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

[Ta2Don]

I'd love to help, but travel expenses would probably negate the affordable part...

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

I'd love to help, but travel expenses would probably negate the affordable part...

Nothing beats a good party though.....

[Grizz1963]

Been out all day in Canterbury with Nicola, doing a bit of romantic reconnecting, after I asked her out on a date this morning. (Nice to date your wife from time to time) We ate too much bad food, had a McDonalds coffee and late afternoon a light lunch of Baguette with Boiled egg, mayo and loads of smoked bacon. We also bought some bargains through the day and held hands while shopping...... Yup, it's nice.


Mickey next door just came knocking on our front door, pretty pissed..... (though he would totally deny it, I still love him to bits)
Just in from a job he did in London today flooring an upmarket office and reception area in high traffic flooring. He managed to convince the project lead that he needed some of the flooring for my truck, as an alternative to the oak strips I still need to create out of the white oak skirting boards he brought home from another office refurbishment job a while back.
I was looking at this old oak flooring a while ago but decided it was way too pricey.

Got to love a bit of free stuff.

So tomorrow when he is back to normal, he will unload the van and bring it around.

Nicola's black iPhone just added for perspective.

[Grizz1963]

Not quite my truck, but I guess here in the UK we have to stand together as these trucks are not so common, and Martin is a bit of a bodywork guru as he managed a bodyshop for many years so I will surely be needing his help as well when I get to painting and prepping the truck.

So hopefully this update makes sense.

Bought an older 210 liter compressor from a friend last week, collecting this week. Happy at £100 for it.

Plan is to clean it and service it, then use it to paint the Chevy truck.



Years ago I restored a 1963 VW Beetle from this.....






In other news, I went over to help mate Martin to put up a car port frame yesterday, started at 0,5'C at 08.00 and turned into a good day.

We ended up working till about 19.00 which was about 2 plus hours after dark and then I went back today to help him get the roof on as well.

Bunch of pics of the process.







Front corner post was actually correct.








After dark we carried on with the neighbours spotlight







Today we got half the roof on when rain stopped safe play.



Of course the whole motivation for this roof build is so that Martin can work under some cover over winter prepping his truck.



And that pretty much brought another weekend to an end.

[Grizz1963]

Came home from work yesterday and skipped Friday admin, instead choosing to go spend two hours with 6 litres of petrol some brushes and dismantling parts of the compressor.

Started here......



Finished here......

Next up will be some new paint after the prep.



I was up early to get over to Martins today with the truck, to get a 4x8 sheet of MDF and my tall ladder to his place so that we could complete the rest of the carport roof for his truck resto.

It was really great to get the truck back on the road again, its been some time.



Martin's truck earning its keep.

We were done with the roof after dark, and by 5pm I was on the road home again.



Every time I drive my truk it leaves a HUGE SMILE on my face.

The cost of fueling it up, disappears with the sound of that V8 rolling down the road.

Looking forward to the new year and getting the body and paint sorted.

[Ta2Don]

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Every time I drive my truk it leaves a HUGE SMILE on my face.

The cost of fueling it up, disappears with the sound of that V8 rolling down the road.

Looking forward to the new year and getting the body and paint sorted.

What's the price of fuel currently???

Here we bottomed out at $2.86 a gallon, slowly creeping back up, today is $2.99

Cheers Mate!

[Grizz1963]

Well, as my buddy Martin is not as much of a reporter as I am, I think this will fit into my thread as he will ultimately be involved in my trucks bodywork as an advisor and trouble shooter (trouble maker)

He has been looking for a V8 engine to go into his truck for quite some time.

Martin's truck is going to be a lot of show and less go as he does not need a 400BHP monster.

He found a seller on Rods n Sods recently who was selling a 307ci motor with auto box for sensible money and decided to drive the 180 miles there to go look at the motor and see it all in the 57 Chevy truck it is in at the moment. The motor and box were from a Chevy Caprice wagon Roger broke a few years ago.

So on Saturday morning, armed with some wood, hammer, nails, tie down straps, overalls, gloves and a bag full of food and coffee,with my trail bike trailer behind his dog walking Mondeo ST estate we set off at 05.40 to drive up to Derbyshire......Heated seats were a bonus.

Stopped after 2 hrs for the loo....




We got to the sellers home at exactly 09.00 and found a real petrol head and his wife living there.

Roger has had some Street Machine featured cars, including a mad Orange SAAB years ago, tubbed and madly modded, which lives in Germany now. He still has a bunch of varied Saab's and is a keen old skool Scooterist with a bunch of stunning Lambretta scooters as well as some projects that are in process.

First to meet us was this Saab pickup, made from a Saab 7 seater estate that he saved years ago and uses as a general runnabout.



Front view.



Chopper in process.



Beauty.





Saab with Ford V4 power. Another one of his winners.

The guy really does love his toys to look good.



And another Saab in process, that will end up like all his other spotless examples...... Leadsled with 3500cc Rover V8 with a blower on top.

Should make for an interesting car.



Having seen and heard to motor run and move under its own power, Martin agreed to buy it.

The deal was good for Martin with the engine and gearbox being unbolted from the truck and sold as it was with all ancillaries including power steering pump etc.

Roger also threw in a pair of Kenlowe fans, a massive radiator with integrated oil cooler, a prop shaft and other bits for the build.

One of the biggest scores of the day was a pair of block hugger headers that Roger gave to Martin along with the motor they were fitted to.

Having all the bits n pieces from its original Smog control still on the carburetor etc, Roger had built from heavily layered glassfibre a nice under bonnet scoop to cover all the unsightly bits and pieces.

From the time we landed Martin could not keep his eyes or hands off this piece that bolts down over everything..... in the end he convinced Roger to sell it to him for £75.00 which I thought was a great price as you could not make it for that money.

Rogers truck.



Clean bay before removing the motor and box, and I have to say, not a mark on any of the paint after all was done and removed.






Time for a change of Face.....



Martin trying so hard not to buy the scoop.....



Ready to rock n roll....

Strapped down, one of the hooks still managed to make a bid for freedom by the time we filled the car a couple of miles later.




The rest of the road trip was filled with talk, driving and eating all the food we had brought alon.

Got to Martins place, moved the truck out the way, unhooked the trailer and stashed it behind the truck.

The engine will go into the garage once he moves his V-Rod to his mums garage and makes space to store the engine till he is ready to fit it.



That's all for now.

Hopefully Martin will pull finger and start his own build thread some time.

[Grizz1963]

Thanks for the reply Bret.


Here's a great thread with more links.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=576875

Based on the questions I asked in this thread about fender repair.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=607222

[Grizz1963]

Got a real helpful message this morning.
May be useful to others.

Hey Grizz, I saw your post on rust repair asking for pics. You might want to look on Youtube and type in
"1960 to 1966 front fender rust repair part 1". This video shows you step by step on how to do this task. I did my own on both sides and came out great. The reason I sent you this in PM is because I'm not sure about advertising Youtube on this site. Good luck.

[Grizz1963]

And typically today I have a day leave that I had to take...... Aaaaaand??

Nicola needs some quick Christmas prezzies for friends. You know those "Honey Do's"

Women never seem to realize, it's never "quick"

Anyway, been at it for just over three hours. Made 5 different candle holder blocks that hold between two and six tea light candles and their glass holders.

Day ended up costing about six hours to make this lot, but I am happy, been a while since I was really productive.

Pics.

This is a two sided candle block.



And the other side.



These fit really tightly into the base holes, so will not get knocked off.



First lot done.




Then came in, had some lunch (sandwich n coffee) after whih I hand sharpened all my tools to a silly keeness.

Then grabbed this lump, lined it up and got going......



Making this pair of tea light holders.

The dark details is created by forcing a tool against the wood at speed, so that it burns the wood.



Lastly, pulled a piece of oak from the firewood offcut bucket and thought I would give it a go.

I made the ashtray for my mate Era, who is also known as Oldone Racing, he builds championship winning Mazda Rotary motors.

When he smokes in his workshop, he usually has incense burning too. So an incense burner/ashtray.




And that is the lot for today.



I have some more time off before year end, so may just go to the shed for more therapy.

I also have to build a wheeling trolley for the compressor I recently bought.

But the weather sucks big time right now......

[Ta2Don]

Sorry I missed the Skype call Wednesday... Was on the road with my Wife...
Just for info, the Arsenal Dog is going to Clemdaddy's Get-together tomorrow...

[Grizz1963]

Been trying to get this job done for some time.

Lights in the garage for when I start doing the body prep on the truck over winter.

Up to now I had two 4 foot strip lights, but early this year, Euan "Moosevan" sent me 10 used 6 footers from a school that he had renovated. So now I have been getting on with that.

I have added some strips of wood to widen the rafters and wired them in today, thanks as so many times to Mickey from next door for giving an extra hand and keeping me company.

Result down the one side, the two short lights will be removed and fitted elsewhere.

I am also fitting four 6 footers down the other side.

[Ta2Don]

Lights are looking great!!!
Will try to catch ya on Skype tomorrow or Tuesday...

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Lights are looking great!!!
Will try to catch ya on Skype tomorrow or Tuesday...

And then there were even more.....




Well, last night I wired up and finished the second row of strip lights, looks brilliant in there now.

I decided after seeing the difference in whiteness to throw out all the yellowed diffusers, unless there is a really valid reason to keep them, I think distract from the brightness of the lights.



Now I have decent lights in the garage, there is less excuses and reasons not to work on anything over winter.

[Ta2Don]

Garage is looking bright!!!
Old Glory in the Background!!!
Will try to catch ya on Skype tomorrow, off to Dr. Appointment now!

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Garage is looking bright!!!
Old Glory in the Background!!!
Will try to catch ya on Skype tomorrow, off to Dr. Appointment now!

Looking the opposite way at the "electrics work bench" some of my bits and a 1960 plate with a bit of wear, thanks Don.

[McMurphy]

Remind me, and when I get the 66 and the 64 registered down in Washington, I will send you one each of their plates since I dont see many from Alaksa in your collection....

[clemdaddy]

on board now... i didn't read the complete thread, just kinda scanned over it, but i will read it. looks like you are having fun and you have a great way of sharing the fun. love your truck and your shop and i really love how you share your life.

i'm hooked...

[bj383ss]

Rian(Grizz) is a very resourceful and cool guy all around. I have some cool stuff from him hanging in my garage. The UK plates all the way to the right.



Bret

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by clemdaddy

on board now... i didn't read the complete thread, just kinda scanned over it, but i will read it. looks like you are having fun and you have a great way of sharing the fun. love your truck and your shop and i really love how you share your life.

i'm hooked...

Guess I am just a bit of a story teller.

I also appreciate the threads other people post up, so sharing bits n pieces is easy.

If you want to see more stuff on the shop etc, then look at this thread.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=52970

Thats a more complete thread on the stuff I get up to.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by McMurphy

Remind me, and when I get the 66 and the 64 registered down in Washington, I will send you one each of their plates since I dont see many from Alaksa in your collection....

Hi Michael

Thanks for that. I do have an old Alaska plate Nicola bought me for Christmas a few years back with a bear standing in the middle.

But always happy to add to my slowly growing collection.

Let me know if there is anything you need from here.

[Ta2Don]

Where Pumpkin Pies come from...

Just had to share this...

[Ta2Don]

Glad you and Nicola had a great time!

Gotta admit, earlier when I read your Email it didn't make sense to me because my American brain read "pissed" as upset.
Then when I read this post, your caveat woke some more grey matter and I remembered "pissed" in context meant drunk...

Have a great night!!!
Cheers Mate

[Grizz1963]

Not much to report but nice to report.

Mate Martin and his wife Amanda are just back from the USA and he brought loads of spares back in his baggage.

I popped over today after taking a motorbike up to Worcestershire at 05.45 and being back in Maidstone by 12.30

So once the dogs had settled we started to go through all his treasures, and they are impressive..... from a full new wiring loom to disc brake conversion and power steering, the man has it.

I also got lucky, and a great surprise it was.

I am now one of the Walmart Family.... with a cool T-**** in size XXL




An also added was a parking reserved sign for the garage ...... Thanks mate !!



Looking forward to seeing Martin's truck develop over the next few years.

[Ta2Don]

Walmart Family...