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

[Grizz1963]

Well......

This popped up on FB Memories this week.

Two years since adding the Toyota Argo front bumper section.

Best ever banger for your buck.



Fixed the thread.

Copper slip applied and all nuts tied down.



Also took the post out that was facing the wrong way and adjusted the holes by about 1mm each with a tungsten carbide grinder on my power drill

Then shimmed and tied down, plus cut the threads down to length and added more copper grease for future protection.



Using a Christmas gift from 15 years ago for the first time.







Nothing like getting that spirit level bubble just perfectly set.



Some design and redesign of the wall plates happened too.

More about that later.


But then time for some fun.


Picked up these stainless steel plates at the scrapyard for £2.00 along with a galvanised 3 bike bicycle rack.




Yup.......

Needed to make up a sign for the door on the compressor room.


All to be blamed on @PaulY





Done, with hanging tab.





Also delivered the bike stand to @PaulF while collecting a bicycle for neighbour Sam.

Got to meet new addition to their family, Ada.







.

[Grizz1963]

Made another batch of aniseed rusks inbetween Zoom and teams meetings.

Man must eat.

House smelled rather good for two days.



Plan originally was to create wall plates to hold the roof on the garage side.

But like all great plans, it was reviewed after we had measured and set out the steel as planned, then I decided that there was enough steel to use full lengths resting on the ground and bolted to the wall.


So start afresh....

Measure out 16 tabs and two straps on 65mm x 10mm flat bar, pilot drill, then 13mm holes to take the M12 Fisher bolts (Like Rawl Bolts, but longer threaded bar inserts to cut to length after fixing)





25 of these puppies for £29.00 or thereabouts



Tabs cutting used 1 x 1mm disc per 2.5 cuts.



Pile of bits to clean up, and grind a decent weld edge onto.



Better, ready to weld onto steel beams.



Also noticed what a mess the garage had turned into since starting this carport build.

Hopefully it will all come together and result in some real work getting done too.




During the day while working at the day job, I got a pic from one of the inmates of this forum and he was not a happY guY

On a train, Londonbound, wearing a virginal white gimp mask.





Later.

[Grizz1963]

So on Wednesday evening after work, I grabbed the supersized grinder and a new disc to start cutting the 200 x 100 beam we previously welded in half again as it was going to serve as one of the front upright posts.

I donned full PPE as that machine intimidates me.

Three quarter way through, I heard loud laughing when I stopped the machine to turn the beam onto its side.

It was Andy, stood with a beer in hand, camera in the other........

He also had never seen me wearing it all, including earplugs.

I was pleased to see him.




So once the beam was cut, we cut the last of the three galvanised beams @Oldbus had brought years ago in 2007 down to the right length for the rear support.

Then Andy burned two holes through the steel, we used a Bullnose Tungsten burr cutter to tidy the hole so that a long reach socket could get in there, and started to weld in two straps from behind and a bunch of tabs, all to hold the post that would be resting on a cement base onto the garage wall.





Done.



Then in another unprecedented move.......

I used a spirit level to Andy’s shock and dismay to get it straight.



Up the ladder with the SDS drill, 12mm first, followed by 20mm holes 100mm deep.



All the bolts ready, Ductape keeping it all together for the next fun step......

Threading all the tabs in at the same time, while holding that heavy beam in place.



I think Andy was impressed.



Job done, red oxide next once I made a spray painting cardboard mask to add to the job.



Only needs to top plate to be welded in

I will measure, drill and cut it on Saturday, welding Monday after work.

Bit by bit. Getting there.

One more upright to make up, and the paving to be completed around the other posts where the bolts are in the concrete foundations..



Need to start figuring what cross beams to use and the lay out of the frame and roofing.

[Grizz1963]

Almost back up to date now.

Thursday was another full on work day, training till after 5.00pm

Dinner with Sally and Andy, then back down to the garage to do the last post and also to cut in and fit,paving stones right up around the other posts.

Complex cuts, but if done right, the results are certainly rewarding.





Happy with these.



Andy carried on with getting the tabs welded onto the last post.

For those wondering about the tabs all being on one side, it’s because in both cases, rather than doing wall plates, the posts seem a better idea, but need to go on the edge of the concrete posts and I doubt it would resist tightening those M12 bolts on the Rawl bolts, so straps behind, out of sight and side tabs should be more than enough.





Adding the side gate post back onto the upright as it was previously on the wall.



Job done.




Next week a few small bits, the. Invite some pros to quote on fitting a good, industrial roof.

.

[Grizz1963]

Just when you think there is a bit of time to relax, you find more jobs that need doing, or do they find me?

Painted the house in about 2011

So it is kinda due again, and with adding the carport that will be stopping me getting up most of the front of the garage, I need to paint it before the roof goes up.

That means the house gets painted too......../

Went looking, along with device from the forums, Got Sandtex at Toolstation.

10 litres for £60.00

Colour is a PITA as I like brighter colours, but none available.

Ended up with pensioner spec Colour Cornish Cream.

I prefer brighter colours, but nothing worth having out there.

Last coat lasted 9 years, and I am mainly painting as the carport will cut garage front gale in half, so only need me on the roof in 10 years or so, let’s hope for good weather for a bit next week or so.



Saw this on FB today.

You forget how big a C10 actually is.



Bootfair in the morning

.

[Grizz1963]

Bootfair was good today.

First buy......

This is 38 years old.

Bought from the original owner, he used to sit in it.



Some cars, liked this madness.



£1.00 hammer.



Got a few pieces for Craig and his daughter Elli.

£1.00 for.the crown, and 50p for the letter E

Also got some really good Coca Cola glasses for him £8.00 for 4 glasses, lady threw in a free bottle opener. Then I negotiated another four Glasses into the price




Total haul.

Included a Jockey wheel for my welding caravan £4.00
Two glass stars for Sally’s garden shed wall 50p
VW camper plaque for shed £1.00
Box of 4x40mm screws, unopened £1.00
5 Hotwheels cars £1.00
Small hammer £1.00
Cast iron owl £1.00
One crystal glass FREE



And another item I really liked.




Now headed to the garage for some machining.

After another coffee.

[Grizz1963]

Remember that little Toyota Deliboy that really had my attention?

It has sold, and the new owner has started a thread for it.

CLICK:

https://forum.retro-rides.org/thread...toyota-deliboy

Looks like it may have a good life there with him.

Has some plans for it too, already started.

This

[Grizz1963]

Prepped the last of the carport mounting plates over the weekend.



Also got a signed for parcel from Andy in Tulsa,Oklahoma yesterday.





Andy the lodger came back from his long weekend, he leaves on Thursday for his next contract.

Brought me a great garage gift for the kind of guy who works in flip flops , as evidenced the last couple of weeks doing a load of cutting and grinding.

An awesome ground magnet.



RESULT !!



I also had @PaulY complain because I had not found a KING DICK spanner for the door handle to his annexe.

So we made one up for him, hope he likes it.






Welded up, mounting plates came from a balustrade I found somewhere. Cut them shorter.



Then one to the real, last job on the list.

Welding the top plate up, and then onto the 200x100 RSJ



DONE !!



Followed by these, and Sally cooked us spicy chicken wraps.





Taken two days off work this week,

Hope to get some steel guys to come quote on making up the steels and fitting a roof for me.

.

[Grizz1963]

Dennis has been forging along with various jobs.

Including the NASCAR C10 build.

Radiator in.


Fuel lines in, hopefully the last time.



And an effort to make the truck lighter.

Also on the cars is Dennis making a full, fibreglass hood for it.







From Fayetteville in Arkansas, Clem at Tubatrucks.com sent Dennis some gun racks for the truck too.



Also landed from Andy in Tulsa, another parcel with his ‘reject” Alu-Bronze castings.

I love their imperfection, Andy the welder/lodger scooped one Bull**** Corner, and I gave him a good Hope -lacquer too.



Every now and then I realise I sooooo live in the wrong country.

Workshops, trucks, trucks, trucks.



Dennis currently dailies this, rather than his supersized GMC, says it is a nice change driving the little GMC Cabalero.

I love driving it when I go there, for a one owner from new truck before he got it, it has areal 70’s feel, despite being an 87 model.



At work, his Son Adam bought this 2006 for $250.00 including a full tank of gas.




And was given this one for free two weeks late.

Time we changed our employers.



In other news.

From Russia, Vladimir offered me a Moscow plate for my collection.



Saturday came and went.



Sunday Bootfair delivered.

At £4.00 compared to the normal range of £10-20 fora jockey wheel, this price was right.



Meaning I could move the shed carAvan and the welding caravan plus other junk off the drive.

Consolidating pallets with half bags of sharp sand and gravel for concrete when I chop up the driveway and move it 400mm to the side in order to straighten it out.



Looks like a holiday camp.



Looking better.

Posts in perspective.

Loads of work to get to this simple point.



Other direction




From Mickeys place, he is about 500mm below my level.



Once all was tidied and sorted, I put stuff back in place




Have called a steel rigging and roofing guy to come look if he is prepared to take on a small job like this.

Hopefully he will come on Friday to look.

[Grizz1963]

Early morning chore on Friday.

Collect a non working medium sized glass door fridge about 7 miles from here in the Galaxy.

Purpose?

Airtight, solvents storage cabinet with a bit of insulation.

Should work.





So living rurally has its perks.

Harvesting and baling out behind the house till 11.00pm

Being able to watch or even go for a ride in the combine

Beats city living any day.



Amazing how these big trucks run through the fields to collect the large bales of rapeseed canola “Hay” to go to Holland by road.

Military style operation.





Started to paint the garage, before the roof goes on the carport, so I have full access to everything, and can do all the cutting in in nooks and crannies.



Two charts everywhere with a 1” brush as it gets into places.



Roller next, two coats as well, to give good cover on colour change.



Next is brush paint the whole house, which is covered in rough pebble dash.

Why do people do it.



Happy Sunflowers.


A new to me, used tool.

20000rpm 90 degree die grinder, ordered some quick release 2” and 3” grinding wheels for it.

Seen them used, and Dennis lives with his in his body shop.

Wanted one a few years as they seem really useful.





Andy the lodger brought me an air powered impact wrench with torque adjustable power settings from his garage last weekend, he bought it for a job years ago, never used it since, reckoned I would use it more after seeing me use the electric Clarke, I had bought to use in the C10 5 years ago and have used regularly on various jobs since then

Nice.



New company car was due mid-March.

Delivery yesterday.

Chuffed.





Sunset last night, pics taken 10 minutes apart.

Looking toward London’s Canary Wharf.

Moon 35 minutes after sunset.

Crazy.





Moon.

Looking away from London, toward France.

[Grizz1963]

It was mate Andy in Tulsa, Oklahoma’s best friends 71st birthday yesterday.

So he took her on a little road trip to Kansas on back roads through Osage county.

Loads of oil it seems, belonging to the Osage Tribe.

He sent a pic of the FJ next to the road, with an oil derrick in the background.



Wish I was there.

[LT7A]

Good progress Grizz. You are continuing your theme of "it looks like it grew there". I was glad to see the picture from Mickey's place and noted that there were not gigantic furrows of erosion where you put those drainage pipes, haha. People are funny, but I be lying if I didn't say that I had the occasional pointed question for a neighbor after seeing them install something new. It probably didn't occur to him that water had been running off of your pavers for years until he saw those little pipes. I think your new garage and house color is a nice one, especially for where you live in a rural area. I'm a big fan of natural colors, especially in the residential built environment.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Good progress Grizz. You are continuing your theme of "it looks like it grew there". I was glad to see the picture from Mickey's place and notes that there were not gigantic furrows of erosion where you put those drainage pipes, haha. People are funny, but I be lying if I didn't say that I had the occasional pointed question for a neighbor after seeing them install something new. It probably didn't occur to him that water had been running off of your pavers for years until he saw those little pipes. I think you're new garage and house color is a nice one, especially for where you live in a rural area. I'm a big fan of natural colors, especially in the residential built environment.

Thank you.

I like the whole idea of making stuff look like it is meant to be there, or like you say, grew there.

I don’t know what made Mickey kick off about the little drain pipes, but suspect it was his wife, who has not clue.

The colour is growing on me now.


Photobucket is a pain, again.

Stolen fruit is the best.

Two hours worth of collecting in 5 sites.



Trust me,

3 hours in there, cleaning and removing all the stones to leave me with 5kg or 10 pounds of fruit.



Add a litre of water, and bring to the boil for about 20 minutes, then add 4.5kg of sugar.



Boil for about 90 minutes till all the water is gone, testing cold viscosity from time to time.



In the mean time sterilise all the bottles and lids in the dishwasher.

Once cooked, use a jug to decant hot (it is dangerous) jam into bottles.



Add lids once all is done.



Take a bottle outside, check the light penetration, take a photo and gloat.



I add extra lemon juice, as I prefer a slightly tangy jam.

Also less sugar than recommend, but it still is very sweet.

Need more fruit now.

[Grizz1963]

Had steel guy over yesterday.

Quote to come when he has done design and pricing..

Pulled down the posts last night after measuring, they need a 200mm drop to get it more right.

Cut them shorter at lunch today, new plates to be drilled and welded possibly tonight.

Photobucket is a pain.

[Grizz1963]

Once again Photobucket being useless.

Went to see Sally at her best friends place, they have been friends since age 4 years old.

The neighbour had this Fordson tractor, been restored and he now sold it and replaced with a classic mini, because neighbours objected to him driving it in a residential area.



Finished painting the garage and steels.





Next up.

House, horrible job.



Balers came and completed harvest, bales loaded in the fields onto curtain sliders and headed to Holland for their dairy industry. One way to inflate U.K. prices I guess.




Had the steel structural guy here on Monday.

Suggested I lower the posts by 200mm at the front and change the drop off angle and rear.

Which meant disassemble, cut, paint and generate new top plates and weld them back on.

New setting, green is line, though it will be a bit lower at the rear, orange is 200mm high RSJ’s
Blue is where roof will be extending to.



Greg the new lodger who replaced Andy the welding manager is a plater (boilermaker) and weirdly, stepped into Andy’s shoes readily, looking for stuff to do, loving a BBQ and beer.

So the carport build is continuing with some serious professional help and advice. (I guess it is like me going to the USA on holiday and getting a thrill being allowed to drive tractors, and swing chainsaws as part of my therapy)

Weird to me, how both Andy and Greg work on site without a knife to do various small cutting jobs.

He commented that he should really have a knife when I was cutting some foreign dried meat products with my French Opinel while we were having a beer and a chat on the deck.

So I fetched a few from my stash and collection (I do like a nice knife) and offered him one to take for himself.



Too many choices.



In the end he selected this little guy, a nice cutter which feels good in the hand too.



He did request a decent T-Bone to cook on the fire, so on Friday I went to my favourite Turkish butcher to get some cut.



35oz steaks were not a challenge, that is 1kg steak to those who do not understand Imperial.



Flame grilled to perfection.





I love cooking fast on a really hot fire, but it does hurt when you have a lot of stuff to turn and manage.

Note, my BBQ’s rarely look like the Pride of Britain, blackened pork sausages and cheap burger patties.

Greg saw me hurting, disappeared and next thing came back with these.......


Kevlar, cut resistant and good to protect my knuckles from the glow of the coals.






He also did suggest we set up my Mig Welder for MMA so that I can do stick welding.

Needed an adaptor, tongue and cable plus welding rods as I had given away my Stick welder, some masks, chipping hammer and all my rods a few months ago to a mate who needed it more than me.

Oh, and I could do with a real lesson to add to a lifetime of self taught bodgery to make sure my welds were strong and correctly laid. Not that I ever had complaints before.

And then the weekend was over.

[Grizz1963]

Lunch hour break on Wednesday.

Making this happen

Line On wall is bottom of the RSJ Level and new roof slope angle.








Mickey came to check up on the noise.

While I am intimidated by the big grinder, he is light as a feather and happy to climb on top to cut that down from the awkward side.



Went to the industrial estate and spent £9.00 on this.



Leading to this



Three of these new 10mm top plates.

Centre punched To be drilled to 14mm



And one of these for the 200mm post, all to be welded back onto the perfectly cut and angled posts to incorporate the fall of the roof.



Another job the same day was to screed the plinth the woodwork shed lives on.

Been bothering me for years.




Sally was complaining that the big table on the deck needed to be painted.

So I set her up to sort it out while I carried on with other jobs like painting.



Better



First of 4 coats of wood paint.



Now the chairs all look rubbish, guess they will need a few coats next.

No, legs were not painted.



Enough.

[Grizz1963]

How suddenly a quiet Saturday afternoon can change.

Sitting on the deck with Sally, planning the redistribution of the one sheds contents with a beer in hand, I decided to go look in the shed.

Knowing there has been a “friendly wasp nest” near the door for months, imagine my surprise when a few zapped me as I opened the shed door. (They live in a log on the ground, covered by a shrub)
Stepping back, in surprise, I tried to see why when more stung me randomly.
Moving away faster than Sally has ever seen me move, one more stung me on the foot.

This is that one.



15 minutes later, I was regretting, yet still laughing at the pain, which is a lot more than stepping on hot welding splatter or flux. Trust me.



45 minutes after the attack, I realised things were changing and collected a few things, including Sally and headed for A&E 10 miles away.

My view when seeing the Advanced Nurse Practitioner.



Observations and an antihistamine later, discharged with extra orders, including not sleeping alone.

From virgin skin to this and worse...... guess my body is not happy.

Will admit that even now 4 hours later, the sting spots all still burning and my arm and armpit Hurt like feck.




Tomorrow we will burn the bastards out, hospitality withdrawn.

.

[Grizz1963]

We have a lot of moles in our garden which I have struggled to get rid of because of the dogs, we are currently in a truce as they stick to one end of the garden and we stick to the other but the mole holes are a haven for the yellow pestilence that is Wasp.

Tried many things to get rid of them but can thoroughly recommend home made Napalm.

Quite simple to make - get a glass jar, I used a pickle jar, and half fill with petrol. Then stick polystyrene foam into the petrol and keep adding until you have a gloopy jelly.

DO NOT GET THIS ON YOURSELF!

Get a metal tube and identify the entry point to the evil lair. Administer a pint or two of petrol through the tube into the wasp hole.

Then get the napalm - it doesn't stick to glass for some reason but sticks to everything else - and pour this into the hole. I used a long metal rod to force it into the hole.

By this time the evil thugs will be recovering from the fumes of the petrol so time too introduce Mr. Fire. I used the metal rod, wrapped a bit of news paper around the end and lit it with my blow lamp.

Light the Napalm with the fire rod and stand back.

After a few moments the Napalm will light the petrol that is deep within the Lair and with the most satisfying dull thud will turn the nest, lava, and all of the wasps into vapour.

It burns for about an hour - well my concoction did - and after a week am pleased to announce that I no longer have a wasp problem. Even the moles are conspicuous by their absence....

Always more than happy to be a part of the slaughter.

P.
__________________[/quote]

Thanks guys.

As always, @PaulY reminds me why one needs to laugh at this sort of thing.

Being right next to the pine tree, in a log on the floor, against the shed wall, I will need to be cautious in my approach and ferocity of attack.

Yes, it hurts, certainly much longer nd more but differently to stepping on welding splatter.

By now, 6 hrs later it would be gone in memory and just a red spot or blister if it were welding.

However, despite pills, 2 each of ibuprofen and Paracetamol Plus (Tylenol with Caffiene) it still makes me wonder WTF ?

Hopefully by morning it will be better.

This is that spot I posted before.

The rest are equally unhappy and red.





Bootfair in the morning.

[Grizz1963]

Bastards for sure.

I am still laughing, despite the pain nd itch.

My lymph nodes under my left armpit are so swollen I can fill my hand.

Need to get the shed door closed and then plot my revenge.

It may have to be done under cover of darkness, and using some unpleasant chemical agent.

As the log is on the ground, and against the shed, under the bush.

Entrance approximately where the arrow shows. A bit more to the left and lower though.


Not spending £60.00 for a pest service may still led to regrets and a second casualty visit.

[Grizz1963]

Amazing how the itch continues, despite antihistamines, guess it will be worse, without. My armpit and right groin lymph nodes continue to be swollen, obviously something to do with the histamine reaction from the toxins.

Sally found me some ant powder at Sainsbury’s after Morrison’s had none yesterday.

So a cautious approach at exposing the nest after dark, and hopefully a quiet end to all this.

[Grizz1963]

So I was too knackered, and actually uncomfortable at 11.00pm last night to go get dressed in triple layers in order to cut back the bush where the nest entrance is, approximately.

So today I decided to do a modern warfare version of wasp control/extermination in stead.

I used faithful old Ducktape and a 5 meter off cut of decking from last year, and then tossed the whole bottle around about where I think the entrance log was.

Let’s hope is works.




Mate Kevin also offered me some 3 ,meter wasp foam spray, which may become plan B if I missed the entrance and resultant kill altogether.



Here’s to peace in the garden.

[Grizz1963]

Anyone remember the guy (Robert) taking a London Taxi chassis from the scrapyard to build a twin motored car?

LINK: https://forum.retro-rides.org/thread...rd-engineering


Well, that is done....... Pics below.


However, he has picked up and started on this LINK: https://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/215234/temptress

Should be good too.


Just a few pics to show what he ended up building on the London Cab chassis.






Other side.

Hand spun trumpets.




Currently working on a small, lightweight bikini type roof for when it really gets wet.




Not bad for a home build, using whatever was laying around.

New build should be very interesting.

.

[Grizz1963]

Went out tonight.

I went out at 10.00pm in four layers, T-shirt, two hoodies and a fireproof overall, safety boots, leather welding gloves and safety glasses and a fireproof hood over it all. Cut a bit of the bush away. They sounded like a gang of chainsaws. I foxxed right off and shut off lights and closed the workshop. Then walked back to house. These 7 still hitched a ride inside the clothes despite me shaking and brushing myself off while still in all the layers. One got me on the belly under the four layers and the rest got poison or the glove. Bastards are pissed now. Be interesting to see if they let me out the house in the morning.
Sally helped a lot with screaming and pointing in panic.



One scar.

One pill. Antihistamine

Another later before bedtime.

Interesting thing, it seems the other stings have started to sympathy itch too.




Bootfair in the morning if it’s not rained out.

[Grizz1963]

still need to go back again to sprinkle some reaper dust later today, and remove the bits of shrub I cut off in the dark last night.


Paracetamol, (Tylenol) Ibuprofen and Chlorphenamine Maleate at 11.00pm ensured a good nights sleep, woke a few times as normal.

Did go to a single Bootfair that was a bust, except for a single sign.

However, the sting had swollen up and is a handful today.

[Grizz1963]

So last night I got stung, and they won.


Certainly the the last laugh


Buggers





So on inspection this morning after an uneventful Bootfair, one could see the entrance and loads of wasps around.

Probably 10 in front, darting in and out constantly.





So I waited till about 11.30 to go build a new weapon.


The Reaper Stick.


Can of wasp spray and Ducktape on a stick.




Setting off the poison was a challenge, to get the Ducktape to depress and keep down, the button.




And then in there, I also manipulated it for a bit, to get the most to spread around a bit.




Will go back and inspect tomorrow, and if not traffic, then it will be time to dig it all up.

Maybe get back into the shed.