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

[Grizz1963]

.

Most of you on these forums knew Harley, my half dog/half cat who used to be around me wherever I went, especially the garage and loved cars.



The house has been empty for sure, and one sees her and looks for her in all the places she should be.

She will be missed of course.

But just to put the record in here, it seems she has a successor.

Known as “Burger” but sympathetically renamed Molly by Sally, she came with a free Mazda MX5 engine and gearbox plus loom to be uses in the Rezin Rockit build.

https://forum.retro-rides.org/thread...rockit-chassis

So after being sucker punched by mate Darren it was all hands on deck, Sally and a bunch of friends and forum members all cheering and saying “Do It “

Pet store, spend £120.00 (which I would not think twice of to spend on a car) for basics.



Then over to Darren’s workshop at Unit Engineering.

The cats home for the Last year or so, along with anywhere else she wanted to sleep.

Vauxhall Viva Estate. With custom entrance through the rusted out rear wheel arch.



But typically today she was sleeping in a Suzuki HiJet camper in a different workshop.

So Darren and his dad took us there, basket in hand.

Woke her, tempted her out and said goodbye. I think he was a bit sad too, softy.



Caged



Once back home, after a stressful trip for her, she came out the carrier and walked around, tried out the dry food.....

Seemed to approve.



Settling in 10 minutes later.

Video:

https://youtu.be/6ZWxzI2ZTm0



Seemed pretty obvious that she must have lived in a house before, too comfortable and settled.



Amazing that she had lived in the year for two years as a semi feral.



Did not take long for her to go to sleep there.

However, when I got up to go make a coffee, she followed me to the kitchen.

After which she went upstairs on her own and I found her on the end of the bed later, sleeping curled up in a ball on the end of the bed.




Pretty cat in her own way.

I love her black foot pads and pink nose.





I think that I will keep her indoors for a couple of weeks before letting her out.

Then just pray that the numbnuts who race past outside don’t hit her, should she go over the street as cats do.

I do look forward to having a garage buddy again, and even if she chooses to be a house diva, that’s fine too.

Harley had survived 10 years out here.

Fingers crossed.

[Grizz1963]

With the new cat Molly in the house last night, I was not sure if bootfair would be on the cards today.

And when she fell off something in the en-suite bathroom at 1.20am I turned on the light to spend a few minutes with her, before she left my room, and back to the lodgers room which she seems to like.

I next woke at 05.40 which made for a good night.

Considering her, I did think after the last few weeks of absolute junk, not to go.

Then got up, made a cuppa tea, fed her and fussed about her.

She pee’d in the litter tray, and after breakfast pooped, a healthy mix of deathly pong and some noxious gasses.

So to me, that was perfect, as it meant she had accepted this as a place to be for a while, hopefully a long while.

She needs to be indoors for a couple of weeks at least so she can root here.


Anyway. Off to the Bootfair by 06.30 and it was full,by the time I got there 10 minutes later.


As always looking out for various things for various people.

I got a 22mm stopcock, brand new, £2.00

Followed by this star for £1.00 it will be part of the new garage forecourt that will happen once the steel guy gets his butt into gear to come do my steel works, will be STAR BRAND GASOLINE using the Sinclair colours.



Part of a deal that gave me a bunch of new and unused kitchen knives, a folding knife and two pairs of secateurs was this lifetime guaranteed Wilkinson Sword item, I have had one for about 30 years, and it is nigh on indestructible, though tired, it still works well, so always said I wished I could find another....... got lucky.



Part of the same deal.

What has the world come to?

Warnings one everything

Let Darwin decide.



Unused. Locking blade, solid.



Another favourite as I have loved these a long time, though expensive at £3.00 it is a solid state and well built 1/12 size model.

2CV heaven.



Flags for £2.00



When I got home, it was a real DejaVu moment as I started to unpack, head into the bag, and then onto the ottoman to check it all out.

Like Harley was channelling through Molly.

She let me start to unpack after a certain amount of security checking.



Race car out back left, made from a Coke can 50p
Aviator helmet, thrown in free with knives.
Happy dancing “Coca Cola” bottle £2.00
Hotwheels toys £1.00 for three, Craig gets 4 and I keep 5
Build a camper for @CraigRK £2.00
The Mum book (great reading for the loo) 20p
2CV £3.00 bargain



By now Molly was comfy.


Enamel bucket for kitchen utensils £1.00 new unused
Star £1.00
Knives £2.00
Small plug in night light for Molly downstairs 50p
Duvet glass 50p
“E” tea cup for Elli £1.00
Ultra insect repellent military grade 50p each (loads of mosquitoes)



So this was the best Bootfair of the year, not most bargains, but most happy things.

I saw no cat scratching posts, or a Cat Mate water fountain, but faith restored in my local Bootfair.

Now got to go work on the Rezin Rockit.

Later.

[Grizz1963]

Busy day.

Only got out to the Rockit bym3.30, thankfully still some sun.

Jack, axle stands and penetrating oil.



Up



Front



Under



And eventually done.

Seems like a high lift hit fitted.



Done.




Have left the Rezin Rockit up on the axle stands.

Will go back and re-apply the Duck oil at least two more times on every nut and bolt underneath the body.

Weekend over.

[Grizz1963]

A long long day.

Spent mainly on creating a report and PowerPoint presentation

Had planned on going and doing another round of Duck oil lubrication in, but failed.

Like the steel guy, whom I am starting to think is taking the pee, but I could be wrong.

In other news, reported in the Galaxy thread, Molly seems to have manage to catch wildlife indoors, despite all doors being shut since she came here.

Strange.


Woke early today,

Came downstairs for a cuppa tea, interestingly, the cat had not come up to join me in bed, or bother me overnight. I like that.

Having my tea and watching the news, I was joined by Molly, first grooming, then settling down on me.



My first meeting at at 09.00

By which time she settled on the opposite couch, and stayed there till 4.00pm

Crazy.



When Sally popped in at 4,30 the first thing she saw was this.......

Keep in mind the doors have all been shut since the cat moved in.

Usually over weekends and during the week tbh the back doors onto the garden are always open, so I know mice have come in before to look for whatever they can find.





Now explain this one to me.

Working for her dinner?

Baffled.

[Grizz1963]

Well...........

Seems we have a killer in our midst.

Looks like I will have to sleep with one eye open.

https://youtu.be/7F3gu61rZIg

Day started off easy enough.



My wok day was busy.

Took the Galaxy out over late lunchtime for some food buying.

Got back and a note said there was a parcel in the secret stashing place.

I thought it was the 8 oz pack of catnip I had bought for Molly.

Till I noted the address.



So the cogs started to turn.....

Till the tumblers dropped and it turned out to be Nicola my ex who had sent prezzies.

Unpacked, she inspected then all.



Then picked up the catnip Christmas penguin and took it to the couch she has chosen to sleep on during the day with me.



Seriously............

This is Kill no 4 for the day, that I know of.



Imagine when I open the back door in two weeks.....

It will be a bloodbath

[Grizz1963]

Second session of Duck oil today.

Let’s hope it all works when the time comes.

Looking at many of the nuts and bolts, it will be a challenge


Took some more decent pics of underside as well.

To see what the collective opinion is ow what this undercarriage is from





Front end





And switches and dash.

Previously identified as Cortina Crusader.



;it’s of gotten rubber and missing parts here.

Future challenge

.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by PaulMc0308

Looks like Ford Cortina MkIII, MkIV, MkV







.

Originally Posted by Tommo3

Yeah, I thought I had said MkIV Cortina probably a base model judging by the steering wheel like a 1600L

Thanks guys.

That is great info and Paul, thanks for the pics, really helpful.


Another reply elsewhere copied.

Originally Posted by ian6760

Blood hell this takes me back, as said in my pm, I had one of these around 30 years ago.

The original kit was ford or range rover. The donor car on the ford was mark iv or v cortina running gear and the pinto engine dropped straight on the mounts with standard engine mounts. The cortina prop shaft needed the centre joint removing cut down and rebalanced. I also changed my engine for 3.0 v6 and Granada gearbox with little effort but managed to kill it and went back to the pinto.
The kit options included a set of 16” weller 8 spokes with a serious offset which filled the arches nicely, but it would eat void bushes and wheel bearing on a annual basis. Iirc I had 300/85 r16 ballon tyres on it which didn’t help with wearing everything out. I became extremely good at swapping void bushes. I later swapped it to landrover tyre and it was a lot better.

The running gear on yours looks original cortina iv/v to me.

I had the fibreglass hard top which bolted on which had of all things a robin reliant rear window. Plus fibre glass full doors which lifted off. I had a soft top for mine too which I never used and sold it to my mate Stu who also had one. How pissed off was he, just as he was about to put his on the road thinking it was a one off I started driving around in mine. We both had a swing out spare wheel carrier which was needed to open the back window. I think this came as part of the hard top kit.

Stu swapped his rear suspension to Sierra giving independent all round but it was still sketchy. He has also gone through many Diesel engine through its life too. He then went full on and mounted the body to a shortened Toyota hilux chassis and still drives it around as his daily driver to this day.

I’ll dig out some pics and scan them.
I bought mine built, it was the ex-demo that eagle dragged around various shows to sell (Q999PDS), I finally swapped it for a SJ410. Stu built his from scratch, but I did so much on mine I think I touched, fixed or replaced every part on it.
Happy to answer any questions you may have.

[Grizz1963]

Soooooooo


Long story short-ish.

Cat has gone back to the yard.

Took her to the vet this morning for a full physical and to check for a micro chip, to fit one if not present.

Found to be healthy and compliant.

BUT


BEEEEEP !


Microchip fitted.


Registered owner contacted.


Here it gets interesting, they wanted it returned, as it is a “Yard Cat” WT actual F?


I suspect it was a house cat someone got tired of, and to quiet their conscience it was sent to a trucking yard near to Darrens yard. The cat then found her way to a nicer place ie. Darrens yard where she was fed and fussed about etc.


So have taken her back, before mate Darren gets his head kicked in.


Story over.


Last pics





Loves a rug roll .




Headed back.




And yes, I am gutted, sorry for the cat.

But that’s life.


Next!

[Grizz1963]

The vet who saw Molly/Burger/Jasmine this morning, did call the owners a second time to try understand why they were behaving the way they were.

Also, forgot to mention that the vet deleted the cost of the full physical and consultation he had given her this morning against the entry of “Stray”

Really decent of him, and also kind. I had asked for the £40.00 full fat option and was happy to pay him for his service.

Once again, just shows that what goes around, comes around.

[Grizz1963]

No USA road trip this year.

But @CraigRK and his family are headed here today, to look at houses and schools in the area.

Yes, that would be pretty cool.

So along with him, come a free tractor for @glenanderson and a b@start heavy compressor for @PaulY plus my 500kg hydraulic lift.

This will be a really useful tool in the Rezin Rockit build once I create a simple lifting frame to lift the chassis once the body is split away.



Interestingly, all items are landing at zero purchase cost at to all of us.






This will be a good day.

[Grizz1963]

Saturday late afternoon.

Back to bits n bobs that will make up this car.

Looking for one of these, drivers side mirrors to buy or trade, as it does not look like you can get in there to replace the mirror (unless I did not look in the right place)



Codes on the rear. Advice on where to find the cheapest option appreciated.



Have managed to buy these two unused TRS circuit racing window nets today for £25.00 including postage. Which feels like a decent price. Seller is a cool guy too.



So I hear you say “Why?”

If I can find two pairs of original, or some kind of external bolt through door hinges to fit and then create the net doors I want to make up to hang from them, it would be pretty cool.




Mate @CraigRK and his wife and 8 yo daughter came over to visit today and check out the house market in this corner of Kent.

He brought the various bits n bobs for people, including my “Free” bike lift.

Looking forward to getting it under the Rockit chassis.

The other item he brought, which needs to be processed and made to work, is a WW2 trenching tool.

This will be affixed to the rear of the car once I remove the spare wheel carrier which I am not intending to keep.



Almost 6.00pm

Time for a Rum so I can be a pirate.

ARRRR !

[Grizz1963]

And less than an hour after asking for info about the mirrors fitted, I had two replies.

This one via PM From the same guy who saves me thousands years ago when I was rebuilding the kitchen , by letting me use his trade card.

Rian,

I've a L/H and R/H set of MUD blind spot mirrors that were on one of my Defenders that you're welcome to. They'll fit on standard LR Defender mirror mounts.

https://www.mudstuff.co.uk/products/...nd-spot-mirror

I'm not in Whitstable any more so not sure how they'll get to you.

Let me know and if you do want them, just pay it forward.
David


And on Retro Rides there was this reply.


[quote author="[member=18814]kevins[/member]" source="/post/2631166/thread" timestamp="1601144324"]Are these the ones?








[/quote]


Forums are pretty cool ehh?

[Grizz1963]

Made up a small chassis number plate to add to the fibreglass body this week.

I will screw it inside the glovebox in the end.

The chassis number is on the chassis leg as expected, but not very well accessible.

I wondered if it will be visible once the motor is back in, and it has been painted in under seal.


Nice to have the right tools.

Thanks Bootfair.




Need to get the RX8 seats out of the C10 cab in the garage to start removing all the motors to lighten the drivers side up.

Also need to find out if MX5 rails can be used on them.

[Grizz1963]

A good weekend, not a lot of car time, but all good.

No Bootfair, cold, miserable and windy.

So at about 2.00pm Sally was back and started a fire



So I took out the seats from the C10 cab and brought them up to the Rezin Rockit.



The plan was to remove all the motors from the drivers seat in order to lighten it.

At almost 27kg or 4.5 stone, it weighs a lot more than the passenger seat.

In the end I decided not to strip it, but rather to ask more questions.







And then with safety harness added.

But it is not going to work, unless I figure out a decent anchoring option that allows it to hold you in safely.



And a moment to grin.

How to take a selfie alone, in order to see what this will look like, plan the roll bar and also start thinking about what it would look like possibly cutting the screen down by 100mm or so.


Balance the camera in a tea mug on top of stuff, set 10 second timer ad race and jump into car up on axle stands.



And there you go.

Seat cannot go much lower.




.

[Grizz1963]

A post from a chap in Scotland

[quote author="@jimil" source="/post/2631345/thread" timestamp="1601222319"]Talking about VDO gauges, came across these today, IIRC they came out of an Audi coupe that my B-I-L scrapped years ago.





Any use to you?

[/quote]

My reply:

Hi Jimi, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Thanks for the post offer.

The plan is to fit, as you know a MX5 engine and gearbox.

There was some wiring loom in the container the other day when I went to look at the motor.

Not sure if it was part of the MX5 motor, but think so.

I am planning on buying a new loom, because it’s a plastic car and the cost vs constantly reconnecting, fault finding and swearing soon outweighs the cost of a new loom.

So if there is enough of the Mazda electrics, it would be good.

I need to go take a look to see if I still have a rev counter I may have given away before, or that could be in my truck parts pile, but I like he idea of a large rev counter.

Not sure if I will be able to, or if it would be worth trying to get the existing, weather beaten and rusted gauges back to function or just replace with good functional items.

I think decent parts are probably the right way to go though.

What do you need to have for these gauges?

I will send you a PM as well.


I also sent a PM and asked the price including shipping.

His reply posted to my question, weirdly, as I sent off the PM.



[quote"]What do you need to have for these gauges?


[/quote]FOC shipmate, they cost me nothing so it wouldn't be right to take anything for them. I hate throwing things away so they have been kicking about my garage for years because they "might come in useful one day" .......... Looks like that day has arrived [/quote]

[Grizz1963]

And as the saying goes.......

Never rains, it pours.

Parcel delivered this afternoon by the postman.

Void Bush Tool

Thanks to Paul in Norwich.



In other news, after stalling for about 5 weeks, due to their work commitments, the steel guys were on site to do final measurements and fine tune my needs.

Glad they were, as I confirmed some stuff, and changed some a bit to make sure the Carport will deliver as much added value as possible.

Once the roof is up, I can move the Rezin Rockit in under there, and start disassembly to remove the body and hang it up out the way in order to see what we can do with the chassis.




So next they manufacture all the parts, then bring it to site, and assemble to following day.

Hopefully not another 5 weeks.

[Grizz1963]

So the unused TRS Side nets got purchased for £25.00 and Duncan has posted them down

Plan is to make side doors as discussed before.

I do not want a roof or doors on this thing, and it came without any of that.

So I started to look for Land Roved Series 3 door hinges or something similar.

Found some.........

On EBay





Found some more.....





I did not like the pricing though.


Kept scrolling down and down and down.


Then found these used items.


The real thing.








Of course I bought them, immediately


Price?


£13.50 delivered.


We have hinges it seems.


.

[LT7A]

Wow Grizz, a lot has happened since I last checked in. Congrats on your new ride and good luck turning it from a tub on tiptoes to a resin sled. Glad to hear you're going to take the body up and off because that whole undercarriage looks like it could use some lovingkindness with a wire wheel. To lower it, you can get a couple inches with springs but it sounds like you want to go lower than that. If you can't get lowering spindles it looks to me like you may need to Z the front end and then let the rear frame up into the tub. Also, the rear axle needs to move back a fair bit to be centered.

Those bars to the front windshield or screen may be what keep the fiberglass from cracking at the lower corners. There has to be a lot of stress at those points when you are at speed since there is no roof.

You might consider a simple aluminum frame and skin at the doors. You might be able to set up the hinge pin so they just lift off.

I was already getting attached to your new cat and so I'm very sorry for how that turned out. She seemed so ready to be taken care of and take care of you in return. The mice were evidence of that.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Wow Grizz, a lot has happened since I last checked in. Congrats on your new ride and good luck turning it from a tub on tiptoes to a resin sled. Glad to hear you're going to take the body up and off because that whole undercarriage looks like it could use some lovingkindness with a wire wheel. To lower it, you can get a couple inches with springs but it sounds like you want to go lower than that. If you can't get lowering spindles it looks to me like you may need to Z the front end and then let the rear frame up into the tub. Also, the rear axle needs to move back a fair bit to be centered.

Those bars to the front windshield or screen may be what keep the fiberglass from cracking at the lower corners. There has to be a lot of stress at those points when you are at speed since there is no roof.

You might consider a simple aluminum frame and skin at the doors. You might be able to set up the hinge pin so they just lift off.

I was already getting attached to your new cat and so I'm very sorry for how that turned out. She seemed so ready to be taken care of and take care of you in return. The mice were evidence of that.

Good to see you back here mate.

Thanks for the reply.

I currently plan to use shorter springs, shocks and also to relocate all mounting points.
It has been done before.
Check out tonight’s report below.

The bars on the windscreen were there to carry the radio up top and out of sight.

I suspect the original builder had a hard or certainly soft top.

Simple frame already in my mind,

No plan to make them removable but it is a better idea. So I will have to investigate options.

And regarding the Molly the cat......

Yes, I think she took to being back in a house almost instantly.

There is no doubt she was a house cat, but I guarantee you the owners threw her out, and took her to the transport yard, from where she walked away to my friend Darrens yard where she is treated well.

[Grizz1963]

So @PaulY and I were chatting about the screen and roll bar that I want lower in both cases.

I also want to slope the screen back, just a little bit.

This will mean finding a new screen to adapt, or making up a fresh one. As I do not think cutting up the fibreglass one that is there, and patching is back together, will really work very well.

So either find something off a Beach Buggy, or even a kit car item that is not longer in use.

And Plan B which is probably really Plan A will be to make a new frame and get custom cut glass, make a sensible frame support and slant back.

The existing screen is held in place with what looks like silicone, possibly an automotive type, and three domed head bolts, with nuts from under the dash. So it can be removed, albeit at the risk of looking real scruffy once done.




So screen back from current position, same base. And also shorter by up to 100mm

When you look at the posed pic of me in the RX8 seat.





I think it can go shorter.

As will the roll bar and harness mounting bar.




Front profile of screen base.



Sizes I am working with on screen.

Side to side 59.5” or 1510mm




Total height 19” or 480mm Glass height 400mm





Glass width 54” or 3980mm at the bottom



Glass width 50” or 1270mm at the top.



And stolen from another thread

Sans screen



And same car once painted and lowered.



So, as always looking for ideas, suggestions, random or not so random.

From speed boat to Lotus 7 or Duval (which ain’t happening)

Whatcha think?

[Grizz1963]

@glenanderson seems to have a share in this build now

I was headed for Uncle Bobs yard today, but he was not there, so I could not investigate the Land Rover he had offered me before, or ask if he had another spare screen to sell, though we know hoarders rarely sell anything.

How high ?

Rezin Rockit : Total height 19” or 480mm Glass height 400mm

Land Rover Series 2



Rezin Rockit : Top of screen width 55”

Land Rover Series 2



Rezin Rockit: Bottom of screen width 59.5”

Land Rover Series 2



Nice design on top edge.



Screen.



And finally........

Best of all.

With a bit of design cleverness, one may just see this car with a fold down screen.



Would that be cool or what?

Needs a bit of a clever design to keep the screen upright. And no, I do not want to tie it to the roll bar really.

.

[Grizz1963]

Another parcel landed for the car today.

All the way from Scotland


Thanks Jimi





I did go look for my rev counter or tachometer if you are American.

Could not find it.

Yet.

[Grizz1963]

So I said “EARLY DOORS” and know some already know what it’s about,

Some will get it, some won’t.

Like fake boobs on a woman, they serve absolutely no purpose, but they will look good to most of us.

Inspiration goes a long way back, in the 80’s I was part of the pit crew for a Sand Master race team. Side nets always looked cool.



I do not want a roof, or fully functioning doors on this thing. Maybe a simple square bikini type roof thing like @Ivanhoe is planning for Medusa.

With changing the roll bar, screen height etc, a standard fibreglass roof which was made for these, but of course would be unobtanium certainly would not fit without some fettling. Doors and sides would be affected too.

So I decided to find and buy a pair of racing side window nets to incorporate in the “Doors” as illustrated below.

They are ultimately for my pleasure.

So using CAD and a bit of my vision and a long dowel plus masking tape, this was the result.



Add in the Scissors, Sharpie, masking tape and a pizza box..... you have CAD.







Next up will be converting it into a light, framed Unit, to attach to the hinges that are in the post,and to create a simple latch for securing it.

I took the CAD mock up off and have laid it flat in order to get measurements so that I know what materials I need to get together to make them up.




Still waiting for V5c and also need carport roof up before the big stuff happens.

[Grizz1963]

So my current postie is a lady called Sasha.

Suddenly I look forward to having parcels delivered, maybe I should order more stuff.

Working from home kinda sucks, it’s lonely, trust me.

She has been chatty, and in less of a rush to just throw your post or parcels at you, like an Aldi checkout assistant.

Today she delivered a small, heavy parcel. It surprised me.

Check the price of postage.



So the hinges I had bought for £13.50 had arrived.



I messaged @PaulY and mentioned the postage which was included in the price, kinda bothered me.

Before I could say what I planned, he suggested I offer to pay part of the postage back to the seller. There are many people right now in financial dire straits, selling stuff to keep alive.

So £3.50 off the £10.00 is £6.50 and £4.00 is probably 70% of the knock. Keeping up in the back?

So I messaged him



And this was his reply.

Hopefully Karma is happy too.

Life is good if you try spread a bit of the good.




Then I tried the hinges which are bloody heavy, like a pound of butter, up next to the mock up door.




Then outside to try them up against the Rezin Rockit, looks like the original hinges were a lot smaller.

There is also a significant space or rebate behind it where the door frame will fit in.





I spoke to Darren earlier too, asking if I could use his some of his tools at the shop.

I need to put a slight bend in the leading edge plates to deflect wind and allow a place to attach the net. Using my own home made metal bender may not be so tidy.

Darrens will do, thankfully.

I also asked if I could use his bead roller..... yup, roll a bead around the edge to create a but of strength and rigidity.

He replies that I was welcome to come over and use any tools, and that there was a cat waiting for attention.



Made me smile for sure.

Life is good yes.

[Grizz1963]

Quicky before bedtime.

Mate Fil has done a couple more designs.



And then this.



Needs more fine tuning, I think.