GRIZZ’s ‘79 - 2WD BLAZER Challenge over in London, England. “~It’s not a Project~”

[rgunlock]

Your cover turned out great! I'm sure you are going to enjoy having it. I love that you have a theme for it and you are nailing it!

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by rgunlock

Your cover turned out great! I'm sure you are going to enjoy having it. I love that you have a theme for it and you are nailing it!

Thank you very much.

It has certainly exceeded my expectations and already given me a load of pleasure, even just hearing the rain fall on the sheets put a grin on my face and in my heart

Using it over time will be great too.

[LT7A]

Good clean work. You're going to love having that covered space. Take extra care where you had to cantilever half a meter with your added on wood structure.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Good clean work. You're going to love having that covered space. Take extra care where you had to cantilever half a meter with your added on wood structure.

Absolutely.

In fact, I added two x 100mm screws into each join today.

Once the roof sheeting is on there, it should be a very solid structure, not for walking or such, but certainly enough for the roof to hang over.

[Grizz1963]

So the roofing.

After many weeks of waiting, arrived, and then today the weather was challenging, but we just carried on.

Mickey was around to help as soon as I let him know.

So the first 5.5 meter sheet was a bit of fun, getting our rhythm



Then it went a lot easier and faster.

Unfortunately the self tapping screws (report on them in a bit) do not like to self tap through the 0.7mm sheet steel of the roofing sheets.

But we carried on.



With the wind, and the length of these sheets, getting them upright, and then onto the roof was to say the least, interesting.





Progress



Mickey, as he weighs as much as a packet of matches, was bouncing around on top.

Last sheet I used was a 3.0 meter sheet in stead of the 2.7 meter ordered. As they sent two cover sheets to protect the actual order.

But it needed cutting back a bit in order to avoid damaging the roofing felt on the woodwork shed.

Grinder on.



And then, suddenly the heavens opened, soaking us both to the skin up the ladders.

You can see how it cut under the front of the roof, wind driving it in from the Essex side, not our usual wind nd rain direction.





Once we stopped, and waited for the rain to finish, I took a look from Mickey side.



And absolutely pleased with the outcome so far.



Well deserved rest, with a mug of tea and a smoke.



Called it a day for the top of the roof, more screwings and doings tomorrow when I have about 150 pilot holes to drill and screws to fit.

[Grizz1963]

So a quick post before I head out to Tool Station for supplies.

The screws supplied with the order were these.

Maybe my expectations were too high, maybe they are the wrong ones, just ask the minister of health to explain.



Screws, seem to have a cutting groove.

The seal on the washer really distorts well when it hits the sheeting, so using them in the valleys, along with a plastic sealing cap, should be a great system.

Getting them in, that’s the challenge.





Trying to drive then straight through the sheeting results in a blunting off, like they were made of putty, almost instantly.

So maybe I got it wrong.





Mate Andy, in Tulsa, Oklahoma uses these for his sheeting work on his pole barns steel structure.





And also uses the same style screws that I have.




So maybe the screws I have are for timber structures, which mine is, but they really need to be done with a pilot hole, unless someone has other advice.

Off to work I go.

[Grizz1963]

So with the roof on, despite not being securely screwed down, one of my other small needs was to address this hole.



So I went to see Stuart, Mickeys neighbour whose I knew had a pile of conservatory roofing laying out behind his place for the last three years.

Offered to buy, trade, swap him a sheet.....

Nope he said, take one, I will probably never use them.

So I dug one out of the overgrown pile.



Carried it home, broom, hosepipe and 7 minutes later.



Mickey to the rescue.

Channel





So it looks like the 2400mm by 780mm sized hole will get closed in too, keeping more weather out.


This morning I saw the car frosted over completely

It was chilly, later the day settled around 7’C which is mamangeable

Usually @PaulY does not show up before it drops below 6’C



After breakfast and a lazy start I ran down to Tool station and got two tubes of silcon based mastic for the wall seal.

As well as a roll of self adhesive flashing.



Back home by lunchtime to get back onto the roof.

[Grizz1963]

Remember Andy, the welder/manager lodger in summer, of BBQ and JD Honey fame?

He is back for three days.

Of course, like Mickey, he likes to play as well, and actually came home early from work yesterday, and while I was on the roof, drilling and screwing, and drilling and screwing, a LOT, I suddenly heard movement behind me on the ladder.....

So suddenly I had company, and in tandem the job went twice as fast.

Early selfie. Not the ideal angle to work at, but got stuff done.



Screws in, followed by hexagonal caps on them.



First two rows of six completed.



Andy posing it up.



Once capped, we cleared the roof.

Then of course with too much light left, I needed to see what the replica pump looked like where I had visualised it for years.

So we dragged it out from where it was packed at the back in the corner of the garage.

Tried different head dresses.

Note, this is STAR Gasoline, not Sinclair, so a bit of editing to come.


I will also build a 200mm tall plinth for t to stand on, and need to fit a light inside the globe if I do go with it, or a stalk for the star if that gets used, to have it about 150mm above the top of the roof.



Globe needs to be sign written



Further back.



Add in the Yeti, and you get the picture.

[Grizz1963]

Lots of indoors stuff done, including cleaning.

Managed to find a truck breaking yard, closed, where I should be able to buy or get fiberglass and resin coated plywood to use as a rear wall and weather deflector.

Imagine side off this.



Mate Darren offered his large trailer or flatbed Transit for me to use to get the potentially 16 foot by 8 foot sheet home in one piece.



Then it was up onto the roof again to add the flash and to the side where the roof sheet butts up against the garage wall.



After sticking it all down I carefully heated all of it, bit by bit with a heat gun on high as the wind was pumping and it was chilly up there.

Really sealing it all together.




Next job later on was to close this odd shaped hole with the sheet of conservatory roofing.



Cut to size after measuring it out.



Done.

Offcut used on the shed side for when rain and wind really drives hard.




Lighting to be done soon.

[Grizz1963]

Been chatting with Stas.

Corona bollox still messing with them in Siberia.

Snow has come





He was out at their rural home today, taking some furniture out there.




Cathedral of Michael the Archangel, Russian Orthodox Church.



His car needed to be cleared too.



Siberia is not a soft place.

[Grizz1963]

Went to visit this girl today.

Had other business to deal with, but who would not say hi to her, came charging up to rub up against me and make a fuss of me when I got there, and hung around while I worked.



I went to drop off a set of 4 Mitsubishi 4x4 wheels with winter tyres that I had been given by a friend recently.

I know Darren will use or pass them on to someone who can use them.

I also needed too get some directions to where to go find the company that strips down delivery trucks and rebuilds them in the hope to get some of the sides to use in the carport build.

Typically when I got there, Darren was as hospitable as I have become used to over the years, kettle on, guided tour and chat.

Asking about lamp shades, as I wanted a gooseneck light on the carport, so we ended up back in the workshop.



Pointing at a pile of off cuts, and a tool, he suggested I make one myself.



While Darren carried on with his day job, I played with the wheel.



Soon enough it was not straight anymore.



And result, to be cut shorter, a mounting plate to be welded on at the right angle.

Cat seemed impressed that I could give her some attention again.



Darren had given me this ally shade from his stash of treasures to use toward making the light.

I know there are better ones out there, and gave away the two I had, years ago, so will figure out how to make this one work.



Unimpressive price



So over the weekend I will make and weld up a mounting plate after cutting this pipe to length.


So after finishing as Darrens, I headed out to the truck breakers.

Owner was not there, so I spoke to one of the staff, looks like I may get lucky at some point to get some of the fibreglass ply.

I also managed to get off their pile of scrap, a truck roof mounted aero wing came home in the back of the Galaxy, 2.2 meter long, it will probably end up over the patio doors, painted white. Allowing the doors to be open when it rains.




Galaxy rocks. SPACE !!





Lastly, another scrap pile find was this cup holder and cubby hole storage unit, with keys.

Will be used in the C10, always wanted one, but not at the price the make.



Good night.



PS: Life is Great.

[Grizz1963]

After work I popped down to the garage to see if I could make a start on the carport driveway lamp.

I wanted only one on the 6 meter frontage, though two or even three crossed my mind.

Let’s start with one.

Bits laid out



Mounting plate cut, drilled and sanded.
]


Tacked down squarely.



Welded all the way around.



Checked the squareness.

Happy so far.



And a quick n dirty basic Ducktape mock up.



I think it will work.

[Grizz1963]

Having a chat with @Flingstam abouthis Toyota Deliboy and rev counters, he refered me to his newest favourite website for buying “stuff”

His thread: https://forum.retro-rides.org/thread...toyota-deliboy

I was always thinking of a silly, large Rev Counter and had one stashed bit it seems I stashed it too well of someone else now has it.

Anyway, looking around I saw this..........




I do like the look of it, but no real idea of how well they work or not.

[Grizz1963]

.


. Happy Thanksgiving all ! !


.

[Grizz1963]

Perfect, right size, 20% “Black Friday” discount........

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Solar-Gar...AAAOSwoVteV9Qc

Oooopppps.

No stock, so will revert to full price when we get stock in.

Grrrrrrr.

[Grizz1963]

Beaver Moon.







Gas pump globe arrived today.

£32.00 delivered, Black Friday half price offer.

Much better size, and real white in my opinion its a win.

Branding, name and star still needs to be hand painted, and hopefully paint dries, and then wired up.

I plan on placing it on a small plinth, to raise it between 20mm and 50mm



Long overdue.


Now here’s the thing......

I did not read the whole ad for the globe.

I just wanted a fuel pump globe.

On delivery it seems I got more than I thought I was buying.



Loads of colour options, and rechargeable too.





.

[Grizz1963]

Two days of drying and it smells good.

Looking forward to day 5 so that I can start tasting.



Little wins make me happy.

[Grizz1963]

Having a day job, rubbish weather and life in general can all get in the way of a good story.


Another small job done today on the Rezin Rockit build process during my “lunch hour” break .

We had a load of rain and some snow early in the morning.

Driveway temperature was 4’C when I was getting this done, chilly.

As much as I dislike this whole Corona virus and how it has turned our worlds upside down, I am massively thankful for still having a job that I can do successfully from home, despite it not being very rewarding as the old way was. BUT...... my daily commute of a minimum of 60 miles or 100km taking me a minimum of two hours, means that one can add a bit of travel time to your own agendas.

So today I needed to move a 3/4 ton bag of sharp sand from under the carport to behind the garage.

Also some 25kg bags of building gravel and more bags of kiln dried sand.



Opening up some space.



For the Rezin Rockit as originally planned.

So getting it through here between the caravans.



Managed that, with a 3 ton jack under the rear differential and some careful force.



Resulting in it getting reversed into position so that I can get to it for some of the preparation work.





So in a way I have made it to one of the goals set originally

A dry workspace for the future.

Still needs more work to be done and some weatherproofing.

Oh, and it is the weekend.

[Grizz1963]

Post man/woman delivered the waterproof LED light ribbon today.

Will take some time over the weekend to dig out the transformer I have stashed away, hopefully it is a DC converter.

May even get time to mount this up on the carport too.



Sunset at 15.50 was pretty spectacular too.






..

[Grizz1963]

Happy to report that day 2 3/4 looked like this.excess spices brushed off.



Chopped a bit off the tip in the garage and tried it.

Absolutely lovely

Brought two thin strips indoors to keep tasting....l

This one has great fat distribution as well.



Did a load of odd jobs around the garage, but it was unpleasant and by 3.00pm it was down to 5’C and I gave up.

Managed to do a tiny job on the Rezin Rockit as well.

[Grizz1963]

So having posted the last two pics I did of the biltong at day 3, I was questioned about how didgusting my second pic looked.

Striated fat makes it incredibly tasty.

Now modern man avoids fat often.

However, in biltong the fat is certainly cherished, either as in the first pic, or mixed into a cut batch.

I like the fat as it counters the dried nature of the beef.




Moist is how I like it.

Some people do not.



And of course you could have it quite dry and without any fat.




This is how my local supplier dispatches their biltong.

They will post/ship at cost to you anywhere you are.

Down as Biltong Cottage on Facebook or call the mobile number on the packaging.

[Grizz1963]

Lights

Camera

Action.......




Removed the light unit,

Nicely sealed in.

I suspect this could be put in a pool or pond too.

Really well made bit of kit.



Tried it out, ultra bright.



Then took the actual globe down to the garage and fitted it on its little plinth.

Liking that.



Then later a test to see what it looks like with a lamp inside.

I am very pleased.



Once all the lighting is sorted, it should look neat.


While I was down there, I pulled out a 1800mm length of scrap ply and grabbed the jigsaw, a pencil and square.

Made a cross

Mickey popped over to ask for help getting onto Facebook, I love how he just grabs technology when needed and gets on with it.



Then glued the side wings on using 50mm strips of off-cut and a length of railway line used to put pressure on it all.



Next step will be to use the LED from the globe, mounting it centrally, either behind a stylised heart or on its own, and to use it as a Christmas decoration in the window.

Weekend over again.

[LT7A]

Hey Grizz! Happy Holidays, man. As you know, over here we get them started in the last week of November. Thanks for keeping us up on your adventures. I appreciate the humor - the comment about Mickey weighing the same as a packet of matches made me laugh till it hurt a little. The guy is certainly svelte, maybe even a couple steps past that. Great to see the purposeful progress and the details. I like seeing the RR tucked into its spot. Funny how I hated putting away my toys as a kid, but as an adult it's so satisfying to see them lined up in an orderly fashion. Jury is out for me on that Biltong beef. I would certainly give it a try, but I'd need to go with a little more Mickey style, leaner cut.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Hey Grizz! Happy Holidays, man. As you know, over here we get them started in the last week of November. Thanks for keeping us up on your adventures. I appreciate the humor - the comment about Mickey weighing the same as a packet of matches made me laugh till it hurt a little. The guy is certainly svelte, maybe even a couple steps past that. Great to see the purposeful progress and the details. I like seeing the RR tucked into its spot. Funny how I hated putting away my toys as a kid, but as an adult it's so satisfying to see them lined up in an orderly fashion. Jury is out for me on that Biltong beef. I would certainly give it a try, but I'd need to go with a little more Mickey style, leaner cut.

Well, you absolutely made me chuckle at your reply.

Thanks for taking the time to reply and post up your comment, much appreciated.

Mickey is certainly skinny as a rake, but works like a Trojan.

As far as the Biltong is concerned, Jack Links does make some, and you can also order it from various USA based makers.

As long as you guys read, enjoy it, I will continue to copy and paste and answer questions



Well....

Mickey is a traditional Christmas decorator..... when his lights go on, the national grid blinks and then dims.

I do not do this sort of thing, but thought I would add a Christian slant to it all.

Out of the clamp.



Fitted the colour changer, it can still be charged and turned on and off, as well as selecting the mode, pulse, fading, changing etc.

Testing in the kitchen.



And hung up in the spare room window.

I am absolutely in two minds, not sure if it suits my more subtle taste.



Wonder what Mickey will make of it.

.

[Grizz1963]

Change of direction, sort of.

The cardboard box worked so well, and then Morrison’s still had the offer at £5.00/kg and... they had some pieces of beef with a lot of fat on, that I decided to have another go.

This time heavy on the chilli to create chilli bits/snap stir and initially plans were for bat wings, which are thin pieces dried over a mesh.



Beautiful and the fat lays just right.



In the end I decided to pass on the bat wings as I do not have a spare oven grill or fridge shelving to drape the meat over, so snail stir it has to be.

Also just used a sharp knife to cut, rather than dirty my electric slicer, which I had decided to give away to friends who make biltong commercially from home.





45-60 minutes laying covered in salt, draws off all the residual liquid through osmosis. I use my kitchen sink, suitably sterilised as it allows me to lay it all out, maximising the surface area for the salt and then following that, the spices.

Gross pic, but part of the process, meat pushed aside, before washing all the pieces clean in vinegar which acts as an acidic sterilising agent and removes all excess salt.



Secret blend of herbs and spices (I just make it up as I go along) added, then again hand agitated to maximise coverage.



Hooks in, and into the vinegar rinsing bowl, which has now been washed three times so far.



Down to the garage, hung up, and then seal the box till next Friday as I want this batch really quite dry, I may remove the large ;pieces by Wednesday or Thursday as they are getting stirred in the freezer for later use.




And my and the Biltong Cottage harvest all vacuum packed.

I let Sam and Dee at Biltong Cottage try my Chilli Garlic biltong, and the were so taken with it, that I had to share my recipe with them. Happily done.

Ready for the freezer, and some getting sent to friends.



Pretty pleased with this lot.