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

[Grizz1963]

After work I thought I would go mock up the roll bar in order to calculate the rear braces.

Then realised that the seats need to be in to get the spacing and angles right, and that would result in the braces and top support being in tje right position.

Bloody hell, it took forever to get all the bolts n nuts fitted and fixed down.

I also added the second lap strap on the drivers side to the seat, bolting it to the original seatbelt mount.





Once the seats were in, and tested, and passed on QC, the next was to add in the CAD piece behind the eat.

Followed by the rear brace which mounts at the same level as the shoulder harness mounting brace.

I wanted them to be as unobtrusive as possible. Success.

It then mounts int the chassis through the rear chassis mounting plates.



If I manage to get the pipe bends right, this could work OK.

Next will be making up a CAD profiles for the braces.

Fingers crossed of course.

[LT7A]

I enjoyed the walking tour. Hard to believe all that is within walking distance of where you live, or maybe where Sally lives? Whatever the case, on foot. Nice tour. Looks like the roll bar is shaping up well.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by LT7A

I enjoyed the walking tour. Hard to believe all that is within walking distance of where you live, or maybe where Sally lives? Whatever the case, on foot. Nice tour. Looks like the roll bar is shaping up well.

Morning,

Thank you for the reply.

The place we went to walk is 4 miles from my home, and 6 1/4 miles from Sally’s place.

So certainly within walking distance.

It is all about giving the dog more range.

I do hope the rollbar comes out well.










George, the cat I don’t have, seems to have settled in here.

His owner is pregnant with No2 and it seems he prefers sleeping here most days.

Easy pet ownership in a way. He comes, he eats (I leave some dry food in a plate for him to graze from and give him the odd bit of chicken or ham, yes he trained me well) he sleeps, he leaves. And repeat.

[Grizz1963]

More parts to the puzzle ordered in

£54.00 from Evilbay.

Hope the drivers side fits in.






And rather than collecting on Saturday morning, delivery of a 4.2 meter and two lengths of 1.2 meters of pipe, to add to mine.

Also realised that the rear braces need to be different to create the right look.



Can you see the rear brace?



I am really liking that.

More on Saturday.

[Grizz1963]

After work. Work.













Weekend.

[Grizz1963]

Just bent a pair of braces before coffee and toast with Sally this morning.

Cross brace cutting next, then make it all fit by cutting the curved shapes where they all join, grind back all the galvanising so I can stick weld them together and tack onto the base plates after I make the rear base mounting plates plates and weld in a pair of captive bolts so they all can slip fit together and be bolted down in one, once full welded up.
.



Fingers crossed.

[Grizz1963]

Long day.

Made the rear chassis mounting plates for the supports.







Then made some “fish mouth” or whatever you call them, joins.



Mocked up.



Chassis mounting plates welded on the braces.



Mounted in the cab, roll hoop in place, on its base plates……

For the anal amongst us, zoom in, knock yourself out.



Carrying on, later, around 5.00pm John the lodger joined me, both to help and give advice.

Then Mickey came around.

They sat chatting, discussing South London, where they both grew up, a lifetime ago.

Mickey had to point out the joins being very good.



A load of preparation and grinding to make the joins work.



Lots of tacking in place, removing and stick welding.








Getting there, bit by bit.


.

Happy



Done.

Paint in the morning.

FIA approved………



Cheese and crackers for dinner.

A serious rum, after a tall beer.

Tired tonight.

Rewarded




Bootfair in the morning, if I wake in time..

[LT7A]

Roll bar looks very tidy. I'm noticing the primary colors on the material. Is there a a playground nearby that is now missing part of its equipment? Or a schoolyard that's a little emptier than it used to be, haha?

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Roll bar looks very tidy. I'm noticing the primary colors on the material. Is there a a playground nearby that is now missing part of its equipment? Or a schoolyard that's a little emptier than it used to be, haha?

Morning mate

Colours may be ownership of various companies.

I was not too bothered about the crying kids with no jungle gym.

[Grizz1963]

Sunday morning a few yard jobs etc.

No bootfair as I was awake from 3.15 to 5.00 and then snoozed to 07.00

Then onto a bit more tidying up on the welds, which had actually gone really well, with deep penetration.

Hammerite



Mickey was around for an hour or so too.





Before lunchtime, an unusual treat for me, I rarely drink beer. But the heat and feeling good about the finished rollbar necessitated it.



Second coat later in the afternoon when Nick was here.



In the afternoon, Nick came, we chatted a while, opened another beer(s) and pressure tested the cooling system, a clamp tightened up more saw it all show as dry.

Nice testing kit.



Pressure.



One of the small eyesore jobs to do was clean and rattle can the radiator in a dusting of satin black.

So once more dismantling the front end, well, it became twice.



Blacker.



While at it, I also made and folded a blanking plate for the top of the radiator to drive all the air over it, and also close up the view into the engine bay.



In the mean time Nick and John were trying to figure out the wiring and lights……

Reported above, and looking for a left hand light unit.



With the lighting failure, Nick then added some Riv-Nuts to the back of the bumper to retain the lower lip of the front grille.






After final assembly, the black blanking plate and grille do look a lot tidier too.



So a weekend with a fair amount of stuff getting done.

Thanks for checking in.

[Grizz1963]

[quote author="@westbay" source="/post/2736092/thread" timestamp="1655105341"][a href="https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125337339091?hash=item1d2eb004d3:g:ScAAAOSwBDJikUp7"]link[/a][/quote]


THANKS A MIL TONY.



BOUGHT.



DELIVERY BY FRIDAY, HOPEFULLY.

[LT7A]

I like that riv-nut tool. Roll bar looks nice painted up. And the kids are a lot less likely to recognize it...

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by LT7A

I like that riv-nut tool. Roll bar looks nice painted up. And the kids are a lot less likely to recognize it...

Brilliant tool. Not cheap but worth the money

As for kids…….





Saw this on Bookface this morning, a builder I have followed a while.

The sort of thing I would love the Rezin Rockit to be.

He raffles 450 tickets at P2500.00 or 2500 Philippines Peso’s or £39.00

Last one was won by a guy in the UAE.

Shipping and collection etc would be your problem.


As mentioned by @redratbike in an earlier conversation today, it may not be an ideal daily.


But man, I would love to have one.



























Hope you enjoyed.


Feel free to add your Jeep fantasies.

[Grizz1963]

So the roll hoop is done.

Next stop…. Get the Harnesses attached.

Needs some slide buckles.

3mm steel plate should do just fine, NASCAR approved after all.



Chassis and seat mounts as well .

Copy



Cut



Finesse



@nickwheeler it, I mean paint.




Also in the post today.

These.

Should clear things up a bit.



Biggest concern was if the motor would fit in a way that would leave my knuckles intact.

Success it seems.



Another small step forward.

[Grizz1963]

Bit of a hectic day.

Fitted at 07.30 this morning with Mickey’s help lifting it in.

Had to use a small hydraulic bottle jack to push the front feet open about 15mm that the heat distortion had created.

Bolted down.

Pretty (very) happy with the overall look.

Closer to my visualisation than I deserve.

Most importantly was getting it to lean back to mimic the “B-post on the entrance/door.



Rear supports hardly impair load area. So some practicality retained.



Unobtrusive from the front.



This is a great point to have made it to in my opinion from where it started.




How much further before the final straight??


.

[Grizz1963]

Harnesses are different makes and needed different approaches.

Some changes may still be affected.







Drivers side HOOKER Harness.



Passenger is SIMPSON ITEM.



Lots more to come I guess.

Awaiting rear light units.

[Grizz1963]

Also in the post/mail today a random sticker.

I like the sentiment.

And have suspicion who it is from.

Come on…… own up.



Certainly will be used on the ally firewall.

[Grizz1963]

So last night I went out in the truck to the 6 Bells pub in Cliffe for a car meeting.

A load of very different stuff, older, newer, traditional, not so traditional…..

Noisy Harleys ridden by crippled geriatrics trying to grasp that last handful of youthful pleasure. And making me look the other way while they rev up their overly loud, expensive steeds, tottering about trying to park them for all to admire.
These are absolutely beautiful machines, don’t get me wrong, and I have ridden since age 13.

Click link for photos.


https://forum.retro-rides.org/thread...m-retro-loaded






Today was hot, unpleasantly hot, even the dog was not impressed.





Quick after work job.

Buckle for the crotch strap.

And then bolted into the frame as well.





Tight, but adjustable fit

.

Done.



Weekend has arrived.

[Grizz1963]

Ahhhh, MOT man says you need to see where you just came from.

Combined a set of old and new mirrors.



Needs tidying up.



Better



4 of these made as only one original.



Ready




Tight fit, call the octopus.



Arms on.



Done.



Looks so wiiiiide now.





Central rear view mirror also contemplated.

Chevy mirror from my stash.



But then found this one.

Sucker



Job done.



Spent the rest of the day with Sally.

Walked the dog.

Saw my next resto project. Right there in the Thames, Essex in the background.



And took her out for dinner.

Happy life.

[Grizz1963]

Had an interesting question about the mirrors on another forum…….

From someone with a scatty memory. Asking why fit these mirrors.


Original fitment.


I just added new mirrors as one glass was broken.

[Grizz1963]

Thanks to @peteh1969 for making up the badges.

Fitted them early on today.

Details.





Followed by……….

Passenger “Anti-Submarine” strap.

Unbolted and raised the seat base.

Remember this was the drivers seat before.

@nickwheeler had just arrived and suggested I make the brace stronger than what was fitted as standard.

So……..



Measured and cut a new 3mm steel brace.

Also made a new buckle to go with it.



Bolted in.



And fitted.



Fits too.

Fully adjustable.





.

[Grizz1963]

So while I carried on with the second seat harness mount, @nickwheeler took a look at the wipers that came last week.

Very quickly realising they would be needing some adjustment on every level.


1. Mounting plate and Rivnuts to the frame.

2. Shorter arms, a lot shorter (think headlight arms)

3. Shorter wipers. 8” or 200mm as those supplied are 300mm


So we carried on working side by side at more of these small necessary jobs.


First mounting plate made up.

Even the small screws needed replacing from the magic tub with slightly longer ones.






Tried out.

Looks good.



Yes, that works.



Bolted up, spacing works.



Both sides done.



Another couple of small jobs included getting the passenger footwell firewall kickplate carpeted. Looking plush in there now.

And finding where I had hidden these bonnet/hood catches……

Making up some backing plates and finding small nuts and screws to attach them to fenders and hood.



Attached.



And finally, stepping away

Wipers and arms too long, need something shorter.

Bonnet catches in place.



A short day unfortunately, as the rear light units were not delivered on Friday or Saturday as promised by Ebay.

Busy week ahead.

Have a good one all.

[Grizz1963]

Just some random thinking tonight.

Sometimes I should not be permitted to think.

Rollbar.



Add scaffolding pipe lagging

Wrap in nylon webbing.





Or wrap in vinyl.



Not sure at all yet.

Just Finking.

For now.

[Grizz1963]

Rear light units came today.

Took longer than anticipated, but all good.



So after work I went down to make up some splash guards for them.

Measured, cut and folded.



Bottoms folded up.



Fits the hole.

Thats a good thing too.

John the lodger got home and came down with a beer.

This aids the thinking processes.



And wraps around the lights nicely.



Added some insulation to the rear where the contacts may make contact.



Being a bit more adventurous than me, he started to test the lights, wiring, switches etc.

Battery is almost dead, so it was a struggle, but except for the rear foglight, all the rear lights are wired, and the new lights are a massive improvement on the old.



Once the shields were done and test fitted, I decided to shut shop and come up.

Magic Mike moved the car.



Another small job completed tonight.

Headlights, side lights, side repeaters, and a few more bits, plus restoring the wiring………

[Grizz1963]

Still got questions and opinions on this …..

You get pre-made units that velcro over, foam and a printed nylon type covering.

Like these: https://www.rollbarcovers.com/rollbarcovers





Zippers, velcro and poppers are all feasible though. . I suspect velcro is the easier way.

I actually prefer that coarse broad webbing, which is not seatbelt material and it allows you to navigate the bend and absorb the curve neatly.

As Phil said, the vinyl can look bit untidy.

I always wanted a thicker bar for looks, and the wrapped look achieved that in part.

Like this size.