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

[Grizz1963]

Cue Guilty feelings.

Woodwork shed roof felt blown off by storm Ciara.

Was a poo weather weekend mostly.

Last few weeks have been significantly busy at day job, to the extent of making weekends flash by with yard or house work lists being ticked off here and at Sally’s place. No regrets though. Life goes on.

Busy on Saturday, but Sunday spent mostly indoors, catching up on telly and forums.

So yesterday I managed some garden time before the weather turned and Storm Ciara (winds forecast for 85 mph)
This plum tree needed about 10 foot or 3 meters off its top, plus the top of the last few years’ pruning to be cut back.



So I started from Mickeys side



Then brought the ladder over to my side after cutting the power cord of the hedge trimmer used to cut back anything up to 20mm thick.



Not happy up a ladder at all, my back is knackered and I am a big lump to be perched up on top of a ladder in a tree.

Sally took pics in secret.

Sally came over in the afternoon after spending time with her friends.

Typical of her style, she just changed into some garden clothes and started to cut up the branches when she came back, I had not realised that she was these till I got down to move the ladder.





Job halfway done.



Branches still to be cut up into 30cm lengths to ensure maximum capacity and fit in the wheels bin.



Today has been nice, indoors, not even a trip out for food, due to weather and also the fact trees have been thrown across trees.

Mate @CraigRK sent this pic missed his wife’s car up their road, and of course screwed up their afternoon.





Best part of the day I guess was that growing up, we always associated pancakes with bad weather and rain.....

So that was the highlight.



Flipping pancakes, Sally thinks I am a good tosser.


Later.

[68Timber]

Well done. I hate extension ladders, don't even own one. Probably never will at this point, it seems the ground gets harder every year. Was the roof damage bad?

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by 68Timber

Well done. I hate extension ladders, don't even own one. Probably never will at this point, it seems the ground gets harder every year. Was the roof damage bad?

I hate ladders too. Trust me.

Halfway through clearing up as I only have one wheelie bin.

Roof damage limited it seems to one sheet of roof felt.



Nicola sent me some pics of Harley as a kitten.








My favourite



And moments later she pooped in the pot.



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[Grizz1963]

Three months into Galaxy ownership it continues to do lots of little and bigger, dirty jobs.

Friday was of course Valentine’s Day.

Got home from work to find the recycling bags and wheelie bin was put away......

Nice girl, Sally, I thought.

Got indoors and saw this in the lounge.

Nice girl, Sally, I thought.

Took a pic and sent her a thank you, she would be over later.

Her reply?//

A cropped pic, showing the keys on top of the chocolates

My lodger moved out after two weeks notice.........

That would be it then.



Sally got a card, chocolate and four packs of muesli bars for work, oh, and I cooked dinner.

I got a card, and a cross stitched piece of embroidery.



This weekend was kind of significant, but Storm Dennis kept it wet and windy of course.

We met on the 16th February last year when she visited me on my driveway where I was cutting up pallets.

She brought cookies.

Working as a carer in the community her hair tied back etc, this was not a glamorous life, but she has turned out to be a real gem.

With Bear, her then dog.



So Saturday I started to cut up more of the branches from the plum tree, till the wheelie bin was full, and the rain came in hard.





I also unpacked a bicycle from the trailer a mate gave me last year.
I bought it in about 1998 as an insurance replacement.

It does need a new home though.



Random smile, sent by a friend in South Africa.




Back to the Galaxy.

I had not yet fitted the rear view mirrors I bought from @Mercdan yet, as dismantling the door in cold weather seemed a guaranteed recipe for snapped clips and plastics.
But last weekends storm managed to break off the passenger side mirror from its household silicone based perch.

So on Saturday morning early, I cleaned it all, and refitted it using a massive blob of said bathroom sealant and dictate to keep it in position while drying

Possibly the worst bodge repair of my life, but it held on a 10 mile trip yesterday and ultimately will get removed and thrown away when fitting the replacement unit.




Randomly seen in Catford.

One up on graffiti



Storm Dennis really battered us Saturday and Sunday with a lot of surface water about.

But at least we got a nice sunrise.




Sunday was a wet day mostly.

But I got one payback job done.

[Grizz1963]

Amazing how time flies.

May have mentioned it before.

Got an email two weeks ago that I needed to order a new company car.

In 2016 I managed to get permission to downgrade to a smaller, cheaper tax class car. But also one that the seats drop down. VS the BMW and Mercedes Benz of my job rank that cannot do that as both are sedans.

Since then, they have brought in the estate of the lower level car.

And I got permission again to downgrade (it now releases just over £1200.00 per year in Benefit in kind tax vs the car I qualify for)

But before just ordering one blindly, I really would like to see and inspect one, especially the rear load area.

My local dealer does not have one, and tbh do not seem interested in helping as it will be a fleet purchase of no value to them.


So I contacted the Lease Company (who have been incredibly unhelpful along with our transport department, “only doing their job”)



I got this email reply regarding my query about viewing a car.



WHAT THE ACTUAL F@£€????????


Good Afternoon

Yes I am well thank you – Hope you are as well.

In regards to being able to view the vehicle if your local Dealership doesn’t have an Estate for you to view, you can visit their website and build your own vehicle which will allow you to select the specific spec and view the vehicle.

Alternatively if you google the vehicle description this will bring the vehicle up.

Kind Regards

[Grizz1963]

Mate Andy Martin has been getting back to life after losing his wife last year.

This includes long road trips.

Last leg of this trip to get back to Tulsa, included a stop over at mate Dennis Jones’ place.

First pic was the guys sitting on Dennis’ tailgate bench outside the shop, chatting.





Andy inside the shop, helping Dennis with some stuff.





Of course, running out of air could prove tricky.

Outside Dennis’ Shell gas station.




Long distance call?



At these prices, Andy was quick to take the opportunity for cheap gas.







Couple of pics today from Dennis.

His 1966 NASCAR Chevy truck is coming together fast.





Pure Porn !!!





So by now Andy is back home on the farm, safely.


Weekend over too.

[68Timber]

There's a friendly dog there somewhere.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by 68Timber

There's a friendly dog there somewhere.

Always.

[Grizz1963]

I cannot remember what I shared and who is up to date with the Blazer after I sold it the day before heading out to America last year.

It got picked up, along with a Camaro on a transporter and got taken to Herefordshire

From there both cars went in for a bit of a make over.

Body and paint.






Note all the old colours coming through.

Hugger orange, original blue and the white plus primer.




A few days later the change was notable.


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[68Timber]

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Always.

Andy has the telltale marks in the pic with the air hose. Looking forward to seeing the Blazer "after" shots.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by 68Timber

Andy has the telltale marks in the pic with the air hose. Looking forward to seeing the Blazer "after" shots.

Tally (Talladega Raceway) encouraging me to be more thankful.

First time I met Dennis and his family.

[Grizz1963]

A few days later........



Suddenly different.

[Grizz1963]

Dennis sent an update on getting the cab back on the truck.



Seats in.



Outside the shop today.










Looking forward to the rest of the evolution.


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[Grizz1963]

Once out the paint shop, the next step was to hide the Blazer in plain sight.





This would be followed by lights and further details being added.



I really like this shot.



At this point I was travelling around the USA with Craig, Dennis and Adam on the 2019 road trip.

After Dennis and Adam flew out from Tulsa, we carried on and eventually made it back to St Louis.

One of our touch points had to be Going back to Hannibal to go see our friend the 100 year old shop keeper.
Sadly, she had fallen during the preceding year and broken a hip, then sold her shop, and we missed out on her.

On the way back we stopped at a local Walmart to look for a small Chevy truck for Craig..........


Suddenly he called me on WhatsApp, I was in a different part of the shop, so went to where he was in the toy section.


Look at what he found.


$20.00





Chuffed a heck !!!




So.......




The Blazer ended up in a new series of Netflix





And of course it’s spawned Lego models.








And that concludes the evolution of “Not a Project”



Much fun for not a lot of cash.



Hope you guys liked it.

[Grizz1963]

Been massively busy with day job stuff.

Had to write up three account plans for three hospitals, trust me, neither fun nor a quick job, and still bolloxxx.

One of the Intensive care units I work in and use the seminar room, has their data projector fixed to the roof
So it means getting on a chair to power it up, or using a 500mm piece of rolled up cardboard someone created.
So I volunteered to make a poking stick.
Used a piece of oak from an old hammock and turned a phallic tooking knob on the end to fit the power button.
Delivered on Monday and got a thank you email on Tuesday, as it worked perfectly.






Remember Dennis’ NASCAR based 66 Chevy C10 he is building.

Old photo of what it looked like before he got his hands on it.




On Sunday Sally and I went for a walk, just to get out the house as the last few weeks, the weather has been wet wet wet.

Saw these guys up at the pond on the farm.



Not impressed with me taking pics though
.


Daffodils and Tulips are happy though, popping up along every roadside and garden you see,










Hopefully spring will be here soon enough.

Winter was wet but mild in the South.

[Grizz1963]

COVID-19

Day 3

So on Sunday at 2.30 an email came down from corporate head office

Withdraw from all customer contact and face to face meetings.

Work from home.

I knew then what it meant, and it is unfolding exactly like that.

Tasks, work, meetings, training, all online and web based.

Sadly no time to go play in the shop, garden etc.

So life will go on, just differently.

Once mass hysteria abates.

In the mean time, spring is springing.




Over the weekend Kerry, @Disasterbus offered me this awesome tool.

I grew up on gas welding and could never justify buying a setup as an adult.
This will be one of those tools that are used rarely but becomes a lifesaver when you do need it.



Hoping to see @PaulY later on after work too.

Life goes on.

Just without toilet paper.

[Grizz1963]

I can now proudly contribute some body work advice.


My new lodger bought a Diahatsu Sirion for the price of some COVID-19 bog roll.

All four doors and pretty much every panel is damaged.

But its silly low mileage but he just wanted a disposable motorway mile muncher.

So when he moved in, this was the passenger door accident repair.

Big strip of door missing outright.

Old repairs showing their age.




Cleaned up



Bathroom silicone to just add bulk and stabilise the hole.



Followed by layers of black Ducktape.

Then “tidied up” with silver Ducktape over the black




Should be good for many more miles now.


Bodge it and Scarper.

[Grizz1963]

Random Covid-19 update.

Last two weeks have been hectic.

Working from home 100% sucks.

Non stop training, video conferences etc.

Being observed from afar........ not impressed with the video spying tbh.

The previous week we had a web conference of 300 people.

Mostly we are between 15-35 at a time.



Deceptive weather last week, with a distinct chill and a few days of frost early morning.




One of the things I needed to get my head around being in lockdown is that I am not getting the exercise I am used to daily.

So I now try to find 2 miles a day of random field/farm walking.

Using the Map my Walk app, it gives all sorts of info including a complete elevation tracker, showing any hills etc.



I have been able to see very different views around where I live.

Like this church, now a home, with its own graveyard, seen from the rear walking through the horse paddock.



Farmers work solo, cows continue to need feeding, so we can have steak on our plates.





Thames river and South end Essex over to the left of the pic.



Good news from Dennis in St Louis who lost Mollie his one dog last year, as unnamed new boy soon to join their family.





In the spirit of good neighbourliness my doorbell rang Friday afternoon, and I found a present from Mickey and Wendy next door.



Who said only the old needed care?

Steak n kidney pie and veggies, drowned in gravy.




So life is still good,


We need to continue to be sensible and ensure we do as much as possible to slow this virus down, and protect all our service industries, drivers, cleaners, healthcare, food, friends.

Be safe out there.



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[Grizz1963]

[quote author="@ritchie" source="/post/2580427/thread" timestamp="1585239905"]This just got a couple seconds of fame in the latest Donut vid.

https://youtu.be/TkKayJqPRO8[/quote]


Seems my old 1963 Transit has just broken cover on another YouTube type channel.

I do not watch or follow the Donut videos, but may take a look as he reminds me a bit of Steve Irwin the nature guy with his energy and crazy excitement.

Me driving it near home years ago possibly as part of a video made for its sale advertisement.



Crappy screen grab off the video.

Funny how these little things make us grin.



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[Grizz1963]

Continuing this rambling random photo diatribe....

Dennis sent pics over the weekend of his floor in the workshop.

Wet....... as it does every year when temperatures change, what would you call this, other than a PITA.



Part of the roll cage out again, while he makes the seats fit the cab.



Cab off, cab on, cab off......



Chassis with one of the exhausts hanging out under tha chassis.



Friday I also ended up feeling really out of sorts, including getting the chills in a big way.

So I made a fire, that was not a bad idea.

Except nobody/cat to share it with.





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[Grizz1963]

In other random news.


Over in Oklahoma, Andy is self isolating with Hershey the dog, and catching up on a load of chores and tasks.

He has been making a load of castings, working on the alchemy that makes his Alu-bronze pieces.

As you can see, a lot of incomplete, and weirdly, they continue to be my favourites

Can you see the difference in the two pics?










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[68Timber]

I had a Highlights subscription when I was a kid, there was always a "Spot the differences" page w/2 pics. Obviously I didn't learn anything.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by 68Timber

I had a Highlights subscription when I was a kid, there was always a "Spot the differences" page w/2 pics. Obviously I didn't learn anything.

Hi mate,

One of the plaques are buffed, well, wire brushed.



Another walk

And the church converted to a home from a different angle.





Getting there.







Not bad for a quick hours lunchtime walk.

Charlie finishing off another field.





Then back to more online training, meetings about meetings and whatever else


.

[Grizz1963]

Long overdue carving.

This COVID 19 pandemic has allowed me to take a bit of time to create a Tiki Racer garden ornament.

Inspired by Mr Tiki, nd a toy I bought t a boot fair years go.



So I went down to my -lie of blocks.



Pulled a special one out/



Basic design



Excess cut away.



Of course cutting this part between the wheels will be interesting



Baby steps.



Seat cut out.



Quick prototype Tiki driver from an off cut.



Shaped.



And in place.



At this point I come inside.

Tomorrow the hard part starts, carving and defining the wheels, recessing the drivers cab and seat.

Plus getting the front and rear curves just right.

Later.




.

[Grizz1963]

Part 2

Cutting the block to get the wheels standing out.



Bit chilly on the drive early morning



Filleted.







Carefully trimming away bit by bit.





Plan was to make the race number a 19 but the 9 is hard to do with the material so 7 it is.




Lots of time spent fine tuning and getting it just right today.


Done








Quite happy with how it all come out.


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