Grizz-Pod Teardrop Trailer - New tow truck - 66 Chevy

[grizz]

After work today I went down to the garage to check something out that has bugged me for a while.

The truck has some white plastic panels along the bottoms of the doors, and when I bought it, my suspicion was that they were covering holes. Presumably speaker holes. But you could not feel it, as the plastic is quite thick.




Ideally I would be happy with intact all steel door panels, but hey..... if the holes are there..... make lemonade.

Et Voila !!!!



Test fitted the 6 X 9 200 Watt speakers I had hidden for a rainy day and even the mounting holes correspond.

I also have an amp in the garage that I gave to a friend a few years ago, along with a 12 inch Sub, which should drive the pair of 4 ways quite adequately.



Of course there are also a pair of speakers mounted in the "B-Pillars" behind my head, but I will be leaving them alone. Along with the 400 Watt speakers in the doors, it will be way more noise than I need.



Over the weekend I have a few bits to do, including going to see a guy about airbrush painting a skull.

I may pop over to Martins, as he is in the electronics game and I want to fit a beeper inside the cab to my indicator, so that I can remember to switch them off after I go around a corner.
He also has rubber grommets which he uses in his daily job, or removes from customers cars, so maybe fit some when fitting the speakers in the doors.

[grizz]

Years ago I gave this amp and sub speaker to my mate Dirk for a little Suzuki van he had, but it got stolen within a week of him purchasing it. So he never got to use them.

When I saw him recently and mentioned that I was going to investigate the doors to see if they had holes and if I could fit the 200watt 6X9 speakers I had in my secret reserve stash, he said he still had the amp and sub, just needed to find them, and I could have them back.
About 25 minutes later and typically the last storage crate he looked in, they came out.



I cannot remember the power output of the Sub, but had it in a car before and it was more than sufficient.

So now just need to figure out where to mount it in the truck, maybe use an old surround sound box.





Looking forward to getting all this sorted.

[grizz]

Well, after quite a lot of convincing I got Nicola to agree to me spending some money I should not...... Buying a used, slightly rough and damaged hard top for Merlin the MX5.

Mate Martin had negotiated a sensible price for the hard top and fitting hardware from a breaker near Ashford, so this afternoon we drove the car down there to fetch the hard top (the easiest way to get it home)

I also bought some extra plastics so that I can store the original tan plastics for when the car eventually moves on.

Got there and the parts were all ready for collection.



Got home after driving back, and have to say, the top makes a huge difference to both sound and also temperature.

Washed the car, and then T-Cut the roof followed by some serious polishing, getting the paint looking and feeling a lot better.

Nicola is still in two minds about the colour choice..... the roof will be repainted, so do we do it in Black like the rest of the car, or do I stick to the two tone Silver and Black with silver wheels, or change the roof to an anthracite/gun metal grey along with the wheels in the same colour?????









Opinions and viewpoints please.....

[KCStudly]

Unless you do the roof in a faux carbon fiber wrap, I think I'd like to see it body color (colour) rather than contrasting. Just matching the wheels isn't enough for my taste as there is such a hard line between the boot and at the windshield header, I just don't think it will ever look right to my eye if different.

Now your truck is a different story. That was just meant to be, but the lines on the 5 are different, more rounded, so I don't think it works there.

This opinion is all relative, of course, since it looks good due to all of the hard work and attention that you have given it. We're talking nuances above.

[rebapuck]

I vote for matching body color.

[grizz]

Thanks KC and Judy.

The final (and only) vote was cast at about 09.00 this morning by Nicola and it was the colour of her old car, a Peugeot 1007 in Peugeot Cossack Grey (she has a silver one currently) for the roof and wheels.
As I said to her, if she does not like it, we can always just repaint it in black.

[KCStudly]

A tone on tone might work great since the grey will have a lot less contrast than the silver on black.

Go for it!

[grizz]

Have started doing a resto on a Wood Rimmed Nardi Steering Wheel that I bought a while ago.

Had it fitted for her to try out to see if she really liked it...... Got a message from her along the lines of: "Love the feel and look of the steering wheel, but it snagged and ripped my tights getting into the car, may need a bit of work. "

Have sanded it back, epoxy resin filled the crack and started adding some of the 10 coats of Danish Oil that I am painting it with. Should give the same finish as the handbrake/parking brake handle.

Pics and update tonight.

[grizz]

Just a quick update and a few pics.

Firstly, the colour the roof and wheels will end up now that Nicola has chosen a colour.

The top can was in the sun, showing the colour with and without direct light.




Secondly, the Nardi Wood rimmed steering wheel I bought to retsore for her.

Started by sanding back some of the old varnish and to get beyond the ingrained grease from years of use.

Then filled the crack with epoxy resin and left overnight to harden and dry.



Then sanded the whole lot back.



After masking it all, I used Danish Oil to protect it.



After the first of 7 coats I plan on giving it.



I hope to have some decent weather over the weekend, and to be able to do the wheels and roof.

[grizz]

Got home after 5pm tonight and quickly got on with prepping the wheels.

I also gave the steering wheel coat number 3, four more to go.

Worked back all the kerbing (not a lot fortunately)and got the wheels sanded and prepped with 400 wet n dry paper.

Then masked the tyres off and starting from the outside, I painted the two right hand wheels.

Leaving them to dry overnight, I will do the clear coat tomorrow morning early by 06.00 before work and refit the two wheels after work and then paint the other side.



Before and after together.

[grizz]

This will be another shortish report with the pics speaking.

Nicola has always loved skulls and I recently nearly nicked her one.

Anyway, when I started to work on prepping and getting this hard top sorted for her, I decided to give making a roof liner for her a go.

I ordered a piece of "nice" skull fabric off Ebay.

Cut a piece of thin hard board to size after drawing a template on an old Zambia map I had found in a cabinet Mickey brought here a few months ago.

I also had some mortuary sheets which I was going to cut to size and then glue down with contact adhesive to create a bit of a padded feel, finally covering and wrapping the hard board in the skull fabric. The last step would be to fix it to the roof once the painting is completed.





Mortuary sheets cut up and glued down 4 deep.



Eventually the skull fabric.






Sanded and prepped.



Masked and primer started.



Also had to grind out and repair the damage to the roof.



Thinnest of skims of filler afterward, and some fresh primer over it all.



Once the weather warms up a bit tomorrow I will spray the first of several coats of the paint, followed on Monday night by some clear lacquer to protect it all.

Mate Martin will be over tomorrow afternoon with his template for cutting the spare set of side panels I bought for the roofs side clips to attach through.

[eamarquardt]

Years ago I gave this amp and sub speaker to my mate Dirk for a little Suzuki van he had, but it got stolen within a week of him purchasing it. So he never got to use them.

When I saw him recently and mentioned that I was going to investigate the doors to see if they had holes and if I could fit the 200watt 6X9 speakers I had in my secret reserve stash, he said he still had the amp and sub, just needed to find them, and I could have them back.
About 25 minutes later and typically the last storage crate he looked in, they came out.

Well, of course they were in the last bucket he looked in! After he found them there was no need to continue looking for them!

[grizz]

Mate Martin and his wife came over this afternoon.

Martin took one look at what I had done so far, nodded his head and asked for some 1200 wet/dry paper and a bucket of the water.
2 hours later, a fine dusting of paint later and a chat about my tools, it was decided that in spite of the investment I had made in paint so far, I would go and buy some mixed paint and use my gravity fed gun later this week and repaint the roof.
The rattle cans only give a fan of about 40-50mm while a gun will give 150mm or more.

So this was all I saw today.....



Mickey from next door checking up on us and Amanda, Martin's wife watching us me at play.



I am gutted as I had hoped to be done with the job by Monday night, but I guess it will be good now.

[grizz]

Well, the Nardi wooden steering wheel I restored turned out really nice after six coats of varnish.

Fitted to the car and a happy Nicola = Happy me.




After a major let down with the finish of the rattle cans for the roof, I went out and bought some pre-mixed metalic and used my compressor and gravity fed gun...... MUCH BETTER







I do love the colour, and it should contrast the black as I imagined.


Tonight after work, I used the rattle can clear in the hope it would work..... FAIL !!!

I will go back and see if I can get some clear that will work with the clear already down and the metalic under it, as I really do not want to start all over again.

Fingers crossed I can sort out the Zebra finish the rattle can clear has given me with minimal fuss.

Update to follow.

[grizz]

After three attempts of which two were with rattle cans and all failures due to the rattle cans, I got two coats of base and two coats of clear on the roof yesterday.
Still not perfect but perfectly good for a toy and occasional daily driver and grocery getter.

Pics later. .