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

[Grizz1963]

So last night, Ricky who brought me the mats for the truck, knowing I like a knife, and also that I love miniature items, brought me a serious dagger.





After adding a bit of shine to the mats, as well as cleaning the previous set I had, that then went in for the rear seat, it looked like this.

I love it for sure.



It rained intermittently today, typical of the day I chose to take off work.

So I did lots of little random jobs in the garage, moved stuff about, made some space.

Also grabbed a large can of satin black, and after cleaning the wheels, I sprayed the centres three coats of black.

Next will be Silver Hammerite paint along the edge.





One of today’s planned tasks was to modify the VW Polo Towbar to make it fit the Blazer chassis.





I believe this is where Lee, the previous owner had removed the old Towbar.

So it will be the new mounting point once I figure it all out.



Up it goes.

And yes, axle stands too.



Coffee break looked like this, and I got optimistic, only to be rained out 20 minutes later again.

Grrrrrrr....!!

[Grizz1963]

As isoften thecase, in this case the third time this week....

Prozac had ajob to do.

Headed over to PaulF’s tocollect his hydraulic press.

Will be needing that tomorrow.

His splits meeting Prozac,



Loaded along with a 1960 vintage table that was in the back of Prozac already



Back at home, security had to check.



Moving it from Prozac to garage.

Amazing how easy the wheels made it.




Waiting for tomorrow when @PaulY gets here.



Then back to the Towbar issue, needing to be mounted off the chassis.



Measure, visualise and



Cut



And finally trimmed to size,



Ready to be welded and fitted.

[Grizz1963]

Anyone interested.....?



So Saturday started thus.




I got the truck off the rear axle stands and then turned it around on the lawn, not a clever thing as there are a load of wheel tracks/trenches from the weight of the truck.

I usually reverse stuff down the drive as it’s easier that way, but when @PaulY got there we would be needing the front end facing the garage entrance.

A rare sight this way around.




Up on axle stands, wheels off and tools ready so that when Paul got there by 10.30 we could carry on.



Mickey came around to check up on us as he heard the motor earlier on.




This guy has always got a smile, even when things go badly wrong, he just grins and says something like “well, let’s think about it, we just need to get on and do this thing”



The blue house carpet I brought home last week came in handy, two layers helped against the bone chilling cold while the wind continued to drop the temperature for us.

Busy Busy Busy...... and yes, I helped (a little bit)



DIRTY BIG THING, DIRTY DIRTY DIRTY.

Lower control arm.



Scrape, dig, clean up using knife, chisel and brush, then washed with a hard toilet brush and loads of petrol.




Followed by commercial kitchen degreaser that smelled lovely.

Then once it dried away, pressure clean, wash and dry.





Clean parts are so much fun to work with.


The 40 year old bushes and ball joints still needed to be removed.


More in a bit.

[Grizz1963]

So we continued to dismantle, clean, strip and swear from time to time. (I do most of the swearing, @PaulY jut get on with it)

The amount of dirt stuck to this truck, possibly the same as most or many other 40 year olds is staggering, possible a good rust preventative though.

Both sides torn down.




Next job of course was to clean, service and refit new parts to the Control arms.



The springs removed form the truck were as impressive as any that had been torched before.

Useful only as ballast when weighing something in.

Take a good look.

Before you burn them.

Measuring 11 inches.



So a new pair were selected from the pile, and measured, offered up and then Dr Bosch Grinder came in.

Surgery.

13 inches saved to be fitted.

Happy.



The next big job was a YouTube research job......

Easiest way to remove the 40 year old swing arm bushes.

Dr Bosch Drill to theatre.

Bench mounted, a few large drill bits sacrificed

Two per swing arm = 8 total.



Followed by Mr Press.

This tool, belonging to @PaulF was the most sensible thing to bring to the party.

Not always easy to use, needed loads of small custom pressing pieces made through the day, each taking time, and finding the right materials being a pain too, it worked a treat.



New brake shoes added while the front end was dismantled.



As we got busier and time drained away, I took less photos.

Needles to say, once the old bushes were removed and the new once’s pressed into place, often necessitating restarts the Ball joints were removed, replaced and then I took each piece out to a tree, hung them and painted the fresh metal in underbody sealer, getting a lovely uniform and clean look.

By 8.30 Paul had completed the reassembly, I still need to go back to torque up everything, change the position of the passenger side lover swing arm arm as it seems to have escaped the locating points.
Brake on passenger side needs bleeding.
Then I need to do the steering or tie rod ends, as we ran out of daylight and ambition, the cold is a killer.
Finally I also need to remove and replace the existing front wheel bearings.

BRILLIANT LINK.

http://www.73-87.com/7387garage/chas...n/frontend.htm

Tired but happy, we closed shop at 8.30

Sleep was a problem for me, netting a total of three hours, and then awake for 4 hours, followed by another hour.

Today it was rain, wind and 5’C all day, so I decided to go shopping for food, paint and Silver Hammmerite for the wheels once the sun returns.

This afternoon I popped down to the garage to check the height and get a pic of the new height.

A sure sign of us being tired toward the end.



Front end came up 35 mm

Looking a load better, rear seems to have gone down a bit, 5-10mm



So there you go.

One step closer to an MOT submission.

Thanks for checking in and making your comments all.

[Grizz1963]

[quote author="@glenanderson" source="/post/2457485/thread" timestamp="1540741183"]Up 35mm and with springs that might actually have some spring in them. Good job. I’m certain you’ll notice a huge difference.

I’d have come up a bit more, personally, but that’s a whole lot better than it was, whilst still leaving me room to knock you down when you sell it to me. ��

I reckon the back could be left as it is now. [/quote]

Correct, and funny, with action, I would be happy visually to go down, so leaving the front end just where it is.

[quote author="@braaap" source="/post/2457488/thread" timestamp="1540742085"]Cutting the springs to a certain legth is one thing, but do you know the spring rates of the new ones or is the thread thickness the same?
If they were made for a lighter car, the car might sit lower after the first miles. Or the springs start settling because of their material.
Only time will tell I think.

Nice job nevertheless.[/quote]

Thank you very much, I am both thankful and pleased for Paul’s help.

Doing it is one thing, doing it all fast, and knowing what you are doing is another, thankfully it was another.


[quote author="@pauly" source="/post/2457500/thread" timestamp="1540744010"]@braaap is quite right. It will settle a bit but probably not that much. All the springs where sacrifices to the Gods of Lows (tm) when I was trying to fine tune the ride height on my 56 PU - the coils are slightly 'lighter' but only time will tell.

In other news Grizz's new toy is a lot better in the flesh than he makes out in his posts. Good job it is not a project as I think this will morph into the new Prozac over the coming months.

Onwards!

P. [/quote]

Thank you Paul, yes the truck is much better than described according to everyone who has seen it.

Guess I just like to manage my own expectations, hence it still making me happy.

And yes, agreed, it will evolve.

I know everything I do to it, will increase its inherent value.


Thanks to your expert guidance I have now just ordered a set of these.






And so ends another good MoJo filled weekend.

Thought I would post up a few useful or interesting links.

THANK YOU TO THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR CREATING THESE RESOURCES.

FRONT END REBUILD TUTORIAL

http://www.73-87.com/7387garage/chas...n/frontend.htm

BLAZER PICTURE THREAD

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=331470

FULL AND COMPLETE 1979 CHEVY LIGHT TRUCK SERVICE MANUAL.

http://www.73-87chevytrucks.com/tech...ice_Manual.pdf


Garage cat warning.



Someone asked if the Teardrop Trailer still existed.

Yes it certainly does.



And it seems Dennis has pretty much used up all the wood on his gas station replica build.

Perfect timing for a winter outfit, now the inner walls, insulation and electrics are done.





With winters chill and short days here, it looks like the truck will mainly be getting weekend time now.

[Grizz1963]

Went down to the garage a few minutes ago, it’s bloody cold out there.

Wanted to check and see if my bought 10 years ago, used a few times, Torque Wrench still worked.







Quick bit of random stuff to add.

Some of the other good things that has happened under the hood.

Like the suspension parts, brakes etc that I have replaced, regardless of condition so that I know we have a decent baseline....

The truck has benefitted from a new water pump, new hoses, HT leads, plugs, oils, filters and a brake master cylinder and rebuilt front brake Callipers, radiator fan to replace the original viscous unit. Tyres you will note are new...

So loads of good stuff.






ONCE AGAIN, LOOKING FOR SOMETHING.........

A SMALL KNOB.





At Dennis things are really coming together.



Interior.

Insulated, wired up and thick Wood panelled

[Grizz1963]

Needs more thought.

[quote author="@darrenh" source="/post/2458411/thread" timestamp="1541068837"]is that wound spring of hard brake hose an original feature? just made me smile as it seems quite a logical idea[/quote]

If you want to do it, I found using a double dose of good masking tape to hold the pipe in the start position, and then to wind the pipe tightly around the can till you have the righ spirals. After this, I used the can as a lever to twist the pipe till it was basically in the right position.



First pipe bent and ready to wait for the rebuild to complete.

They have to follow the inner fender profile and then end up under the hood next to the master cylinder.



Second one done.......





[quote author="@da1sycat" source="/post/2458539/thread" timestamp="1541102587"]Grizz I really do look forward to your updates no matter what the topic.

I admire your “we will overcome attitude” too and when reading about the mismatch between the bits and pieces as per the wisdom of Dennis I just couldn’t help think of one of my favourite Johnny Cash tracks “One Piece at a Time”

“The transmission was a fifty three
And the motor turned out to be a seventy three
And when we tried to put in the bolts all the holes were gone.

So we drilled it out so that it would fit
And with a little bit of help with an adapter kit
We had that engine runnin' just like a song
Now the headlight' was another sight
We had two on the left and one on the right
But when we pulled out the switch all three of 'em come on.”

And of course the last verse when the great Man in Black describes the year of manufacture lol.

Isn’t it brilliant that US Autos can be put together with several different model years? Try that with anything other than a Landrover and you’d be left with more adapters than parts!

Roll on the next instalment. [/quote]


Love that song.

[Grizz1963]

As with many cars, especially the older ones, the most wanted, purest form Blazers were the originals.

Over the years they have evolved a lot.

Originals lost the whole roof......

This makes them coveted.

By the time 1979 and my Blazer rolled in, the drivers or front roof section had become fixed, with only the rear fiber glass or is that glassfibre canopy section unbolting and lifting away, leaving you with a very basic truck like profile.

The canopy side glass also became available with sliding glass, I prefer the look of solid glass.

Front ends and hoods/bonnets kept changing too in order to keep people interested. Single round headlights,evolved through square and double stacked etc.


I found a 2WD Blazer, Jimmy, Suburban thread of 52 pages and pulled off some pics to add in here, partly as reference, but also because it reminds me that in summer this truck may just become even more fun.

Did I say FUN ?

Or [font size="5"][font color="e63b19"]FUN[/font][/font]




DISCLAIMER. Please keep in mind that there are no plans for fancy paint jobs, 22” wheels, turbos, blowers etc,











Love everything about this truck.

And would love one of these hoods for my truck with the bulge.



Same truck, big wheels that are not my taste at all.







Great colour combo, same series as my Blazer.













Really like this, despite the current paint status.















So there you have a mix, just to feast your eyes, and for ideas together in one place.


Thank you to the owners who posted up the original photos that I have pulled together on here.


Do feel free to add more if you have more TOPLESS Blazers.

[Grizz1963]

Going back a few years now.

On my first USA road trip, this was one seen in Texarkana.

Next we heard the unmistakable rumble of large bore straight through pipes and Scott pulled up.

Niiiiiiiiice...!!





I just Loved the headlights.

[Grizz1963]

So....

Friday night.

Been a busy week.

Worked with the new boss on Monday, the rest of the week was busy, read busy.

Today I was booked into an all day Skype training course on Cancer and Cancer Associated Thrombosis, or CAT in short.

Since temperatures dropped, it seems I have a CAT in bed nightly.




I have realised I need a “Cowl Hood” to replace the one the truck came with.

And looking around FB marketplace for a hood/bonnet, I happened on a radiator shroud.

Messaged the seller over in Essex 50 miles from where I live, while on my Skype training, agreed to a price, based on Autojumble prices of £10.00 or $13.00 which if you realistically added the Darford Crossing Toll fee and cost of using my company car at 11p/mile worked out to around £25.00 or $35.00 for the fan shroud......
I could not get one from the USA for that money.
So after training, I drove over to Sean’s place, Met his dad and cats, and spent an hour talking cars, trucks and Triumph bikes.....

The shroud came from this 1908 GMC Truck, currently diesel, and actually sold tonight.

Sean also has an Advanced Design Chevy truck, getting a monster diesel.

The guys like their diesels.



While in their shop, his dad showed me the hood to his truck.

Love the pinstriping. @mrtiki should approve



Now this is another Item I would absolutely love to have for myself.



Back home by after 4pm, I just unpacked and then fed the cat........

Took pics of my bit of joy, front and rear.

Will see if it fits tomorrow






Lastly, I found this on the floor under the truck.

Wonder where it came from.



Tomorrow it’s back under the front end.

Wish me luck.

[Grizz1963]

Insomnia Sucks.

Waking at 04.00 on a weekend sucks.

Waking to this does not suck.

Insomnia sucks - YouTube

Garage time today.

[Grizz1963]

After last weekend and the spring replacement, Mate Martin sent this pic today.

Made me smile, because a certain @PaulY has seen this go wrong before.



After last weekends 10 hr session at 5’C in the cutting wind and out on the driveway, we shut shop and I had a hectic week, which meant I never cleaned up, or cleaned the tools that were all covered in 40 year old black grease, as well as all the debris from the days work.

So this morning after going to the Post office at 07.45 and then to Aldi for food as I planned on cooking dinner over at Joys place tonight (she has been ill 10days now, and I refused to go there and get infected) I proceeded to,spend two hours cleaning up.

The brake shoes that came out of the truck were at various levels of wear or destruction.



The top, cracked one had also worn quite thin.



Really pleased and thankful that all these “little jobs” are getting done.

Makes life a lot easier in the long run.

[Grizz1963]

So one of the jobs that we just had to walk away from last weekend after 10 hrs in the cold, was the passenger side lower control arm and its cross shaft, which has locating pins on the cross me,her.

These have to be seated, or else you cannot tighten the U-Bolts.

In the dark at 7pm it was never going to happen.

So today I had to fix it hat as a first priority.

I certainly was not going to disassemble everything, so took a long look, and tried to see in there, but of course there is a lot that goes on there, and even the LED torch could not give me enough of an idea as to where the pins and holes were




So I undid the U-Bolts a bit, lifting the whole assembly gently with the jack from under the spring cup.

No matter what I tried I could not see what needed to be done, did it need to be twisted forward or backward and did I need to attack it with a rubber mallet from the rear or from the front.

So I came up to the house for a coffee, and cookies...... thinking power food.

And thought that the only way to figure out where everything was in relation to everything else, was to poke my finger in there, and then twist and hammer into various directions.

But my thick fingers would not fit in the space I had available.

So I used some wire, sharpened it, created a simple handle to give me leverage.

This way I got to “feel and pick”the invisible space between cross shaft and mounting point and the locating pin and hole.




Trust me, this was a long job, simply because I am not naturally talented like some mechanics.

My neck hurt, and I was hurting because despite,the,carpet on the floor, the cold does come up into my back.



EVENTUALLY I GOT IT ALL SORTED AND BOLTED DOWN.





This job was followed by the steering tie rod ends.

Theoretically a simple take it off and replace it job.


Errrrmmm,mmmmm........?







These old parts really are grubby, rusted and a pain.

34 turns to remove the old unit.




THEN THE FUN STARTED.

I could not for the life of me, get the new part to screw into the jointing section, at least not the way it had come out.

I think in the end I may even have cross threaded it too.

Copper slip added, but all to no avail.



So the question is this: Do these units come in a left hand and a right hand flavour?

The two that I got sent are exactly the same, and an hour later I still had no progress and shut shop as I had a dinner date after showering and feeding Harley.

Packaging.




Both are exactly the same.





Tomorrow morning I will go try to do the drivers side and if it is a simple task, then who knows, it may be that there are Left and Right Toe Rods.


Anyone know?

Bedtime.

[Grizz1963]

So Sunday morning I approached it all again.

Based on various comments on the forums I looked closer at what I had.



Karl “Aggie” from Longview, Texas also commented and added further advice. Making sense to the ownership of a 40 year old truck.

Originally Posted by aggie91

Rian,

I saw it on FB too, but was not where I could help out. Yes, they are left and right threads.

The ES409LT is the INNER Tie Rod End. You need to get the ES409RT for the OUTER Tie Rod End. I recommend getting the new adjuster sleeves too. You can put them together in the comfort of you living room before heading out into the cold garage. Pull of the set on one side and make the new set match the length of the old set. This gets you close on the toe adjustment. the Adjuster sleeves are part number ES2004S in Moog ($7.08USD each) or Quick Steer ($1.81USD each) on RockAuto.com.

FYI - Moog and Quick Steer are BOTH brands from Federal Mogul which is now part of Tenneco.

Once you have both sides reassembled you can adjust the toe as needed till you can get to the alignment shop.

I have decided to replace the sleeves as well.
New parts should only improve things further.

And looking at the receipt and numbers from my order it seems the order was correct but wrong items picked and shipped.



So these are the inner tie rod ends. Based on the LT code.





So once I realised I could not complete the job, I removed, cleaned and greased up the drivers side too and refitted both sides



Next up was further cleaning up of all the underside parts, nuts and surfaces. Then greasing up all the grease points.



Once all was cleaned up, bolted down, I torqued down every nut, keeping in mind the control arms needed to be done under full load. This was done by making a small adapter for the jack to fit the lower ball joint grease nipple into and raising the front suspension till it lifted the truck, creating full load. I followed with a final coat of Würth underbody sealer.



Happy with the outcome.

Passenger side.



Drivers side.




I then refitted the wheels and brought the truck down to the ground.
Rocking it hard in all directions it was almost dark but I got one photo. Will do some in daylight after a drive.

The final wheel arch height has gone from 680mm up to a much better looking 740mm
So a ain of 60mm with thenew parts and springs.





Final job to do will be to get sone DOT4 Brake Fluid to top up and bleed the brakes.

Then it should be all go for MOT when I get a chance.

Did I mention that this is “Not a Project”

Later.

[Grizz1963]

Wheels.......

Last week a member on a FB forum directed me toward these Stainless trim rings.



Advertised as this.

So including courier cost DPD who certainly will not get my business again for taking 4days to do an overnight £10.00 delivery, it was £60.00 for the trim rings.

So I agreed to buy them.



Similar to the trim rings I have ready for the C10 along with the Rallye wheels I bought a few years ago.

I did try them on the Blazer rims, but no fit.



Plan is to go satin black Centre and Chrome/Stainless trims.



So tonight after work I got home to these.



New, in the box, actually nor even opened since they were shipped.

Quick Catscan from Security cat.

68mm deep trims, should look good.



I never went down to see if they fitted, as it was cold and damp and dark.


On the way to Physio I stopped in at my favourite spares store and got som brake fluid to top up and bleed the brakes.





Hope to get the brakes done by Sunday.

Thanks for checking in.

[Grizz1963]

Well.....

What a good day today turned out to be.

I discovered a supply of this........

One of my all time favourites, and I do not care about anyone else’s feelings, opinions, and advice, unless it is on where to find more

This is my emotional link with the USA



Got a message from a friend in Siberia.

Stas has sent me something by post, amazing weather they are having, yes I guess it is winter.



While this was what my car said when I got back to it in the afternoon.

Unseasonably warm weather for the first week of November




Had to spend a few hours at my desk this morning, working from home has its advantages too. Just not sure what they are.

But.... The doorbell went, usually I would be long gone by then.

Went downstairs to answer the door......

Wooohooo.

Brown Van Man.

Bearing gifts, well one gift, that I had ordered and paid for yesterday.

Less than 24 hrs delivery, certainly beat DPD and their four day overnight delivery.




Opened the parcel once I had done my admin and before I left.

More Steering parts.



After work tonight I got home and found an envelope that had been sent by Dale who hadnotived the truck was missing a knob (other than me)

Thank you mate.



So once I had changed into house clothes Iwent down to the garage.

Knob fitted and wipers and washer tested.



While down there, I noticed gauges were all showing different lies.

Ignition not on, but oil pressure, temp gauge showing life, and the clock broken completely

So more investigation to come,



I have to say that a few guys have been really helpful since I bought the Blazer.

Most of all has been Dennis in St Louis, he owned a few of there Square bodies and knows their deepest secrets, so he has been advising and ensuring I do not screw up completely from behind the scenes.

I love the internet.

Then the fun part.



All threads also covered in Copaslip..... future proofing the steering parts.



And of course all the grease nipples in place, primed and cleaned up.

Nothing like a DIY selfie to wrap up the evening.



Plan is to take the parts to a wheel and tyre shop to get the toe and allingnment set at the same time as fitting these parts.


Brakes still need to be bled, and because I do not know what type of brake fluid is in there, draining the system as well, is on the cards too. That way ensuring the brake fluid is both fresh as well as uniform.

[Grizz1963]

Courier delivered this yesterday.

So tell me what and where it is headed.



One step closer.

I stopped by at a local wheel and tyre shop yesterday to find out if they could set the front wheels up for me.

Yes, but I needed to fit the steering parts myself, due to corporate policy etc. Which is fine.

Priced at a reasonable £30.00 after a call to a different company got me a quote for £50.00

May just go down on Sunday if I can get the brakes sorted, but working day job all week and all of Saturday.

I thought the road tax ar £225.00 was pretty good too.




And finally, in these days of politically correct and then the rest.....

This Made me laugh.

[Grizz1963]

Remember the stainless steel wheel trims I bought last week?

Forgot to try them on, but also the day job has kept me busy.

So tonight after work, in the dark I went and tried to fit one on the truck.


I have to say.....


I love it, the result is even better than I had anticipated.




I will be honest.

After the trim ring fitting, I decided screw dinner, it will be there later (left overs from yesterday) more fun down at the garage.

Chilly down there.



But I decided to get on and strip down the front steering parts and replace them too as it needs to be done before I take the truck in to get the wheel alignment, Toe etc set.

Once I had the truck up in the air, it was big hammer, spanner, sockets and some crawling around.

Harley was constantly under my feet too, weird cat, but good company.



The two ends weirdly have different sized nuts.

There has to be a reason of course



So first the one side, then the other.

Harley was laying next to me while i was undoing things.



Finally, all the nuts, bolts and whatever else was tightened and torqued up.

Very happy with the outcomes.




I checked all the four corner wheel arch heights and it seems the rear had come down by 10mm after the front end rebuild.

Now with all the parts replaced, I am hoping for many years of good, easy motoring in the Blazer.

Just added up the costs of all I have done to it so far and it totals up to £630.00 but it was the right thing to do.

Still not convinced about this truck, whether it’s really not a Project, but it certainly has done me too.

[Grizz1963]

Message from Dennis this morning when I got up.

Not good news.

Seems snow overnight in St Louis.



Anyway, my day was loads of admin, then run around trying to find out some inside info from clients, never easy, but succeeded.

Skype video conference with boss at 3pm booked for an hour.

On the way home, I called Stuart the neighbor to see if he was available after my video thing to help me get the brakes pumped while I drained them, of course he said yes.

So we got onto it by 4pm and by 5pm after a good chat, we were done and he headed home.

Brakes bled, means Sunday could be wheel alignment.

Then drive, fun and MOT .



Failing light meant no decent photos of stance and arch height.




Also found a set of Bootfair valve caps that will go on once the new stainless trims get fitted.



While down there I realised that I do need some hubcaps if I can find a set.

Eyes open.




You know what they say about idle hands....?

Well.....

2.5” single exhaust pipe from behind the cast iron headers.



So I started to look around on EBay

I was under the impession that that I had one in the garage, but must have given it away years ago.







So, if you have a full set of top hat caps, of know of a set somewhere in some for sale or dontation somewhere, please let me know.

[Grizz1963]

Saturday.....

On the High Speed train to St Pancras station in London, then a black cab to St Barts Hospital for the day.

Working to get a day in lieu later when I need to take the Blazer for its MOT.

However, last night, sitting with Aaron Kauffman’s Shifting Gears on in the background and surfing the web, I had a Rum and Pepsi, later I followed it with a 500ml Mountain Dew, fully aware of the caffeine in there.......

Not a clever move.

Woke at 02.30 and then tossed and turned.







But....... Sometimes waking to an invoice is actually quite pleasant.

Add shipping and we have a dropped asss on the Blazer.





Instructions include the use of a Grinder and cutting disc.



To get these babies fitted.





Another bit of fun to add to this truck.

[Grizz1963]

Been a long day.

Slept an hour in the chair downstairs, care of the Captain.

Anyway, put the word out that I was looking for a set of centre caps for the Rallye wheels on the Blazer.

Got a reply from Glasgow in Scotland.



These.



To go with these.



In other news.......

Dennis posted out the drop shackles today.

So soon we may see more action.

Working in London today, all the streets were blocked so I did a good walk after the cab driver gave up.



But it allowed me to see loads of beauty in the city I dislike so.



Late afternoon after we left the meeting and I got back to St Pancas for theb35 minute high speed trip back to my Station n, the weather had turned decidedly worse.





I will be honest, I had planned on taking the Blazer for a drive tonight but it will have to wait for tomorrow.

Armistice day

11/11,18


Looking forward to driving this truck and feeling it’s new constitution

[Grizz1963]

Yup

Its not a project.

Becoming more than that now.

Becoming fun, and a lot of it.

Looking to see if there are any modern estates, 4x4’s like Pajero, Shogun, Discovery etc that has a set of roofracks I can rob off it.

This is where it could be headed.




Any advice or pointers appreciated.

Thank you.

[Grizz1963]

Sunday.

Remembrance Sunday, and to me a serious business. Having served too, I do remember those no longer with us, those who,paid the greatest price so that I can live a good and easy life.

Because I worked yesterday my weekend was a bit short, so I had lots to do.

Starting with another bad nights sleep, I ended up doing loads today.

Bringing the truck up from the garage, the plan was to tint the windows and then head for town, but they were more complex as you need a five armed monkey to hold, stretch and apply the film when there is a breeze out like today.



Cleaning the inside window glass, I realised the whole thing needed a wash.



I also found evidence of a previous tint in the rear.



Quick wash, still took quite a while.






Another observation.

I need to find a replacement headlight, this one works but the milky glass does not appeal to me.



What it should look like, other side.



Once the car was washed, I took it down the tight drive.




And first time it was out of the property since I bought it and Lee delivered it.

Confrontation?





I was headed up to the farm to get a few decent photos......

We like a nice photo, don’t we?

Before alignment time.

[Grizz1963]

So I went up to the farm to see if I could get some nice pics that justified the truck for what it really is.

Not as bad as I have made it out.

I do not think this truck has ever been in an accident and all the panels seem to be straighter than one could expect from a 40year old.






I had removed the license plate whe. I started to look at getting the Towbar made up.

It was held in place by two rusty panel screws, one broke off in the backing plate, the other came out, so I just taped it in the rear window.



Thames river in the background.



From the farm I headed toward Rochester......

Of course stopping in for some fuel.



Then a drive down the bypass motorway to get a good feel for the handling.

It weaved lightly,and drew to the right all the time.

[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.