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

[Grizz1963]

No bootfair today.

An incredible rainstorm at 04.30 then left us sleeping late to 7.30

The buyer for the field bike arrived at 11.30 and was gone by 12.00, happy.

Sally and I had lunch around 13.00 and I really struggled to get out the house to go start the final strip down phase of the Rezin Rockit.

So by 3.30 I crawled down to the shop, followed by sally with her embroidery. Just to keep an eye on my, in case an ambulance was needed.

Got started.

One loose nut.















And close shop.



Next job will be next Sunday as Saturday is bathroom refurb day at Sallys house.

Sunday, weather permitting I need to create a catch ent area for the blast media to land and be collected.

First the frame, then the front and rear ends.

Weekend over.


Thanks for checking in.

[Grizz1963]

With running out of daylight last night I was ready to start again at 04.00 but of course decent light only comes at 6.30-ish

So I was out there by 07.00 and spent about an hour finishing the tops and front/rear surfaces.

Today I have two big training meetings and also have to do the day job.

I am also expecting a visitor from the deep South near Southampton with a gift offered me in September/October last year.
So @alpina99 will be headed here thos afternoon after work to drop off said gift.
With the Canary sitting waiting to have its heart torn out for the Rezin Rockit Resurrection it will probably be easier having an overhead gantry and block n tackle.

Once done with the day job today I will go flip the whole crossmember over, clean the underside followed by a quick run over with a wire brush and airline.
Followed by a coat of black Hammerite paint on one side, then flip it over and do the other side.

I will not be doing or cleaning the springs or shock absorbers as they need to be replaced outright with better and shorter items once I figure how short we can go.


Morning progress





And of course while down there cleaning, I was reminded thatboth front and rear brakes are damaged and missing things like a calliper and backing plate here, who knows what else.

The rear end is no better. With a hub and possibly brake parts missing off one side.





Fun. Real Fun this has become.

Just takes time.

[Grizz1963]

So during the late afternoon Nigel @alpina99 popped in, as you do, from Southampton (well nearby it)

He came up to visit and to drop off the carrier for the block and tackle he offered me for the carport, and to use when the MX5 engine ends up being torn from the canary.





We spent some great time together, mostly sitting chatting down at the carport which proved to be a great reception area, which still would not have been enough, had we been given 10 hours, discussing all sorts of things, from life and death to Spain, America, Karma and being kind to others.

Eventually he had to leave on his trip home to Mrs Alpina99 and I went out to inspect his current new to him, whip, an E39 BMW or as he explained to me, a 5 series. As I am not good with this numbered car thing.

As a retired prison officer of 30 years, he certainly makes the car look like a 3 series.

A few subtle upgrades make it just right.



I have to say, I was totally smitten with the wheels, and had we had more time, I would have wanted to try them on the S10 truck.



After work, I went down to carry on with cleaning the front subframe and suspension.

Again, I did not clean the springs or shock absorbers as they will be replaced.

It took a long time too, finishing what I had not managed to complete this morning, followed by flipping it over and starting on all the under side and invisible paint.

Hell, I hated this job.

Top side eventually done.



Flipped over



Before



After



And at 7.00pm tonight, thankfully Sally had come around and cooked dinner, allowing me to finish.

I started the compressor up and used the blower nozzle to really blow all the scraped paint and rust and dust out of all the nooks and crannies.




Happy with that finish.

Paint next.

[Grizz1963]

Facebook just reminded me this morning.


It was a year ago that mate Fil collected this “car” for me in Scotland.


So Bill shot over to the body shop where the Rezin Rockit was stored along with mate Gordon




Finding the Eagle in the back of the yard.




Lots of green and garden











Moving it included a dead lift by Bill and Gordon to get it away from the wall.



Gordon Man-Legend




Car ready

[Grizz1963]

Having taken Friday off to sort Sally’s bathroom, in order to get going on the blasting the frame and cross member and axle plus their bits…… I decided to listen to @pauly and the rest of you.

I hope these two items will be worth the £31.00 paid for them, mask and goggles are hopefully correct and decent spec.

I do not often do this part of the job right.



Maybe even a hoody and overall to try keep the sand out of my crack.

[Grizz1963]

Remember the steering rag joint?

I found a small (possibly Ford) UJ in my stash, had tried to give it away before…..

Now I may need it myself.

Advice time I guess.

What we have .





Splines look to be different size, but I think it is an optical illusion.



What I found.



Cut off the rag joint, reshape the shaft to triangular, bolt on the UJ?






Then there is this advice option.

Thanks to mate Edd @boidieanbdoyle for this.

Or a new rubber for 15quid? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Cort...-127635-2958-0

So grind/drill out rivets and bolt in replacement.


Conundrum?

[Grizz1963]

Amazing how clever the internet is.



[quote author="@kevins" source="/post/2694528/thread" timestamp="1629986367"]If you went the route of using the u/j you would have to be careful to get the phasing with the joint on the other end right otherwise it will feel lumpy.[/quote]

Good call on the phasing, another bit of good advice from mate Edd.

Well I'd personally order a rubber, less chance to slip with the grinder. But if you do cut it, read this https://www.drivelinesnw.com/part-tr...lysis/phasing/

[Grizz1963]

NOT SO UNPREDICTABLE CHANGE OF DIRECTION.


so after quite a bit of thought, and chatting to various people, including those who spend my cash regularly, and a dose of my own opinion and ideas, I decided to see if a £500.00 MX5 Donor could be found.

And then ot happened…….. a certain member I have known for 15 years or so, offered me a deal I wanted to, but did not resist.

Stored about 4 years in a barn…….

Dusty.

Complete, except for the catalytic converter……..

And 283 miles from me.

Delivery in exchange for a cuppa tea and cookies and an hours chat.

So a price was agreed, and two photos came my way.


First pic absolutely sold it for me




Second one meant that I could check the MOT history.


Slightly better award winning photography.





So I checked the MOT history.


Note the low mileage. 68190 miles. Car was registered end of December 2000



A quick search, based on the registration showed it to be a 1600cc engine.



Delivery has been scheduled for Sunday, given that all the planets align.


I am sure those of you in the know will recognise who the seller is, based on the origin of the delivery road trip. Our very own KFW.





So tomorrow morning I will have to cut down the body table and add wheels to it, to make it mobile as the plan is to park the MX5 under cover.


PS. I always wanted a canary yellow car or truck.


Wish about to be fulfilled.




.

[Grizz1963]

Who needs Enema’s

Friends like this, love it.

Originally Posted by sparkplug

Was fully expecting the write up to be here already by the time I got home

I won't spoil the surprise too much - only to say I had a cracking day with a great mix of serious work and some childish messing around.

Smiles all round :thumb2

Grizzmas presents were exchanged and aside from some works which slowed me down by 15 mins on the way down before the Blackwall Tunnel and the miles and miles of stationary traffic before, during and after the Blackwall tunnel coming home there wasn't too much drama.

I 'lost' another 15 mins on the way home as I stopped for a couple of bikes on the hard shoulder. Unfortunately one of them had a puncture and it's the one thing I didn't have in the van. They'd been waiting 3 hours for the AA and still had a 3 hour ride back to Lincolnshire. Nice lads, grateful I'd stopped. Left them with a bag of peanuts and a bottle of water each which put a smile on their faces too.

My only 'spoiler' has to be my revelation as to why Grizz has the back problems that he does.



A broken broom handle just means a shorter broom handle. Still has plenty of life left in it and until he finds a long handle with no brush head on it in a skip this one will do just fine

The rest of the story is Rian's to tell, as it's his thread and he has enough suitable ammunition to poke a bit of fun back at me so....

[Grizz1963]

[font size="7"][font color="e619de"]ONE YEAR OF REZIN ROCKIT ALREADY [/font][/font]

I was amazed to see this thread was started August 28th.last year.

So today KevFromWales as he is known, or Kev delivered the Canary to be sacrificed all the way from Wales, bringing it 290 miles.

We spent three hours inspecting various parts of my shop,

Unloading the MX5, messing around and eating dinner that Sally had gone and cooked for us as she saw we were having a great time catching up, it’s been a while.

So photos.

From upstairs.



Zoooooommmm….Zoom




Up close it is rough as a badgers butt.

Perfect.





There was nothing wrong here, Kev just wanted to show me the simple wiring loom and where it ran.





Then untying the car, as a qualified Tat-Hauler and trailer driver, Kev had this thing so strapped down, you could not shake iff in a week of Sundays.

Do note the rear lights and bumper, accidental damage while getting out of its barn resting place.





Rust? Who said rust….?

License plate lights, a tad loose.



Paint?



Close up.




There will be a few bits for sale if any interest.

Heated rear glass roof, has damage to thecanvas, but maybe the glass can be transferred



Internal wind deflector, these work real well.





We also made a movie…….

Includes a moment of madness and a small burnout.

CLICK THE VIDEO LINK.


https://youtu.be/YgX-rsBErjU


Once done in the street, the canary was brought through into the back yard, followed by the S10 .





So a 4 day weekend, where I did very little today, but overall, the weekend delivered.

Back to work tomorrow.

[Grizz1963]

I forgot to mention, the super sized wheel brace I got at the bootfair and a large, magnetic Green Doctors strobe light managed to find their way into KevFromWales 525 diesel.

One for drifting, one for trucking.



When he left, trailer in tow, the wheels seemed to be rotating like a cat on a slippery floor that had just clocked an angry Chihuahua

And a plume of black diesel smoke that darkened the already darkened sun some more.



Both front wheel arches look like this on the Mazda.



And the rear is worse, showing a previous MOT standard repair, rotten through again.



I also washed the car this morning, as dirty is less attractive in a car, than a hot date.

Back to work today, full steam ahead.

More later.

[Grizz1963]

So this morning I went and took a proper look at what I had bought as a donor for this build.

It seems this was a California, limited edition then.

The interior is a mess, with the good, original seats having been swapped for a pair of worn items, not bolted down, just thrown in there.

Perfect for when it comes to stripping looms etc.

Checked the engine fluids etc, all good and the oil seems very clean.



Not yet looked at the owners service book etc, which is actually in the car, it will be nice to add to the build as part of the history.

So, I decided it was time to wash it, before 08.00 using a broom and some Domestos toilet bleach gel.

Rear end is mullered as it was rear ended by Kevs truck, pushing it.





Front end improved from yesterday.





Better for sure.



Late afternoon, after work I went to sit and started the car up, after adding 5 liters of lawnmower fuel into the very empty tank.

So I decided to do a walk around and check lights, indicators, oil pressure, temperature etc.

Click video link:

https://youtu.be/-IA9yyN-ADI


I still need to look at more of the car as I get time.

Still happy this will be good.

Though the 1600’s 109bhp compared to the 138bhp of the,1800cc engine makes me wonder if I,will,be happy with that, or need to fit a Turbo……

Loads to do before that though.

[Grizz1963]

Scrape

Scrape

Scrape

SCRAPE……


VIDEO

https://youtu.be/rlGTtdPWPBI


It would seem I am spending 2-3 hours scraping that bloody chassis every night as the blasting was not shifting the hardened combination of red oxide, some very tough grey paint and the hardened underseal all over it.

I am sure a commercial blasting unit, with large, heavy duty blasting system would clear it in a couple of hours, but that would involve a trailer, towing and delivering it and the front and rear running gear and a small hand full of cash. So not happening.

Of course, typically, there are so many nooks and crannies and the texture keeps changing.





Also removed the brake and fuel lines in order to make progress a bit smoother, another angle grinder job as half the screws holding the saddles in place were rusted solid, or closed the heads up with rust, some responded to hammer on the screwdriver, which I managed to destroy.



Inbetween I have also been looking at other things and started to remove bits for others.

Roof did not seem to want to open more than this, what a ball ache to remove the wind deflector from behind the two loose seats, without forcing or damaging the roof with it’s heated rear glass.



Out.



Madness though……

By 7.00pm last night, I had only managed to strip back about 1/3 of the chassis on three sides, once the top is completed, it needs to be turned over and the underside done.

Followed by blasting and paint with the primer Kevin gave me.



And then the fun part……..

Clean this lot before rebuilding.



Friday, day job, then two days of weekend, where I hope to get on with this job.

[Grizz1963]

[quote author="@misteralz" source="/post/2695927/thread" timestamp="1630754166"]Noooooo! Flap wheels are too good at removing metal as well. Stick with the knotted wheel. [/quote]

Too late.

I have two going into battle.

115 mm

125 mm

And a ton of 125 discs in coarse humour.

Will try to modulate and not annihilate the chassis.

Andyes, I just removed the protection as it may allow some easier access.




So I tried to use the flap disc, not ideal in this case.



The heat and frequency/speed of the grinder just melted the underseal…….



So I switched to @pauly ‘s Knotwheel of truth tm



Soon it looked like this, I pulled a few spikes out of my wrists, flung into my skin at 12000rpm



The only rust I want to cut out on the frame (most people will pass it by, but I think getting it done is a better option)



Next up was a late linch, and I ran down to Tool station, only to be told hey had no knotwheels but if I drove another 10 miles or 16km there was stock.

Screw that was my response, so I went to two other shops, including a builders hardware where they did not even know what I wanted.

So I came home and asked my one lodger to use his Amazon Prime to order me £30.00 worth of knotwheels in flat and cup shaped .

Then I went out to carry on and used my last cup shaped wheel.



These knot wheels certainly work better and faster than the scraping, and do not get into all the tight spots.

Leaving me with another dead one and a total of 9 pricks in my skin.



Bootfair in the morning, maybe I will get lucky and find a knotwheel or two….. that would be cool.

.

[Grizz1963]

Bootfair was slim today, loads of junk that should be taken for lanfill.

Craig got another Ninja Turtles VW bus for his random VW aircooled collection, as well as the Coca Cola drum. £3.50

Sally got an unused, like new picture frame and some motorbikes for Harry total £1.50

I got her a pair of coat hooks for £1.00

And I got myself a large naval flag for £2.50 (not yet sure what to do with it)





.

Just had coffee and toast.

Decided to take the day off the Rezin Rockit as I do not have any more knotwheels until,Amazon delivers, and spend it with Sally the patient saint.

With the harvesting recently the S10 had gotten as dusty and grubby as anything, as has Sallys car.

So first thing is wash both cars, then vacuum them out.

Then we can go out in the truck, looking forward to a nice drive in that.

And go look for a super sized range cooker for her and replacement washing machine for my house, this ones bearings are grumbling a bit, so it will be consigned to scrap or if someone can use it in a workshop for overalls, rags etc, then that would be a good place for it.

[Grizz1963]

So today I took the day off with Sally.

Bootfair, followed by washing her Corsa and the S10. Then off to the appliance store.

I need a new washing machine, my typical brand is Beko, and I tend to stick with simple function 8-10kg machines.

Tha last one lasted over 10 years, and still works, only problem is the handle on the door has become partially resistant to opening, and my lodger nearly has a melt down when he has to do his laundry.

So I tried to order one instore…….. NOPE no stock.

Sally spent her motorbike and recycled stainless steel finds, buying a new cooker for £740.00 delivered, ouch. But she is happy.

We were home by 13.30, lunch, then Sally put a chair out in the sun and I grabbed a couple of bonus hours on the Rezin Rockit.

But not before her youngest came to show off his freahly MOT tested Corsa.

I like small cars……..



So down to the garage and onto the rear axle, plan was to scrape old paint, rust off.

Messy.



Eventually ready for a bit of media blasting.





David, the current longer term Lodger was having a cigarette in the garden and took a short clip too.

I have a shortage of air, and I suspect there may have been a blockage in the line that @pauly will explain later.

https://youtu.be/P-1YH6wbwww

Once again, weekend over, and to be honest, though I got a lot less achieved than intended, it was a good weekend.

Week ahead is a touch busy, so little progress expected.

[Grizz1963]

So today I managed to get some paint on after work.

Plan was a bit of red to go with the black out back, or even grey/gray but @pauly said it was too 80’s



And this tag for those who read and decipher tags.



In the end, I decided to go black all over.

Happy so far.



Tonight I also found my Amazon order out front, part 2 to be delivered later this week.\



I now need to order a set of bushes for the front and rear.

Found these, and they seem to cover pretty much everything, except the rear Anti Roll Bar bushes in the selection

At £150.00-ish probably a decent price for Poly Bushes, but I am wondering if a full set of original rubber parts can be found.




So some progress again today, unexpected as it was.

Next up, front suspension…….

[Grizz1963]

Made some time after work tonight to get going on the front end scraping.

What a horrible job.



Very messy too, and looks like it is badly damaged.



Actually not too bad,



Closed shop at 7.55 as bad light stopped play.

Hopefully get more time tomorrow night, weather permitting.

At least it has progressed.

[Grizz1963]

In other news

Dennis’ birthday today.

Not the best of dates since 9/11

Today is his best mate Roger’s (since age 5 years old) Burnout party.

So the truck which he got back out this week after the last catastrophic self destruction was tested this week and held together.



Love the helmet and cup holders in a race truck.

800 plus horsepower from a Hendricks NASCAR motor.



So last night it was loaded for the 30 mile trip down i70 to Rogers place as it has not yet been inspected and registered or insured.




Looking forward to reports later from Dennis.


His comment after his local test drive to Mittler Brothers.

The truck is a tribute to the late Mike Mittler, a good friend, whose NASCAR trucks Dennis did all the bodywork for over the years.

They all came out and took a bunch of pictures of it. Mike's brother even came out and shook my hand
It's not a very street friendly truck. It does not want to go slow.
It doesn't like low speed and low rpm's as long as you are giving it gas and driving it hard it drives fine. Deb said I guess we can't take it on a Sunday afternoon drive. Well that depends on how fast of a Sunday afternoon drive you want.

So lets see if the truck survived today.

.

[Grizz1963]

Today I really did not want to go to the bootfair, as I only got about 4 hrs sleep in broken episodes, and was tired from the time on the chassis yesterday.

But a 4.30 am alarm had me awake, and up just after 5.00

So I went anyway.

First blood to @Craigrk wife, and second blood too.

Plates for their new home in Shropshire which is known as The Stables. £3.50 for the plates.



She asked me to keep an eye out for a less common item……..got lucky.



The rest of the bootfairs bounty was collected within the first half of the field.

Picture frame, unused £2.00
Socks 50p
Small yankee candle 20p
Seeing eye 50p
Pile up sanding discs (I still have the attachments) £1.00
35 foot or 10 meter rubber reinforced airline £2.00
Large wooden Buddha for Sallys garden £4.00
Ornate cat for the garden £2.00
Plastic coat hangers £1.00
Stick of rock £- Free



So ultimately not too bad.

Airline alone made it worthwhile for me.


And unfortunately I do not know how to download video from FB.

But a few pics of Dennis’ truck doing what it was built to do at Rogers garden party.

Some of you may remember that Roger built a concrete strip for burnouts and short drag launches a few years ago.

Any of his friends are allowed to pop in and burn some money (rubber)






Being 9/11 and Dennis’ birthday, the flag had to come out too of course.

Driving over Rogers pond/lake wall after the burnout.



Full Hendricks NASCAR race motor and all 2015 season truck under the skin.

Amazing build and detail.








If I can figure how to get a video saved from FB I will and load to YouTube.

Back to the Rezin Rockit today.

Hopefully get chassis painted both sides.

Later guys.

[Grizz1963]

So a load of these died yesterday,

4 in fact.

Finishing the top and drivers half of the chassis, followed by the whole of the underside.

Happy to say, two coats of primer/paint and red oxide plus that bloody underseal is all gone, leaving surprisingly unblemished steel under it all.



Then I had to carefully flip the chassis, its not light, and it’s awkward.

So did it in a weird, but successful way.





Eventually 7 hours later………

I was truly knackered at this point.

The NVH gets to you.



Cleaned up and ready for primer




I then fetched the Mx5 Canary back in and got it onto the ramps, want to take a look today at what part of the exhaust is missing, knowing the catalytic converter was removed.

David the lodger sneaks around the garden smoking, and took a nippet of a clip as I got it to the top.

https://youtu.be/3tT-bvVW1n0

I want a sports exhaust on it anyway, and saw a piece of one for £30.-00 on FB Marketplace yesterday.

May be worth having.





Remember this….?



Bodgers should have thumbs removed.

Welded up bush.

Repairing it would be more expensive in time and effort, plus swearing than replacing in this case.




Thankfully @westbay found me a replacement pair on Ebay, seller was happy to do a Buy it Now for £32.00 delivered.



After a cleanup and rebushing, we should be good to go.


Today it is chassis primer one side, then flip it over and do the other side.

[Grizz1963]

Meet George.

Presumed to be a wild, feral stray…….

He has hung around my place for a few weeks.

Turns out he is a former indoors cat belonging to the new tenants two houses down from me.

He allowed Sally to touch him last week Wednesday.

Then I tried on Friday to get close to him and made contact.

He is a pot head…… loves catnip.

So this morning when I was checking out the underside of the MX5 on the ramps, there he was.

Crusty underside, missing the catalytic converter, do I replace it with a random piece of pipe or a small resonator box?





More crustiness.



So I fetched him some catnip and he went mad for it on the rear of the car.



After bootfair, breakfast, forum write ups and check ins, I went to check the underside of the car, followed by getting the tin of primer mixed up.



Painted every nook and cranny of the underside.

Pretty pleased with that.



Then went and had a coffee and checked the internet.

Followed by fetching Mickey to help me flip it over and painting the top of the chassis.

Once done, I stood back and just grinned.

George was not too bothered, but at least he checked up on me.

It has taken a lot of time and effort to get this thing this far.



Loads more to do, but happy with it all so far.

Once again, thank you to all those who contribute in any way they choose, be it text, phone call, PM, comments or gifted parts to fit, or specialist tools like the Void Bush tool sent to me in the mail by a random stranger.

Life is good.

[Grizz1963]

A couple more found in someone’s posting.

Going……


Going…………….





GONE……..





I do love this truck a lot.

[Grizz1963]

Spotted today and post 11,000

Don't tell @Grizz !!!





Thankfully no copyrights infringed…….


REZIN ROCKIT

MUST BE RELATED.


Expecting a visit from KevinS and his wife later to collect the MX5 wind deflector.

And hopefully to cast an eye and offer further advice on the Rezin Rockit build and suspension work.

Kevin sent me the lowered rear springs for the build Before.


And a short clip of George getting stoned.

https://youtu.be/n0mWn5PbP-M


.

[Grizz1963]

So with @kevins and MrsS coming over in their MX5 with its fruity Zorst this morning to collect the wind deflector, I thought I would quickly tidy up the carport and chassis.

Moved stuff around and got the chassis on a small trolley.



Much better.

A lot of rain forecast for tomorrow.



Probably not getting much done before the weekend.