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

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

As always looking good.

Thank for keeping an eye on me John....




Today I started to finish off the steering parts that I had not previously addressed after they came from the USA.

So grease nipples added and then Martin pitched for me to change direction completely..... Typical.

So they will get fitted next weekend.




QUESTION TIME

I have bought a sexy new water pump for the 350 motor.

I also bought a new chromed cast metal timing chain cover for it recently, to replace the pressed steel, rusted chrome one I removed. The new cover has been built in already.

Seems the new cover is too thick.

If you look at the photo below, you will see that with the one side pushed flush against the front of the block, the other end lifts away quite a bit from the block where the second waterway needs to meet it with a gasket.

I looked at the old pump and cover and there is a mark where the impeller cover plate at the rear pushed against the old chrome plated cover.

Note the light coming through.



SOOOOO....... MY QUESTION IS THIS:


If I had a pair of spacers or shims laser cut exactly like the gasket is patterned in 3mm mild steel or even stainless (not sure which is best option tbh) and then sandwiched it between two fibre gaskets, would this be a sensible and safe option?

I copied the gasket like this.



I am dropping the viscous fan and going with a pair of electric fans from a modern car on either a thermal switch or manual override, so the space lost toward the front should not be that critical.

All advice appreciated.

Thank you.

[65sub]

Hi Rian Your spacer idea seems like the easiest way to fix the problem. Just remember the other pulleys (crank PS alt AC) may need adjustment as well.

[Paul Y]

Rian,

As mentioned, after a few beers I think the challenge is that the cover is for a 'Long' water pump set up.

I would go back to the pressed cover or find a cover suitable for a short pump set up.

Problem is that you will need to reposition the alternator etc to match the placement of the spaced out pump.

P.

[ibrown50]

Rian, was your original water pump a short one? If so I'd change the cover like Paul said, if it was a long one I'd change the water pump. Like Dale said you'll have a load of hassle lining up the pulleys

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by 65sub

Hi Rian Your spacer idea seems like the easiest way to fix the problem. Just remember the other pulleys (crank PS alt AC) may need adjustment as well.

Hi Dale, thank you for the reply. You are quite right.

Originally Posted by Paul Y

Rian,

As mentioned, after a few beers I think the challenge is that the cover is for a 'Long' water pump set up.

I would go back to the pressed cover or find a cover suitable for a short pump set up.

Problem is that you will need to reposition the alternator etc to match the placement of the spaced out pump.

P.

Yup...... Correct on all counts.

We will discuss this again later.

Originally Posted by ibrown50

Rian, was your original water pump a short one? If so I'd change the cover like Paul said, if it was a long one I'd change the water pump. Like Dale said you'll have a load of hassle lining up the pulleys

Hi Ian, yes, both pumps are the same.


Looks like the simple solution is to remove the thick cast cover and replace it with the old Pressed steel one or at least another pressed steel unit.


The pump I bought is exactly the same height/length as the one that was fitted before.

It's the sexy cast cover that is the problem.

PITA but it will be solved.

Thanks for the help, feedback and advice.

[Grizz1963]

Martin,

I checked the latch and all the mechanisms before I pushed the door shut.

Everything worked freely and released as it should.

I think the trick I missed was that in removing the weather strip,( see how deep door is in the hole in the last pic) the door has managed to lodge itself deeper than usual.

So my plan A will be to do all the ironing etc, then get Mickey next door to come poke the latch release from the outside while pulling on the door and I will lie on my back in the cab and give it some Size 11 safety boot loving.


Fingers crossed.

[Grizz1963]

N Boer maak n plan.......... Go ask Google translate to turn it into Afrikaans.


Bolstered by the knowledge I had and multiple replies overnight, I went to the garage this morning to sort out this door latch issue.

Firstly found a 3" bit of kindling, pushed it into the hole from outside, added Ductape to keep in position, then added a steel spatula with a bit more Ductape....... Then went around the other side and climbed into the cab.




Onto my backside, foot against the door right over the lock and latch, 2" run up and firm thrust and it popped open.



Next job is to strip down door and remove all the hardware that has to be built into the grey replacement shell.

But coffee and biccies first, then back down there.

Got a garage 3/4 day as Nicola is with a friend in need today.

Woooohooo !!

[Chevy Apache]

Nice truck

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Chevy Apache

Nice truck

Thanks Pete, you have an even nicer truck, and it is in the UK....!!!!


Insomnia sucks.

But today is the last day of my initial training, seems I have managed to make all the 90% pass mark classroom tests as well as the never ending g online modules that demand 70% and 80% pass marks, depending on subjects covered.... I am too old for this sh1t.
Most of next week is sales conference then I start work on the 22nd April.
Keeping in mind that I have been away in training since the 14th February when I booked into this hotel 120 miles from home, I certainly am looking forward to sleeping at home again.

Anyway, looks like I have some truck time tomorrow.

Stripping my one door out.

Anything to look out for? Not to force or break?

[mjh1965]

Good luck with the door this weekend . As you know it's my annual trip to Skegness today For the weekend of bikes , beer and live bands . and returning on Monday , with my bike club . Otherwise I would come over and lend a hand .

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by mjh1965

Good luck with the door this weekend . As you know it's my annual trip to Skegness today For the weekend of bikes , beer and live bands . and returning on Monday , with my bike club . Otherwise I would come over and lend a hand .

If I had the same weekend planned.... I would cancel the weekend and help a friend.

If anything goes wrong I will just blame it all on you.

Ride safe, and remember, this is England...... So if you are on the pretend Harley just smile and wave.


Ride safe and have a good one.

[mjh1965]

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

If I had the same weekend planned.... I would cancel the weekend and help a friend.

If anything goes wrong I will just blame it all on you.

Ride safe, and remember, this is England...... So if you are on the pretend Harley just smile and wave.


Ride safe and have a good one.

You can always FaceTime me if you get stuck but if you get a positive response with 12 blokes all drinking bear on the other end of the phone is questionable.

As for the pretend Harley, I am taking the Kawasaki as Sunday it's a trip to Cadwell park race track .

This was last time we went

[ibrown50]

Cadwell Park, a great track, especially if the mountain section is open, it's like a mini Nurburgring, I'm sure all will be forgiven if you buy Rian at stick of rock ( with Skegness written all the way through!)

[Grizz1963]

Karma.....

I am a firm believer in living a good life and paying it forward whenever I can.

A while ago I offered to post out a complete Ford Taunus Transit fuse box I had from my old van and a good engine mount to a new van owner. I did not need payment or postage back for it.

Tonight I came back from week 8 of my new job training and found a parcel that had been delivered along with a note.

This was totally unexpected and unnecessary but I am now the proud owner of a 1 1/2" Snap On socket.

Thank you Jim.




After unpacking I went to the garage to see if my door fitted the cab.

Part of the trick is hanging it singlehandedly, easy.

Then I did check that the internal door handle could release the latch.



Great fit.......



OK.... So now I can open it again and remove it as it is a good fit.......

BO11OX !!!!!!!!!!!

BUGGERR !!!!

Door won't release, despite inner handle obviously working.

What have I done wrong??

How am I going to get this door out the hole then, without resorting to my trusty 9" angle grinder ??


HEEEEEEELLLLP !!

This is the fit.



I need to start stripping the trucks original door down.

[Palf70Step]

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Indeed Bill.

Just come in for a cheese and jam/jelly sandwich and a cuppa tea as Nicola is out and not spooling me.

Just finished stripping my old drivers door down for Ian.

Feel so good, I may as well strip the other two down while the going is good.

Will write up a how to later on stripping the doors out as Ian asked me to, and I will need to reverse engineer this all once rust and paint is sorted out.

[clemdaddy]

nice work with the size 11's... a little persistence ruled the day.
congrats on another successful week of grueling tests. that job better pay real well after all you've been through.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by 60chevyjim

that's great that you got the door opened with no damage .

Trust me Jim, I would have cried.....

I was telling Don today when we chatted, this truck can make me want to cry one day, and then feel invincible the next day.

Originally Posted by clemdaddy

nice work with the size 11's... a little persistence ruled the day.
congrats on another successful week of grueling tests. that job better pay real well after all you've been through.

LOL.... The persistence is kind of in the blood.

The training has been tough and demanding, and yes it pays a bit more too, which is nice.

[Grizz1963]

Well, another nice day playing in the garage.

Only started in the garage quite late but finished late as well, around 18.45 as I have a wife to consider. She gave me the day to play as she had stuff to do and a good friend needed her attention.

Ian Brown has asked me to document and describe what I did taking the door apart as he will need to strip his accident damaged door down and then rebuild it. So if you need to, just scroll on by.

Of course for reassembly you read it all in reverse.

Tearing down the door, you start by removing the winders and door handles.

Then the inner door panels, I need another good drivers side and Ian needs a passenger side one as his is quite badly damaged. My two are covered in vinyl but actually quite rusted when you inspect them. So I want to make up a pair of painted panels for my doors in the rebuild.
The screws that keep them in place usually rust and their captive bolts strip out when you try to unscrew them, so I have about 6 to repair between the two doors. Most of the screws are buggered from years of abuse and need replacing anyway.

Once the door panels are removed, the next step is to remove the outside door handle.

Screws get very rusty and need a bit of encouragement, my favourite way is to drive the Phillips head screwdriver with a hammer to break the rust after penetrating oil etc.



Next up the door lock and striker gets unscrewed. But you also need to undo the inside door handle mechanism.





Once the lock is undone, you need to undo the window rail from the outside, two Phillips head screws and it is undone.
You then need to loosen and remove the window rubber around the top of the doorframe, down the rear and slip out the chanel it lives in, once the chanel is loosened up, you can also remove the lock.



Next up you want to remove the front window rail that is also attached to the quarter window. Two screws on the door panel and three on the outside of the doorframe.





Once these are undone, you wriggle the quarter light and having rolled the window down, it's an easy job.



Slide it up and outward.



Then just before it comes out, it will get stuck on the mounting plate/bracket, so you rotate it through 90' and gently pull it out, the top of the doorframe is actually shaped wider so that you can get it and the window glass thought here.





At this point you can now address the window glass.

Wind it halfway up and see where the bottom rail rides on a small "wheel"



Because the quarter light and other end rail is removed, you can slide the window glass left to right till its in position to pop it free.



Slide the glass out the slot, rotate carefully through 90 degrees and slip it up through the same gap the quarter light escaped.



Last job will be to remove the window winder and riser mechanism.

A few more screws and pull it out the inspection hole, mark up and store.



Finally you have a completely stripped door, soon on its way up to the North.

I also have the repair panels from Ta2Donz patina 65 truck to add to it.



While the going was good, I came indoors for a sandwich and cuppa tea as well as a chat with my friend Dennis in St Louis, Missouri, he has been working on one of his trucks, in fact he found a complete jack and tools under the seat, as well as this little gem.......

Good reason to buy old trucks.



Back in the garage I started on door number two, and I must be honest, I rediscovered my replacement window and door rubbers that I bought last year and was so thankful as one does not realise just how buggered they become when you use the truck daily.



So, starting on the trucks drivers door, the first thing to do is remove the door handle and then the process as described before.

Take a close look at the two screws keeping it in place...... One screw looks perfectly fine, the other..... Errrrrm, did someone fit it, or try remove it with a drill bit?



Unfortunately this pic is a bit dark, but I managed to wriggle an angle grinder with 1mm cutting blade in there and then cut a slot in the top of the buggered screw and used a large flat screwdriver to remove the screw.

The rest of the door stripping went without a hitch.



Not in the pic, but three doors completely stripped, ready for welding, prep and paint.

The yellow panel is to repair the speaker hole in the door. I want the doors in a more original state when completed.



That was it for today.

Bootfair in the morning if the weather holds out.

[60chevyjim]

that's great that you got the door opened with no damage .

[Ta2Don]

Awesome write-up on the door mate!

Great chatting earlier... Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!!

[flashed]

Great instructions for those in need ,very nice work.

[Palf70Step]

Nice work on the tear down Rian, and thank you for all the good notes that I am sure I will need so I don't smash mine with a big hammer when I get POd.

[Paul Y]

Very well documented Rian.

P.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by ibrown50

Well... with an update like this I'll have no excuse!!
Thanks Rian

I don't think you ever needed or used excuses Ian.
Trust that's enough info anyway.

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Awesome write-up on the door mate!

Great chatting earlier... Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!!

Thanks Donald.
Weekend was rather good.

Originally Posted by flashed

Great instructions for those in need ,very nice work.

Thanks buddy, I know often tutorials have helped me.

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Nice work on the tear down Rian, and thank you for all the good notes that I am sure I will need so I don't smash mine with a big hammer when I get POd.

Nothing that I have not already seen on here Bill.

Originally Posted by Paul Y

Very well documented Rian.

P.

Picture = 1000 words mate.