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

[LT7A]

You guys are getting into the details now, that is cool to see! I'm sorry to hear that Sally's picked up the covid. I hope that she can get the rest she needs and that it is not severe and that she gets better quickly.

I like your country album. Maybe the next one can pick up on geographical themes. I have a couple ideas: "It's All The Thames To Me" (BTW, I know it's pronounced tams). And "Hoo Is Saint Mary To Yoo?".

Nice grab on the vice. At this point in life, I am striving not to gain any new vices, haha. But that is one that I would happily add to my repertoire. Here, we spell it vise so, fortunately I am able to distinguish between the two. Mostly.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by LT7A

You guys are getting into the details now, that is cool to see! I'm sorry to hear that Sally's picked up the covid. I hope that she can get the rest she needs and that it is not severe and that she gets better quickly.

I like your country album. Maybe the next one can pick up on geographical themes. I have a couple ideas: "It's All The Thames To Me" (BTW, I know it's pronounced tams). And "Hoo Is Saint Mary To Yoo?".

Nice grab on the vice. At this point in life, I am striving not to gain any new vices, haha. But that is one that I would happily add to my repertoire. Here, we spell it vise so, fortunately I am able to distinguish between the two. Mostly.

Sally is not stopped by much.

Having had to take a week off work (paid vacation) but lost overtime she has not stopped.

The $3300.00 dent the dog put in her emergency savings fund is a huge hole, and at the near minimum wage she earns, it will take her 2 years to regain that from saving and overtime.

Always space for another album

I am a fan of free cash, so my eyes are always open.

The vise was a stroke of luck, there is so much good stuff people throw out, it hurts my head.






Popped out to the metal recyclers yesterday to see if I could find something that is already bent in the shape of the instrument cluster to cut down as a small peak.

No luck, but a beer keg rim would work.

Except it is just too ugly and heavy.

But while rummaging I found a complete, hardly used Record No 111 vise/vice (never sure what spelling is correct.

Asked about it.

“Gotta weigh it mate, then ask the Guv” came the reply.

5 minutes later I had it for £10.00

Now I need a bigger welding table.

I also picked up a few loose bits, declared them and got them for free.







On the way home I made two stops, first to pick up so e brake fittings with no nuts, and then at the local motor spares shop the nuts at 40p each.

@nickwheeler was helpful in sharing a pic for the new guy at Aghabridge of exactly what was needed as he could not locate them, based on my description.

So brake lines can be added now.




And following a 3 hour online training session, Sally and Bonnie popped in so the dog that still is in isolation, as is Sally, could run around in my back yard.

Amazing that 10 days ago this was a very ill dog with Parvovirus.

Now she is nonstop.



Day job is a bit hectic at the moment, and working face to face most days means no chance for quick win jobs.

The weather this week is also less than ideal with cold and rain forecaat.

Have a good day.

[Grizz1963]

I wanted to go play a bit last night after I got home and did for 20 minutes, then the chill, and wet decided it was less than pleasant out there and I came inside.

I was going to make some under dash hook brackets to hold the wiring loom up and out the way, but I got very wet out back digging through my scrap pile in the hope to find some ready made bits to adapt.

While I stood deciding what to do next, I made a short clip of the rain falling on the tin roof of the carport and driveway, enjoying the fact I had a dry space, despite now being soaked myself.

Sent it to my brother “Dozer” in South Arica and a minute later he replied with……. “Hey, why not mount that 7.5 ton truck valence as a bikini roof on,the Rezin Rockit?”

What a great idea to at least investigate.

So with so e trimming, figuring a secure method of fixing, it could be a starter.


So, this…….




Goes there:






Masking tape, sharpie, jigsaw, powerfile, fixings……..

Hey, a job for another day.

Maybe.

[Grizz1963]

25 days without a phone or internet, wifi etc when you run a home based office…..

And mobile reception that does not receive any signal.

So yesterday, I actually walked out of my Friday meeting and killed some time.

Weirdly, at 4.00pm a BT Openreach telephone technician arrived, two hours later magically…….. Phone and services restored.

So what else did I get done.

I bit the bullet and cut back the instrument cluster face and peak.

Hacksaw job.

Then took a long tome to shape and file and grind it to a point where the next phase could be started.



This was a very high risk manoeuvre as it was snowing intermittently outside the garage which makes plastics extremely fragile.

I knew I had this piece of plastic for the last 10 or more years, found it, marked out, Stanley knife, prayed and snappe…….d.



More cutting, grinding on the bench grinder……

Loads of scratches……..



Then some towels, cloths and G3 rubbing compound, an hour later I was halfway there, drilled a hole for the speedo reset button.



Followed by more finger polishing, grinding, filing, you get the picture.

I am happy to say, it is far from perfect.

But good enough.

Don’t like it?

Come over, make a new one, fit it.



Next up.

Inbetween helping the telephone company guy sort out my phone and internet, including removing some plugs to speed up my internet microscopically the next job surfaced.

Making a template for that little peak to finish off the cluster once fitted to the dash, after the vinyl is ordered to cover it all.

CAD Rules as @nickwheeler says.



While working on this, I also decided to try fit the cluster from behind, and not out front as planned.

This reduces it by 12mm

And still fits and allows the three loom plugs to be connected (I hope)



After some fine tuning, grinding and a load of bending I think we have a workable solution.



It will get bonded around the trim, and the vinyl will get tucked in behind the clocks etc.

Work in progress yes.



I also sanded and painted the piece and then closed shop at 7.00pm as my bones were chilled working out there with snow still swirling about.

This morning I noticed the outside temperature is at -2’C

Where is summer now?

[LT7A]

Those are great little T standoffs for the wiring. And it looks like your gauge pod is working out well.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Those are great little T standoffs for the wiring. And it looks like your gauge pod is working out well.

Morning,

You still up?

Yes, they are nice, specifically bent to not damage the wires once finally assembled.




So while Nick was making sparks, I carried on making dust and some occasional sparks.

I knew I had to head toward this adhesive and getting the cluster sorted.

But it’s another slow job, to get the right finish.



Cardboard template followed by Dexian shelving donor still giving.



Cut out and rough shaped.



Followed by adding some studs to have hidden fasteners.



Test fit, again.



Followed by my favourite part of the job. Paint

Mainly for preventing rust once closed up in padding and vinyl.



Once the paint dried, I messed it up again by gluing and clamping it all together overnight.



One more job before closing up the shop was to carefully line the edge of the cluster trim with black adhesive and then clamp the screen once carefully laid down, AFTER ENSURING NO FINGERPRINTS ON THE INSIDE OF THE SCREEN.



Typically, Nick and I stood talking for some time, then I dragged out the grinder and powerfile again and trimmed back the ECU bracket, that looks lovely now.

Funny how we decide to stop work and then start again, just doing that one more little job.

I fetched the dash and cluster in earlier this morning to warm up indoors, trimming the excess glue on the dash and masking the cluster for fixing the small cowl next, and leaving it alone.

Chilly outside this morning.

Onwards

[Grizz1963]

@pauly will attest to us all being young and happy once.

Or more than once.

6 plus years ago, Facebook reminded me over the weekend, the Chevy C10 was having its V8 and Transmission rebuilt and serviced.

Can it be so long already?

Of course if you,look at the “Not a Project” Prozac etc, it is easy to see.








So,Sunday morning I popped down to the garage early to unclamp fetch the dash and cluster for the next part of their marrying up.

It all takes time.



Masking up the cluster to fix the peak in position.



Once glued up, I wanted to mount my new large vice/vise on the welding table, which became a suddenly distracted clearing operation.

Including cutting up the proposed sunny day roof and trying it out on the car.

I think it is a clear NO.



After that, I got refocussed and started to measure, cut, glue the support strips for the side panels under the dash, over the tunnel.

I also created and prepped, then welded 11 studs to wide plates, to be used to pull the dash into the original fiberglass dash (what is left of it) once the vinyl and scrimmfoam,are applied, as well as switches etc.

Everything does take time



And the result.



I did other odd jobs like removing and etch priming the Land Rover door hinges, they will be black.

When @Nickwheeler came, it was coffee, chat and straight into electricals.

His mission and ambition was to connect the battery and see and hear some sort of life.

After some time he called me over…….

We could see that the ECU was alive, and how many miles the engi e had covered.



Time for coffee and sausage rolls then.

Next up, testing the front circuits.

Lights.



Then after testing he started to resplice the first LED headlight, removing the original plug, as we needed an extra 400mm length to make it all work.



On finishing soldering in new plugs etc, time for a test.

Ooooopppsss….. FAIL !!!

Perplexed we both stood retracing steps, testing plugs etc.

I had had a long day, and was stressing about Mondays two meetings, one may well affect me in a way that I do not care to be affected in.

So I actually insisted in us closing shop by 18.30 and go inside, have a couple of cheese and ham rolls and a well deserved alcoholic beverage.

Nick insisted on taking one more look though…….



But we found nothing at that point, packed away, closed shop and walked away, having hit a small wall.

Next weekend both of us have stuff on, so progress may be slower than we would like.

Hey Ho !!




For those that have managed to stay awake to this point, a quick rubbish 1 minute Video.


CLICK LINK


https://youtu.be/S6Wcetfch1I



VIDEO DOES SHOW IT ALL WAS WORKING.


SO WHAT COULD IT BE WITH REWIRING THE LED LIGHTS ?


Have a good week.

[Grizz1963]

Popped in at Aghabridge on the way home to get some fuel hose and proper clamps.

Also grabbed three cans of satin black for any small jobs that need a few squirts of black.

Will be useful to get the fuel lines, tank and engine sides all connected safe;y.



After dinner I was bored, so went down to get the hinges coated in black, they have always bothered me since day one.

Back side.



Front side, multiple coats and heat gun used to warm it all up.



Another 30 minute job out the way.

Time thieves.


On the way home I also popped into the scrap yard to see if they would sell an even larger vice/vise I had seen the other day.

No luck, they use it.

But I did see this little aluminium boat……

Sooooo wanted it, and yes it would be for sale.

Sense prevailed.




Later gang.

[LT7A]

I was up late but was gone by the time you replied to my post a few nights ago. The way that you guys are chipping away at things, if you're not careful, that neat little ride is going to be done pretty soon. I live near a river that nobody goes out on. It's a stream compared to your River, but is plenty big to take a boat up and nobody does. Not in the area I live in anyway, further downstream it's run by larger boats. I really want to get one about that size, maybe a little bigger, that one is 8 ft? I want to be able to row it and putt it around a little with an outboard on it.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by LT7A

I was up late but was gone by the time you replied to my post a few nights ago. The way that you guys are chipping away at things, if you're not careful, that neat little ride is going to be done pretty soon. I live near a river that nobody goes out on. It's a stream compared to your River, but is plenty big to take a boat up and nobody does. Not in the area I live in anyway, further downstream it's run by larger boats. I really want to get one about that size, maybe a little bigger, that one is 8 ft? I want to be able to row it and putt it around a little with an outboard on it.

That boat may be closer to 10 foot.

But not sure.



One of my American buddies is building a house for a lady friend……..

I am always amazed at what people get up to.

Andy is beyond 70 and very successfully retired from the Oklahoma oilfields.

I guess some people need to keep busy.

I asked him for a pic that included him.




Wonder what I will be like in 15 years.

[Grizz1963]

Couple o random pics.

Showing where you could start and where the horizon could be,

Have decided to take Friday off work, day vacation in order to get some random small jobs done on the Rezin Rocket.






Looking forward to some small bits of progress again.

Stuff needs to get done.

[Grizz1963]

Working from home today……….

Been online since 06.00 to try figure out and sort some listings for the new boss that the office screwed up REALLY BADLY
Why can’t they leave stuff alone that works perfectly.

Anyway, what it may just mean is a longer lunch hour and not commuting 2.5 hours

Leading to you know what.

And taken tomorrow off as a vacation day

That does mean three 4 day weeks in a row.

Is life good??

[Grizz1963]

LOVE IT WHEN SCRAP WORKS.

ALL FREE STUFF MOVING ABOUT.

Drawers are off to a new home tonight.

[Grizz1963]

Remember the dash…..?


Vinyl got to be delivered today.

So tomorrow I need to get on with the dash.\

Need to go buy some contact glue.





More little jobs.

[Grizz1963]

Last night I got these photos.

Progress on the fuel tank.

Includes welded baffle plates to keep it tight.

Original MX5 fuel tank with pump and senders and returns.

I hope it all fits in under the floor.

I envisage lengthening of some wires to make them reach.

















Early start at the garage, Sally is off today, so I may have to payback a bit (unlikely) and mate @craigrk is coming to collect a load of stuff I collected for him and staying over before heading back to Shropshire tomorrow afternoon. Also need a tin of contact adhesive for the vinyl work once all is prepped.


Loads to get onto today.


Later.

[Grizz1963]

For those who like animals, and in this case, dogs.

Went for a walk, met a German Shepherd named Gus. Adult dog.

She went straight in and was running circles around him.

Back home, typically, she figured out she could get into the bird bath for a drink.





Water dog?



Certainly worth the money the Parvovirus cost us.

Every day is a joy.

[Grizz1963]

RIGHT………


Time for the Tech-Heads to pop their heads up like a family of Meerkats.


Exhaust and Tank were the last big jobs to get done before bolting the body down again (maybe finally)

Along with brakes, wiring etc that are all easier to get to without the tub in the way.


So on Sunday after bolting the tank into place, this was the view from the rear.



And poking a long stick in the open down pipe and resting it on the rear axle gave me this……



I could not get the Ford Ka 1.6 rear box that @kevins donated to the build, in there with it curly piece attached. And was not going to start cutting it up.

Measuring up the various length and diameters gave me this…….

Ford Ka rear box entry is 2” but the pipe welded to it is 1.75”

It will need cutting and rewelding to make it over the rear axle, fit next to the tank and hang in a way that the rear exit pipes look right.





On the engine side the original down pipe exits this flange at 2” vs the rear end at 1.75” of the Ka bendy bit.

I am happy to reuse the Ka bendy bit of course, if I can make it all come together.

Having spoken to @pauly my guru (one of many) it seems that change in diameter will make little difference in this sort of car.





So it leaves me with about 1200mm of straight 2” pipe to buy and some fiddling to make it all come together, and some welding,and a clamp or such, along the way.

Paperwork summary



Over to the collective.

[Grizz1963]

I am sooooo looking forward to an early finish tomorrow as the last three weeks have been a bit full on.

And there is talk of another restructure for Q3 so June/July sh!t will happen for some of us, kills my head.

Last night after I got home and wrapped the work day up, I needed a small win to just help my head relax a bit.

So I grabbed the badges @peteh1969 had printed for me, and the paints that @gentabout Dean had brought over on the weekend and sat down indoors.

Starting with the Piggy Pink, I soon realised that I needed much more light, and a pair of reading glasses as some of the colour inserts are very small.

These is also paint spillage that will be corrected when I do the final fill with black on the raised edges, followed by application of a clear sealing coat as directed by Pete.




Piggy Pink done.

Bloody slow job.



At this point I poured a sherry.

Yes, something sweet.



I also decided to add some Silver to the Rocket as the black as per original artwork would blend too much and get a bit heavy.

Glad I did.



And finally I had to step away from the paint.



And closer up for the Zoomers.



Next job will be black edges etc to tidy it all up, followed by clear over the whole lot.

And no, not going to resin fill them, though it is extremely tempting.

I suspect that I would get caught out by the curing times and bubbles in the corners when you look at just how fine the tolerance is on some parts here.

So compared to the original from page one of the build thread, I am happy with the result.

Even from 3 foot they will look fine.

I trust.


u][/u]



And 3, 2 , 1 and back to reality and the day job.


Almost the weekend.

[Grizz1963]

Was looking for a pic that shows how and where the fuel tank used to sit.

Looks low to be honest.

Found these pics from 18 months ago.

Just how far has it come.

Thanks to all the helpers, advisors and watchers.




Copied and pasted for my own pleasure.





So late afternoon yesterday after getting back from shops and various jobs, Sally and I were able to start on looking at, and cleaning the Piggy.

She continues to surprise me.

By the time I came out the house after doing some work stuff that needed to be dealt with, this is what I found.



And the back of it looking like this



So proceeded to get a brush, wheelie bin and scoop.....

About 1/3 of the bin filled with leaves and debris.



Moss next, and leaves under the hood.

How does it all get in there?



After all this, I went to get my pressure cleaner, forgetting that it really does not work anymore, resulting in waking Mickey up from his 6.00pm post pub sleep, he was zonked.

Got his cleaner and then proceeded with the job for an hour or so.





Only got the rear half done, as it turned cold and light was fading.

But happy so far. Need to do the rest today.



Starting with it looking like this.......



Pressure cleaner left it like this, after intense, close up cleaning



Much better, but still not right.

I thought I would try a trick I used on the Chevy Blazer glassfibre roof before.

Domestos bleach gel, brushed on neat, washed off after 5 minutes, removes the staining, giving a much nicer look.




So off to the tyre place next, then back to pressure clean the rest of it, followed by bleach to remove the stains after that, and another pass with the pressure cleaner to remove it all.

Hope to get that all done today.

[Grizz1963]

Well.

So much for taking the day off to do stuff.

But, I did manage to clean up and sweep up the whole carport and drive after yesterday’s storms deposited half the garden un under the Rezin Rockit.

Mickey was clearing out his garage, and a load of electrical tools.

Now the first thing I will say is that you have to be bloody desperate for a few beers to stand and cut all the electrical cables of perfectly good power tools.

Sadly, he does like a drink, a lot.

So before the tools ended up on the sidewalk to be collected as scrap, I put them all in the wagon and brought them home, along with a couple of small metal toolboxes, one of which will be added to the rear of the car.

@craigrk will be here tonight to collect them and some more stuff I have collected for him over the last three months or so.

Dewalt cross cut saw is in working condition as are the others.





It never ceases to amaze me how wasteful people can be, and then complain about the cost of living.

I was also speaking with,Darren at Unit Engineering this morning about a good time to collect the fuel,tank, which is now completed.

So after agreeing to “any time” I messaged Sally to ask if she wanted to go with to Sheppey.

She needed new trainers, a soft toy for Bonnie (from a charity shop) and I needed to find a large piece of high density foam to add to the inner firewall as noise absorption and to tidy up all the visible fasteners in there.
No luck on finding an inch thick yoga mat type piece of foam, but trainers and toys ✅


Then around to Darrens shop to collect the tank and scavenge as usual.


I also had marked the gearshift extension where it needed to be kinked.



So we put it in the hydraulic press and managed to get it perfectly bent.

The sort of service you do not get many places.



And easy as that.

Kinky.



Back home, Sally went off to get her seedlings potted for this year. And I unpacked the car.

First thing…………

Screw it in.

Love it.



Scavenging at Darrens yard, I found and traded two sets of gokart wheels.

One set for me, one set for Craigs wagon he is building on the chassis he bought off Uncle Bob.



Why would you want a 3 Series or C-Class sedan when you can have a wagon.

Loaded.



Love a wagon, did I mention it already?

Unloaded.



Tank needs to be dried out before assembly.

I am also going to drill and weld in a drain plug in the bottom, in case one ever needed it.

Then once fitting starts, I will make up the tabs to weld on and bolt it under the body so all access is free to the feeds and wiring.

The Mazda fuel tank parts were shortened to fit in the 10 inch depth of the new tank.



Now headed down to the garage for a late start.

What next.

[Grizz1963]

Smallest parcel ever.

Replacement fog light switch.



One of the small toolboxes Mickey threw out will become the fuel filler cover.

Mocked up with the back cut out, and lockable should work.





Back to the new tank.

Do I add in a drain plug on the underside?

Cutting this one from the old tank and cleaning and welding it in.



Made some new mounting tabs for the new tank.

Hope to get them on today.





I am hoping for around 10 inches clearance at the rear, and more than the diff once tank is filled, and new tyres are loaded.



Breakfast next.

[Grizz1963]

Back home and out by 11.00 today.

Breakfast was nice, but felt like a waste of garage time.

Still, no regrets.

So I tidied up, and added a few bits to the welds.

Also opened the mounting holes on the tabs.



And on so that I could work out the next job…….

Guessing time.

What?





Once the tank is fitted the filler neck is now this low as I have dropped the tank so the MX5 fuel system can fit under the floor.



So I created a template to cut away the bottom of the toolbox that will hold the filler cap once completed.

Cut, cleaned up.



Ready for etch primer.



And primed.



I think it will be a Marmite addition to the car.

I like Marmite.

[Grizz1963]

Paging @nickwheeler

Hammerite rules.

One for you

Painted tank.



Also test fitted this one.

I know there is a change I am considering but need to consider it first.





Back in a bit.

[Grizz1963]

5 minutes in the garage.

And it all ground to a halt.

One nut undone with an impact wrench.

One looks like it is welded, and rounded off with the rattle gun.

Do I cut and drill the studs out and start again ?







Thought I would lay the basics out on the floor.



Hopefully it will come together soon enough.

.

[Grizz1963]

Before I forget.

Ordered some Johnsons Klear off Amazon to coat the badges with.

Said to dry both hard and with UV protection.

Also did the black outlines.

Plenty Good Enough for a 3 foot inspection.





A lot of the detail will be lost on the casual observer.

But it makes me smile.