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

[Chevy Apache]

I've had four or five s10 trucks 2.8 not that bad fuel,
Still got 2 lol .
Good luck with the search there are over here just finding them as always when you're looking for there never around.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

I have owned only 1 2.2L GM 4 and it was decent. I know around here there are a bunch with a bunch of miles. The 4.3 though are super engines. I have had several (all in full size trucks not the S10) and love them. The earlier years, like the one you looked at, will probably need new injector spider, but other than that they seem to be a good 200-250,000 mile motor. With the 2.2, you will barely get out of anyone's way though. Solid dependable DD, but very little oomph.

Sounds like the V6 is the way to go.

Originally Posted by Chevy Apache

I've had four or five s10 trucks 2.8 not that bad fuel,
Still got 2 lol .
Good luck with the search there are over here just finding them as always when you're looking for there never around.

Not much in the UK.

[clemdaddy]

How is the alternate vehicle search going? I think that the S-10 is a good idea, they're just not roomy enough for me. I'm thinking a big station wagon like you found before, something comfortable on road trips.

Spring weather is starting to show up here in the Ozarks. It's a perfect time to hit the junkyards… no bugs or snakes yet.

Hope springtime weather comes to merry ol' England soon. And hope your congestion has cleared up.

[JJ's Sierra Grande]

we just sold our 01 gmc Sonoma extended cab fleet side long box,(gmc equivalent to S10) only because the wife slid it into a guard rail three weeks ago on ice and took out the front end. I fixed it all 7 years ago when she slid into the neighbours fence on ice (lol) but had to say no to this time as it would not have made sense to invest the amount in repair parts. However, it had the 4.3 and I had no complaints with it whenever I would borrow it as far as power is concerned. the only thing to watch for is the bottom of the doors tend to rust out. That could be more so over here because they put so much salt on the roads in winter but definitely an area to look at for problems. As far as interior room, i'm six feet and 250lb and it wasn't that bad. You guys are all used to compacts over there anyway so it probably would do just fine.lol good luck.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by clemdaddy

How is the alternate vehicle search going? I think that the S-10 is a good idea, they're just not roomy enough for me. I'm thinking a big station wagon like you found before, something comfortable on road trips.

Spring weather is starting to show up here in the Ozarks. It's a perfect time to hit the junkyards… no bugs or snakes yet.

Hope springtime weather comes to merry ol' England soon. And hope your congestion has cleared up.

Thanks for checking in Clem.

Never even sat in an S-10 but believe it would be fine.

Originally Posted by JJ's Sierra Grande

we just sold our 01 gmc Sonoma extended cab fleet side long box,(gmc equivalent to S10) only because the wife slid it into a guard rail three weeks ago on ice and took out the front end. I fixed it all 7 years ago when she slid into the neighbours fence on ice (lol) but had to say no to this time as it would not have made sense to invest the amount in repair parts. However, it had the 4.3 and I had no complaints with it whenever I would borrow it as far as power is concerned. the only thing to watch for is the bottom of the doors tend to rust out. That could be more so over here because they put so much salt on the roads in winter but definitely an area to look at for problems. As far as interior room, i'm six feet and 250lb and it wasn't that bad. You guys are all used to compacts over there anyway so it probably would do just fine.lol good luck.

Checked insurance today and over 20 year old is cheaper, regardless of engine size, so it may be older model 4.3




Quick update for those who still follow on here.

Friday I went in early to my GP practice to get some bloods drawn for prostate testing, however, not sure why the needed so many tubes.
The lady who did my bloods was possibly the best phlebotomist I have ever come across.
She also heard my chest when I coughed and suggested I make an appointment for the afternoon, which I did.
This resulted in antibiotics and a GP telling me I should look after myself better.



When I got home, Tony my plumber, sparky and general handyman had been in to service my heating system again, draining it and replacing some switch gear in the boiler.

He sent a pic of the inside of some of the pipe work, no wonder the system was not firing up properly



On Friday night we had real heating, what a pleasure.

Saturday was booked to replace the carpeting in both my lodger bedroom and the main bedroom as I chose 6 years ago when we moved in here, not to replace those carpets as there was too much furniture to move about.
Of course in the mean time prices have gone up and now was going to be the right time with no lodger, I could move furniture around etc.

Miss Katy had come over as well for her weekend to help move stuff and to drive the bucket and mop as well as the Polish and duster cloth.

So by 09.30 Shane, who had carpeted the rest of the house over the last 6 years, was here with a 80% wool blend carpet and some new 15 year guaranteed under felt.

I had volunteered to help him not just make the tea.

Shane reversed up my drive.



Lodgers room floor, house built in 1921.





Final result of £720.00 worth of work, very satisfied.




Also been chatting with Dennis in St Louis, Missouri. This week he has been building and painting this truck.

One of the nicest ones in my opinion.

On its way now to Kansas City for a Car show.



Almost got a Hot Wheels feel to it.




Really looking forward to my chest getting well after 5 weeks now, as I have a load of little jobs to get on with.

Later guys.

[flashed]

Rian ,I hope your PSA results are better than mine were and hope you get over that Chest stuff ,feel better soon.

[Palf70Step]

Hope tests come out well and you get rid of that crud.

[65sub]

I hope all goes well for you Rian.

[aggie91]

Hope you get thru that chest cold soon. That Dracula band for the phlebotomist to use is a hoot! It always surprises me as to how many vials of blood they take for testing. I go every six months for screening on a few items, 5-6 vials each time...

[Grizz1963]

Thanks guys.

Well, this bloody chest thing has changed direction again.

The antibiotics reduced some of the coughing, made my phleghm dark, thick and nasty for a couple of days, now tonight my face hurts, eyes are sore and a new, different cough has been at me all day.

Of course we have also had a week of even colder nights and days forecast, which when you are out on a station platform at 07.00 in the morning, does you no favours.

Today my work day started at 07.30 an hour from home.

When I came back to my car in the car park 7 hrs later, someone had managed to park their car next to it and leave afterwards, in the time it was there, using Braille as the method of entry and exit.......

WT actual F ???

Of course the people managing the carpark for the hospital will not share any video surveillance as there is a sign showing they take no responsibility.

So now I will have a no fault claim against my name for the repair. Hardly visible on the photo, but of course some paint missing and scuffing. The lease company crucifies us for damage as well...... so really pi$$€d off.

Wish I could do something unpleasant to the dipchit who did it.

First question the insurance girl asked me was if the car has parking sensors...... seriously.

Second question....... have you been on a driver awareness course.

Of course the answer is yes to both, but REALLY ????? What has it got to do with my car being hit in a carpark in my absence.

You can hardly see the damage in the pics, yet scuffs are quite deep on the wheel arch and some paint missing.



Note my parking of the car, so really leaving a lot of space to get another in.......



Some people really should not be allowed to breed.

[flashed]

I think the little van is pretty cool and you could haul all your interesting finds in there .

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

I think the little van is pretty cool and you could haul all your interesting finds in there .

Hi John,

They really are very small, but perfect at the same time.

I hope that I can get to buy it.

[Grizz1963]

Ups and Downs and more of them....... Life is good.


This is what makes us what we are.


Thankfully in my world the various forums and friends I frequent keeps my sanity on a level plane.


So what do you do when life hands you a bucket of lemons?? Of course, you drink tequila.


I have been looking for a distraction that could be a tool as well for weeks, if not months.


This week I was interested in a 4.3 litre V6 Chevy S10 truck at sensible money in the U.K. Not a lot of them about at sensible money. Unfortunately it has had a bit of a chequered history and when I started asking the seller some questions, the answers to which I did not necessarily subscribe to, next thing he goes quiet, then I get a text that someone has offered him £500.00 more than the number he had offered it to me for........ I suspect it will be on EBay soon.

Anyway, Some of you know I have random, eclectic taste and next thing I looked at, after mates like Paul Y, CraigRK, Martin and others tried to rattle my wallet with various finds all over the world (literally) was a cheap Facebook trade page car.

I started this thread to find out more on various forums and learned enough to decide to go look at the car today, after speaking to the seller who is the second owner only, having bought it a year ago from the first owner.........

Thread: http://retrorides.proboards.com/thre...tispace-bought

So this was the ad.



2001 model Citroen Berlingo Multispace in 1400cc petrol guise. A rip snorting 75bhp from the factory.

This car came with a full length electric sunroof.




I called on mate Martin, always game, like me for any road trip, so this morning after his lady went to work, we walked his dog, then hit the road to go look at the car.

By 09.00 we pulled up in the yard where the car was stored.
Seller a really nice guy, chatted, looked around the car, then took it for a quick test run.
A few small issues, all within the realm of a small car for cheap bicycle money.

It seems it has had a load of attention over time, new tyres, exhaust, battery and steering parts as well as a timing belt about 4 yeas or 25k miles ago.



The brakes suck and need investigating. Probably pads, discs etc, but it seems they are reasonably cheap as well.
The drivers seat is in need of replacement in my world, still good but not good enough.

Back seats fold forward in two phases making for a large load area, and of course if you open the roof you could have 5 meter lengths of timber stacked through to the rear.

Electric sunroof is a pleasure to open and allow to fold back on itself.

Martin's drive was about 15 miles and my first drive about 30 miles and we both agreed that it is just a lovely little thing.

Having done only 86150 miles, confirmed by its MOT history, it maintains legal speeds easily up and downhill.

The seller told us when we got there that the radio/cd player was wired in in such a way that you needed to pull the removable face off it when you parked up in order to switch off the dash lights...........

So at Martin's place, before even going indoors, he was straight into it and pulled the head unit out the dash.
This car has a CanBus wiring system......

Less said the better.

After an hour of trying to figure out the why and how of some clearly expert radio fitter, I ordered an ISO Lead off eBay which should help resolve the weird setup and fix all of this mess.



Current shoes......... on steelies with painted hubcaps. Nothing wrong with them.



However.....

Been offered a set of Saxo VTR wheels with 5 year old 185/65-14" wheels for £40.00

Even without the tyres, I like them.

Kind of reminds me of the NASCAR wheels on mate Dennis in St Louis, Missouri's race trucks.




So I bring you my own version of Prozac for my Soul.

I need a bit of distraction right now.

This little van should give me some of that.

Modification direction is not yet established, so happy for advice, input and ideas.

I like the Tiki surf wagon or Woody look, but also race support vehicle look.

Black rims are cool, and Gold will contrast more......... what to do? Photoshop?

I will be back with more photos tomorrow once I have given the van a look over.



Lastly, I thought that being a quirky tool I would rummage in the key ring box and find something interesting





Hope you approve.

[Grizz1963]

Something interesting from UKGSER

Copy and paste.

Originally Posted by ebbo

Well, when the Post Office finish with them someone must buy them :thumb

This one is labelled as a Berlingo 2.0 HDi 4x4 and looks very high on its suspension


Video!


https://youtu.be/1Z9g13R6SD8

I will update on the Prozac-Mobile when I get time, hopefully tonight.

Back to work today.

[clemdaddy]

like your new ride, should be cheap to motor around in and haul all your stuff.
also it sounds like you're finally feeling better.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by clemdaddy

like your new ride, should be cheap to motor around in and haul all your stuff.
also it sounds like you're finally feeling better.

Hi Clem,

I love it a lot. It has grown on me really fast.

And yes, feeling better. Not completely back, but much much better. This thing has really beaten me up for a while.

[Grizz1963]

So Sunday I looked it over a bit.

I always like to just get a feel for stuff.

Mechanically I am not at all the sharpest wrench in the toolbox.

Anyway, some pics to speak for themselves.

The drivers seat is past it's best, but is still very much functional.

Forward view is great.



Tailgate inner panel, rear wiper and its motor missing.

Interesting repair.



Underside really clean for 16 years.



Rear brake proportioning valve and its actuator was seized solid.

Long screwdriver, some WD40 and 10 minutes later that was loose.

HOWEVER....... The return spring is hanging loose, so I will need to figure that out some time.



Front brake discs look rough as hell, but pads are thick.

Brakes work fine but I suspect new parts would work too.



Inner side of disc.



Passenger side on the inside, not even full surface contact.



I took off the one rear wheel, but the drum was solid on it and I did not want to use a load of force, so no idea what goes on, on the inside. A job for another day.

Then I drove over tomAndy's place in Gravesend to buy the Saxo VTR wheels off him, the tyres are shagged, but Scot (Jabbo) agreed to remove the tyres for me, so that I can clean up and paint the wheels before moving the tyres from my existing steel wheels onto the alloys.

Andy drives a Berlingo Van.



Wheels in.



I also bought 16 new wheel bolts for alloy wheels from Andy.



That's was Sunday.

At this point I had already done over 100 miles in the car and it put a big grin on my face.

Perfect.

[Grizz1963]

Temptation alert.

Andy offered me some 8' timber planks. Shed anyone?

Was going to offer it to Mickey but thought that maybe I should build a garden tool shed under the pine tree in the garden.



Looks like the weather is turning too.



Harley really did a good tour of the van on Sunday too. Never got a photo but exhaustion saw her settle in the study later.



Andy who sold me the VTR wheels and new wheel bolts also has a Berlingo van. He identified that the rear silencer was missing a support strap.
I went to look tonight and found this bodge.



Kwik Fit telephonic quote was £135.00 fitted.

Not impressed, I searched and found a cheaper DIY alternative.

Under £40.00 including delivery.



Because when you wriggle the tailpipe with your toe around the rear wheel you see part of the problem.

I am not going to try weld it up.

[ibrown50]

Looks a great fun little parts hauler. For my two penneth I vote white for the wheels, my second vote would be gold (it's that World Rally thing)

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by ibrown50

Looks a great fun little parts hauler. For my two penneth I vote white for the wheels, my second vote would be gold (it's that World Rally thing)

May have to disappoint you and others......

Will probably be black. In order to go with a theme that is spinning around in my head.

Who knows...?

However, Gold is a great choice.

[Grizz1963]

Maybe not in the direction I am thinking.

But I do like the combination.

[flashed]

I wish you luck on getting it ,on another note are you finally feeling better ?

[65sub]

Cool little van. I like the Tiki style someone suggested

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

I wish you luck on getting it ,on another note are you finally feeling better ?

Yesterday and today in bed.
This thing really just wants rest.
Not even seeing Katy this weekend

Originally Posted by 65sub

Cool little van. I like the Tiki style someone suggested

Tiki style is very good, or woody style wagon with stick on vinyl wood .




Photo shoppers............ have your way with it.








Thinking all sorts of stuff.

One of the ideas is race support or pit crew car.

Some liveries from the past.

Can be done with rattle can, vinyl, wrap and stickers.









Other ideas.

Keeping in mind the car has to retain its base dark blue paint.

[realvc]

Congrats. on your new van/wagon.
Can't wait to see what you do with it.