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

[clemdaddy]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Did mine too...
with pieces donated by DaBearsda1

yep, me too. a replacement piece is available to weld in there but whos got time to wait on the slow boat. cut what you need out of the donor and weld it up.

that fender is another story... hope you got a replacement brace cause that one is toast.

you got a bunch done today... even with the distractions. maybe i need some of your coffee. today for me was slow at best... lousy weather.

[bj383ss]

Rian,

Here are some pics of my repair. If I was great with metal work I could have pulled this off with no bodywork. But I'm not.

Rot cutout. Rust inhibitor sprayed on metal beneath. The underside of mine was still solid. And this rusted right where the brace underneath traps all the dirt and crap. I am going to seal this up with seam sealer when I get ready to paint it.

DSCN8193 by bjohnson388, on Flickr

DSCN8194 by bjohnson388, on Flickr

New pieces welded in

DSCN8197 by bjohnson388, on Flickr

Cleaned up. Not the best.

DSCN8201 by bjohnson388, on Flickr

A little bodywork to fix that mess. I used some bondo I had on hand. I may end up grinding it all of and using some of the new Evercoat. I got. Hope these pictures help you.

DSCN8209 by bjohnson388, on Flickr

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Did mine too...
with pieces donated by DaBearsda1

No donors here, except for Martin who is replacing a lot of his truck.

So I will use bits to recreate the rusted out sections.

Originally Posted by clemdaddy

yep, me too. a replacement piece is available to weld in there but whos got time to wait on the slow boat. cut what you need out of the donor and weld it up.

that fender is another story... hope you got a replacement brace cause that one is toast.

you got a bunch done today... even with the distractions. maybe i need some of your coffee. today for me was slow at best... lousy weather.

LOL. Yes Clem, thankfully I knew that both sides needed replacing when I bought the truck, so I bought the plates a long time ago.

Looking forward to "getting it right"

I think as long as I let the truck dictate the pace, it should stay fun.

Today was another such a day.

Originally Posted by bj383ss

Rian,

Here are some pics of my repair. If I was great with metal work I could have pulled this off with no bodywork. But I'm not.

Rot cutout. Rust inhibitor sprayed on metal beneath. The underside of mine was still solid. And this rusted right where the brace underneath traps all the dirt and crap. I am going to seal this up with seam sealer when I get ready to paint it.

DSCN8193 by bjohnson388, on Flickr

DSCN8194 by bjohnson388, on Flickr

New pieces welded in

DSCN8197 by bjohnson388, on Flickr

Cleaned up. Not the best.

DSCN8201 by bjohnson388, on Flickr

A little bodywork to fix that mess. I used some bondo I had on hand. I may end up grinding it all of and using some of the new Evercoat. I got. Hope these pictures help you.

DSCN8209 by bjohnson388, on Flickr

Thanks for the post Bret.

Looks like I am going to go the same route as you. The bottom brackets are good.

[Grizz1963]

Was awake at stupid-o-clock this morning, texted Martin to see what he was up to today, as he was a bit, (Very) under the weather yesterday when we had planned to retrieve the trolley I had bought in June from the scrap yard so that I can get it under the loadbed.
It was under Martin's engine and gearbox, right at the rear of his garage.....





I was home and cleaned up by 11.30 after which Nicola and I went to town.

So today, no progress, but I am ready to remove the load bed.

Back to work tomorrow after two weeks, less progress than I had planned, but a lot more than it would have been had I been drinking Pinã Colada's on a sunny beach somewhere.

[markeb01]

Man that door looks ugly inside, it may look like the front fender when stripped of the filler. The screen inside looks like a 1960's repair when the truck would have been new, but was probably done much later. Some Bondo brand products even provided a small piece of plastic screen. It looked just like metal window bug screen, and was intended to bridge small holes and give the filler something to stick to.

Many kids in high school kids (including me) used it to eliminate mounting holes when “dechroming” the hood and trunk emblems. Here’s my 54 Chevy in 1966 after removing the emblems:



And here it is two years later in the hands of the new owner, still wearing the Bondo patched hood and trunk:



It held up well if applied to clean metal. The downside was any clown thinking it would be funny, could push the filler/patch into the trunk by applying stiff thumb pressure over the repair! I’ve just never seen so much of it used to cover a large defect. It’s really a benefit you know how to weld and do correct repairs. As for the small 2 hole patch in the door, that might have been a lower attaching bracket for a different set of “West Coast” mirrors at some point in history (depending on where the holes were on the door).

Sure nice to see you moving along at a nice pace. I’ll do some research on that “original” rear bumper. I’m thinking it might be an aftermarket accessory bumper for a much newer truck. I’ve seen them around many times, just never paid much attention to what they were on.

Also my care package arrived yesterday. Thanks so much! I got to keep the magazine and decal, but Ruthann immediately claimed the wall hanging, already having a spot for it! The magazine is fantastic. It’s much like what was commonly available here in the States back in the 1970’s. Not much gets published here anymore that isn’t a high dollar investment at one of the publication friendly shops.

Keep up the good work!

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by markeb01

Man that door looks ugly inside.

It held up well if applied to clean metal. The downside was any clown thinking it would be funny, could push the filler/patch into the trunk by applying stiff thumb pressure over the repair! I’ve just never seen so much of it used to cover a large defect. It’s really a benefit you know how to weld and do correct repairs. As for the small 2 hole patch in the door, that might have been a lower attaching bracket for a different set of “West Coast” mirrors at some point in history (depending on where the holes were on the door).

Sure nice to see you moving along at a nice pace. I’ll do some research on that “original” rear bumper. I’m thinking it might be an aftermarket accessory bumper for a much newer truck. I’ve seen them around many times, just never paid much attention to what they were on.

Also my care package arrived yesterday. Thanks so much! I got to keep the magazine and decal, but Ruthann immediately claimed the wall hanging, already having a spot for it! The magazine is fantastic. It’s much like what was commonly available here in the States back in the 1970’s. Not much gets published here anymore that isn’t a high dollar investment at one of the publication friendly shops.

Keep up the good work!

There are loads of fillered holes in the doors where mirrors were before, the pic of the two holes meshed are actually from the load bed sides.

Thanks a lot, I am still fascinated by the rear bumper my truck came with.

Glad you liked the magazine, and that Ruthann got in there fast.

It is often a problem for me, what to add in for the girls, as we generally do not know the other halves.

Thanks for the PM as well.

[Grizz1963]

Came home from work tonight and decided it was a good time to strip out some of the interior.

Interesting.



Some of the replacement panels Martin had sourced for me last year.

looking at the hole where the radio had been fitted, presumably chewed in by an angry badger.

I am still in two minds as to whether I should weld it up, and fit the modern radio out of sight, I had also thought of fitting an 8 Track player at one point.



Removed the speakers that were fitted behind my head in the cab sides.

Starting to understand why animals in the wild eat their young......



While I was at it I removed what has to be one of my favourite features on the truck, the roof lining.



Original roof, weird colour under the red ??



The plan is to paint the dash Satin Black, and also to repaint the interior of the cab, preparing some of it for the white roof I am going to do.

Tonight Mickey next door came around to drop off the SAS20 that I had ordered off Amazon at a lot cheaper than anywhere else if you buy volume.

I had bought a couple of cans for £1.00 each at a bootfair last year and it has proven to work really well on the nuts and bolts so far.

So now I am ready for the next bunch of challenges, though the drivers side mirror cannot be released, despite me trying to motivate it with some serious tools.



Tomorrow evening the speedo will be dismantled from behind, I ran out of "truck time" tonight at 7.30 which is the time I close shop, so that the truck does not become and issue to Nicola and I.

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

So now I am ready for the next bunch of challenges, though the drivers side mirror cannot be released, despite me trying to motivate it with some serious tools.

try heat. get a bottle of MAPP gas and a torch head and heat the screws up a lot. then whack em as they cool.

and the best rust penetrator is a mix of acetone and auto tranny fluid. keep shaking in between applications with a trigger spray bottle. I got this tip on here.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by joedoh

try heat. get a bottle of MAPP gas and a torch head and heat the screws up a lot. then whack em as they cool.

and the best rust penetrator is a mix of acetone and auto tranny fluid. keep shaking in between applications with a trigger spray bottle. I got this tip on here.

Have used that magic potion before.

Still have some ATF and will get the Acetone from mrs Grizz as I gave her most of a litre recently.

[mjh1965]

I will be over tomorrow to help you get your broken front screen and rear window out and of course I will remove the instrument cluster ready for the complete re wire

[mjh1965]

It's a lot quicker taking out the front screen when it's already broken,and you are not worried about cracking it on removal. No problem with helping that's what mates are for

[Ta2Don]

Would've liked to see a video of Martin and the windscreen...
Great score on the spanners...
…and also scoring the radio plate...

[flashed]

I love that Mitsubishi Delica ,never seen anything like it . Nice tools you scored too .

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by mjh1965

It's a lot quicker taking out the front screen when it's already broken,and you are not worried about cracking it on removal. No problem with helping that's what mates are for

Your face and that mad grin was priceless.

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Would've liked to see a video of Martin and the windscreen...
Great score on the spanners...
…and also scoring the radio plate...

Martin started out looking like he was very constipated and ended up looking like porn star towards the end, I was kinda expecting him to shout Yes Yes Yes YESSSS!!!
I think at $15.00 plus post for the plus shipping for the plate I could not make another or pick one here in the UK, so glad for the opportunity to get a decent repair plate.

Originally Posted by flashed

I love that Mitsubishi Delica ,never seen anything like it . Nice tools you scored too .

There are some Amazing Delica's out there.
This is a newer Mk2 but Mk1's are possibly more popular.

They are seriously capable off roaders....

Search YouTube for Mitsubishi Delica's off-road. I think it is basically a Pajero/Shogun under the skin

THIS IS A GREAT CLIP SHOWING SOME OF ITS ABILITIES AND THE VERSATILE INTERIOR.

Mitsubishi Delica 4x4 offroad - YouTube

Vertical Delica L300 - YouTube

And in Australia

Mitsubishi l300 4wd van blue mountains - YouTube

Spanners I scored are great and the ones I got off EBay are amazing, having used them before on the truck I wonder how one does without them.

[bj383ss]

I would have loved to see Martin's face. I know when I took the windshield out of my truck it was the point of no return in it coming off the road as my windshield had to many cracks to count. I set it out back behind the garage in my junk pile and the Texas sun got to it and it imploded on itself and melted. I was saving it just in case. I ended up folding it up like a box and putting it in the dumpster.

Over in the general section a guy has just posted a really cool way to fix a radio that has been eaten by an angry badger. It consist of a pretty cool face plate you can buy. If I hadn't already welded mine up and fixed it I would go that route.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=655585

Love those ratcheting spanners you got. They save a lot of time and fit into places the ratchet and socket can't.

[Grizz1963]

Thanks for the teply Bret.

I saw that radio face repair and sighed as I have already commited to going the hard way.


Regarding the ignition switch unit, I posted the question on Garage Journal and got the following replies and advice. Makes sense and will try it out tonight.

THREAD: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/s...d.php?t=275730

Rian, I believe if its like the 67 ignition switch thats theres a little hole in the barrel you need to push a paperclip or something similar into to release a catch, then you can take it apart. There's loads of threads on this over on the 67-72 Chevy truck board.


And also:

It looks as if you unscrewed the bezel and it may be jammed against the cylinder (if it is you won't be able to get it out). First thread the bezel clockwise until it's tight. Insert the key. Turn the key as far as you can to the left (counter-clockwise), then insert a paper clip and push against the spring pressure, and turn to the left again - after a few degrees of additional movement, the tumbler will come out. Sometimes a little back and forth movement with the key is helpful.

[Grizz1963]

After some great advice from Garage Journal members who clearly know a lot more than me, the ignition on my truck was identified and possibly from a post '66 Chevy.

So with the advice to use a paperclip in the hole and some anti-clockwise wriggling getting ramped up to a small screwdriver and some WD40 into the barrel, I got it undone.

Now the bezel can be addressed properly in its restoration.



Inbetween, I did a load of little jobs between the house and garage, according to Nicola it has scored me another day and a half "free garage and truck time"
Also preparing some stuff to shove onto Ebay tomorrow to generate "truck funds from scrap" as mostly it would go to the charity shop we support.

I did also remove the scuttle cover so that I can do the prep better around the windscreen.

I did notice the little wheel like unit the wiper fits to, i different sized between driver and passenger side...... Is this correct? My passenger wiper does not sit securely and can be lifted off by hand.



Removed the fender emblems as well, I want to weld up the holes and if I refit them, it will be automotive double sided tape.
They look good for their age but need cleaning up.



Also started to look at the exhaust pipes as I want to fit the 3" QTP cutouts, as well as running 2.5" pipes and silencers to go with them out the rear, exiting in front of the rear wheels, with some sexy rectangular stainless or chrome tips like what you get on large luxury SUV's

Also want them to exit a lot closer to the body.



I fitted one of the Cutout pipes approximately where it needs to go, along with the valve to get an idea what needs to be brought together.

Made a clip to illustrate.

Grizz's QTP Cutout patern - YouTube

Looking forward to building this system at home with the help, guidance and mentorship, not to forget, labor of Paul Y.

Lastly, I may have mentioned before that my wife will not mix white and cream laundry, let alone red and black etc..... BUT, she will quite happily tell me to bring engine parts in and shove them into the dish washer.

Tonight she did a similar Samaritan like action..... telling me to bring the rear glass from the cab into the kitchen, putting a bedsheet on the table, and then once done, she helped me wrap it in a mortuary shroud blanket, then stored it on top of the spare room wardrobe. So I got all the sticker glue, and gunge off with some industrial acetone which I previously mixed with ATF to make penetrating oil.

Nice girl ehhh??



Tomorrow will be a weldathon with some grinding thrown in at Martin's place when we try to get control of his cab.

Looking forward to test driving his carport for insulation now the gates are fitted and closed up.

[Grizz1963]

Spent from 09.00 to 17.30 at mate Martin's today......

On the way there, I stopped at a guys house who had replied to my Freecycle request for old Imperial sized spanners, he had actually recently thrown this lot into a shopping bag, ready for his next trip to the tip, then my email came by...... Perfect.

So I still need to see what he gave me, and also to clean them all up, but hey..... More of the right sized sockets and extensions cannot be a bad thing.



At Martin's, this was part of what greeted me.



Much prepping, cutting and time spent, and little to show for it.




More cutting, grinding, swearing (at Martin) later..... Some welding



Made some templates, cut them out of a Ford Transit side panel with the nibbles Martin got from George and have more to do, but started seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

I also brought home some work to do here, to make a replacement panel for this piece.




This is sooooo rotten.



Ohhh, and one more side panel made today.






Whoever said this was going to be quick or easy??

Thanks for checking in.

[Ta2Don]

Just a bit of encouragement Mate!!! Keep posting as much and often and wherever you choose, please don't let the opinion of one unhappy "Registered User" affect your time on here… Just like other areas out here in Cyberspace, there's always one idiot who didn't learn to keep his trap shut when he doesn't have anything helpful or nice to say…

Cheers Mate, and I look forward to reading about your adventures on that side of the pond... …not to mention the thought of the adventures the upcoming October trip will author...

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Just a bit of encouragement Mate!!! Keep posting as much and often and wherever you choose, please don't let the opinion of one unhappy "Registered User" affect your time on here… Just like other areas out here in Cyberspace, there's always one idiot who didn't learn to keep his trap shut when he doesn't have anything helpful or nice to say…

Cheers Mate, and I look forward to reading about your adventures on that side of the pond... …not to mention the thought of the adventures the upcoming October trip will author...

Thank you Don.

I was both amazed, humbled and actually pleased to see the guys come to my "rescue" when that member had a pop at me.

I just know for myself, that I always enjoy the side postings people make, also that there are members whose posts I do not enjoy, and just scroll past on so e forums. Usually I just ignore trolls.

In other good news, Pimpston65 has sent me a very good ashtray front FOC for the truck. Looking at his, it seems they came with a little handle up front that was also the mounting piece to the inside of the ashtray.

He posted that out yesterday.

THANK YOU PIMPSTON65





Thanks to MJH1965 for sending me this one.

Now I know where the break line will be for my black dash top.


[URL=http://s294.photobucket.com/user/niknakpix/media/niknakpix128/imagejpg1_zps25557ea3.jpg.html][/

[duallyjams]

I saw you asked about paint around the grill here is a pic of my trucks chevy and GMC. The chevy has white paint and both GMC do not.

[Grizz1963]

Thanks for posting up James. Thats great to know.

My truck is far from standard so I can kinda do whatever I want. Including paint. I like the white lip behind the grille but hope to have a chrome grille and it contrasts best with red. So in two minds. Bit its a mod one can do later as well.

Just sitting in McD's for a treat with Nicola and she just suggested that I take a small ring and open spanner and gas weld two fixing bolts for the ashtray to it as a handle.

[mjh1965]

I know you wanted some pictures of the colour break between the red and white







Hope this helps

[Paul Y]

Grizz,

Apologies for today, Wind + tree + Stihl = Firewood...

Looked at your clip and would be worried about ground clearance. Dependant on the size (narf narf) of your new mufflers I would be inclined to run the pipe inside the chassis, up tight to the bed floor and then make the turn out under the chassis by the rear axle. 3" pipes are big and by getting the turn out as far back as possible you will give yourself more room in case of large speed bumps etc. I know that your headers are the lowest part at this time so all this might be a moot point!

Have some other ideas that can be discussed over tea and biscuits.

P.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Paul Y

Grizz,

Apologies for today, Wind + tree + Stihl = Firewood...

Looked at your clip and would be worried about ground clearance. Dependant on the size (narf narf) of your new mufflers I would be inclined to run the pipe inside the chassis, up tight to the bed floor and then make the turn out under the chassis by the rear axle. 3" pipes are big and by getting the turn out as far back as possible you will give yourself more room in case of large speed bumps etc. I know that your headers are the lowest part at this time so all this might be a moot point!

Have some other ideas that can be discussed over tea and biscuits.

P.

Thanks for the photo's Martin (Mr Bloodhound)

Hi Paul, no problem, just gutted that you get to use all the wood you cut up today in your two wood burners.

I think that you are right, the truck sits low, but everything is do-able. And yes, speed humps do suck.

Tea and biccies always on the go here..... I have a very good wife.