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

[Grizz1963]

Saw a 13HP for sale yesterday…….

VS this 11hp big block.

Worth it?

[Grizz1963]

Still raining here.

Good news today…

Well, actually double good news.

The V5c got issued a week ago, and the document landed today.

What has me really pleased is the fact that is has a registration with a PLG rating.

PLG is Private Light Goods for those not in the UK.

This means a regular car with access to all roads.

Also means I do not need to change it from Disabled class to PLG.

It was then obviously used as a regular motor vehicle before when imported into the UK.

Wish I could find out more about its history.

INTERESTING.




Looking at the DVLA (DMV) website it shows that if registered before 01 March 2001 the road tax is £200.00 per year, not cheap as a motorcycle of the same capacity, but less than a newer vehicle.
This is a 2000 model, that was registered in the UK in February 2001.

Also, the registration documents show that I am the second registered owner.

For some people this is also important, I really don’t care.

The abuse this has had, shows that one registered owner means very little.








I need to SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification) this online so that no taxes can be raised agains the car.


Onwards as my friend @pauly always says.


More tomorrow.

[Grizz1963]

PS.


Now we can start working on this car.


Without fear of losing the investment.


I also found this bit of information……..


Different speeds for different countries.


Including the UK.


Town car then.







Anyone for a drag race?


That is, drag it along.


.

[Grizz1963]

Remember when I got this car, just how messy it was?

Once I had removed all the loose rubbish and rubble from it, the floor and mat was still in a condition that I expected it to need replacing.










So in my typical style, I rethought it all, and the hassle of having to undo the seat base, seat belt anchors etc in order to remove the mat, and to replace it with a new carpet.

Of course this makes no sense, except if you like polishing turds…….


So I pushed the car out, raised the front end up on some ramps and got going.


Sprayer nozzle on the hose to wet and wash it as much as possible, to see if any of the carpet pile could be revived…….



Followed by a hard brush and a lot of brushing and washing over and over……

Then Fairy liquid to aid the lifting process.

More rinsing and finally this result.

The carpet pile was revived, and once dried out, the colour returned to a uniform dark grey/black.







My old lodger John, the driving school instructor had come over for a few hours, to check up on me and have a few cups of tea and biccies.

He was amused by the car, and declined driving it….. thankfully.




Process was filmed by John as he is a sneaky guy with a camera.


https://youtu.be/Gn1lmnaA5W8


Another Job done and Canta standing drying out.





Weather looks promising today.


May get something done.


Fingers crossed.

[Grizz1963]

https://youtu.be/HlWoqFJbvTs


Not much happens

[Braunschweiger]

It's interesting, the cleaning was a big step forward, it looks nicer.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Braunschweiger

It's interesting, the cleaning was a big step forward, it looks nicer.

Working in a clean, ordered environment is a pleasure.





Looking for a pair of V8 or V6 headers to repurpose completely.

In case you have some scrap laying about, please let me know.

I am in Kent.

[Grizz1963]

And just like magic…..

A set of headers made their appearance.

Still need to be packaged and shipped, so final cost to be established by that.

But, headers - Free.

Thanks.



Yes, I know what it should become, some more parts collecting, grinding, cutting, welding……

Hopefully a win.

[Grizz1963]

So a box landed, by courier.

Thanks to @overdrive for taking the time to recover these headers from the sidewalk up in Scotland, and then proceeding to parcel and wrap them for me.

They are part of a few odd bits I am hoping to snot together for a silly result.

Found the master ingredient on a sidewalk on the way home last week, and that set this all in motion.

Parts collection may be a tad slow.






Typically it is raining outside, I am off to London to do some teaching, and the rain is forecast for the day.

Hopefully some dry time over the weekend.

Not working is getting tedious.

Friday !!

[Grizz1963]

You know how it goes…..

Stole this…..



Brought it home, held it over the fence, dropped it no more than 18” or 450mm

And…..



Gutted.

Not how the weekend was meant to start.

Grrrrr.

[Grizz1963]

Cut the grass.

Sun shining, not yet started raining as forecast.

Maybe they lied.

Thought it was as good a time as any to take the Rezin Rockit out for a drive to Sally’s to drop off the kids bicycle I found thrown out last week.

Free stuff, and,it won’t be long before Harry outgrows it too, then someone else can have a free kids bike.



Liking this view.



Drove over to her -lace, dropped the bike, then took a longer drive, pushing through the gears for about 10 miles, or 16km and maintaining around 70mph out on the bypass road.

This car likes to rev and run.

Came back via the farm and took a few pics on the side of the rapeseed canola fields.







Drove home, stopped to chat with a neighbour walking his dogs, started up, drove 20 yards and it cut out again.

Like the last time.

Tried a few times to restart, failed.

Wondering if there is a heat component to this failing to start.

Parked up, got the S10 out and came over to Sallys place for dinner.

How was your day ?

[Grizz1963]

Bank holiday weekend, or public holiday weekend

Lots of plans.

Failed

So the doors of the Canta are pretty much frames covered in moulded fibre plastic or something.

23 years of use and abuse have seen them scabbed up like this.



So they needed to be sanded back , possibly treated with a rust stabiliser or converter and then painted again.

I cleared the Rezin Rockit away so that there would be no flying grit on it, and masked the inside of the Canta with pull sheets.

I really do love the look of this car, from the rear and front.

The stance does do it for me.



Of course Mickey came around the moment he realised I was working.

At 78 he is taking it a bit easier now. But loves getting involved or in the way.



Grinder and fine 120 grit flap disc



Of course I knew there would be damage to the fabric, but also plan on renewing it all when the time comes, with new vinyl.

Ground back and treated with the VACTAN rust converter/stabiliser.







Once the VACTAN had dried, as it was hot and two coats were applied, it was time to paint the first coat of exterior use black enamel paint (it is good enough in this case, for this car)

I had bought this previously as there was no black Hammerite available, in the hope it would work well enough for most applications.

Mixed through and applied.

I was not impressed.



Thin coat all over the sanded and treated sections as well as the good parts, in order to get an even finish.



Good looking result.



By 4.30pm I shut shop and carried on with other jobs……

Later after 6.00 I went to check the paint and realised it was still wet……

Not a good sign.

Sunday it continued to be wet and come off on the fingers, even after a light touch.

Today, by midday it was still tacky and stuck to my fingers.

I am so unimpressed as I had more jobs to do, but cannot come near the car for fear of getting paint all over myself and my garage clothes.

Maybe I will be clearing all the paint off by next weekend.

Weekend over, not happy.

Video :

https://youtu.be/98TEXIFcKYU


End shows the paint sticking to my fingers.


.

[Grizz1963]

After weeks of rubbish weather and bad excuses, the Kings coronation weekend brought me a dry afternoon on Sunday.

So I removed the front engine mount and made up a plate to reinforce and support the whole thing.

And of course the mounting plate was bent so the BFH came out to play.





Cleaned the old weld off and prepped for welding.



Hole in the front chassis support to close up..



Plan was angle iron to wrap around……



But that plan ditched as it was going to be a fight to make it take up less space.

So 30mm x 4mm flat bar used instead.

Cut to size and prepared.



In place and clamped for tack welding to original mount bracket.



Once that was done, I wrapped up for the day and spent some time tidying up,the garden, planting various flowers, and a lavender bush.

Bonnie came to visit with Sally and of course George was growling like a lion, he had already attacked Bonnie as she came into the house…..

So she was consigned to the garden on a 21 foot or 7 meter lunge lead.

Happy dog, loads of toys and in company.



And a video

https://youtu.be/Lm13TLFdxIA

In case you cannot be bothered reading the words 😉

[Grizz1963]

Monday morning, being a public holiday, after the king got his crown, meant more time for small jobs.

Andy got in around 7.30am from a 13 hr night shift, grabbed a beer and went upstairs to FaceTime his wife and kids.

I had breakfast, then went to open the garage and unpack the tools we would need and get the Canta ready for a quick weld…. By Andy.

Typically, George was there to inspect and do the QC.



After tacking the new base plate, and the engine mount plate, they were welded up on both sides, with a double run on the inside.





Then I put it all back together, in position and Andy ran some welds all around.

Weirdly, a couple of holes popped up on the two sides of the thin chassis material.

Which he obviously closed up.






Followed by grinding back with a flap disc.



And then a TEST DRIVE

I have to say, it is completely different to before, when the engine was bouncing around.

And once the belts are replaced and tensioned correctly, along with the throttle cable, and as planned a conversion from hand controls, back to foot control pedals by mate Martin, I suspect this car will be a completely different creature.

It has also managed to be a bit more aggressive in the launch and take off stakes.

Leaving marks on the concrete and grass.




VIDEO:

https://youtu.be/vnTCbvl-V8M

After testing, and parking the Canta Andy had a beer, keep in mind, his clock is completely switched around till September, and I had a coffee.

Later I went back and masked up, and painted the new metal and welds black.


This is a small job, but suddenly it allows a load of other tasks to be initiated or completed.


Next stop will be to find some belts for the CVT and alternator in the UK, rather than importing at cost of shipping and import duties, from Europe as we are not in the same trade zone anymore.


Progress is Progress as Ta2Don always says.






.

[Grizz1963]

Yesterday started as normal.

Two business meetings booked.

Then the lightening started to strike.

So 11.30 meeting, head office announces 7/10 marketeers are going into consultation.

3.00pm national business review meeting more bad news, group 1, 2, 3 called into different meetings.

Bottom line….. third redundancy action in 3 years.

I have been kept in my role and it will be made bigger and expanded, thank fcuk that I go to work every day and have been growing the last two years.

There is a lot to be said for getting out of bed and going to work every day.

Sadly, a bunch of people will be made redundant. Again.

I am getting real tired of this Sh!t.

Seriously.

[Braunschweiger]

Well, certainly not the yellow one. But you have to make a living from something, it's just stupid if you always keep in mind that next time you're the one who has to go, not nice work.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Braunschweiger

Well, certainly not the yellow one. But you have to make a living from something, it's just stupid if you always keep in mind that next time you're the one who has to go, not nice work.

Not nice at all.

I was awake from 01.00 because I am a reflecting type.

And I was sad and angry because of the way it has been done.

So as always, my personal rule is to work harder than my team.

That way I leave nothing to chance.









Back to our regular transmission

I asked on a Dutch Canta group if anyone hed fitted other wheels or tyres to one of these.

Only reply was a guy who fitted slightly widder and very different scooter tyres.

Not sure what to make of it yet, but I think it looks OK.

[Grizz1963]

https://youtu.be/_qOvm0ftX2M

[Grizz1963]

Still P!$$€d at the way this week unfolded, today was a loss in many ways.

But I guess in real terms it did deliver something intangible…… mind space.

Nick Wheeler popped in for a few hours chat and looking at various aspects of this little car (he accidentally called it a car) when I was messing around with a propane gas bottle and some V8 headers for something else that I went to make.

I also spent some time shooting the breeze with him.

Looking at a few of the small issues that add up to being the mess this car currently is.

The front disc brakes seem to work, needing to be serviced though.

Nick also identified the thread and size of the missing nut that is meant to hold the choke cable and knob in place.

So an old wheel nut was cut back to create a new one (to be fitted)




I also grabbed an old rag, and some petrol and wiped away all the sticky paint from two/three weeks ago.

Long overdue job.






Yesterday I had taken the day off work to also just get my head clear…..

I went shopping for work clothes, and then headed out to mate Darren’s over on the Isle of Sheppey.

A few hours with him and the guys in the engineering shop always clears my mind.

Like me, he is a bit of a collector and hoarder, but also just to move stuff on to other people…..

I scored a Lotus 7 type nose cone he insisted on me taking.

I only took it because I knew where it needed to go.

A while ago I got a non running, minus carburettor, V-Twin lawn tractor from @frankenhealey


This was the best option yet, compared to scratch building a new engine cowl.


Just a test placement.





Nothing else done.


Tomorrow will be better.

[Grizz1963]

My buddy Eugene @skaiidawg who works in the UAE as an engineer, sent me this pic yesterday.

He has a story thread here:

https://wilddog.net.za/threads/the-uae.233043/unread

Copy of Mountain Dew.



Right now, from from where I am sitting, I still prefer American MtnDew

The stuff we get in the UK has all the harmful chemicals removed.

So no real buzz or glow in the dark.

[Grizz1963]

Not been able to pick up speed this weekend, including Friday that I had taken off.

Eventually got going around 11.00

Ran into a wall, despite high hopes for a few jobs to get done.

But got one done.

Choke.

Before………



After




Long winded video

https://youtu.be/KM_bFAgoLTk


Also noticed that I need to find some of this weird tubing for the heating system.



@frankenhealey will know that there are alternatives, the drive belt, as fitted is incorrect. Correct code is 704040



Little by little we will get there.


Weekend over.


Again.

[Grizz1963]

In the mean time……..

Have a 2 minute Bonus clip.

https://youtu.be/OZQ-FlrA3Z8

[Grizz1963]

https://youtu.be/IrxcDd8R_9U



More later.

[Grizz1963]

Still not loaded the real thing.

https://youtu.be/6FAd-pzvSqk

[Grizz1963]

Have a bit of joy.

Dogs do bring joy.


https://youtu.be/sAvTGD27Kn0


Bonnie.