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

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Wikid61

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=419251 This mammoth thread has plenty of tech for the front end being dialed in from mild to wild. Also a good amount for rear leaf spring improvement in ride & handling.

Awesome thread.

Thank you for sharing.

[Grizz1963]

So after filling the galactic sized tank with enough fuel to run 10 Smart cars for a month, I headed down to Strood to get the wheels aligned but typically the original £30.00 offer was not available as they did not have the details for the Chevy Blazer in their system.

They not so friendly guy behind the counter suggested I go to another shop.

So off to STS I went.

Friendly, knowledgeable guys, relieved me of £65.00 and sent me off with a truck that felt completely different to the one I had taken there.

WIN !!





The results spoke for themselves.



From there I went driving around, looking for another decent photo venue.





Eventually got home with a silly grin on my face.

The truck is Happy at 70mph on the motorway.

Brakes work beautifully

30 miles test drive, worked for me.

Reversed down the tight drive, planning to give the window tinting another go.

Realised the garden has grown a lot over the last few years.




So trimmed that lot back and raked up all the dead winter leaves.....



With the weather constantly changing between rain and not raining I decided to open the rear tailgate and service the window raiser mechanism






Greased all the gears, sprayed the invisible parts with STS and then tested and shut it all up again, happy.




And them thought I would give the window tinting another go.......


Big mistake, again.

So I left it alone.




So that ended up a great day for me.


Only the MOT left to go do when I get my day in lieu back.

Then lots of fun, random things after that.

I hope.

[Wikid61]

The rebuilding of the rear leaf spring pack is straight foreword/easy. You may consider it when you add the rear shackle mount to lower the rear then. Congratulations on finding a good, competent shop in dealing with your need's. The 2WD Blazers are not popular in the states it seems. I dig them like all rough-to-nice.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Wikid61

The rebuilding of the rear leaf spring pack is straight foreword/easy. You may consider it when you add the rear shackle mount to lower the rear then. Congratulations on finding a good, competent shop in dealing with your need's. The 2WD Blazers are not popular in the states it seems. I dig them like all rough-to-nice.

Thank you for all your replies and taking the time to post up information and motivation on this thread.

I do plane on adding new rear spring bushes to the rebuild, just need to wait and see what is in the shackle kit, as I do not think there is an upper leaf spring bush, so ai May have to order both.

Finding the shop was a bit of luck, I was not impressed with the $80.00 charge, but the moment I drove it, the work was worth the price.

Over here the K5’s are popular too, but I like different, so a 2WD is my flavour.

Also I have no use for 4WD.

[Grizz1963]

Almost up to date now.



Funny how the little things, like looking out and seeing this lump,outside now makes me smile.



I was asked on another forum about English property sizes and access and how I got the truck into the garage.

I guess TIGHT FIT is not an understatement.

Reversing the Blazer down the side of the house gets the best results.

I actually have to swing it around every concrete post as the mirrors are too wide to just go straight down.

Makes me chuckle at the madness every time I do it




Prozac the Berlingo is an easy loose fit.



Mate Darren of Unit Engineering had a bunch of random items in his £5.00 bargain bin on FB this week, so I bought the stainless Stormtrooper for the Blazer.

He will also later cut any other design on request and does all sorts of engineering and batch engineering manufacturing

Still need to figure out where it will go.

[Grizz1963]

Had MOT booked as first customer in this morning.

I was going to use the same station that gave it last years certificate.

(Did not realise it had changed ownership in the mean time)

I was there early and got attacked by the shop cat while looking at the Toyota Camry the owner has for sale.

The cat was insistent and just lovely.




So when the station opened, the truck went in and we started, lights, hooter, indicators eyc.

When the tester entered the Registration and VIN number into his computer he cross referenced the VIN number on the truck......

OOOOPPPSS.

SERIOUSLY ??

He was on the phone etc trying to find a way to test tbe truck.

Ultimately though......








So now I have sent a letter, photos, previous MOT certificate, V5c document to the DVLA.

Now the waiting begins.

More later.

[Grizz1963]

Yesterday was not a great day, and my day job has me a bit stressed at the moment too. Probably not ideal to discuss work and opinions in a public forum.

So at about 5.45 I am on the computer at home (we work from home) doing some admin, when the doorbell rings, and I think it’s Mickey coming to borrow some eggs or a cup of sugar.

Go downstairs and it is the local postman, delivering an international parcel that he had left a collection car for at 13.40 earlier in the day.

He had a flat wheel 4 miles up the road, and been delayed by two hours on his return journey, so when he drove past my house and saw the lights on downstairs, he turned around and came to deliver my parcel and get the signature on his tracking gadget.

THAT IS SERVICE.

I continued with my admin and then looked it over, and opened the parcel.

From Russia with Love.

Well, actually from Siberia.

Sent by Stas, who I got to know on Garage Journal https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/...d.php?t=376409






Covering letter says it all.



And then the item he sent me.....

A chopping board, perfect for the smoked and dry sausage we sometimes have here with our BBQ or when visiting.

I am absolutely stunned, again at the generosity of people, thank you Stas !




After the day I had had and the emails that had landed (a few more landed by 10pm that had me pi$$€d off) the next photo is of me, truely losing it completely with laughter.
I could not stop for a few minutes........

It’s a rare thing to laugh uncontrollably these days, and had thee been a drink in my office, it would have been all over the computer.



Stas had printed off and included for my pleasure, a photo of his beautiful wife, Katya, who happens to be a lawyer in Siberia.

I could not have been more surprised.

Katya is a legend in Stas’ garage thread on GJ and well loved and respected by the guys on there, like Harley my cat, she makes occasional appearances to brighten the days of this who are interested.

I give you Katya.



And all together now.




Funny how a bad day can end so good, thanks to another person on the other side of the world.

I chatted with Stas on WhatsApp overnight, and he is currently working in China.

Tough life ehhh.

Headed to London again today.

[Grizz1963]

Cold, wet, foggy and dark outside.

So not a lot that I can do to the Blazer, but I still went and sat in it.

Messed with the radio, that I have not touched yet and sat and took stock of little jobs that will need doing.



Need. To make up a complete new roof liner.



And will be on the lookout fot trim that surrounds the radio too.




In other news, Dennis sent me a bunch of pics, seems they had up to 8” of snow overnight.

Of course in England a National disaster would be announced




All this may be pretty, but when you work for yourself, it sucks.



Bedtime.

[Grizz1963]

Awake early again today, it is Saturday so not ideal, as I would love to just sleep in and get 8 hours straight.

Still, out the house by 07.30 to drive down to Rochester, my local town and get to the Post Office Depot.

I had an undelivered parcel from Glasgow yesterday that has to be signed for, so could not be left with the neighbours.

Knowing exactly what it was, and where it came from meant I was a bit excited.

Nothing special for most people, but car parts, especially the dress up stuff, gets me going.

So Collected at 08.05 as I was no 3 in the row, despite being 10 minutes early, then straight home to unpack my treasures.

[font size="5"]
“I BRING YOU GIFTS O’ GREAT WHITE BLAZER”[/font]



Never been fitted to a car, but dusty from sitting on top of a wardrobe for years, awaiting their turn for glory.

So into the kitchen sink along with the few bits I had to wash this morning.

That is the right way to do it, not so?



And after a quick wash, rinse and drying off with a clean dish towel they do look exactly as described by David who sold them to me.

Money well spent, despite me knowing that I really do not need to spend any more, as this truck is certainly draining my wallet faster than anticipated, still, the cash comes from the Red ‘66 C10’s personal account, so not threatening the mortgage repayments, yet.


Shiny Happy People.




I have another full day to myself today in the garage, so will be doing a load of small tinkering jobs, they all take time and need doing, some, in fact all will be pretty much unnoticed, like fitting the radiator shroud I bought a couple of weeks ago, making up an ally backing plate for the radio, to temporarily fix the visible damage to the surround, turning the choke knob around and refitting it, removing the steering wheel and refitting it correctly centred, stuff my buddy @CraigRK would approve of.
I also need to look at the mounting tabs for the Towbar and make extra, gusseted tabs to fix it more securely to the chassis mounting points, as I do not have an original Towbar to fit.



I was alerted by an angry friend in Germany this week that my old Ford Taurus Transit had made the press again, I think it’s the third time it has made it into a car magazine, twice when I had it too.







The new owner has been changing it radically since buying it 5 years ago.

I am personally a great fan of the “Your ride, Your way” school of thought, and it’s good to see it evolve into something he wants to own and drive.







Off to the garage now, the Blazer awaits.

[Wikid61]

"From Russia with Love" if that is indeed the girl friend, he is a very lucky man. And to quote Wayne's World: ~EXCELLENT~

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Wikid61

"From Russia with Love" if that is indeed the girl friend, he is a very lucky man. And to quote Wayne's World: ~EXCELLENT~

Its his wife and mother of two.

Pics and story in the link I posted up above the report on the parcel.

CLICK LINK. https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/...d.php?t=376409

I have saved some pics of them to post from the thread. You know, in the interest of research and public knowledge

















With his son.







And the new daughter.



Stas a few years ago.

[Grizz1963]

So my day started earlier than I would have liked, but in exchange I got to collect the centre caps for the truck.

Did some laundry, single life rocks.... ermmm maybe.

Got out by 10am and chatted to Mickey next door for about half an hour, then got the cars swapped around, started the truck up and reversed it down to the garage.

First jonpb to do as to mark and drill some holes in the license plate backing plate, get some nuts and bolts to attach said number plate.

I wanted to mount it up high against the top of the rear bumper.

Got that done, ensuring maximum space for when the Towbar gets fixed in there.

[a href="http://s294.photobucket.com/user/niknakpix/media/bicycles/2C234802-7DAC-486B-B553-DC1E43A71E0A_zpso6yctcae.jpg.html"][img src="http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm90/niknakpix/bicycles/2C234802-7DAC-486B-B553-DC1E43A71E0A_zpso6yctcae.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"][/a]

Remember in the engin bay, the radiator shroud was missing, as it had been removed and not replaced and subsequently thrown away by a previous owner.
Then I found one to but over in Essex, including cost of fetching it, as £25.00

So having undone the top radiator hose and removed it, I managed to wriggle it into place over the fixed fan. Slipping it into the S-clips,I also had to move the lower hose Jubilee clip to allow the shroud in.
For the top fixing, it was two tims of nuts and bolts. Allowing me to find pieces that fit into the look, and the right size.

The two top corner fixings took forever to seat and get to grip, and my sausage shaped fingers could not get in to hold it all in place.



Fixed.



After seeing @Disasterbus success with his air filter and aluminium foil, I thought it prudent to try the same method on mine.

Starting here......



Removed.






Halfway there.



Resulting in this.




Back in place, far from perfect, but certainly improved.

[Grizz1963]

Late afternoon, I got to the bit I had been looking forward to.

Fitting the centre caps, and then the Stainless steel trim rings.

So Centre caps.



And add the trims.



All together now.

Really needs to be out In Good lighting with a decent background.



Front end.



And my personal favourite angle today.



By 3.30 it was getting chilly out on the drive, the breeze did not help, at that point I was trying to get the Towbar made up and mocked up, but have realised that finding a C10 Unit from a hedge or the back of a shed, makes more sense. And I was not in enough clothing layers, so I thought, bu66er it, another day, another battle to be fought.



I had planned on making a backing plate for the radio today to support or at least make look better, the broken and missing section under the dash.

However, chilly weather and forgetting about it altogether made me come in.

However, weirdly I got a message from friend Bill in Gulfport, Mississippi tonight on Messenger to offer me these pieces.



Serendipity

Life.

[Grizz1963]

Just about up to date with the update and this build.



Few more pics and a actions.



So.....

WINDOW TINTING.

Make sure you select the right shade.

I went for 35% and should have gone to 70%

Too late now, as it’s done.

Under £10.00




Going to try keep it short.

Mate Kevin came over from Maidstone in his absolutely envy provoking chipped, lowered and pimped out VW Van.




Cut the tinting film to size on the outside of the glass, keeping in mind, there is a sticky, or outside, side.



Once trimmed to size, move to the inside of the vehicle, spray the glass wet, as well as the tint film once you remove the backing sheet.
Slide into position, squeegee all the water out while getting it smooth.



Many hands, octopus and all that.



Repeat prep.



I also used a heat gun to help remove and smoothe any kinks out.



While we were at it, Nicola’s dad popped in for a chat and to check up on the new car, he has always loved cars, especially V8’s



Result






And out in the street after Kevin and I did a 10 mile test drive, where we found the front wheel beauty rings popped off after 5 miles.

So it’s back to looking for trim rings that work.


Final pic of the tinting, here you can see it, not dark enough, but nice.




End of the weekend and another job jobbed.

Few more pics tomorrow, bed now.

[Grizz1963]

So for those who have been patiently following this thread.

Here is a short clip of the Blazer coming out to play.

Enjoy.


https://youtu.be/XX83qJc8UpQ



After Kevin left, Joy, who has been incredibly tollerant and patient with the work that’s been going into the Blazer and her dog Wyzz, came over for a walk down to the Thames River at Allhallows.

Once back, I needed to open the side gate to reverse the truck down to the garage and Joy moved her car over a bit.

Came back and found this.......




Random pics.



Along the way, some waterways.





Tide was out on the Thames and the wind was cold and biting.

Essex over the other side and French canal to the right.




And looking up river, toward London, with more of Essex on the other side.



Have a good week, mine will be hectic.

[Grizz1963]

Thought I would add an oldie but GOODY tonight.


Most of us know KC as a painter.


Slight change of occupation here.

Enjoy.


https://youtu.be/2m7F7jMIE9k



And then we have this idea.

I have had it in the back of my mind since Oblertone sent me two pairs of stirrups.


Background.

THE TSURIKAWA STORY

Sushi, sumo and samurais... Japan in a nut shell right? Well, the country of the rising sun is a bit more than that! And tsurikawas are without a doubt a part of our rich culture…
Stolen in trains by our local young gangsters, also known as bosozokus, the tsurikawas were originally attached inside cars so passengers could slide their wrist inside the ring and safely hang their body outside the window.
They quickly became the symbol of a reckless youth and bosozokus started to attach them outside heavily modified bikes and cars to show rebellion and disrespect to authority.
Nowadays, hardcore Japanese car enthusiasts are still flaunting them to express their freedom.




Went down to the garage after work tonight, raining.

Found a stirrup, old leather belt and pulled my hoody over my head...

And got Photobombed, remember it’s wet, cold and windy out there, but madam wants to be down there .




Better pic.



Expecting,much hate.

Remember , it’s just an idea.

[Grizz1963]

Well.....

What does $80.00 buy you??

Dinner at Harry J’s.

Half a trolley of burgers n fries at Walmart.

Or 36 gallons of Fossil fuel for the Blazer in St Louis, Missouri this week.




Or if you are Dennis Jones in St Louis, then postage to the U.K. for some shackles for the Blazer.



Unpacked and a quick Catscan......

Approved.



Also included were some Disabled plates for my collection from Dennis and some of @CraigRK ‘s Coke purchases that were delivered after we departed the USA in September.



So what have we got for the Blazer this week?




Just a trim, bit off the sides and then a two inch drop in the rear.

Lovely pieces of kit.

Grinder and wrenches at the ready.




Hard to see on some pics, but here the same rake on both pics, and pic no 1shows the real state of the nation.



So trust me, the 2 inches will be just right, thanks to @PaulY





More when the sparks have flown.

Roll on weekend.

[Grizz1963]

.




I guess something to add in at this point for those of you in the USA who build and restore trucks is a bit of perspective.


The two lowering shackles above will cost you $75.00 in the USA from LMC including shipping

Not too bad I hear you say.


But if you are in the U.K. the price of a build changes dramatically.


Add in the $80.00 in shipping or postage that you saw above and the cost has now doubled.



However, if you ship over parts, you have to add in a Customs declaration to value the items. (Thankfully these were used parts)

Once the parcel lands in England, the Post Office then charges a $10.00 handling fee, and the Revenue service add in Import duty that is raised against the cost of the item, the shipping and the taxes you paid on them before.......

So you could look at trebling the outset cost of an item.

So a $100.00 item shipped can end up costing an easy $300.00


And yet we keep doing this stuff.


Which is why we carry parts when we visit America in stead of clothes, why I have left two pairs of shoes at Dennis in St Louis and clothes etc.

Looking forward to working on the Blazer tomorrow.

[Grizz1963]

Real life example.

My mate Martin is restoring a 65 C10 Truck.

He needed a inner floor sill for his cab.


Easy, cheap part........

Cost in English Pounds.

Part: £31.20
International Shipping £130.17
U.K. VAT £32.28
Final landed costin the U.K. £193.65

So in American Dollar Part cost $40.00 final price $250.00

Crazy?

Maybe.

[Grizz1963]

Of course there is the matter of the long weekend in America



Last night after 10pm my one neighbour brought a parcel around.

From Ernie “PedalcarJoe” it had me laughing again, that is twice this week.

Basically for the Blazer as it seems to have a bit of a bruiser look about it, and in all white looks a bit like the Stormtroopers from Star Trek.

Harley of course has to do her inspection, weird cat.



On the way home tonight I had to fill up my car, prices are a bit higher than those in the USA



In other news from the USA, Clem Johnson of Tubatrucks.com had send Dennis an old gas station driveway forecourt bell earlier this week.


Started out like this.





And after doing his magic.........






And earlier today, Dennis sent a pic of it mounted on the side of the replica gas station.




Looking forward to tomorrow.

[Grizz1963]

This thread now up to date in real time.

Will continue t update as a record of what I am and have done to the Blazer.

Please do feel free to contribute and advise.



Lazy start to my day off work, only got up at 07.00 when Harley had bugged me more than I needed to stay in bed.

Did some work admin, lazy brekkie by 09.00 and garage by 9.30

Not bad for a lazy day.

So tried out the Bobble Heads Ernie had sent for the truck.



Then truck time.

First thing I did was to remove the beauty rings, clean them and wrap them up back into their original box

Then made up a special tool to get the centre caps off with. They are buggers to get on too.



Then consulted the destructions. Posted here in the interest of record keeping.


Not the same as my Blazer ............ Ooops.








So looking in.





Offered up.

Notice gas filler pipe is in the way.



Mr Rattle Gun called in, easy work, another great tool I bought a long time ago.



Other side removed too.

Rear axle and suspension supported on the jack, rest of truck on axle stands.



Top shackle bolt fitted, needed to come out again as lower bush sleeve did not fit into support cup.









More later.

[Grizz1963]

And this is where I stopped today.


So the old shackles came out, looking worse for wear.





Crawling around with 5 layers was not too bad, though my back still objected by the end.



One side.






Other side.






Side view after.









Final numbers.

Started with Front 680mm
Rear 790mm

Front raised to 710mm
Rear dropped to 780mm

Today shackles brought rear down to 740mm
Front stayed at 710mm

Happy with how it sits now.

Project??

[Grizz1963]

Woke at 04.30 again.....

Bugger.

Chatted with Dennis in St Louis as he does not always sleep.

Watched some recorded telly etc, then just as I was making brekkie, I noticed a massive rat down the bottom of the garden, eating at the soup I had put out for my visiting fox.

Grabbed the skip find .22 air rifle @CraigRK had found in a skip, some penetrating pellets and raced upstairs

Only one shot......

Rats are fast !!!

He was inside the bowl, I think I missed.



My shot trajectory.



Just after 10.00 mate Craig reversed in.

Bearing gifts, also to collect some stuff from our USA road trip that he left in my bag, and items Dennis had sent with the lowering shackles.



The cottage pane internal door is a future project.

The garden gate, along with some trestles will be the new BBQ table on the deck for 2019.



Headed out, mich smaller than the Blazer.



Thank you for the delivery.

[Grizz1963]

So after coffee and unloading the gates and door from @CraigRK ‘s truck we went down to the garage to look at the Blazer.

I started it up, fired up instantly too.

Then Craig did his OCD inspection going around the truck, declaring me to be a liar.

Saying that it was much better than I had described it before, seems to be a pattern forming here.

Looking at the Lexus style light, he clearly reacted to them......




So he asked about the replacement lights I had bought from Martin in Derbyshire.

Of course I would love to replace them, NOW.

So he grabbed a Phillips screwdriver and started to disassemble.



Lenses off.

Clearly all the colours this truck has been in it’s life, on display, Blue, Orange and primer Grey/Gray



And then you find stuff like this.......

Woodscrews...... WT actual F ???



Also in evidence, cut off screws that would be needing some attention.



So onto the small drillpress and starting with a 1.5mm drill after the Dremmel slot for a screwdriver failed to unseat the rusted in screw.
Then onto the next size and eventually we had a fresh hole to be screwed




Replaced number one.



Fitted, tested, video made.......

All good.



And these........

Headed into the sunset of evil bay.







Sooooo...


LASTLY....

VIDEO CLIP.

Grizz?s 79 Blazer with uglee Lexus rear lights. -...

I hope you are all happy with the right lights now fitted, I certainly am.


Later.

[buffydores]

Are there different regulations for blinkers over there? Usually backup lamps are the clear lenses on the bottom with clear bulbs. Blinkers are on the outside. Do y'all require orange blinkers?