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

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

That is quite a good score there ,many uses too.

Thanks Flashed.

I love to solve problems, and even more importantly keeping my eyes open at all times.


Well, got a text from Ta2Don in Arkansas tonight, Jon in NC offered a spotlight on the Paying it Forward thread some time ago, thankfully I replied and requested the item.

I have always loved these fitted to vintage cars and trucks.

It needs a handle, but I am sure I will be able to make one, or possibly even find one to buy on the web, EBay or somewhere else.

Thanks Jon and Don.




You can never have enough angle iron and flat bar when building stuff.

Today I clocked a skip at a hospital in Chase Farm, spoke to the site foreman and he fetched the steel out the skip for me, a suit and tie is not ideal scavenging H&S dress.

About 10 meters of 45mm X 3mm angle and about 5 meters of 15mm flat bar, somewhat bent, but still useful as I have some stuff to build soon.



Free money again.

This is good.

Was going to drop the the oil in the gearbox and motor tonight after work, but then realised I was still wanting to do a wet compression test on Saturday, which will be a busy, busy day for mate Martin and I.
Starting at 07.00 we will be going down to The Brenzett on our motorbikes to strip the heater, loom and switches out of a Mazda MX5 to then fit into my heater unit as the motor is dead in the unit I bought when I got my spare door and inner fenders. Then back to Martin's place, get his new motor mounted onto his engine stand, move his chassis back into the centre of his carport, get the engine hoist into his Mondeo, come back to my place and then undo and remove my engine and gearbox after testing. Then back to his place, unload the hoist, and then back home to my place.

So motor and box out on Saturday. 1st August, only seven months after it came off the road.
I never thought I was going to go this far.

Thanks to many people out there motivating and pushing me.

[Ta2Don]

[mjh1965]

Looks like we're going to have a busy weekend Hopefully I can get on with getting chassis prepped on the Sunday . If I'm not too worn out with Saturdays agenda .

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by mjh1965

Looks like we're going to have a busy weekend Hopefully I can get on with getting chassis prepped on the Sunday . If I'm not too worn out with Saturdays agenda .

You do sound like a girl.........

You know you love breaking my truck and screwing with my head.


Now that the truck is getting the attention it demands, I am trying to do a bit every night after work.

The new job keeps me a bit busier than the old job, which is great and keeps my head and heart in a good place.

Tonight it was the exhaust system that I got off with the help of some tools and a lot of penetrating oil.

I noticed it has an asymmetric make up.

Hopefully they will be better when I build the new system.

Incidentally, I bought a pair of Flowmaster 40's today, £131.00 delivered. If you look around a bit you will find they are not going to be much cheaper anywhere else. Thanks to WASP Performance of Wisbech in Cambridgeshire.



After the pipes came off, I drained the transmission oil as well, engine old will be done Saturday afternoon after wet testing the compression.




Note the missing flywheel cover....... It may be somewhere alongside the motorway, no idea if it was ever in place when I bought the truck, but I think it will need replacing too.

While under there I noticed there was a lump of floor welded in where the transmission hump would be, again confirming that this was a manual truck in its original incarnation.

Little by Little this onion is getting peeled.

[mjh1965]

Well if your cover is missing I need to order one myself . The people I ordered my air filter and rocker covers from have these .

This is $27.71 delivered £17.79



Or if you want a matching sump as well then they do these for $44.97 £28.88



Or if you feel really posh you can go for the alloy ones for $85.99 £55.22 but they also come with gasket

[Grizz1963]

The cheap top one, or a rusty, used one will do me just fine.

I do not suffer from Magpie eyes like you.

Got a message from Don, our panhard rods have arrived hope you have a big case

[/quote]

Nothing like a tight rear end ehhhh?

[ibrown50]

Are you going to re-fit your radiator so you can get the engine up to temperature or have you already done a dry test? I'm not sure how much difference it makes with a wet test.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by ibrown50

Are you going to re-fit your radiator so you can get the engine up to temperature or have you already done a dry test? I'm not sure how much difference it makes with a wet test.

Cold wet test Ian, we did a cold dry before.

AAAAAAARRRRGGHH !!

Went down to the garage to get some measurements.

Found this little party.

Seems my drainage bowl had a crack in, probably why Nicola threw it out.

I usually try to keep the garage floor clean and without oil..........



Guess there will be more in time.

[ibrown50]

The trans cover and pan look like the ones I bought, mine are from Speedway Motors (they probably all come from the same place in China) and were similar money, there are a few Speedway dealers here in the UK mine were (suprise suprise) from Langy's Rod Shop but R&R imports and Duksville Speedshop do them too.

If your engine mounts are the centre bolt type this is the part number you'll need,



Mine came from USAutomotive and were super cheap, something like £8 or £10 each plus VAT, real Steel sell them too.

[Ta2Don]

Blame the crack in the drain pan on those pesky invisible monkeys...

[mjh1965]

Originally Posted by ibrown50

The trans cover and pan look like the ones I bought, mine are from Speedway Motors (they probably all come from the same place in China) and were similar money, there are a few Speedway dealers here in the UK mine were (suprise suprise) from Langy's Rod Shop but R&R imports and Duksville Speedshop do them too.

If your engine mounts are the centre bolt type this is the part number you'll need,

Attachment 1431770

Mine came from USAutomotive and were super cheap, something like £8 or £10 each plus VAT, real Steel sell them too.

Did you go for the Crome steel or the alloy ones Ian

[Grizz1963]

Today was a loooong day, planned that way so that mate Martin and I could get a lot of the bigger jobs that need a spare pair of hands all done and out the way.

Total,mileage for the day was 150 miles or 240km.

Woken at 05.00 by Harley the garage cat, squeaking to get out, and also for her breakfast, I then came back to bed, dozed till 05.45, surfed the web till 06.15, then got going. Out the house before 07.00 and met Martin at his local service station to fill our motorbikes.
With this whole bloody "refugee" thing at Calais, and the Euro-Tunnel, and Operation Stack, closing the M20 Coast bound, which was most of our route, we were reroute do on secondary roads, which turned out to be a much nicer road than racing down the motorway. We even stopped for a McD's Coffee on the way.
Got to Brenzett to the Mazda MX5 breakers where we had been offered a fan and blower unit for sensible money....... If we removed it ourselves. Martin and I have previously used him before and his stock and prices are always good.

So I was the tool boy, and Martin the brains and brawn today.

Spending about 30 minutes, mostly upside down.....



RESULT !!!





The owner was recently given a retired race horse, what an awesome animal, and he loves being with people, and of course as usual I had to get my hands on him.

Thanks to Ian's photoshopping skills.....




So the result of part one of our trip was this lot, next to the original Chevy blower unit. Smaller, but comes with a four speed blower, and also the controls which will be modified to suit my needs and taste. Again, "mates rates" meant all this for £10.00

With a bit of Dremmel action on the original metal case, and letting in the thermal switch unit, it should be better than new soon.



So from the Mazda breakers we shot a few miles down the road for Martin to investigate a sandblasting company.
In the same yard we also met up with and chatted to the owner of this beauty...... 98cubic inches of Triumph.
Note the Poppy on the side cover, this guy has his head screwed on right.



Once done there it was the trip back to Martin's place to move some stuff about, get his engine onto his engine stand, then get the engine hoist into the car and shoot over to my place for part three.

Of course, as is often the case, Martin got distracted, and we ended up sorting his bed sides out, as he had to choose the best set to work with, and also cut a section off one for Paul Y to fit to Woody, his truck.
As fate would have it, Martin's one dog possibly knocked the precariously placed motor off the trolley it was perched on, and it made a soft landing on the two original bed sides......... Martin almost burst into tears, seeing his bed sides destroyed.
So out came the air saw, and cutter discs........ Reducing even more of his original truck to scrap.

After this, we managed to mount his motor onto the engine stand, dismantle and carry the hoist through his house into the car and came over to my place, where Nicola had cooked us a MASSIVE PIZZA for lunch....... Hero girl.

After this we assembled the engine hoist, proceeded to remove all final bits keeping the engine attached to the frame, body etc.......

Some wires duly photographed, no idea why as its getting a completely new harness.





What is this part up against the bulkhead for?



Here is a shocker....... Grizz in Safety boots.



How long have we been waiting for this?



Leaving a gaping hole with engine perches back in place.



Engine mounts will be getting replaced, I suspect with high end poly items, rather than the standard rubber mounts.
All bump stops are getting replaced too.





Next was placing the engine and gearbox safely onto the pallet and pallet truck........all good with blocks of support.

]

I also agreed to buy his FelPro gaskets off Martin for £25.00 as my engine is a bit leaky.



Pushed the truck (well, what's left of it) out of the garage to push the engine and box into the rear of the garage........ Martin was driving, with me navigating. A disconnect resulted in the pallet truck stopping and the motor continuing its trip.
So we had to remove the already packed away engine crane from the Mondeo, reassemble it, lift the motor and get it all back together. Funny how you get better every time you repeat stiff.




So the next job will be to dismantle and clean up the front of the chassis, lift the cab to replace the cab mount rubbers, and paint the chassis.


A long day, but this was a great result, again I have to thank Martin for his help (yes, we both help each other, but I am happy to do public thanks) and also Nicola for sorting out our lunch, and letting me get on with the build, tomorrow is Bootfair, then home, shower etc and off to IKEA which is all she asked for in return.




Thanks for looking in and all your comments and support so far.

[Palf70Step]

I am really interested to see what you guys do with the Mazda heater stuff. My 64 needs a lot of help in that area too.

[Ta2Don]

Diggin' the Triumph!

Grizz rockin' the Safety Boots...

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

I am really interested to see what you guys do with the Mazda heater stuff. My 64 needs a lot of help in that area too.

Hi Bill, I plan on photographing it all as I go along, with clear explanations.

As it is a valid modification for anyone not interested in doing a 100 point nut and bolt Factory restoration.

I will be attempting to blend the switch into the standard stuff so that it seems standard, rather than having modern plastics on the dash.

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Diggin' the Triumph!

Grizz rockin' the Safety Boots...

You will be even more impressed that till I got back home, I was wearing a pair of Sidi Courier boots and Kevlar trousers........

Common sense may not be that common in my garage, but a large dose of fear goes a long way toward any attempts at self preservation.

As you may be able to deduce from the timing of this post, it is 05.00, I woke at 04.30 after going to bed at midnight, with my body tingling and ready to get going again, so now surfing the web with a mug of tea and some McVities Digestive biscuits.

So need an 8hr night of sleep.

[Grizz1963]

Just found this really helpful thread on FIREWALL HOLES.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=598918




I think I have a few spares, including a clutch hole.

[ibrown50]

I'm keen to see the blower installation too, a great days work and great progress

[mjh1965]

Originally Posted by ibrown50

I'm keen to see the blower installation too, a great days work and great progress

I know Ian , I should have taken pictures when I did mine. It fits really well . The trouble with the original setup is , if the heater core leaks the water runs down into the motor . Then it's ruined . For us in the UK the cost of a new fan blower is expensive , where as MX5 parts are readily available and best of all cheap

[bj383ss]

You always tell such a great story Rian. I am interested in the mazda fan too. 4 blower speeds sounds intriguing. As long as I can make it work with the original switch.

[uber cool]

Grizz, be caution of Martin's intentions, he's try to make your truck look like his, next he be saying why don't you take the body off. lol.

looks like you both had a productive weekend

[mjh1965]

Originally Posted by uber cool

Grizz, be caution of Martin's intentions, he's try to make your truck look like his, next he be saying why don't you take the body off. lol.

looks like you both had a productive weekend

As if I would do that
He needs no incouragement from me .

1 His engine needs cleaning and some new gaskets
2 He needs to clean and paint the bulk head ( fire wall )
3 He has to fix a small oil leak on the auto box
4 The front suspension needs some new ball joints
5 And best of all I like to tell him its easy to pull the motor out and it was

[uber cool]

But it will be a shame when the chassis is painted up to the cab and the bit underneath isn't painted...................scope creep is a terrible thing,,,, also quite evil. Ive been trying to teach Mark about this, as he keeps saying what about we just take this off and that off.

[Grizz1963]

Went to bed at midnight, woke at 04.30 when my body said it was sore and wanted pills.......

Today I had promised to Nicola as she let me go out and play yesterday.

Bootfair Today included a pair of like new "Irregular Choice, Mutiny" shoes for £15 going straight onto Ebay. (Google it)
US plate 50p
Car parking sign 50p
Jack Daniels buckle 50p
Gorilla iPhone case 50p
2x Universal fit tips, new 50p each
New baseball cap 50p
Back to the future T-shirt, new £1.00
Union Jack flag £1.00
Stars n Stripes glasses stand 10p
Plastic 357 Magnum 20p
4 small glasses £1.00
England flag 20p
5 packs drill bits £4.00
Load of Lego characters £2.00
Got to be good.
Nicola bought some dresses etc £1-2.00 each.




This whole gang of Lego figures for £2.00 are going straight over to friend Bret in Texas as he and his kids are Lego freaks.

Thought they have to be worth more than the £2.00 paid for the job lot.




Original plan was for IKEA but after we came home plans changed so it was off toshops, followed by a Subway sandwich meal with cookies, and then a McFlurry.

Home by 3pm at which time Nicola cut me free.

So I went to the garage, cleared all fittings, wires from the bulkhead, and closed every hole with ductape. Then pushed the truck out, got the pressure cleaner etc ready and then spent a few hours scraping and applying about 4 litres of GUNK cleaner everywhere.

Harley was a PITA again today, wanting to help all the time.



Used the jack to lift it up higher to get maximum access.



I tend to forget I do not fit in little spaces so easily anymore.



All done, back in the garage. This job has taken up so much time, but needed doing.



Engine and box next to get cleaned.

[Palf70Step]

[clemdaddy]

you know… of all the folks on the forum, you and martin definitely, have the most fun.

thanks for sharing some...