

So door number two.

Made one small cutting error, thankfully on a 50mm by 700mm strip, so easy to cut another.



Got as far as this, when rain stopped play outright.

A great excuse to put everything away.

Next few hours rain, but at least I got this far.

Only the smaller, complex section to engineer in.



Later, the rain kinda let up for a while and dragged myself away from YouTube where I have been binge watching Peter Santenello travelling the world.

His style is travel/people/documentary and the great thing is that he lets people talk and tell their stories, getting into many lesser known communities.

So I opened up shop, pulled the Canta halfway out the carport, turned on some lights as the clouds obviously darken things.

And proceeded to cut and fit the last piece on the door.

Happy with that.



And completed with both doors open.

It is coming together now that all the interior surfaces have the same hue of rusty patina brown.



Closed up shop, and my helpful assistant, QA agent was thankful because it meant dinner for him.

He had been hanging around all day.



Came in, fed George and chatted with Craig in Shropshire while preparing some handmade meatballs that I cooked and took to Sallys for a spaghetti and Bolognaise sauce dinner.

Sat there and did a quick edit of the stuff I recorded, including dropping 47 minutes of getting the big section glued in.

Today I am going to attempt doing the roof lining.

ALONE…..

Wish me luck.

Video Link:

https://youtu.be/Tl7Z33e5t8Q

Sun is out at least, so should be a good day.