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

[68Timber]

Nice score! Only minimal tlc and personal touches needed to keep that one cool and fun for years to come.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by uber cool

Your absolutely right they do wait for you and its like having a new project and you forget all the good work you'd done previously. So far mines been to Le Mans classic 3 times with no breakdowns, that's a 1200 mile round trip each time. I've just been on rock autos and order some service parts.

Totally, a lot of my non car and truck friends absolutely do not get it that one can step away when needed.

1200 miles is reliable for sure.

Originally Posted by 68Timber

Nice score! Only minimal tlc and personal touches needed to keep that one cool and fun for years to come.

Thank you very much.

Absolutely agree that only fine tuning is needed.

[Grizz1963]

Looking at this truck, it certainly is a shape changer.

Frontal area, through shaping and design is quite small and aerodynamic.

Maybe what delivered the 27mpg in part.

Facing the 020 Ford Focus, 20 years difference in design



Much easier to get up the alleyway than some of the wide stuff I have had in there before.

The rear tail light was actually about 50mm from the concrete fence post in this pic.



Pretty obvious that the wheels need a good seeing to.

Later guys, out in the cold now.

.

[Grizz1963]

Bought and collected another puzzle piece that will need a bit of machining to make work properly.

Adapters were £30.00 for the pair.



Pretty pleased to have found them.

[Grizz1963]

Seem to have kinda got Photobucket back to working again.


Only owned this truck a week and a half and it really is feeing like this is a keeper, possibly why it was on my bucket list, and being as it took this long to get the right basic specs for my personal preference list, it makes me happy.

So we start with some of the “needs fixing” items.

Came with only one ignition key.
Went to Timpson and helpful guy says yup, I cam Mel one, it’s £75.00 of course I bite my tongue not to laugh, saying it does not have a chip, just need to open the door, Ohhh he says, that will be £15.00
So I walked out, I will find a half a brick when I need it.
Got to be a cheaper option somewhere.



So I headed home planning on watching something random on the telly and drinking by lunch time.

First I had to add this little aerial topper like a football player, silly but satisfying.



The Marmite dash in fake wood, it’s staying.
So why post it in the faults section?

No heating, no aircon, just a blower. So that needs to be investigated and repaired.

Maybe the unit in the Blazer from the same era will work as an easy repair, once we figure what has died.



As possibly not yet mentioned, the front seat setup acts as an occasional three seater, along with a lap belt for that passenger.
The armrest is also a storage space, and flips out the way when in use.
They are known to be fragile.



When you open it, the whole top is cracked up, but that’s an easy one to replicate in aluminium and fit in there to retain support.



Next problem is the rear tailgate handle.



Plastic inner to the chrome has a broken tab(s) a $5.00 part, hopefully I will order one to replace it.



So when I got home, I ended up deciding to go it and wash one wheel and tyre. Just to calm my conscience.

I also decided to wash the suspension lowering bits that came with the truck, clean is good.

Before.



After



Of course typically, wash one wheel, became maybe wash the truck first and then do the wheels, one by one.

Sally took a pic as she popped over to watch some recorded telly.

Thanks I am mad, washing the car in 4’C weather with intermittent rain nd wind.



So the car washing took about an hour, because I was giving it some attention.

I did not realise that I was actually going to wash it again on Sunday, as I realised the door rubbers, undersides and some hidden grooves needed some pressure cleaning and a brush or two.

[Grizz1963]

GALAXY: Great service.

Paid for itself, and saved me some cash.

Cost me £700.00 in maintenance to run for 14 months excluding,tax and insurance. Got £150 of that plus purchase price back.

Now on its way to be broken for parts and shipped to Nigeria.




Would I recommend it to anyone else.

Absolutely.

Remove the rear seats and you have a cavernous van with capability and comfort well beyond what it deserves.

BLAND, BLAND, BLAND BUT FUNCTIONAL.

Want some fun? Go out and buy a 1.4 petrol Berlingo like Prozac and fold the seats down.



Roll on S10 Truck.

[Grizz1963]

.

So back to phase one of the S10 ownership.

Still on the first cleanup, finding flaws, surprises the good stuff.

After washing the truck, it was onto the wheels, I know they are kinda well past their best by date.

Still good at 5 yards, and the tyres need replacing, despite having loads of life in them.

For illustration, I will post only pics of the drivers side front wheel. It was possibly the worst.

Before washing.



After washing



And after a few hours on the set.

Polished, detailed, done.



Also note, there is a full sized Cragar S/S wheel with like new Kumho tyre.

Needs to be washed, polished, detailed.



Can you say Hovercraft?

Truck on blocks



Front view of the UFO



Working in the cold is kinda less fun than summer, but getting my hands on this truck and getting to know it, seeing flaws, possible issues to address in future, priceless.



Coffee time.

.

[Grizz1963]

More about getting to know the S10

On Sunday I spent another couple of hours getting even deeper into the grooves, under rubber seals, and behind stuff, lifting, probing, brushing and washing the whole truck again.

This was quite interesting as I found so much more grime, moss, green mould to remove.



After the wheels and going over the whole truck a second time, it was on to the tonneau cover.

It looked good as it was.



But using the Auto Glym product to revive and feed the vinyl gave decent results.

Midway through polishing and buffing.



Job done.



And nicely showing the result the next morning.



After all this I reversed down the drive in order to get the Galaxy in for a quick wheel wash as it was parked over the road in some mud.

So a few cleaned up pics.

Front end, obviously.







This is possibly my favourite angle or view of the truck.



Lastly, went food shopping yesterday, and stopped at the independent locksmiths en-route to have a spare key cut for the truck.

Ouch...... £14.50 which I think is steep, but needed to just get on with it, as it is a brand specific blank, and driving around to find a saving on that, costs money too.

These guys know me well though as they have cut spare keys for all my American vehicles.

Never understand why people lose keys, especially spare keys, surely you store them in a safe place.




Need to start marketing the wheels and tyres and finding replacements.

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[LT7A]

It's a neat truck. I hope it serves you well.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by LT7A

It's a neat truck. I hope it serves you well.

Evening mate,

The more I touch it, the more I like it.

I feel fortunate to have found it, all in it was a good spec ex-factory, nd then the extras added over the years have made it a very neat truck.

Still a few things to do.

And enjoy it when the weather turns a bit.

[Grizz1963]

So after a few days of serious rain, cold and wind, today dawned with rain.

Eventually by 10.30 I managed to get out and start on cleaning up the load bed of the truck, as well as the spare wheel.



The tyres tread, like new.



Once I got going, the info exposed showed these are ream American made wheels.



Cleaned up nicely

Rear end.



Still bloody cold out at 3’C but no rain or wind at this point.



And done.



Coffee, followed by getting onto the external plastics, using Auto Glym products, opinions will differ, progress continued.

Bumper before.



After



Front end, sorry for the sun glare.



Discovered another added extra, the chrome grille inserts are also non standard. More value? Maybe.



And after cleaning and polishing the interior plastics, I was really happy.

Suicide door?

Only one.



Last job for the day was to get back to the carport and garge.

Been a few days of not getting down there.

Managed to do a load of little connected jobs, including packing some stuff in some of the cabinets after sorting the shelves and identifying the load of keys.



More packing and sorting down there tomorrow.

.

[Grizz1963]

What have I bought? Rixtrix reckons I may have lucked out a bit on spec sheet.

Feedback so far..........

G80 and ZQ8 are posi track rear and sport suspension
G80 is the LSD, nice.
ZQ8 is a code and a trim package, so your truck is a ‘ZQ8’
They had a factory lowering kit, around 2in or so, springs and leafs. A tighter steering box and some other nice things. The Xtremes got the same setup but got a body kit and some badges.
This is kind of an aside since you're curious about rpo codes, but the guys who have the super sport S10’s look for the B4U code. SS trucks were the first to receive the ZQ8 suspension in 96 until they stopped the SS in 98. The ZQ8 then became its own trim package so to speak
That is the rear end. I think the codes that start with G are the gears for the rear. Not 100% but I think that's what it means. And G80 is a locking or semi locking rear end if I remember right.

More

GU6 = 3.42 gears
G80 = POSI limited slip
L35 = v6 4.3l vortec
M30 = 4spd overdrive transmission
ZQ8 = Sports suspension package


Thanks for the help.




YES..........


I know it is a repeat quote.


Just found this information, further to what we know.


Seems the S10 fans out there call this a ZQ8 truck.



Chevrolet S-10 and GMC Sonoma

The ZQ8 option suspension package comes standard on the 1999-2003 S-10 Xtreme and 1996-1998 S-10 SS models, but was also available as a sports package on either the S-10 or GMC Sonoma. The package included a total lowered ride height of approximately 2" over stock (1.5" from suspension, ~0.5" from shorter tire diameter), thicker front sway bar (33mm), rear sway bar (23mm), quicker ratio (12:1) steering box, upgraded Decarbon or Bilstein gas shock absorbers, and a frame brace. Some ZQ8 models were also equipped with a frame to axle "anti-hop" shock.
The lowered stance was achieved using front coils with a different spring rate, and a 3-leaf rear spring pack.
Wheels and tires were also upgraded to 16" x 8" cast aluminum rim with 235/55/16 Goodyear Eagle GA tires. The Xtreme package used a different style rim than a standard truck equipped with the ZQ8 option. There are 2 versions of "ZQ8" wheels - 1996-2000 (also standard on 1996-1998 SS trucks), similar in design to 3rd generation Camaro wheels, and 2001-2003 (also used on Blazer Xtremes from 2004-2005), which bear a resemblance to an IROC Z28 wheel. Another variation among different models was in the center caps. S-10s and Sonomas used a grey center cap with the exception of the 2002-2003 S-10s, which featured a chrome center cap.

[Grizz1963]

Some more useless information......

Whenever I buy cars one of the first things I do is to check the MOT status, followed by the MOT history.

When the S10 (as yet unnamed) came up for sale, and ticked all the boxes, with the added bonus of being an extremely low mileage example, I was intrigued.

So on getting the registration number from the advertiser, as it was actually blanked out, I got straight online to check the history.

Below is its whole life, laid out in MOT tests, and confirming mileage.

To be honest, on inspection things like the gas and brake pedals show almost no wear, upholstery is complete, intact, clean as are floor carpeting, dash and interior.
The underside, shown before, again shows not much more than a few surface rust stains, possibly indicating a cosseted life and dry storage when not in use.


Some years there was not even a MOT test done and the mileage between tests was limited to 100’s and 2013 to 2015 it did 78 miles.


Looking at advisories, and reasons for Failing the test, most were either based around being an Import or small things like a fog lamp not working, tyres rubbing the chassis (lowering possibly to blame?)

Reading needs to be done bottom up, to get chronology right.










Had an interesting observation from a Facebook group about the door handles on my truck, Chrome vs most in black plastic.

Did a previous owner have=ve a chrome and bling thing going?

No idea, but happy to benefit from it.

So yesterday I refitted the rubber mats I got from mate Ricky for the Blazer

I like that a lot. Functional Rubber.



I also remembered to take a pic of this little switch on the side of the dash, marked fuse box.

Anyone got any idea what it could be for, before I flip it and destroy something?



Chilly outside the last week or two.



Anyway, I carried on sorting the carport storage out, three areas created to empty the storage caravan into.

1966 Chevy C10 stuff
Rezin Rockit stuff
Italjet 50cc scooter stuff.
Miscellaneous stuff.

Like steering wheels and columns



Rediscovered the rubber mat from the C10 on the caravan floor.

Going to cut and trim this to fit in the rear of the S10 to aid protection.



Eventually called it a day at some point when light started to fail.

Few more bits to unpack and identify today.

Caravan found a new home within 5 minutes of offering it to mate Darren, as another ,ate, Ross is restoring a Bedford CF Camper that needs stuff like refrigerator and Porta-Potty.





Last day of vacation today, got stuff done, just not as much as I would have liked to, due to really miserable weather.


.

[Grizz1963]

.

School of YouTube


I will be changing the yellow indicator lenses for clear as soon as I can get hold of a pair.

Amazon is out of stock currently.

Looking at the front end of the truck it was not immediately apparent how to remove the lights

So following the masters advice ( @pauly ) I headed for YouTube to see how to do it.

https://youtu.be/x1Eyr_UVktA


I do love technology at times, makes life. Lot easier.


.

[Grizz1963]

Got a parcel this week from “Doc” on UKGSER with another ally lampshade and some other switches and this wall mount handle.......

I think that with a bit of editing, it would work nicely on the front bumper, just to butch it up a bit.

Yes, I am cutting the tow ball tab off on the underside.



.Thanks Doc.

[Grizz1963]

And so the carport has almost come to completion.

Stuff like the lighting still needs to be done, but it is a dry working space.

Also unpacked the storage caravan and moved all the stuff into the cabinets, and got rid of some stuff.

Next trick getting the caravan ready for collection included this.

Zero miles, but a lifetime out in the elements.





Ultimately resulting in this.

Space.






At the point where I walked away from this in the late afternoon chill, I felt really pleased with the result.

It has exceeded all my expectations.

.

[Grizz1963]

So...


Good news.


Whatcha think gang?






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[Grizz1963]

So back to the white truck posted earlier.

It seems to be an American spec model Extreme.

Side repeaters on mine, are not on it.

It is also the donor of the clear lenses I have wanted from day one.

And yes, clear side repeaters may be a problem, it’s a European thing and the conversion kits are made for the American market.

So the solution will be to find a set of clear side repeaters from something European that will fit the hole.

Challenge? Yes, possibly.


.

I have bought the clear indicator lenses off the owner who is going with smoked front lights and lenses.

£25.00 included postage which sounded like a sweet deal to me vs finding and importing a set from the USA, getting posted tomorrow so hopefully fitted by next weekend.

The one has a small scratch that I will tackle with a bit of rubbing compound to clear off.





Pretty chuffed today.

[Grizz1963]

Needs clear side repeaters not orange though.

[quote author="@zeberdee" source="/post/2652217/thread" timestamp="1610290715"]Hard to tell from your pics , but the side repeaters look like they could be ford ?
MK3 Escort , MK4 Transit kind of era ??

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322533049013[/quote]


Spot on.


I Think.....


30mm base



Hole drilled is about 20mm to maybe 22mm to let fitting through.




I th9nk it is very muchm80’s Ford.

Need to find a pair of replacements.

Ideally oval items.

[68Timber]

You have room to move about now, the carport looks really good. I keep checking the gas pump to see the new globe on.

The Cragars cleaned up really good. Nice work.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by 68Timber

You have room to move about now, the carport looks really good. I keep checking the gas pump to see the new globe on.

The Cragars cleaned up really good. Nice work.

Thank you very much.

Gas pump will happen, still need to get power outside of the garage, till that happens.......

Cragars need a new home

[68Timber]

Did you find out what the switch powered?

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by 68Timber

Did you find out what the switch powered?

Not really, needs a road test.

But it turns off everything in the dash. Gear selection indicator and mileage as well as gauges.

But engine keeps going.



Went out early to just check the fittings as there are so many different types and tabs.



Opened one to see what the bulb looked like.



Then ordered a set of “London Taxi” side repeater lenses.
I will have to edit or trim the fitting tabs though to ensure a flush fit
(They are Ford Transit items)



Back to work today.....

Hmmmmmm....

[LT7A]

Good call on turning loose of the trailer, or caravan. Now you have lots of space in your carport. Lots of detail there, coming together nicely. If you decide you want to get rid of the fleetside badges on the S10, you could get plastic ”automotive trim plugs”, I think if you search that or trim retainers you will see what I mean, and pop those into the holes. With a little touch up paint I think they would be unobtrusive. I'm having to do that all along my pickup box where the previous owner screwed in cargo tie down anchors. Big ones. The kind of thing you could tie a boat to.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Good call on turning loose of the trailer, or caravan. Now you have lots of space in your carport. Lots of detail there, coming together nicely. If you decide you want to get rid of the fleetside badges on the S10, you could get plastic ”automotive trim plugs”, I think if you search that or trim retainers you will see what I mean, and pop those into the holes. With a little touch up paint I think they would be unobtrusive. I'm having to do that all along my pickup box where the previous owner screwed in cargo tie down anchors. Big ones. The kind of thing you could tie a boat to.

Good evening,
Yes, caravan took up a lot of real estate
Friend who took is does accident repair and custom bodywork
I asked him how much to repaint the front grill, he offered to do it in exchange for the caravan I had already given him
I will rather leave the badges, despite not liking them, the holes are random, and unless its a flawless removal, I wont do it.
My C10 had a tonneau cover and all the stud holes need welding up.