GRIZZ’s English 2001 S10 Extra Cab 4.3 V6 Truck

[Palf70Step]

You guys use funny numbers. Too much for my brain.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

You guys use funny numbers. Too much for my brain.

Just shy of 20 mpg I make it. Not horrific for a low miles toy, painful for a daily !

Calculated by James

And 6.0 km/l

Or 16.4 US mpg


Never bought for the consumption, and being a weekend toy, rather than a daily I am still pleased.

And when driven reasonably sensibly it returns 27mpg with ease.

[Grizz1963]

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At long last, I pulled the trigger.


Bought a dateless, personal plate for the S10 today.

Disclaimer: This is England, not America or Africa and other places where you could get a much much better, more personal plate.




As has become a way of life for me with the weirdish cars and trucks I buy, nothing is easy.



After spending an extended period getting p1$$€@ around and off by AI , I managed to get transferred to a real,human, and then it came out that the V750 paper document should arrive in 2 weeks, at which point I can then go online and do an online transfer of number onto the truck.



Next step will be getting a pair of CHEAP yellow and white motorbike sized plates at 300mm x 150mm witha single line number.


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[Grizz1963]

Somewhere

A random gathering.

Started with a text.


































Finally, back home.......

Filled the truck to the neck.




A nice 3 hrs out.

First time in 13 months or more.

[Grizz1963]

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Who does not like free cash?

Free money all around, if you look.

Sometimes it is not convenient and in the wrong place.

But..... when your neighbour 5 houses down, starts to tear down a whole ground floor extension, in order to get a double storey up, there there is bound to be some collateral damage, and collateral FREE CASH





With the pile growing, while he burns a load of the timber every evening.



So of course, I needed to go have a word, and ask his permission to scavenge some of the timber.

With Sally having a rare day off work, getting her to help, and my back feeling a bit better, I was carrying literally one beam at a time back home.



Back home, Sally actually pulled up a chair and watched me remove nails and screws from the timber, using only remote or “long leverage” in order to not strain the recovery of my back. To be honest, being that I had been virtually painfree for almost a week, I was noit going to mess that up.

So everything was done cautiously, not my usual way tbh.

Examples of the wood being discarded..... 100x100 mm posts, all getting cutt up and burned in the drum of doom.



And then a pile of clean, ready to use wood.



I also used a few lengths to lay out and show Sally where I wanted the driveway concrete strips to be moved to, straightening the drive to a more useful lay.



Hosepipe shows planned curve of new concrete.

Though I may just opt for much straighter lines to make it a lot easier to cast and also for reversing down.

I am thinking of removing the bitsa slab down the bottom and casting it is one.



As a reward, I cooked a meaty dinner, and the steak turned out to be sublime.

We shared one steak, as there were sausages on the menu too.







On Sunday night the Fire of doom was at work again, so I walked home with one 2x4 strip, around 4 meters long, not a nail or screw in it.




Did we mention FREE CASH ?


And yes, it is getting used for a specific project.

[Grizz1963]

Went to the hospital for an appointment with Mr Pillai, spinal surgeon.



Waited an hour.

Great consultant, sensible, logical, supportive.

Showed me the MRI from September last year..... I just smiled, my back is pretty knackered.

He agreed, however, after a thorough history and examination, he said that it seems that the year at home, gaining about 8kg and not being very active, had resulted in a bunch of stuff happening, and also degenerating, plus a random inflammatory response leading to the acute episode.

So he was able to offer surgery - 30% chance of not working, even making it worse, steroid injections - limited effect and not all gain the same benefit, or as we agreed, a conservative approach, which would include further osteopathy, exercise (gentle) and actively looking at weight loss to reduce strain on all related parts.

I can say that right now, I am 100 times better than three four weeks ago when I was really struggling, but at the same time, with the mechanical side of this as a permanent failure, the rest needs to be addressed with caution.

The consultant also said he would give me a 6 month “Get back in for free” ticket, so if things went bad or got worse in the next 6 months, I could contact his secretary and be pushed straight back into the front of the line.

So yesterday I did a small job.

Out with the old....



In with the new.



All better.

Fixed.




Today I made a start with the exercise, and to be honest, it left me hurting a bit, but thats all good.
This time last year I was walking 4 times this distance 4-5 times a week.

Weather was good.



Result.



Here in England, Monday is a public holiday, and in a very rare occurrence, Sally is off on Monday as well.

Plans include a BBQ with friends, and maybe processing some of the wood I rescued. Removing screws and nails.

Oh, and Rum and Pepsi Max tonight fr me, and a glass of sleep inducing wine for Sally.

[Grizz1963]

Just a quicky.

I suspect there will be some who feel that this is an attack on them, but if it is, Then £80.00 says it is not.

Told to check these guys out, I did.

I am surprised.



So it looks like a quick road trip up North over the weekend in the Focus.

I have set the optimistic target at £80.00 plus my time and a flask of coffee and some biccies from home to recover these mini motos on my own as Sally declined a romantic drive with me.

Just need to see if she is working on Sunday.

[Grizz1963]

I received a load of GMC Sonoma spares from Steve who sold me the alloy wheels after Craig collected them for me.

Started to unpack them.

Some will fit my truck, but some are specific to the GMC and will go to worthy GMC owners when genuinely needed to repair other trucks.

Firstly a bunch of plastics, dash bezel surround, radiator cowl plastics.

Packed away



Two sets of GMC headlights.



Half a box to unpack still, another days job.



Found a treasure in the box.

Not sure how complete t is, and wha else it needs, but perfect for the truck if I can make it work.

Parrot mobile phone box.





Job for another day.

[Grizz1963]

So yesterday was a significantly irritating and stressful day at work, and I actually spent most of the day on the desk, so walked away a few times.

Cutting some wood and creating a 120mm step and a name tag for Harry.

Also added some colour to the sandbox top, by accident.






Today was take 2 or a groundhog day.

Thankfully the Hermes courier broke the monotony of the desk bound stress, listening to, shall I say b0llox on Teams.

And my new, American style, pressed steel plates arrived from Europl8 on Facebook.

He also sent a couple of car, air fresheners and a couple of options to complete the look.

The truck was built and sold in Missouri in 2001, so I could add the names or leave it plain.

I also had the digits offset a bit to the right, in order to be able to add a pair of Stars n Stripes stickers or enamel badges to them.


Really pleased.







And of course, just a quick measure up.





Now just to wait for the DVLA to switch the plates about.


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