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

[Grizz1963]

Loads of little jobs done today.

Starting off with fitting the following item.....

Had a text from Rob, the previous keeper/owner of the truck a couple of weeks ago to ask for my postal address, as he had a "thing" to post off to me that he thought I would appreciate.
So this week he had time to pop into the post office to post out the "thing" which came to me on Thursday.
I have to say, his parcel was a challenge, and only when the "thing" came out the last layer, did I know what it was.

I have always loved these and they make me chuckle when people use them in public. Just never got to buy one myself.

Seems that when I tested it down at the garage, Duke, our ginger cat shot upstairs without waiting the see what it was..... RESULT !!

So, Huge Thanks to Rob, as he had planned it for the truck when he had it.



After the rear end kissing I got from Nicola when we fetched the truck, I realized the nuts n bolts on the rear bumper and towbar need to be seen to.

So this week I ordered some M12 x 25mm high tensile bolts with nuts to replace the existing items.

I have seen some bodging on this truck and stuff done to a standard below my own expectation, but the fact that there were 4 different nuts, bolts used to secure (loose description) the bumper at some point in its past, just made me shrug and bite my tongue.

It took some time to get these all removed, the domed head bolts were the biggest problem, as there was no way or room to grip the heads while addressing the nuts, which I had given some WD40 the last three days.
In the end I gripped the threaded ends with the vice grip and had a ring spanner in place over the nuts, getting them undone slowly.
The one bolt just turned off in my hands.
You will note there are no two the same here.



While I was at it, I also fitted new longer bolts to the plate on which the light socket plug was fitted.
When Scott wired the truck lights I decided to fit the plug under the load body, to keep it out of sight and the weather.



Next job, which I was actually not looking forward to (though it was actually surprisingly easy in the end) was to make up a sleeve/spacer for the tow ball Tim had sent me.
Remember I had a 40mm hole drilled in the bumper and tow bar as the shop did not have a 32mm drill on site the day I went there with Mickey.
So this was a bit of reverse engineering.
I had got a 300mm length of scaffolding pipe from Charley the farmer this week.
After measuring for what I needed, I cut a 25mm section off with the angle grinder with a 2mm blade fitted.... easy with the right tool.

I had also cut a slot into it length ways.



Using the grinder repeatedly to cut slivers out of it, and using the bench vice to push it together, then also shaping it the opposite direction, I eventually had a 33mm hole and 40mm outside diameter.



Before and after.



Using a large shifting spanner I recently bought for an art project I am working on, I tightened the whole lot, and ended up with a result that pleased me.

Tow ball fitted and some red reflective tape added to the rear step for night time visibility.



As always, Mickey popped around through the day.

Then once these jobs were done, we also rolled up the tonneau cover and fitted the bed sides as he wanted to see the dark painted sides up, the cover tucks in nicely behind the uprights.




At this point I had a coffee and left overs from last night as Nicola was out shopping (not my favourite pastime)and visiting her parents.

After lunch I decided to give the greasing a go, which was interrupted by a sudden thunder storm,( so need to do it again, this time without the wheels and jacked up, followed by trying to figure out why every light on the truck works off the main switch, but the headlights continue to be non functional..... STILL NO IDEA, or lights.

I also gave the tonneau a second coat of polish, Rain-X'd all the glass and stuck some stickers I had laying about onto the boat fuel tank that is now the trucks Jerry can.

Just after 6pm I decided to call it a day.

Tomorrow is bootfair day, so we will be using the truck to go there, and possibly a couple of other places.

All in all, a great weekend so far.

Still loving this truck.

I do wish I could have my brother here to enjoy it with me, as he is mad about trucks too.

[Grizz1963]

Took the truck out for the day to Rochester, Kent today after we came back from a successful bootfair. Think Charles Dickens - Oliver Twist, Christmas Carol, Tale of two cities, David Copperfield for our foreign readers.

Got loads of thumbs up, and pics taken.... Nicola said she forgets the truck has a distinct presence and does sound rather menacing when cruizing slowly by.

When we came home, I got into the garage and got onto a job that has stared at me for three years....... I will not be saying too much, but this was one pic I took.....



After this I removed the Transit's number plate from the rear and fitted the Chevy's plate to the Grizz-Pod. (In the UK, the trailer carries the same registration as the car towing it, and has no insurance or roadworthy testing, s you could tow a cardboard box on wheelbarrow wheels, as long as it has a number plate)

This concluded a great weekend.

I still do not have headlights, but many other odd jobs have been done.

[Vernski]

Had to go down to 375 to upload this pic, this is my spanner, the smaller wrench is a crescent wrench that my cuz from Calgary calls it an adjustable spanner. I found a little humor in that and hope you don't mind..Vernski

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Vernski

Had to go down to 375 to upload this pic, this is my spanner, the smaller wrench is a crescent wrench that my cuz from Calgary calls it an adjustable spanner. I found a little humor in that and hope you don't mind..Vernski

Now that's a spanner.

In Afrikaans (my mother tongue) it is known as a "Bobbejaan" which means Baboon as they grab stuff and do not let go.
The smaller is also called a Shifting spanner but to differentiate between them one would probably say big or small..... Gets confusing.
But Bobbejaan will always get the big one.
I think it is also called a Pipe Wrench.
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[Vernski]

We call them a pipe wrench here also, BF pipe wrench will get you the big one. The story behind that was when I was at a garage sale this lady seen me looking it over it was marked $20 and I glanced at it one more time and was leaving. The lady said it was her late husband's and if I wanted it she would take less $$ for it. I said I don't really need it all of the plumbing anymore is plastic or soldered copper. Then she said just take it with you, I seen you look at it twice and I don't want it under my feet anymore. So that's how it found my garage..Vernski

[R_W]

They look metric

[Ta2Don]

Any Updates GriZZ?

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Any Updates GriZZ?

Hi Don, yep.......


Quick short update.

Been a bit busy lately.

Got the Grizz-Pod ready for Retro Rides Gathering '13




Also went to the monthly car gathering with Nicola last week..... masses of cars and bikes attended.



Last weekend at the bootfair, Nicola also found me this little guy to drive with me in the truck..... not bad for 10p



Have decided after my fiddling about to take the truck to an auto electrician to try figure out why the headlights do not work, probably a 5 minute job, but I am stumped after pushing and pulling all over the place.

Also bought Nicola a 1993 Mk1 Mazda MX5 1600cc car today, subject to exchange of paperwork and cash.

It was our wedding anniversary yesterday, so the car was a present for her, she has never owned a totally impractical car and deserves it for putting up with me and letting me get away with so much, and making me buy the truck.

It has a few small jobs to deal with, then she should be on her way.





128800km which is not a lot for these little cars.

[kieth]

Griz, get yourself a pair of 30amp relays, hook the hot post on the battery to the relays, then take the switched wire to the high beam and the low beams of the headlights, get the proper grounds set up, then hook up the high and lo circuits from the headlight switch ,so they power the relay switch. Then get a good set of halogen headlights, adjust and you will be much happier......with the headlights and they will work. Do not muck about with the old wiring trying to power the headlights directly, only use that wiring to switch the relay. Kieth

[Ta2Don]

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Hi Don, yep.......


Quick short update.

Been a bit busy lately.


I Sure Understand that, Life has a tendency to get in the way...


Got the Grizz-Pod ready for Retro Rides Gathering '13


Last weekend at the bootfair, Nicola also found me this little guy to drive with me in the truck..... not bad for 10p


AWESOME!!!



Also bought Nicola a 1993 Mk1 Mazda MX5 1600cc car today, subject to exchange of paperwork and cash.

It was our wedding anniversary yesterday, so the car was a present for her, she has never owned a totally impractical car and deserves it for putting up with me and letting me get away with so much, and making me buy the truck.

It has a few small jobs to deal with, then she should be on her way.

Here's a couple of shots of my boy's Mazda for ya...



Cheers Grizz!!!

[markeb01]

We’ve been so busy with landscaping the last two months I haven’t had much time to check out other builds. Not sure if you’ve already figured out the engine details yet, but one easy way to tell if it’s a 350 or something earlier (327 or 283) is to simply check the rear of the block behind the distributor. If it’s a 327 or earlier, it will have a hole in the block for mounting a road draft tube. It’s located as shown in this photo:



Older original 283 & 327 engines would have a road draft tube following the path of the dotted line. The tube itself would look something like this:



In the many years since production, the road draft tube may have been eliminated and replaced with a smog valve. Original PCV adapters looked like this, and fastened to the engine using the original draft tube attachment bolt:



Since these adapters are now nearly extinct, you might find just a rubber grommet as shown in the first photo above. When the 350 was released it had no such hole in the block as the PCV system was designed in. Only the engine numbers will identify exactly which engine you have, but this will tell you if it’s a 350 vintage or an earlier motor.

Also this thread may help with the headlights. If you don’t want to upgrade to relays (which I highly recommend), just ignore the relays in the diagram and the inner headlights. Everything else should be what your headlight circuit should look like:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=387693

And happy anniversary! I hope Nicola likes her new car as much as the little one she gave up.

[Grizz1963]

Drove my truck out the garage up into the garden at 06.30 this morning....My fix for the day.

Since then....

Been playing with the MX5 as I need to get it roadworthy so it can be MOT tested, Taxed and under Nicola's butt.

Sanded back, primered and painted surface rust on sills.

Polished stainless sill protectors.

Washed, scrubbed, and fed leather seats with dubbin saddle feed.

Cleaned dash, plastics etc with Auto Glym.

Removed centre console, found ( I suspect) drivers window switch non functioning, converted ashtray to coin tray for car parking money.

Wire brushed, sanded and repainted battery tray area as well as whole of boot area.

Bought two front indicator light units of MX5Nutz to replace broken one on car, and possibly other one as well.

Bought new leather handbrake and gearlever gaiters off Evilbay, as gear lever gaiter is holed a few places.

Bought the top rubber gearbox gaiter on trans tunnel as that is totally knackered.

Bought used power window switches with auto function to replace my suspect one.

Bought Auto Glym fabric roof cleaner and waterproofing agent as roof has never been waterproofed since fitting, hope it helps.

Cleaned and polished steering wheel leather (not sure how to do it really) Any tips on how welcome, or a Wood rimmed steering wheel for sale to replace this one, welcome.

Sanded down and started re-sealing handbrake wooden handle with Danish oil.

Polished Ally gear knob.... I just love the feel of it and the way it works when changing gears.

Next job is to go back to the garage now and disconnect battery and cut out small section of rust in rear outer sill and let in new metal, then prep, prime and paint and tomorrow Waxoyl the new section. Followed by fresh underseal on the repaired section.

Followed by getting onto the handbrake adjustment, which I need to feel out based on advice that I have been given.

Monday I hope to get a discounted price for a pair of Bridgestone 195/50 15's for the front, to match whats on the rear.

Photos to follow later.

Really enjoying this car so far.

[Ta2Don]

Not truck related... but Zoom Zoom related...
My Son plans on stripping the paint from the hood (Bonnet) due to the fact it is Aluminum... He wants the brushed aluminum look instead of the paint...
Waiting patiently on Pics

[Grizz1963]

ZOOM ZOOM indeed Don, loved them all.

Was in two minds at to whether to post this in here, but guess some people are interested.

Right, back to the story of the purchase etc.

As mentioned, I got given this Haynes book by the previous owner with the car, already used it a couple of times as reference.

Great book if you have an MX5.



Then he also added this huge woodwork vice in for me, got to be worth a few £££'s

Will be mounting it to my woodwork bench in the shed.



And lastly a tin of underbody sealant to use once I have finished the rust repairs.
Thanks Paul !!



I was up early as usual today, so once I had made the boss a cuppa tea in bed, I disappeared to the garage for large parts of the day.

First job to address was the door sills, removing the stainless protective plates, I found some surface rust.
Used an abrasive wheel to grind it back to clean metal, then primed and painted the marks after which I wet sanded them, and then gave it all a final pair of blending coats.
Much of these repairs are hidden by the stainless protectors.







Drivers side.



Neighbour Mickey was on hand to help with keeping me company and taking photos.





Between coats of primer and paint I kept busy with other jobs, like polishing stainless steel, removing the ashtray insert and then modding it to remobe the little grille inside to make an easy access coin holder for parking money. I did try to convince Nicola she needed a drinks holder.



Amazingly as always, they looked good before, but afterward it was apparent that there was room for improvement.....



More coats of paint followed, eventually the repairs had about 4 coats of paint.



During one of my "breaks" I dismantled the handbrake lever.....wooden handle in a crappy before pic.



Sanded all the old damaged varnish off, and also the stained wood.



Then proceeded to give it coat after coat of Danish Oil.



Another job that needed doing for now was to scrub and then nourish the leather.

Before pic.



Passenger side after. Distinct improvement.



Throughout the day Harley the Fearless was on hand to help me.... she seems to really like the rear parcel shelf.



Then started all the reassembly work, rather rewarding.



During the day I had also stripped out the boot, wire brushed the battery clamp area and repainted it all, Nicola cleaned up the lining mats and I managed to buy a replacement battery cover with intact press studs of www.mx5nutz.com

Resulting in it looking like this.



Also removed and polished the stainless speaker plates and ally gear knob.




In the end I decided not to cut out the rust in the sill as I wanted to spend some time indoors with my wife....

Still, interestingly the driver side of the car has much less rust (not that there is much anyway) than the passenger side.

Rear drivers side sill



Rear passenger side.

This is now tomorrows job to cut out and let in fresh steel.



So there you have today's progress.

Bootfair in the morning, then have a mate over in the afternoon to look at the Chevy trucks lights.

[Ta2Don]

Nice job on the Handbrake Handle...

Is the Bootfair the Greenfields one at Anthony's Way??? Quick Google search found that one...

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Nice job on the Handbrake Handle...

Is the Bootfair the Greenfields one at Anthony's Way??? Quick Google search found that one...

Correct on bootfair.

They move around due to UK laws on what constitutes a business.
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[markeb01]

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Was in two minds at to whether to post this in here, but guess some people are interested.

I think this is the biggest advantage of having a build thread. You can pretty much put in whatever you want. Posting some off topic things in the open forum gets them moved to a location where they may not get seen, or members may not realize who the contributor is without it being associated with your truck.

I’m always amazed at how much work you get done on so many projects one after the other. Love the brake handle, and sill plates. Shows how some elbow grease can really make a big difference without too much investment.

[Grizz1963]

Just a short update tonight as I need to get to bed.

I had Martin, Amanda and Flash their Staffie over this afternoon.

Flash had broken a tooth and had been to the vets to remove it, but it did not stop him from making me roll about on the grass with him.

Martin started one end and went through the motions till he found the fault with faulty connectors as well as lubricating all connections, and the main switch in the dash.

Happy to report we now have lights.......

Martin had come over with his truck as well.





Happy family.



It's alive.



Now I am really ready for the RR Gathering '13.
Thanks to Martin.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by markeb01

I think this is the biggest advantage of having a build thread. You can pretty much put in whatever you want. Posting some off topic things in the open forum gets them moved to a location where they may not get seen, or members may not realize who the contributor is without it being associated with your truck.

I’m always amazed at how much work you get done on so many projects one after the other. Love the brake handle, and sill plates. Shows how some elbow grease can really make a big difference without too much investment.

Thanks for the comments Mark.

Interestingly, you do not see me cooking dinner, cutting the lawn and hanging the laundry out....
Sometimes I amaze myself at the stuff I get done in a day, and then looking at people who never get stuff done, I just shake my head

Almost 23.30 and I am tired.

Got the welding done and some bad phone pics taken...... still need to do write up, probably tomorrow evening.
I think it is bed time now.

[Grizz1963]

So what happened next??

Taken this afternoon....

Full report tomorrow evening.

[R_W]

Originally Posted by markeb01

We’ve been so busy with landscaping the last two months I haven’t had much time to check out other builds. Not sure if you’ve already figured out the engine details yet, but one easy way to tell if it’s a 350 or something earlier (327 or 283) is to simply check the rear of the block behind the distributor. If it’s a 327 or earlier, it will have a hole in the block for mounting a road draft tube. It’s located as shown in this photo:



Older original 283 & 327 engines would have a road draft tube following the path of the dotted line. The tube itself would look something like this:



In the many years since production, the road draft tube may have been eliminated and replaced with a smog valve. Original PCV adapters looked like this, and fastened to the engine using the original draft tube attachment bolt:



Since these adapters are now nearly extinct, you might find just a rubber grommet as shown in the first photo above. When the 350 was released it had no such hole in the block as the PCV system was designed in. Only the engine numbers will identify exactly which engine you have, but this will tell you if it’s a 350 vintage or an earlier motor.

Also this thread may help with the headlights. If you don’t want to upgrade to relays (which I highly recommend), just ignore the relays in the diagram and the inner headlights. Everything else should be what your headlight circuit should look like:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=387693

And happy anniversary! I hope Nicola likes her new car as much as the little one she gave up.

My Camaro with a 327 was supposed to have that part. It did have the hole. Maybe that is why it leaked a LOT of oil
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[Grizz1963]

Up on the jack, axle stands, and off with the rear wheel.



Clean up, measure out ....



CUT !!



Too late now for turning around.



Plate cut to size.





Bent to shape....



Old speaker magnets help to hold plate in place, no burned fingers.



Loads of tacking, to prevent warpage.






Grind back, retack any potential misses.



Then mix up some filler.....



Thin skim over plate and weld.



Sand back



Mask up area, and spray on primer



Add a few coats of black, allowing to dry between coats.



Wet sanded again this morning early before work and did a final coat blending in with existing paint.





Tonight after work I washed the car, dried it and then proceeded to polish it (as a surprise for Nicola) the paint was good, but I knew it could do with a bit of attention.

So Harley and I decamped to the garage with the clean car.

Here is a sample of the paint after and before Zymol polish.



Harley supervising



Finally it looked like this, ready for Nicola to take it for MOT testing on Wednesday afternoon.






I am going to look out for a De-cat pipe as it is a 93 L-reg car, so has to have a catalytic converter fitted.

Also want to add some clear side lights etc all the way around.

[Ta2Don]

Very Nice work on the patch... Keep Rockin Grizz!!!

Cheers

[markeb01]

Wow! I can't believe you went from cutting to polishing in such a short time! I'm not very current on late model cars, but that could easily pass as a new car to me. Nice work.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Very Nice work on the patch... Keep Rockin Grizz!!!

Hi Don, its a 7/10 for quality but if we get a few years out of it, I will be happy. These cars have a habit in the UK with all the salt on the roads of just rusting and imploding suddenly.

Cheers

Originally Posted by markeb01

Wow! I can't believe you went from cutting to polishing in such a short time! I'm not very current on late model cars, but that could easily pass as a new car to me. Nice work.

Thanks Mark.
I have now spent two days including many tea breaks and other distractions on this little car. For a 21 year old in the UK it is not bad.
I just like to get on with stuff. With the polishing yesterday, I REALLY wanted to quit halfway through but then I would have to wash the car again when I got to starting again, to get dust and grit off the paintwork.

It is so rewarding to step back and say Aaaaaahh. That looks great.
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