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

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by uber cool

Rian , love the two tone dash idea. When i get round to doing my 59 Apache interior I'll be doing the same. think it really makes the dash peak stand out

Funny that Andy.

Had I not seem Martin's, the idea would not have occurred to me.

[chad64chevy]

Rian, thank you thank you! the parcel came in an the kids love the stuff, an the beanies will be worn in the garage for sure!! thank you, pm me you address: the kids opened the parcel an I can't read your address on it anymore!!

[Ta2Don]

Originally Posted by chad64chevy

Rian, thank you thank you! the parcel came in an the kids love the stuff, an the beanies will be worn in the garage for sure!! thank you, pm me you address: the kids opened the parcel an I can't read your address on it anymore!!

Chad,

When you decide to mail a package to Rian, remember to write out "United Kingdom," apparently, some of the staff at the international mail depot in Florida are unaware that the initials U.K. stand for the United Kingdom...

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by chad64chevy

Rian, thank you thank you! the parcel came in an the kids love the stuff, an the beanies will be worn in the garage for sure!! thank you, pm me you address: the kids opened the parcel an I can't read your address on it anymore!!

Glad the parcel got there Chad.

It really was more of a welcome to your little Star.
If you and the kids n Dixiecan use the rest of the stuff, then it's perfect.

Originally Posted by [JP]

Love your workshop mate!!!

Thank you JP, the house belonged to Nicola's best friend for 25 years and we got lucky being able to buy it directly from them.

The garage was the biggest bonus though.

Always thankful for her finding the house. Weirdly it cost as much as a decent terraced house in town at the time.

Originally Posted by Bomp

Always a joy catching up on your progress.

Plans for the firewall?

Greg, at this point, the firewall will be tidy, clean and painted red. Nothing more, I hope.

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Chad,

When you decide to mail a package to Rian, remember to write out "United Kingdom," apparently, some of the staff at the international mail depot in Florida are unaware that the initials U.K. stand for the United Kingdom...

This is not the first time it has happened and interestingly, from here you have to state USA as well, not America for some silly reason.

[Grizz1963]

Another day of small but necessary jobs.

Today was time to pull the engine out the garage again, remember the last time it ended up on its nose, off the pallet.

So everything done carefully.

Remember this......l



Spent time masking up and sealing every possible hole. Also things like the carburettor.

Then started cleaning off years worth of oily residue and crud with a brush and some Gunk again.



This took quite a while to do, as it was layer upon layer.

Followed by the pressure cleaner.



Resulting is a clean engine and gearbox that I can now work on.



Lastly, I got a text from Ta2Don earlier on today to say that he had managed to take delivery of my new reverse threaded tie rod ends.

They should be in the post soon, then I can get on and finish up the front end.

[[JP]]

Love your workshop mate!!!

[Bomp]

Always a joy catching up on your progress.

Plans for the firewall?

[flashed]

Looks all nice and clean now .

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

Looks all nice and clean now .

I do love it clean and tidy.

And it needs to be as I will have Paul Y over to help, supervise, laugh at or maybe cry with me. So it needs to be clean.

I hope it turns out half decent in the end.

I have put a lot of work in and a lot of times the truck has fought me, being 50 years old, nothing is straight forward.

With the looming engine tear down, and knowing one of the gearbox mounting bolt holes was stripped, I needed to get some fixings, longer bolts for the engine stand and also a Helicoil kit for the various jobs ahead.

Gearbox mount (new) and its chassis mounting bolts...... Different bolts, this is the story of this truck.

Nothing predictable, bodge upon bodge.



And my problem. When I dismantled it, this one gearbox mount fitting almost fell out, stripped then. So I needed to fix that.



So I drove the 30 minutes to MBE Fasteners in Bearstead near Maispdstone to get the various bits. What a great bunch of guys, helpful, informed and informative and with a sense of humour.
All the bolts were only £4.00 or $6.00
The Helicoil repair kit comes in Imperial, and will be around £28.00 with free home delivery. Waiting for a price right now.
So hopefully that will be an easy fix.




In other news, a friend came around to pick up the strip lights I had removed from the garage and saw the teardrop trailer hubs and a wheel in the garage. After a short discussion, he offered to machine the hub neck so the centre of the wheel can fit and then drill and tap the hubs to take the 5x5.5 Chevy bolt pattern wheels in exchange for the free lights and a BBQ in summer. Good deal in my book, and I get to have company.







Remember the "Chopper Style" bicycle I bought a few weeks ago as a future project?
It needs a new front end and a lot of cleaning up.



Well, Rob, the guy I bought the truck from in June 2013 has bought a Harley to go with the other bikes he has in his garage and we were chatting about bicycles and I mentioned to him what I had bought and plans I had for it when he offered me the handlebars off his bike and he is going for a satin black and slightly different design.



I will need another lifetime to do all of this project stuff.

[flashed]

Those handlebars are going to look great on that bike and good deal on the wheel work with your friend .

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

Those handlebars are going to look great on that bike and good deal on the wheel work with your friend .

Always good to be able to share or help.

Friday night..... What a relief to be home.

Started my new job on Monday, trust me, it has been tough.

Loads of data being dumped on me, and much more still to come.

Anyway, I spoke to friend Euan "Moosevan" last week when I wanted to buy some Helicoils so that I could address the issue of stripped out threads on my gearbox. He offered to post out some of his Helicoils and the associated fitting tools.

On the way home tonight, I collected them as well.



Planning on going to Martins tomorrow afternoon to load the engine hoist, engine stand and some other bits.
Then on Sunday he will come over , as well as Paul Y and then we will tackle the garage, moving truck chassis, motorbike and engine etc about in the garage.
Followed by getting the gearbox off, drilled and tapped with the Helicoil.

Next up will be the engine strip down...........

[Grizz1963]

Fridayyyyyyyy...!!!

Week two completed on new job training.

Managed to scrape in on first test/exam with 94% yesterday (pass mark is 90%) and also passed first practical. Five plus two weeks to go.

Today is an office based admin training day at my agency HQ. Then home this afternoon.

Weekend will include online training and further validation and tests, along with cleaning the motors heads, block, cleaning and lapping in valves and possibly painting them all, plus a second coat of red to the sump cover.


Seems my new Sealed Pro gasket and rebuild set has arrived in the post from Langy's Rod Shop @ £40.00 including the postage as well, so all coming together slowly.

Insomnia still a bugger.

My friend Paul Y also sent me this message this week after his further research into my camshaft and motor....... Great to have friends who know what they are doing.

Had a chat with a pal of mine in the States earlier.

His view is that your cam is just a standard cam. Spoke to him about the broken spring. His view... Sh1t happens. The springs could be 45 years old!

On a budget he has used, to great effect Summits own brand cam. With the Camel Hump Heads you have, his view was that with the Sum-K1103 kit *and Sum-174001 valve springs you would be up about 280-ish HP. Plus a little lope to you idle but still good with stock cam and power brakes. Best bit was that I looked on the Summit website and it was about $170 so £120? Or if you use Langy to bring stuff in at Dollar for Pound exchange rate..... You do the maths and adding up.

The valve needed is a Sum v8008-1 but worth checking with Summit. They are about $10 each.

So then it is about $80 for the valve springs and valve or for an extra $100 you can get a nice new shiny potato potato potato cam 🤔

Spending you cash again!!


So looks like I have a bit of thinking to do.

And wait to hear what the comments and feedback *from the panel is.

I also need to try get to the gearbox over the weekend.

Flip, drill, tap and Helicoil the stripped mounting bolt hole.

Then also try figure this one out........

Paul brought me a gift when he visited..... Something from his Pandora's box of spares that he bought a long time ago.





So there you go.... Weekend plans.

[Grizz1963]

Right, it's late, possibly one of the nicest, longest days I have spent in the garage for months. I do not have my wife here this weekend as she is cat sitting for her daughter who is in California.

But it has meant that I got a big job done.

I feel really good, I have learned so much from this truck, from friends,,the Internet and,even YouTube.

It has stretched my personal,boundaries.

So today I cleaned the heads and block. It took the best part of 8 hrs.



First head done.





Found a bit of damage, can I live with it though??



Washed with petrol, blown clear with air......

Once I had both heads done, I brought in the two oil heaters and put them on the heaters so they could warm up for when I was ready to paint the parts.



Next up was the block. I needed to clean up the Pistons, bores and also all the old paint on it.



Once one side was done, it was time to move to the next side.



Then cleaned everything with clean petrol again, followed by thinners and a dry cloth and then masked it all off.



Next up was going to be the Chevrolet orange for all the parts that had gotten themselves warm in the mean time.

[Grizz1963]

Well, the VHT Chevy orange engine paint went on without a hitch.

Good preparation, cleaning three times over and some head in the steel meant good adhesion.

Rattle cans work well if you,are patient and keep the distance equal on every pass.



Result, three coats on flat surfaces, more on the bends.



Masked up and cleaned block painted too.



Very pleased with the results of today's work.

Almost 01.00 now, so bed time I would think.

Final pic just for Greg "Bomp" in Kaiser, Oregon........... There you go my young friend.

[Bomp]

Final pic just for Greg "Bomp" in Kaiser, Oregon........... There you go my young friend.

[/quote]

Paint fumes that strong? lol, love it.

[ibrown50]

Great progress Rian, engine looks great and unlike many men, your wife can't accuse you of not knowing how to use the oven

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

If the aroma is still there when the boss gets home, tell her the cats had gas.

Always blame the cars or neighbours Bill.

Originally Posted by flashed

It looks good ,she will never know unless she reads this post.

Or till Don mentions it on FaceTime.

Originally Posted by 65sub

The engine looks good Rian. Like all wives I'm sure your wife won't mind you cooking engine parts in the oven.

I am fortunate, she handles most of these things and even encourages them at times.

Originally Posted by Bomp

Final pic just for Greg "Bomp" in Kaiser, Oregon........... There you go my young friend.

Paint fumes that strong? lol, love it.

Yuuuuuuuppp....!!!

They certainly are.

Originally Posted by ibrown50

Great progress Rian, engine looks great and unlike many men, your wife can't accuse you of not knowing how to use the oven

Real men and all that.



My friend Don in Searcy, Arkansas sent me this yesterday when he saw it.






Badged as a Chevrolet, but of course we know it is an Isuzu of the time.


Wonder what serious mischief it hides.

Small body could do well if sorted right under the skin.

[clemdaddy]

Originally Posted by Bomp

Final pic just for Greg "Bomp" in Kaiser, Oregon........... There you go my young friend.

Paint fumes that strong? lol, love it.[/QUOTE]

yep, sure signs... notice the redness of the eyes, the unnatural grin, the constant surprised look. definitely post paint syndrome.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by clemdaddy

Paint fumes that strong? lol, love it.

yep, sure signs... notice the redness of the eyes, the unnatural grin, the constant surprised look. definitely post paint syndrome.[/QUOTE]

You know then Clem.


I posted some pics on FB over the weekend and a random guy asked me about the casting numbers etc.

Fortunately Imhad taken some photos for Ian Brown as well over the weekend and showed them on FB. Within minutes he had posted the dates my heads were casted.

This is why I love these forums so much.





Looking forward to the rest of this rebuild and getting the motor back in the chassis.

[Palf70Step]

Glad to hear you survived the first week Rian. Good to see headway going again on ole red.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Glad to hear you survived the first week Rian. Good to see headway going again on ole red.

Thanks Bill, it has been tough and this was only week one of seven in class training. There are also two weeks of shadowing and practical experience.


Trailer hubs.....

Puddle weld in old wheel nuts in place after securing new threads with the new wheel bolts.





Then also cut off the tops to fill the original holes.



Refitted the hubs to the trailer and painted them a coat of red to cover the original burgundy.



And of course the chrome smoothies refitted.

Now I would love to find a set of narrow Rallyes to go with the set I got for the truck..... Typical.




Next up I swapped the whole garage around again and got the other side of the garage ready for tomorrow's engine dismantling.




Tonight, some television and a drink.

Tomorrow......

Fun.

[clemdaddy]

Tonight, some television and a drink.
Tomorrow......Fun.

Make it a stiff one buddy… you've deserved it.

[Palf70Step]

[flashed]

Your garage looks nice and neat ,have fun tomorrow .

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by clemdaddy

Make it a stiff one buddy… you've deserved it.

I did Clem

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Thanks Bill.

Originally Posted by flashed

Your garage looks nice and neat ,have fun tomorrow .

Hmmmmmm. Neat is relative.

I would like it better, but for now, this will have to do.



Over to mate Martins early today to help him load the hoist, engine stand etc into his car.

Poor guy, had not slept for three nights with his dog being sick and himself with some unpleasant sounding chest infection.

Still, he had said he would do it, so dragged himself out and delivered.....

Paul Y also came over early to supervise (well, he did all the work as he has built a few engines and knows his way around) he also tried along with Martin to teach me stuff, I think I make a good cuppa tea though.



No smiles today......



I took photos of stuff in position and also the progress, that is my job.



I did help find some nuts n bolts and made a few bits up.



Ohhhh, and another useful tool....... Keeps stuff in position. Simple.



Moving stuff about.



Very good news.... It's a four bolt main.

And the oil pump has been upgraded.





Then when the front end got opened.... Timing chain good.

But note the position of the timing marks......... Way out it seems.



With the camel hump heads off, it was found that most of the exhaust valves were missing their valve stem seals.



The engine has definitely been rebuilt previously, block has been decked, it has a +30 overbore with the cross hatching very visible, new brass freeze plugs, new oil plugs, oil pump, you get the picture.

In the truck the engine was running fine, and the reason for the tear down was that is was using a lot of oil and low compression on No 1 (both wet and dry). Think we have found the problem for the excessive oil use, lack of valve stem oil seals on exhausts, and a build up of carbon under the exhaust valve on No.1 giving a bad seal against valve seat. Upon disassembly the whole engine smelt of burnt oil and the heads and pistons had a heavy coating of oily carbon. Maybe because it has a broken valve spring, that valve has a mushroomed valve stem (and may possibly be bent)

The cam itself is undamaged, the lifters are good and the pushrods are straight.

So, the need to identify it is to ensure that the correct valve springs are procured and the mystery of the off timing marks can be solved.

What are the markings on the cam then ?

Glad you asked - This is what is cast into the cam

EP6
30
D8
C8
C5
CWC

There is also Blue and Purple paint on the distributor drive end of the cam and a 2 white spots half way down.

On the distributor end there is also an A punched into the shaft. Other than that there are no marking or casting number.

I 'think' that it is a Chevy cam rather than an after market item but happy to be proved wrong.

Spring has sprung.







So that then was the fun for today.

Seems the motor needs a few bits to get it back together.

A valve, springs, clean up and some info as tow hat motor this may be, so that I know what springs to buy.

Thanks as always to helping friends, Paul and Martin.

Back to normal tomorrow.