GRIZZ’s English 2001 S10 Extra Cab 4.3 V6 Truck

[Grizz1963]

After work. Work.













Weekend.

[Grizz1963]

Just bent a pair of braces before coffee and toast with Sally this morning.

Cross brace cutting next, then make it all fit by cutting the curved shapes where they all join, grind back all the galvanising so I can stick weld them together and tack onto the base plates after I make the rear base mounting plates plates and weld in a pair of captive bolts so they all can slip fit together and be bolted down in one, once full welded up.
.



Fingers crossed.

[Grizz1963]

Long day.

Made the rear chassis mounting plates for the supports.







Then made some “fish mouth” or whatever you call them, joins.



Mocked up.



Chassis mounting plates welded on the braces.



Mounted in the cab, roll hoop in place, on its base plates……

For the anal amongst us, zoom in, knock yourself out.



Carrying on, later, around 5.00pm John the lodger joined me, both to help and give advice.

Then Mickey came around.

They sat chatting, discussing South London, where they both grew up, a lifetime ago.

Mickey had to point out the joins being very good.



A load of preparation and grinding to make the joins work.



Lots of tacking in place, removing and stick welding.








Getting there, bit by bit.


.

Happy



Done.

Paint in the morning.

FIA approved………



Cheese and crackers for dinner.

A serious rum, after a tall beer.

Tired tonight.

Rewarded




Bootfair in the morning, if I wake in time..

[Grizz1963]

Sunday morning a few yard jobs etc.

No bootfair as I was awake from 3.15 to 5.00 and then snoozed to 07.00

Then onto a bit more tidying up on the welds, which had actually gone really well, with deep penetration.

Hammerite



Mickey was around for an hour or so too.





Before lunchtime, an unusual treat for me, I rarely drink beer. But the heat and feeling good about the finished rollbar necessitated it.



Second coat later in the afternoon when Nick was here.



In the afternoon, Nick came, we chatted a while, opened another beer(s) and pressure tested the cooling system, a clamp tightened up more saw it all show as dry.

Nice testing kit.



Pressure.



One of the small eyesore jobs to do was clean and rattle can the radiator in a dusting of satin black.

So once more dismantling the front end, well, it became twice.



Blacker.



While at it, I also made and folded a blanking plate for the top of the radiator to drive all the air over it, and also close up the view into the engine bay.



In the mean time Nick and John were trying to figure out the wiring and lights……

Reported above, and looking for a left hand light unit.



With the lighting failure, Nick then added some Riv-Nuts to the back of the bumper to retain the lower lip of the front grille.






After final assembly, the black blanking plate and grille do look a lot tidier too.



So a weekend with a fair amount of stuff getting done.

Thanks for checking in.

[CG]

Fantastic job on your roll cage (bar?), It looks awesome.

[Grizz1963]

Bit of a hectic day.

Fitted at 07.30 this morning with Mickey’s help lifting it in.

Had to use a small hydraulic bottle jack to push the front feet open about 15mm that the heat distortion had created.

Bolted down.

Pretty (very) happy with the overall look.

Closer to my visualisation than I deserve.

Most importantly was getting it to lean back to mimic the “B-post on the entrance/door.



Rear supports hardly impair load area. So some practicality retained.



Unobtrusive from the front.



This is a great point to have made it to in my opinion from where it started.




How much further before the final straight??


.

[Grizz1963]

Harnesses are different makes and needed different approaches.

Some changes may still be affected.







Drivers side HOOKER Harness.



Passenger is SIMPSON ITEM.



Lots more to come I guess.

Awaiting rear light units.

[Palf70Step]

Not sure what you folks called them over there, but I have always loved the original Mercury Capri. Such a kool little car. Othger than your truck, my favorite of the bunch.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Not sure what you folks called them over there, but I have always loved the original Mercury Capri. Such a kool little car. Othger than your truck, my favorite of the bunch.

Morning Bill,

Ford Capri


And they hold no magic for me, but they were the “Mustang” of their day over here.

This one photographed due to the paint and finish.


Don’t get me wrong, nice looking car, but there are others I wouldrather have from the same era.

[Palf70Step]

They were probably more common over yonder than they were in the states here. Just a different shape at the time in the US. Lot of nice rides at your little meet-up.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

They were probably more common over yonder than they were in the states here. Just a different shape at the time in the US. Lot of nice rides at your little meet-up.

I get you on things a touch different.

And for the time, they would have been quite special.

[Grizz1963]

Ahhhh, MOT man says you need to see where you just came from.

Combined a set of old and new mirrors.



Needs tidying up.



Better



4 of these made as only one original.



Ready




Tight fit, call the octopus.



Arms on.



Done.



Looks so wiiiiide now.





Central rear view mirror also contemplated.

Chevy mirror from my stash.



But then found this one.

Sucker



Job done.



Spent the rest of the day with Sally.

Walked the dog.

Saw my next resto project. Right there in the Thames, Essex in the background.



And took her out for dinner.

Happy life.

[Grizz1963]

Had an interesting question about the mirrors on another forum…….

From someone with a scatty memory. Asking why fit these mirrors.


Original fitment.


I just added new mirrors as one glass was broken.

[Grizz1963]

Thanks to @peteh1969 for making up the badges.

Fitted them early on today.

Details.





Followed by……….

Passenger “Anti-Submarine” strap.

Unbolted and raised the seat base.

Remember this was the drivers seat before.

@nickwheeler had just arrived and suggested I make the brace stronger than what was fitted as standard.

So……..



Measured and cut a new 3mm steel brace.

Also made a new buckle to go with it.



Bolted in.



And fitted.



Fits too.

Fully adjustable.





.

[69Tom]

Well done on the wipers. I too like the wrap on the roll bar.

[Palf70Step]

Good looking job on the wipers!

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Decided that as I had paid for the lot, I may as well destroy it all while at it.

Wipers that is.



Measured, marked,Bent, cut.



Shorter for sure.

May have to make some stays to stop the sweeping.



Painted the folded, cut and drilled tips.



Back together.



I do hope it all comes together sufficiently.

Small jobs.

Originally Posted by 69Tom

Well done on the wipers. I too like the wrap on the roll bar.

Thank you,

May do a wrap later.

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Good looking job on the wipers!

Thanks Bill.

Lets hope they work.

[Grizz1963]

A day off work always sounds like a great idea.

Especially when you choose to be off.

But when you do not, and feel a bit rubbish, it is still a good thing. Right?



But there is always stuff to do.

Yesterday I checked the cells in the battery that came with the car, intending to put it on charge.

Cells were all dry, took 1.5 litres to fill, no wonder it was so light.

I hate duff, tired or dead batteries, so time for a new one.

John the lodger picked up a new battery on the way home from his favourite battery shop. Cost £55.00



While trying the front wiring, the original airbag (disconnected) steering wheel would not activate the horn, may need some magic or new alternative.

https://youtu.be/EThky5GcbH4

But I also looked at alternatives.

Eunos wheel.

Mot pretty.



Fits but needs a working horn push.



A spare, fitting centre boss, but no wheel or horn push.



And the wheel I really do prefer for looks.

But the centre boss is a differently splined unit.



So many options…….

Do I blend two steering wheels to make up one that fits?

Or stick with Mr Ugly.

Suspect Ugly it is.

For now.

[Grizz1963]

Went to look for some specific diameter pipe for the Rezin Rockit.

Failed.

But found this hammer in the dirt.

My first thought is slate roofers hammer.

Possibly quite old, and from before the modern ones seen now.

@dez is a bit of a hammer guy, so may know.

Anyone else got a clue?







Thanks.

[Grizz1963]

Spectacularly rubbish night. 12 hours in bed, maybe 5 slept in total.

Bored to hell by 9.30 so went to the garage and stood and stared at things.

Liking what I see, but bored within 10 minutes.

So I found a lazy, slow job to do.



Fix the dash a bit, original design was in a different direction…… leaving gaps.

Created template.



Found some wood and tools.





More shaping after making a second one, yes, V1.0 was not quite right.



More materials.



Looks like a fit.



Glue, fit, pressure.



Done trimming back.



Vinyl next I guess.



Knackered, from doing nothing.

Came indoors.

[Grizz1963]

Had lunch.

Job done.

More to come, but the structural stuff is done for now.

There is a “Plan B” for further damage control if needed, but not for now.

Started off and stepped back, thinking errrrmmm…… NOPE.



Carried on, redid plate no 3 as it is different and was visibly wrong.

Still not sure.



Then did numbers 4, 5 and a short 6 and it looked tatty.

Started to add in the red, stabilising structural strip at the bottom…..

Feeling better.



And then the second part added made it look a lot better.



Finally added a short strip to the end where it meets the garage gable wall.

Tidy enough now.



A few more visual bits to add and it should look good enough.

Also, the daylight is still more than enough in there.

What shall I do next then?

Tempted to mess with the Rezin Rockit but wiring is just not my thing.

[Grizz1963]

Added a bit of detail.

Also did some small jobs like painting all the screws white etc.





And happy with the result here.

Just need to find the red hose for the pump and do a final assembly.

Beer time I think.

[Grizz1963]

So after getting the carport job done I thought a simple job would be to get the contact adhesive out, mask the Rezin Rockit and wrap the centre bar in webbing, as the second 15 meters had been delivered today.

So I dismantled the two safety harnesses and started wrapping the centre bar.

10 meters of webbing as ordered off eBay.

Until………



Seriously?

6 meters and then another 4 meter length.

I was bloody livid, messaged the seller to ask him to resend a single 10 meter length as ordered.



I am not even sure under what to file this sort of behaviour.


Some time through the day I saw this French registered and built Jeep.

I like the look.





No roll bar though.

Is it dangerous?


.

[Grizz1963]

Slim pickings at the bootfair today.

New garden sprayer £1 (I stood on the old one)
Pack of 50 @ 1mm cutting discs
£20 Candle tray for American artist friend £2
2 superhero Mugs 10p each
Good Scissors 50p each
Batman Multitool £1

[Grizz1963]

Sunday afternoon and @nickwheeler laying down on the job.



But the rear lights and splash guards were fitted, changed the screw in bracket to two pairs of Studs in order to make seating and tightening a lot easier.

Ultimately, the wiring ended up entering high and on the opposite side, so original access now surplus.

Should make a huge difference to splatter and keeping things clean out back.



Late afternoon photo when wrapping up for the first time (Nick likes to find more small jobs that need to be done)

Lenses back on for the first time in a while.



One of the jobs that kinda stalled was to get some automotive carpet in behind the pedals and onto the firewall, to cover the high density foam I previously added.

I was not going to buy a roll of carpet just to use a 500x500 piece.

So I rummaged in the bits of carpet from the original floor and found it……..

The original piece.


Bucket of fairy liquid, washed followed by three rinses and set out to dry, it was a hot day.

Edited and cut to fit as footwell dimensions have changed slightly.

Brutal contact adhesive and fitted.



Next small job I needed to do, which had waited for the carpeting to get completed was a left side footrest.

I had desperately wanted to use the one GRIZZ footrest that Andy in Oklahoma had cast for me.

Only problem it turns out, was it was a right foot, so only good for an accelerator pedal.

So I went to plan B which has laid in the wings for years.

Can you tell what it is yet? ( I used to have a coffin shaped one too, gave it to,someone)





Some planning, finding a long enough bolt to go through the floors etc.

Remove the carpet before drilling, as you know what happens if you don’t.



Job done.

Nick holding the i side down while I tightened up the Nyloc underneath as my arms would never reach.

Really happy with the result.



While I played with these cosmetic finishes, Nick continued to make up magical wiring harnesses, extending non extended, 10mm cut off wires etc to give us a pair of these……

Working.



In the mean time again while he was measuring up the handbrake for missing parts that need custom making, I did some woodwork, after finding some solid Oak.

Supports for the front indicators and marker lights to rest on when fitted.

The new lights are slimmer by 20mm than the originals, so some filling in will need to be done.

Part one.





Remember the small jobs Nick keeps finding after closing time?

Back to the pedal box and clutch pedal.

A 3mm change is needed to make things work more smoothly.

No way we are adjusting the firewall etc.

So out came this guy.

Watch this space.



Weekend over.


Thanks for checking in.