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

[Grizz1963]

Bonus Ball for Saturday.





Not what I want, but guess it shows what a big check book and a lot of work can deliver.


Back to reality………

[Grizz1963]

Yesterday afternoon @nickwheeler and I went to Car Builder Solutions to pick up a few parts that were needed for some of the progress.

When I got to his place 10 miles from here, to pick him up, he was “not ready” yet.

Well, all it would take was a pair of shoes tbh. The benefit of having your machine shop under your home.

But, he was busy……..

Fine tuning some bits on the lathe.



Leaving this.



Resulting in this.



To be added to these throttle and clutch parts he had already made up.




This build certainly is becoming more and more “Hotrod” as it goes along with all the custom bits made for it so far. .

Liking it.


Once Nick had his shoes on, we headed over to Staplehurst to get the parts list filled out.

This included a massive box of waterproof electrical fittings, wiring loom tape, battery terminal protectors, cabling,sheaths, stainless braided hose, clips, bulkhead fittings and a 90’ connector for the new clutch line that needs to be made up to clean up part of the engine bay.




I had a 4.00pm day job Teams meeting to attend, so dropped Nick off at 3.55 sharply and headed home with the meeting strapped safely into the passenger seat next to me, and me on mute, camera off.

Traffic meant it took me exactly an hour to ger the 10 miles or 16km trip done.

I do dislike traffic.


Today I was awake by 03.20 and that was my night over.

A very wet George the cat came in by 04.45 for some ham and is now tucked up somewhere as I have not heard the catflap again.

It is raining outside, but hopefully once daylight comes etc, I will be able to to get down to the garage and get some stuff done.

Time marches on regardless of the weather.

Onwards in the words of @pauly




.

[Grizz1963]

One more small job done.

The gear stick needed to be taller.

Outcome was buying a spare shifter for £5.00 in case it needed to be cut, extended or whatever, and no it would not get cut.

Found an engineering shop who identified/confirmed the thread and agreed to make me an 8” or 200mm threaded extension on 15.8mm rod, with a male and female end to extend the shifter.

Time frame. Less than 24 hrs.

Price. £15.00

I think that is a decent price, free is better of course, but hey, specialised engineering I cannot do.

[Grizz1963]

Struggles with Photobucket that I cannot figure out means some pics are not uploaded from the weekend.


Anyway.

It was cold out.

@nickwheeler sat on his butt most of the day (and that is a bad thing in the cold as moving about generates heat)

He started by deleting a couple of wires from the loom…….



Not long before this was the situation.

Airbag loom removed along with plugs.



And then it just got worse as we decided that cleaning it up would mean tidy space and less wires to bend and force under the dash.

It also released a few inches of wiring to enable placement of certain parts like fusebox just that much better.



Looser fit with the new position of heater motor and the box I welded up for the matrix.



Another job I got on with was removing the headlights and buckets, which were also rotten beyond recovery, so the grinder was called into service, again.

The placement of the radiator means the original buckets really are in the way, so a bit of clever thinking once I get a new set of buckets, will be needed, as well as some trimming.

Different sizes.



Originals.

Beyond salvation really.



We eventually closed shop around 6.00pm as I had offered Nick and Sally dinner.

Leaving the car looking worse for wear, but actually we knew that a load of invisible work had been done over the weekend.



After dinner Nick took the wiring loom with him to go remove the door plugs and most of that part of the loom as well.

A few loose tasks set aside for this week, like getting the gear shifter extension made up.

Day job is a bit busy, and evenings are cold.

Another small job I need to get to is making a dual bracket for these guys to mont over the fender.



Roll on the weekend.


Progress….?

[Grizz1963]

Rained a bit overnight.


Nice day out now………





Should get a few bits done today.


.

[Grizz1963]

What a day.

Guess that’s what a day job is about.

In between meetings, clients etc, I also raced around doing about 55 miles to go get stuff in various places and dealing with a hysterical friend whose best friend (long term cardiac issues) was found dead at home yesterday.

Anyway…….

Back to Sunday.

I started earlier than usual, more brackets, fine tuning and fitting for the heater blower done.



Also made a clever little spring loaded seat for the fan unit to sit on, along with that bracket.

Then a small tab for the front end as the exits still need to be decided and planned, then cut and fitted once the dash is built.

Around lunch time @nickwheeler got here after spending the morning in Rochester Cathedral.

He brought gifts….. made these overnight, clevis, lengthened clutch actuator and some squirty things…..



For the screen washer, new Cortina items (I think)



Also brought this tool.

I had never seen or used one.

But I needed it as I had managed to create a use for it.

Spectacularly tactile and a true lifesaver.

Nick was telling me (I forget the make) he had bought it to work on a Russian airplane and his them boss was blown away seeing him extricate himself from a wing structure to report that he had repaired a load of faults, using it.

10 virtual beers for the guy who identifies what it is and used for.

It fixed my problem in less than 5 minutes while Nick was making up a braided hydraulic line.





While I carried on with other jobs, Nick sorted out the brake and clutch pedals and assembly.

The recessed tray for the blower in the transmission tunnel was sealed and bolted in, blower set up to allow for spacial planning.

Also edited the gear stick hole a bit more.

It still needs a gaiter to either be made up, or even an existing one to be edited to fit.



More in a bit.

About the proverbial hitting the fan, thanks to Karma.

[Grizz1963]

So the thread file was used to tidy up the gear shifter thread, as I had managed to damage it slightly when removing a very tight collar from in and miscalculated my hammer angle.

Fixed now.


Right……


Back to Sunday and the Kitcar Boogie.

You know the one, two steps forward and three steps back.

It had become time to fit and fix the windscreen frame so that ECU,,relays, fuses and wiring loom can be fitted and fixed, as well as heater pipes, controls and then the firewall plate and its embellishments.

But Karma had other plans.

When @nickwheeler had done the pedalbox, actuators etc, it all went together relatively easily, as if he had been dealt a bonus card.

So I cut and prepped the bolts that became the studs to be welded into the Land Rover screen that @glenanderson had donated to the build.



I drilled the holes for a tight fit, cleared all the galvanising away for welding, magnet placed and then Nick tacked them all.



Trial fitting the 5 studs showed one hole needed a 3mm sideways elongation.

No problem, I did that while Nick welded up the studs.

Perfect.

Errrrrmmmmmmm…. Nope. FAIL.


Though we did not know it at this point.




So next step was get the Nyloc nuts in there and tighten it down with a high density foam sealing strip.


HA HA HA HA HAHAHA.


When we assembled the support, I will take the blame here, the angle was welded in the wrong way around, and despite drilling, noticing it all, I had forgotten.


Look closely at my KING SIZED COCK-UP.


Can you see the problem yet?




Yes, no way a nut and socket will be going in there.

Space is tight, very tight.

So a variety of options were considered, including a tungsten carbide bit to whittle away 25mm of each holes obstruction.

In the end I drove to Aghabridge and saw this display when I got there.




Explaining my dilemma through the medium of a few photos, Karma smiled and an engineer found me some 15mm pipe with 11mm inner diameter hole, cut me some and sent me on my way.

FOR THE TOTAL PRICE OF FREE.



From there I went to get some replacement M10 bolts and extras for the firewall work that still has to follow.

Hopefully this will come together on Friday when I have a day vacation.

More to come.

[Grizz1963]

Many of you will realise I am the pretty one in this build.

Nick is the brains.

But rarely, I come up with a goodererer idea.

Case in point, fabricating or making up a switch or valve for the heater to turn it off started out as a complex thing, cables, levers, brackets etc…… you know the drill.

Then I suggested why not just add a simple tap into the mix.

On/Off

£12.00 of the Queens English Pounds vs a load of faffing and fabrication.

Mounted on the side panel under the dash.

Ladies prerogative when feet are freezing.



While at Car Builder Solutions I saw this Cod-piece.

I need a used one from a scrap car, the one in the donor was completely torn and rotten.

Quite phallic in a dark dungeon kinda way.



Spent £82.00 inmthe end.

Including full,size headlight bowls and chrome trim bezels.

The ones with the cut awy backs are specific for Land Rover Discovery.


Got home and did a bit of assembly.



Later, after walking Bonnie the dog, Sally popped in to say hello before heading home.



So I showed her what it looks like, have to say it works for me.





Because there was no Sally for dinner, I managed to stay down there till 8.45 doing some little cleaning up jobs.


More about that later.

[Grizz1963]

Post Man Pat delivered today……..


And it is already on my toolbox.


Thank you @mr2fc






And from Siberia, Stas suggested `I build my Rezin Rockit over one of these.







Maybe not.



Friday tomorrow.


Can’t wait.

[LT7A]

Happy Friday. You guys are really getting all the systems handled, great progress. Who wouldn't like to have that tractor that your Siberian buddy sent you a picture of - that thing is cool. But not as the chassis for the RR. BTW, what I was wondering about the MX5 was that much of the body seemed in good shape. Fenders, doors, headlights, etc. You certainly picked the bones clean mechanically, but I was wondering why you, or the guy who received the carcass, couldn't glean a few quid from selling those. Maybe they were in worse shape than they appeared... from here... haha.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Happy Friday. You guys are really getting all the systems handled, great progress. Who wouldn't like to have that tractor that your Siberian buddy sent you a picture of - that thing is cool. But not as the chassis for the RR. BTW, what I was wondering about the MX5 was that much of the body seemed in good shape. Fenders, doors, headlights, etc. You certainly picked the bones clean mechanically, but I was wondering why you, or the guy who received the carcass, couldn't glean a few quid from selling those. Maybe they were in worse shape than they appeared... from here... haha.

Thank you.

I think we both want to to get on with it…..

And progress is rewarding after all.

The MX5 was way too dead.

Loads of damage etc.

I am happy for the £400.00 it cost me.

I think you are right, it was a bit rubbish.

[Grizz1963]

Well,

Speaking of madness.

Another week done, and it was tough, but I delivered in excess of my expectations, so a reward was in order.

Extended lunch break….?

Popped the garage open.

Then opened the air box and removed the air filter.

DIRTY……..



This was the problem to be addressed.



With moving the air-box about 600mm or 24” back in the engine bay the sensor wire ended up too short.

Easy to extend the wires.

Easier to remove the sensor……..



Block to hole with a bit of colourful plastic from a laundry detergent bottle cap.



Then set the step drill to the right size to replicate the hole for the grommet…….

Drill the hole.



Grommet in.

Sensor in.

Refit pipe.



Easy fix then.

Little wins that steal time.

One less job for tomorrow or Sunday.

Friday night.

Drinks?

[Grizz1963]

Right…..

Next job to get done.

One that @nickwheeler was hoping I would get on with. Maybe.

So I removed the battery bridge, which also incorporated part of the air-box support.

Then measured and marked out the holes for the M8 bolts to screw into that would hold the battery strap down, drilled the holes, tapped them.

Perfect.

Than made up the strap and burned the holes and added the eyelets.



Also made a pair of “large” plates to replace washers and also grip the strap on the bridge.



Few more little fine tuning actions, then some paint and final,fitting.

Ohh…. And terminals to be made up of course.

Another little job done.

[Grizz1963]

Day started with me waking at 03.18

No sleep after that, not ideal.

But once I got started, some housekeeping, and in the 5’C temperature outside, I decided to use my paint stripping heat gun to warm the battery bridge before giving it some satin black



Once that was done I started on some CAD to create the insert for the transmission tunnel to make space for the heater/blower unit.



Once transferred and cut out of a sheet of Dexian cabinet backing I folded it ……….



More to be done, grinding back the hole in the transmission tunnel to almost perfectly square and also a couple of flanges needed cutting to weld onto the sides that can be bolted down.

@nickwheeler came around later as well, and with a coffee kickstart he was off……..

Loads of little jobs, including removing the wiring harness that had been attached to the chassis and then winding up a pair of wires we still have no idea of what they do……

Could be a reverse light.

Any ideas?





Another job Nick had been wanting to do for a few weeks was to relay the loom into the rear of the car, a few more holes are needed to get the fuel system wiring in under rhe rear bed.



Also prepared was the earth cable and live wires to get them connected to the battery.

Nick soldered the lugs together as well, kinda impatient jobs.



The day turned out to be one of those that showed little, but a ton of stuff got done.

Progressing the build quite a lot more.

Stand by for more updates.


.

[Grizz1963]

So actually a really busy day yesterday.

Many time thieves……

We were busy all day till I had to tell Nick to get out and leave at 5.15 as he had a family event.

Sure he would not mind me mentioning, his mum was having her 1 in 4 birthday dinners……

Yup, 29 February is a bit of a rare one.


I welded up the under dash extender tray adding a pair of side flanges for mounting and weather or waterproofing.



And once tidied up it looked pretty decent for the job it needs to be doing.



Heater matrix box and blower unit tidied up and cut back earlier looks tidy now.

Placed in position.

Happy with that.



Once bolted down with some sealant under it, this should be a decent dry space too.

Air blower holes still need to be created and ducted once this unit and all the wiring has been laid and secured.

ECU, Fuse box, controllers still need locating and fixung inder the scuttle once the screen frame is welded and located.




One of @nickwheelers jobs on the master list was to create new earth and power leads, relocate some and also create more decent earthing points on the chassis.

A fair chunk of time that you cannot see has been allocated to these jobs.

Resulting in this sort of tidy improvement and install.

Massive thanks again.




More invisible jobs include removing chunks of the loom, rerouted cables etc in order to gain an inch or two of movement.

On the drivers side it is now possible to mount some modules upright and in an aesthetic and safe way.

The washer bottle will probably get a hole or two in the bulkhead today.

With power leads being rerouted inside the firewall.



Actually getting tidier every day.

Also at last the airbox relocation is complete with the supports in place.

One had to be removed, cut and rewelded by Nick because I screwed up when I got the height and angle wrong by 20mm which is a lot when you try to make stuff look great.



After Nick left I finished the blower/heater tray and packed up so Patient, saintly Sally could get a bit of my time.

Today could see a few jobs progress visibly too.

[Grizz1963]

[quote author="@nickwheeler" source="/post/2722532/thread" timestamp="1646530101"][quote source="/post/2722531/thread" author="@foxmcintyre" timestamp="1646527839"]Is your mystery wire a gearbox sensor for the MX5? They have a reverse light switch for well, the reverse lights, and a neutral position switch which works in tandem with the clutch pedal switch to allow the ecu to see if the car is in ‘drive (in gear, clutch released)’ or ‘neutral (or clutch depressed)’. [/quote]The mystery wire is for the reverse lights. But you've just cleared up why there are two other switches on the gearbox instead of just the speed sensor, and what the switch on the clutch pedal does. Which is a big help.

There are two 4-pin plugs near the passenger headlight that we still need to identify[/quote]


Anyone clever on here …..?


@rich this is the set Nick mentioned.

They are on the passenger side loom, toward the,front, but behind the headlight plugs.




And the wires feeding them.



Thank you for any help identifying them.

[Grizz1963]

Right……..

Price me this.

Bought by my lodger and some mates to use the chassis for building a ride to be used in the Red Bull Soap Box challenge.



The wheels were sold to @craigrk, and the motor which is UNTESTED and missing part of the air filter etc is available to me for a bid.

Believed to be a 160cc Chinese copy of a Honda motor.

Wht sort of money is this worth, and also what sort of offer should I make, that is, if you believe it can be gotten to start up,again.

It is planned as part of the bar stool racer I need to build.


If it can be started.

This is it.















So there you go.



Untested motor, was ridden to destruction on a kart by traveller kids, turns over freely, wheels were knackered and indicate a hard life.



I can buy it for a sensibly stupid offer.



So do I buy, try get it to run, or run away.


Thanks.

[LT7A]

I feel that well managed aluminum is a fix for almost anything. And that is a sheet of well-managed aluminum.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by LT7A

I feel that well managed aluminum is a fix for almost anything. And that is a sheet of well-managed aluminum.

Thank you very much.

I am pleased with the outcome.





Friday, and the week from hell ain’t over yet.

More training and bo110x from 9.45 onward, but hey………

Tomorrow’s Saturday.

Got nothing done this week except screwing with screws.

Windscreen screws painted as I could not find 40 new ones to hold down the strips I painted last week.



Removed the clamps and pushed the centre loom through the firewall.

Two more looms to get fitted over the fenders.

Really happy with how tidy it has come out.

Compared to what we started with.



In other news, the puppy is back, still in isolation, but seems fully recovered.



Looking forward to the weekend, still a few hours to go.

Onwards as our friend @pauly says.

[Grizz1963]

Got a call from Darren today.

Followed by some photos……

Headed in the right direction.





And sparkly.





Can you tell what it wants to be yet?



More work to be done tomorrow.

I do Need this.

[Grizz1963]

PS: Also made these…….

Bolted in under the hood/bonnet hinges against the firewall, under the scuttle with inverted T’s welded in place, they will be mounting points for the wiring looms.

Small jobs ehhhh??





Weekend ahead.

[Grizz1963]

Today was a great day.

Loads of progress, but apparently none visible.

As mentioned by @nickwheeler that’s where we are at this point.










So what did we get done?

Nick made some brackets, welded some on, drilled holes and generally got a load of invisoble jobs done.

Oh, and he smashed some rear lightbulbs on the driveway.

I did some woodwork, metal work, grinded and grinded some more on the dash and cluster.


I also dug out the Rocketpigs that @peteh1969 had 3D printed for me.

They need painting and detailing.

Still trying to figure what to do with the paint.

[Grizz1963]

So back to what took 6 hours yesterday.

@Nickwheeler was on electrical and bracket duties.

Making, shaping, welding earths, fuse box brackets etc.

Time flies when you make stuff to last.,
















At 5.30pm the wiring loom was removed AGAIN AND HOPEFULLY for the last time for some repairs by Nick.

Leaving the under dash support looking a bit lonely.

More fun later today.

[LT7A]

I don't think I'm much help on that little engine. I did notice that the sticker on the gas tank appears to tell you to be cautious and to read the bible, so I don't know if that helps... I don't think I would want to be bumping into that thing around the place if it wasn't running. So testing it might be a good idea, but you are in the middle of a bunch of other stuff and are on a good roll. Maybe offer them 10 pounds? More if they can get it running? I was thinking you had that neat little Briggs and Stratton already, the gold one. Would much rather have that than a Chinese knockoff, but maybe this is a backup engine?

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by LT7A

I don't think I'm much help on that little engine. I did notice that the sticker on the gas tank appears to tell you to be cautious and to read the bible, so I don't know if that helps... I don't think I would want to be bumping into that thing around the place if it wasn't running. So testing it might be a good idea, but you are in the middle of a bunch of other stuff and are on a good roll. Maybe offer them 10 pounds? More if they can get it running? I was thinking you had that neat little Briggs and Stratton already, the gold one. Would much rather have that than a Chinese knockoff, but maybe this is a backup engine?

Agreed.

I think the gold engine is a bit small.

The thing is one can get a cheapish chinese copy engine and save possibly hours worth of fighting with a dead engine.

I will think about it some more.