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

[flashed]

I like the toilet seat cover and I love your truck ,it looks great .

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

I like the toilet seat cover and I love your truck ,it looks great .

Thanks Flashed. Much appreciated.


Got the following text an hour ago......

Hi Rian, I'm leaving my current job in three weeks, do you want me to pop round one evening to pull the dents out on your truck door with the pin puller ??

Message from a really nice guy I met months ago when he bought something for his son off Ebay from me.

So I guess the bodywork is about to start on the truck.

The world and life sure is filled with good stuff.

[mjh1965]

Great news. A least you got to use it for another Summer . We are going to have abusywinter I think

[Grizz1963]

Spoke to Bob the dent guy for about 45 minutes this morning, I sense a kindred spirit.

He will be here next week Sunday morning for the door crease and a couple of other small dents that can do with pulling.

I took a couple of fresh photos today while doing some other bits down at the garage, preparing it for when I start the bodywork.



Does not look bad, but still worth pulling, rather than just filling or bashing from behind.

New chrome rectangular mirrors are waiting, I will clean and repaint the stalks, either black or probably gunmetal/silver.





After seeing Markeb01's garage again this morning, I was shamed into pulling finger and starting the clear up and tidy up of my own space, before I start the actual tear down of my truck over Christmas.



I started with the outside, pulling weeds, clearing "stuff" away, followed by a few hours on the pressure cleaner, inside and outside that garage as well as both sides of the door.

The other day I realised when I posted this pic, the inside and outside needed some serious tidying.



At some point it looked like this.....




Current view, the ply sheets will form walls for a "spray/bodywork booth"



So I cleaned up the interior and drive......



Done.



Next job will be to clear out and sort out the interior.

Then figure out the new walls.

[Ta2Don]

Nice Job Mate!!!

[duallyjams]

Just did a quick flip through your thread, seems every pic has some one with a big ol smile, great to see a truck lover on the other side of the pond.

[clemdaddy]

cool back yard. cleaning up some just makes you want to mess it up again.

the paint on your truck looks darn pretty good, so you're gonna just repaint the doors, right... or is this a total repaint?

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Nice Job Mate!!!

Thanks Don, I do this job at least twice a year as the wet and damp over here plays havoc with all surfaces.. Green moss etc.

Originally Posted by duallyjams

Just did a quick flip through your thread, seems every pic has some one with a big ol smile, great to see a truck lover on the other side of the pond.

Thanks for checking in !!

I guess that as a South African male, it comes naturally to want a truck.

It is also a practical tool.

Ohhhh..... And my wife said I could have one

Originally Posted by clemdaddy

cool back yard. cleaning up some just makes you want to mess it up again.

the paint on your truck looks darn pretty good, so you're gonna just repaint the doors, right... or is this a total repaint?

This is true Clem, also makes space for other treasures.

It's is nicely hidden behind this built up garden section, so you can hardly see the garage from the house.

The paint and body on my truck passes muster at50 meters.
And the truck is photogenic

However, close up there is not a straight panel or piece of trim.

Take a look at the pics below to get an idea.

Ask Martin just how much work there is.

It is definitely getting a full repaint, and all panels will get reworked, including the whole of the interior.



Next up, passenger door flipped open by wind and put a crease all the way down, taking the shiny trim with it.

Not particularly repairable in my book.



Front spear passenger side.



Passenger side door and cab trim.



Fleetside rear passenger side. Inbetween the trim there used to a sticker and some idiot removed it with a screwdriver or knife, damaging the paint.
You can see how the paint has been damaged.






Driver side, some of the trim had been bent over and pushed back.



Front grille had been struck at some point over the second "E" and repaired with a ballpein hammer.
The grille is very scratched from some "attention" it had been given in the past.



There is rust on the trailing edges of the fenders that needs repairing and a variety of other bits to be fixed when the paint gets done.

Just waiting for a very large lump to fall off the drivers side.

More later.

[Ta2Don]

Sure don't know what you mean by "waiting for a large lump to fall off…"

Here's my pass side wing…


…and today I plan on planting 2 posts, so I will be digging post holes and mixing quikcrete while the Arctic blast keeps our high today around 2C, woke up to -3C...

Cheers!!!

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Sure don't know what you mean by "waiting for a large lump to fall off…"

Here's my pass side wing…


…and today I plan on planting 2 posts, so I will be digging post holes and mixing quikcrete while the Arctic blast keeps our high today around 2C, woke up to -3C...

Cheers!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DON !!!

[Grizz1963]

I was looking at this thread and found some leads on something I want to do with my spare/replacement instrument cluster.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=552896

There are two blank pods, and I want to fit a small rev counter in one (Chevy made one for these trucks, but they appear to be rare) and the other will work for me with a clock fitted.


DOES ANYONE IN THE UK KNOW WHERE I CAN FIND A VOLVO CLOCK LIKE THIS ?


Some pics of the work involved.



Volvo clock to the top left in pic.









ORIGINAL OPTION REV COUNTER.



JOB DONE !!!

JUST PERFECT !!



Engine in the truck.

[Grizz1963]

Been clearing my "electronics" table tonight after work.

Measured the size of the potential hole, if I cut out the bottom half, and it seems to be 74mm







This will be an interesting learning for me, as its a bit of everything to restore the cluster.

Not a great pic, but the unit fitted to the truck is pretty broken.

[Grizz1963]

Just found this thread....... http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=562983

Complete thread on how to restore a cluster.

Seems it took the Theastronaut as much as 18 hours. And he has done a few before. But his work is just awesome.

Looks like I have a cold winter ahead.

[flashed]

His threads are awesome as is this one .

[Ta2Don]

Are you planning on turning the Odometer back to zero on the restored cluster??? It is super easy...

[Lokin4AReason]

just found this thread .... talk about a neat one

item(s) on that side of the pond, are either expensive or nor exist

[Ta2Don]

Posting some pics fro Rian…
He and Martin spent a lovely English Weather kind of day buying truck bits, supplies, and a Sand Blast Cabinet...

[mjh1965]

Thanks Rian another productive day

[Grizz1963]

Today Martin and I were up and away from my place by 07.00 which is tame, as he only got to bed at 01.45 and probably to sleep by 02.00 then up by 05.30 to sort his dogs out and get ready to pick me up by 07.00 as I had already texted him by 06.00 to check if he was up......

Anyway, we were off to Maccess for all sorts of spares etc, Don posted a pic of the trolley earlier.
I got a new battery for Nicola's MX5 and some paint primer, Schutz, cleaning agents and a 22 spanner to replace the one modded for the shock and spring replacement jobs.



Next up we went to KMS for me to buy a little Sand Blasting Cabinet for small parts........

At the counter I realized that what I was about to buy would not serve our purpose very well, and promptly made an executive decision to buy a large cabinet on legs. Fortunately we were in Martin's Ford Mondeo ST Estate........ which swallowed the box with ease.

We are fortunate that we can buy certain tools to share, who needs to own a blasting cabinet etc ??

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAGNUM-IND...item2eb2c4e15c





Lastly, we went over to Ron Fenton of STS Imports Ltd. He is in Great Leighs, Chelmsford, Essex.

Ron has previously brought in parts for Martin on several occasions, and his service has been exemplary. The last time a new bumper Martin had imported got damaged in transit inside the container, and he immediately replaced it, ordering a new one, and sold the damaged one to me at a sensible rate.

Today Martin collected a pair of used inner fenders.... ORIGINAL, not reproduction, which he will use on his rebuild as a reference point for metal replacement on the cab etc. He also got my new cab insteps in stainless.
Lastly, a brand new Radiator support to replace the rotten one on his truck was fitted with.

We spent about two hours with Ron.

He has been bringing in a load of Ford Crown Victoria front ends for fitting to older trucks. Seems they are easy fit units, delivering disc brakes, steering etc at reasonable cost to UK builders.

Ron also had for sale a slightly rare beast........

A 1972 Oldsmobile Toronado.






So that was our day in Essex.

On the way back we stopped at McDonalds for a chicken wrap meal and a drink, the came to my place.
Fitted the new battery to the Mazda, and then sat chatting, including a long Face Time chat with Ta2Don in Arkansas.

These trucks do make life interesting.

[disasterbus]

Looks like you've had a good day Rian. I'll give the guy who got Martin a bumper a call - I'm after a rear bumper for mine but the cost of shipping big lumps of metal like that from LMC and similar suppliers is scary!
I've been playing with ideas for fabricating one from scratch or adapting something like the ones fitted to Mitsubishi L200's but it's going to be a lot of work and even then I don't know that I'd be 100% happy with the look. Would prefer original look if possible.
That Olds is awesome but definately won't fit on my drive!!

[Paul Y]

Originally Posted by disasterbus

Looks like you've had a good day Rian. I'll give the guy who got Martin a bumper a call - I'm after a rear bumper for mine but the cost of shipping big lumps of metal like that from LMC and similar suppliers is scary!
I've been playing with ideas for fabricating one from scratch or adapting something like the ones fitted to Mitsubishi L200's but it's going to be a lot of work and even then I don't know that I'd be 100% happy with the look. Would prefer original look if possible.
That Olds is awesome but definately won't fit on my drive!!

Mr. Bus,

If it is of interest I will have the rear bumper available from my 66 when it arrives.

Grizz,

Always enjoy your threads, look forward to seeing your truck in the flesh in the not too distant future, if I had known you were in Great Leighs would have come out and met you as about 10 mins away.

P.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by disasterbus

Looks like you've had a good day Rian. I'll give the guy who got Martin a bumper a call - I'm after a rear bumper for mine but the cost of shipping big lumps of metal like that from LMC and similar suppliers is scary!
I've been playing with ideas for fabricating one from scratch or adapting something like the ones fitted to Mitsubishi L200's but it's going to be a lot of work and even then I don't know that I'd be 100% happy with the look. Would prefer original look if possible.
That Olds is awesome but definately won't fit on my drive!!

Kerry

Looks like you are still awake.

I will call you in a moment.

May have a lead for you.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Paul Y

Mr. Bus,

If it is of interest I will have the rear bumper available from my 66 when it arrives.

Grizz,

Always enjoy your threads, look forward to seeing your truck in the flesh in the not too distant future, if I had known you were in Great Leighs would have come out and met you as about 10 mins away.

P.

You know what Paul,

I actually had you in mind when we came over but time flew faster than planned.

I need to speak to you about those rims too.

[duallyjams]

Always a fun day when you get to hang with your mates.

[flashed]

Grizz ,I showed my wife your thread here and she wanted me to tell you she likes your truck .