GRIZZ’s English 2001 S10 Extra Cab 4.3 V6 Truck

[Palf70Step]

Nice going on the bike there Rian. I think Sally son had bigger smile than Grandson.

Glad to see the S10 getting love and use.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Nice going on the bike there Rian. I think Sally son had bigger smile than Grandson.

Glad to see the S10 getting love and use.

Love the truck.



From a friend.....


More examples

[Grizz1963]

Bloody cold, but dry bootfair today.

Being bank holiday, we have two this weekend, so another tomorrow morning.

Spray on glue. £1.00 per can. Bought all 11 he had. To be shared.



Looking for a set of training/stabiliser wheels for Cream Puff the bike I got Harry, we found a decent MX helmet, advertised at £2.00 but paid £1.00



And shortly after that, another £1.00 vintage cork helmet, for only £1.00 to go with my Easy Rider display





Other items included £8.00 in fruit and vegetables.

4 greeting cards for £1.00

A teapot to me made into a bird nest for £1.00

Some nice Plants for £4.00 for both our gardens.

Some hinges at 50p each.

Total.

[/URL] https://app.photobucket.com/u/niknak...-94db1f4c423c][/URL]


So not stabiliser wheels, but hey, to,orrow could deliver.

[Grizz1963]

Made a slow start on shifting and straightening the drive strips.

Marked out



My pace is possibly 20% of my previous pace, not how I like to work, but my back just says no.



So after a failed trip to the coast yesterday, due to spending too much time at the bootfair in the morning, I decided to get back onto clearing and moving some of the soil.



I must say, there still needs to be some more digging there and getting lower, followed by some form of retaining of the garden bed.

Then break up the concrete, remove it and redefine the strips to be cast.

After our aborted trip to the coast, we also stopped at the local Ford dealership to to look at used Fiestas.

Indoors, I saw this interesting new car.







And when I got home,,chatting to Mickey next door, I told him I wanted to get some stabiliser wheels for Harry’s little bike, he is good on a balance bike, and once his dad restricts the mini moto, it should be a good way to start him off.

So Mickey handed me a pair over the hedge.

They will work, and one can replace the plastic wheels with something more robust if they self destruct




I will report on Mondays Bootfair later.

Today is a bit of a hectic work day.

[Grizz1963]

Part 2

Monday.

Up early, off to the bootfair on my own.

Allowed me to stop and speak to sellers for 10 minutes at a time.

Loads of allsorts.

Mostly old fashioned bootfair prices.

Three glasses and three shot glasses £1.00 per set
80’s pin frame 50p
Skull 50p
Toy cars, 50p each, except for auburn £1.00 and tiny fire engine and old yellow truck 20p each
Old fashioned brace auger £1.00 kinked spanner 50p and vice grip £1.00 for Craig.
Dragon 20p
Tiny piggy bank Free






Love these.



50p skull.



And then this lot

Cushion for my chair £1.00
Superhero mug 20p
Jack Daniels mug 50p
Bracelet 50p
Small box for sally 50p
Fedora hat new £1.00
Lambswool Dunns cap £1.00
Two limited edition plates for 50p
Depression era Strawberry glass gravy boat £3.00 for Dennis’s Debbie who collects it.
New knee and elbow protectors for Harry 20p
Mammut mat 50p





So that was Mondays public holiday bootfair.

Bringing to an end a great weekend.

Sally cooked dinner.

[Grizz1963]

Last two weeks have been a bit hectic.

Nice stuff out there.



But in between stuff has happened.

New farmer is really pulling every penny out of the farm, bigger tractors etc.








I also managed to finish and mount the V8 Hubcap that Chris “GrumpyNorthener” had sent me a few years ago.



And hung up, it may move some time.




Bootfair in the morning.


.

[Grizz1963]

So, what’s £2.00 buy at a bootfair?

Unopened, like new.



Or one of these.

Dirty, used.



Cleaned up a bit.



And for £5.00 this vintage piece was not cheap, but at £4.00 I bought it.

1965 vintage. Great to add to my collection.



Makers mark.




Like New, unused Aluminium rear wing…..

Anyone got any idea what they would cost to buy ?

I thought a good addition for the Rezin Rockit, keeping in mind it is all tongue in cheek, and I have yet to figure just where to mount it.



And the last was a few real thick, super sized American T-shirts, two for @pauly and one for me.

Again, at £5.00 each, too good to walk away from.



My favourite piece today?

Certainly the ally rear wing for the Rezin Rockit.

[Grizz1963]

So, what do we have to show for the weekend?

A tiny bit of sunburn

A small, but cool boorfair win or two.

And then after a slow start, I did some small jobs as my back kicked off on Friday after the osteopath.

Blockpaving and weeds, best of friends.

Roundup.



Later I looked at the dentists lamp friend Paul “Oblertone” had sent up to be collected when I collected the mini motos.

Plan is to mount it up in the rafters of the carport to be adjustable and useable for all sorts of jobs out on the drive.







Business end.

This thing has some serious power.




Late afternoon I also cut the last few bits of wood mate Kevin had dropped off, and the 400mm offcuts from the carport build down to create a part step, part pot plant stand.



Painted, I still want to do some darker tone on the top of the step and potplant rest.



Weekend over.

Busy week ahead.

[Grizz1963]

One more little touch on the trucks customisation.

I knew I wanted to do something silly to the number plates.

Put this to a maker and he came back with various design options.

Now the thing is, I know what my first choice was, I ordered it, then 20 minutes later ordered another design too.

So my question to the regular readers and contributors (thank you for taking the time to post replies) is…….


Straight or diagonal. Think carefully.

Space and placement planned when ordering plates.







Thank you for your contributions.

[Grizz1963]

Photoshopped.

And there you go….

[Grizz1963]

Had my midyear review on Tuesday.

Seems the bosses are happy with what I am doing at the moment, going by the feedback email.

Yesterday was one of those days where I had been working in the morning and by 13.00 it just felt like nothing was happening, so I called the boss and asked to sign a half day leave or just have the afternoon off, he thought about it for a moment, and said to just take the rest of the day off. I actually carried on working till 13.45 and then headed out to mate Darrens engineering shop Unit Engineering for some mental health recharging.

So I took the truck out and headed over to Sheppey.

Always good to see him, catch up with the stuff he is always doing, both cars and engineering and making a living.



Slow but constant progress on his V8 Beetle build.





After two hours of coffee and chat, both of us felt a lot better, as even the therapist sometimes needs therapy.

I scavenged some round and flat bar from the scrap bin, to be used in my driveway changes.



Headed home by 4.30 for dinner that was being made for me by Sally.

Truck making me grin all afternoon.

[Grizz1963]

Looking out the kitchen window last night as I do, often, at the truck, I noticed something was wrong.


Poop.




Mounting spot.




So the job will be to either find someone to repair it, as an autoglass company, if I can find that, or buy some specialised glue and fixing system.

Dennis uses this in the USA in his bodyshop.

May be available on Amazon though.






At least I have the day off a a vacation day, so able to do my own stuff.

Rain forecast for the weekend too.

[Grizz1963]

Bootfair today was small.

Sally panicked when we stopped and only 1/4 of the field was taken up and likewise parking are nearer 20%

I told her, often when these quiet days have happened, with less people milling around, I have had great days.

Less people also meant less pushing and shoving, and rude non English speakers, thus a chance to look and find stuff in the typical piles made up by spring cleaning or house clearances.

Mate Craig and us got lucky today, with a few great pieces from one guy, everything was £1.00 or less..

Medium sized Crowbar £1.00



Grubby, rusty hatchet, £1.00



Maybe a bargain of the day for him, glass and chrome bodied courtesy/roof/map light for his 1950 Chevy truck or the 1948 Fleetline. Coat £1.00



Sally bought 3 blue glazed garden pots, and I got a green one, you guessed it…….. £1.00 each. Go price check those.



Other items from the same seller included a weird pair of spring loaded, flat beaked pliers, a plumb line and a new padlock with 3 keys and a spring loaded metal punch, all for £1.00



Also at the same seller a small unused spirit level for £1.00 for mate Kevin who loves tape measures and instruments of accuracy.



We bought a few plants ranging between £2.00 for a nice Rosemary and £1.00 for mint and some shrubs for Sallys new pots.

Other items included a £2.00 dinner lap tray for one lodger, a hand rail £2.00 to be used as towel rail in the lodgers bathroom, a woollen floor rug to replace one I binned recently £2.00
Three Coffee mugs, 20p each, VW one for Craig, Batman for a colleague and large bunny item for my kitchen, size large for Mickey who likes a large mug of tea.
Really nice, but dirty paper towel holder to replace the hateful one I have in the kitchen.



So all in all, a decent outing today.

Clean up Craigs hatchet, put away the bits, then carry on digging the second set of holes for the archway on the drive and make up the structure, before the rain really starts to fall.

[Grizz1963]

Took Friday off as mentioned, also went out in the truck to fetch a long passage carpet runner for Craigs wife, new, unused (the carpet)

Started chatting to the sellers husband as you do, turns put he has a 1963 registered VW Beach Buggy (for sale like all things in life)

He used to be a Land Rover guy for many years, short story long, he sold me a screen for £10.00 which I gave to @glenanderson who was popping down on Sunday to drop off a windscreen for me to use on the Rezin Rockit, as well as some signs from @forkliftfred whom he bought an engine from.

Into the truck it went, along with the passage runner.



Saturday afternoon I started on another distraction that has been years in the want/planning.

An arch over the bottom of the driveway that once overgrown will help create a visual line and block the line of sight down to the garage, looking from the street.

Basic idea, just to get the feel for what it will look like.

Ot should be 8’2” tall on the underside, with a pair of 15” trellises front and rear that will be removable, either by unhooking from clips, or unscrewing if it seems to need extra stability.

Not at all like this by the way.



Measured out.



Hedge carefully cut back to create a recess, so that actual drive is not compromised for when cars or trucks come to the bottom. Also allowing the caravan to be removed.



18” deep holes dug both sides for the small holding foundations on the uprights.



After that, my back asked me to slow down, so I started a fire instead…….

You know what happened next of course.

Both current lodgers were in, So Sally and I decided a BBQ was a perfect way to spend the late afternoon.

Drinks, Pretzels, chat…….



Fire, food.



Served.



Happy, all of us, it was a good meal, music and alcohol.

David the Electrical engineering managers wife and kids are in Vietnam, last saw them February last year, that must suck.
Interestingly, he mostly works in Saudi Arabia, Emirates and other places where alcohol is less used, and as a habit does not use alcohol.

Anthony is a retired Royal Engineers RSM who runs his own training company. t2p.co.uk

David may stay a year for his full contract, or if Saudi Arabia and the rest opens up, he may go back there sooner, Anthony is sorting his life and could be here for an indeterminate time.

In the mean time, the are good company.



Sunday was Bootfair and a bit of together time with Sally, making stuff.

More later.

[Grizz1963]

Went out for a haircut yesterday early. Our local-ish guy is there from 07.00 for people who need to come and go early.

Walking back to the truck I was again struck by the fact that it always makes me grin.

I like this thing.



Last night late I got a message from a South African expatriate living in Rhode Island that he had got me one of the hardest USA state plates to get. Posting it out to me this week for my collection.

Pretty pleased to say the least.





Removed the tape from the red bands and masked the blue panel for the stars.

It may take a while to get the stars to use on it but pleased so far.



Last sunny day before the weather swings back to a load of rain.

[Grizz1963]

So another long overdue job done after work last night was to fit the Dentists lamp in the carport for inspection of engines and other detailed items when you need a super light source.

Thanks to Paul “Oblertone” who brought it up to me and left it with his daughter in Essex to collect a few weeks ago.



So I prepared two 100mm x 50mm pieces of wood to fit between the roof beams, and painted and screwed them together.

Then found my 65mm drill bit (call it what you want) to drill a hole through for the adjustable hanging post to go through, as well as the wiring from the lamp to mains.



One of those purchases made years ago from a member on UKGSER who needed to move it on. At £80.00 it was and is a bargain.

My other 1950’s drillpress has ceased to function, tripping the power when you turn it on.



Used the rattle gun to run the coach screws in to hold the mounting plate in place, and cut the excess 10mm off the rear with a cutting disc.



Mounted with some more free hardware.

Its not going anywhere.



Light fitted.



Mickey of course came around to check up on me after he had his dinner.

He liked it.



Tucked away.



And seen in perspective.

Does not get in the way of headroom.




Of course I had to go see just how bright it is after sunset as well.

I think it works.




One dentists junk is another mans treasure.


Dismantle mobility scooters rear end tonight.

[Grizz1963]

So the welder died.

I thought I would check the contacts in thengun but all seems fine.

So next step, when I am in the mood (needs to be sooner than later) is to remove all the covers and check out the circuit boars for melt down, or loose connections.

If that fails to expose a fault, it will be off to a local repair place to see if cash can fix it.



While on the theme of welding, I decided to unpack the welding caravan, and move my tools and hardware into a cabinet.

Thus consigning the caravan to the surplus pile and FB Marketplace for £50.00

Over 40 messages, a bunch of super dumb questions, an offer to gazump the first guy who was headed over to look at it for £75.00 later, it was gone by Sunday 13.00

Sally swept the space it had taken up the last two years and I mentioned that it meant there was space for another car…….. she was not amused.

A really useful tool it turned out to be. Next life is a Snug for a 16 year old kid.





Sunday in-between all the messages bouncing around about the caravan, Sally had asked me to make more bird nesting boxes, and as she is never shy when it comes to helping me with car or garage duties, it was an easy yes. After all, they won’t go away. And people (her friends) have gone mad for them.

So I cut all the wood to size, angles for the roofs etc, and made her drill the holes and screw them together. With some squeaking and squealing she got on with it.







One cheap teapot short.



I have two Blue tit nests that have had families every year since I moved here 10 years ago.

But I decided to add one more to the wooden archway I previously put up.

My mum was a tea drinker, making her tea with loose tea leaves and always in one of these aluminium teapots that eventually sported a wooden handle and knob that my dad had made for her.

Using a license plate as a weather shield and an offcut as a cap over the entrance hole.



Today is Sally’s Birthday so I have committed the day to her.

But further plans for my week include a bit of gokart messing.

And if I can get onto it, I wanted to see if I could disconnect steering, dash connections and body from the chassis of the Rezin Rockit.

If I can get that done this week, I will chuffed to bits.

Rain is not allowing any outside play right now anyway.

[Grizz1963]

Some days just don't go according to plan.

Today was a great day like that.

At least I got three bolts n 6 nuts undone and removed from the spare wheel carrier on the Rezin Rockit.

Update on that later.

Mate Sam came to collect the beer keg BBQ,

Sally made us coffee and cake while I painted the frame for him as he asked.

Painted.





After getting in from the walk and dinner, I primered and painted one set of rusty car ramps in orange, @50p a can, it is worth painting it.



As Sally left the sun was saying a good night too.



Rum and Pepsi tonight.

[Grizz1963]

After the three bolts on the Rezin Rockit, we had got to 3.00pm

So Sally asked if we could go walk down to the Thames river for a walk and scavenge.

Photo dump.

A lot of water.









Jelly fish?



Bumble bees working.







Sally would not let me bring this home in her car.



But this bit of railway sleeper made it into her car.



Good walk, about 2.5 miles.

[Grizz1963]

Remember George Poteet whose car farm we visited last in 2019?

https://forum.retro-rides.org/thread...g-dennis-kelly

Land speed record holder.

Good alround guy and philanthropist.

Been over 400mph more than 50 times.


https://www.caranddriver.com/feature...-speed-record/


Check out the link above.

Seems that he is not slowing down, despite little challenges.

Amazed.

[Grizz1963]

So yesterday did not go as planned (but I am on vacation so decide my own schedule)

Eventually opened the garage at 4.00pm and started by taking the hood/bonnet of the Rezin Rockit.

While looking for an adapter to go up in sizes with the cordless drill that speeds up nut removal, I rediscovered my long since forgotten about gas soldering iron.

Where was that when I needed it to redo the S10 wiring cockups.

Have put it back where I found it, hopefully I will find it next time it is needed.



So removing the hood was the easiest job.



After this it just got worse and worse.

My head may not have been in the right place and I felt really tired, maybe because of the heavy session with the osteopath.

She did warn me and I know I asked her to really go for it, because I had been struggling a while but woke feeling great this morning.

The biggest problem with any kitcar as mate Dennis and others have told and warned me is rust, and corner cutting.

On this car it certainly has become apparent very quickly.

And then the things like Phillips head self tapping screws used generously all over are a major pain.

Add to that, a load of silicone sealant generously applied on every contact point between the chassis and fibre glass body.

It is going to be a nightmare trying to unbuild this thing.

The existing brake lines are threaded through the body in places.

I was thinking that to try unbuild them from the drums and one calliper (one is missing, as is a rear drum) may be a waste of time, and best just cut them and restart with making up new brake lines as the brake booster etc seems to have seen better days too.

Right now, not having much fun.

So last night after 90 minutes, a load of Duck Oil in a few places, and about 10 bolts undone and removed, this was the state of play.

Today I need to clean house, and Sally has asked me to help Uncle Bob with some trees that need cutting down at his house where the garden has had 14 years of pretty free reign.




Wish me luck, or come help.

[Palf70Step]

Nice collection of stuff you found there Rian. Those 2 plates are really nice!

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Nice collection of stuff you found there Rian. Those 2 plates are really nice!

Thanks Bill,

They were destined to be found.

Limited edition, and rare enough, that the price meant they had to come home.



A bit like this silly dream.

To be honest, not really.

[Grizz1963]

Farm sale this week

Such diversity.

New



Old



Also stole my own lunch hour and then some, to cut the front hedge while the weather held out and between meetings.







Another flashback that popped up in my life this week was this pic, taken in Arkansas while out being a tourist.

Lovely build.



After a couple of warm and sunny days, today closed in and it started to rain, all day, and it is still raining now.



Tonight the rain beading on the paintwork that @mercdan68 had polished, made me smile again.



Weather permitting, Dan will be here tomorrow in his Ford Escort Panelvan to deliver @pauly ‘s gas can.

.

[Palf70Step]

Just recently got back from Eureka Springs, AR where that chapel is located. Beautiful architecture in it. Did you get to see this while you were there? Its on the opposite end of the town.