Berlingo Forum

(24-12-2018, 04:41 PM)jj9 Wrote: [ -> ]The stripes certainly lift the look of the Blazer 


What a difference between the "Then" and "Now" pictures . . . You sure it's not a project 




Best Wishes.


.

Naaaahhh...
 
Not a Project, they go on for ever and cost money.

I like the stripes a lot now, looking out the kitchen window, it makes me smile for sure.

(24-12-2018, 05:19 PM)Tomcat3 Wrote: [ -> ]Happy Christmas to you as well enjoy your meal tonight and your garage time tomorrow.

Thank you mate.

Dinner and companymwas awesome as were the great ideas generated by many margaritas 

Not made it to the garage yet, but the biccies are suffering

Popped over to and his family about 80 miles or 120km from my place on Christmas Eve.

They do like getting into the swing of things , I don’t......



But Craig and his wife were going to drag me there, even if it meant kicking and screaming.

I seem to recall the last time I saw Craig in a mask, things went south fast, and we ended up getting pulled over by a State Trooper with Dennis in Arkansas.

Deja Vu ?



I had taken Craig’s wife, who can do not wrong, a bottle of Prosecco, and when I got there, Craig gave me some lovely chocolates and Lorraine handed me the winning prize, three French sausages.



After a few manly chores, done including taking the dogs to boarding kennels, we headed out along wit the kids and Lorraine’s sister who is over from South Africa 

To this address........





Hint in the name.



And the facilities......



Our waiter lady (sorry, no selfie with her) informed us there were free Margaritas on offer as it was a Monday evening.

Hmmmmm.....

You know this can only turn into fun, or mischief.

Craig ordered a smallish steak that he could not finish.



I was predicable......

Wings and ribs.

Wings are miniatures compared to American wings, but hey ho, I did not go hungry at all.



Not sure if the Margaritas can be blamed or not, but between us, Craig and I realised we need to go back to the USA next year, this time to make a video travel programme.......

So any advice on GoPro and legalities etc appreciated.




Everything subject to change and natural,disasters

Christmas Day jobs.
My time.
Solo.

Harley and I ate a whole tray of Fox’s biscuits, Dreamies, some Tuna, and some other treats.

Eventually by 10.00 am I was bored with eating and sitting still and went out to mess with the Blazer. 
Checked the oil, water, belts, tyre pressure, cleaned the inside glass, grinned at it, thought of the changes so far and grinned some more etc.
Then went to fetch the vintage style horn I had bought a few weeks ago, the sound system and reverse light has to wait till I have a responsible adult on site who knows how to work a multimeter and connect wires safely, but that can happen any time soon.

So the first task was to find the existing horn.......

Not anywhere in the engine bay, not to be seen up front by the radiator.

So decided to remove the headlight surround, heavy cast aluminium piece.



Found one.



And another one, which does not work.

Thinking I may look for an original grille to replace this aluminium unit too.



Supervisor in place.

She has to be around to help, weird creature.



And said offending, anti-social item fitted.



Video of previous horn vs new one.

LINK:


https://youtu.be/8HBuLyH2cbs


After that, I fetched the new ductape that I had ordered last week and the wheel trims and started by putting two layers of tape on the outside edge of the wheel rims in an attempt to get the stainless steel trim rings to stay in place when I go drive the truck. made the suggestion from his past experiences that had resolved a similar issue. Let’s hope they stay put, it hurts to see money rolling down the motorway.



I REALLY REALLY LOVE THESE TRIMS.



Done.






Potential T-Shirt design.

Like it??



Later all.

Today I posted up a wanted advertisement on two Facebook truck groups and my home page, asking if anyone had a pre-80 Grille to sell for the Blazer as well as an original steering wheel, as I don’t like the one fitted much and would prefer a standard steering wheel.

Within minutes there was a reply from a friend to say he may have one, and that he would go out to his shop to look and get some photos. 
Typically. As per these modern inconveniences that are social media, someone else came into the chat thread too, asking if said friend had any other panels to sell, as he needed some for his C10 restoration, and at the same time saying to me that he had a new unused grille still in the box that he was prepared to sell to me plus shipping, It is in Mickleover in Derbyshire so needs to come to Kent, in case anyone is driving down in the next few days and can bring it down South the 175 miles. Otherwise it’s post or courier.

The new in box grille looks like the first one pictured below, with no badges and I will need to make some adjusted mounting brackets for it. It is the design I prefer as well.

These two pictured below,  belong to a forum member who sold me the replacement rear light units, and he was going to sell me one, possibly the second one in the photos, once he decided which one he wanted to keep for his K5 till I was offered the new boxed unit.





I have a few emblems to choose from.
The metal one came with the Blazer, but has no fixing clips.




This afternoon I took the Blazer for a nice drive and got some food, gas (I like taking pics at different gas stations, so only put in 16 litres at a time.) and wanted to go take a few photos and see if the trim rings stayed on.



Also drove to the place in Lower Stoke where I originally saw the truck in June of 2016
Sadly I could not take the pic  on the driveway again, with the new look truck that is not a Project.



Following that, I drove to the Isle of Grain where I knew of a few lovely places and back drops for photos. 
I am starting to like this truck more as it evolves back into something resembling a normal car that I want to own.



And eventually came home the long way around, having driven around for over two hours, just love driving this truck randomly.

Final point to mention, is that the Stainless steel trim rings are all still fixed in position too, and did not fling themselves down the road, overtaking me.

Another good day then.

I had one of those Klaxons on a car, make sure it's well away from any damp as they seize up. The truck is looking very clean.

Thank you Ffrenchie

I am happy with how it is going.

Grizz what are you getting mpg wise - any thoughts on an LPG conversion - may put it in a different pollution charge bracket.

Is it using any oil?

Its looking good by the way - you have put some time into it for shure. The only vehicle im willing to put that much time and effort into are my motorbikes lol

(27-12-2018, 08:30 PM)polar Wrote: [ -> ]Grizz what are you getting mpg wise - any thoughts on an LPG conversion - may put it in a different pollution charge bracket.

Is it using any oil?

Its looking good by the way - you have put some time into it for shure. The only vehicle im willing to put that much time and effort into are my motorbikes lol

Hmmmm....

Consumption, no idea, don’t care at all.
Why spend a load on an lpg conversion when it’s only a smile generator.
I have a 1.5 diesel Focus daily, Prozac the Berlingo that I used all day today.
There is no pollution charge bracket, yearly road tax is only £225.00 per year.

Why would it be using oil??

Thank you, it has started to look better, yes. 
And yes, many hours put in.  But worth it for my mental health.
My bike is all good, should sell it and buy something sensible.

I recently put out feelers on forums and FB groups for a replacement grille and original steering wheel for the Blazer in my continued quest to ensure it does not become a Project.

I found two sources of grilles, and ended up buying a new in the box correct for the year, grille from Derbyshire and that probably has been collected now by my friend Kevin and his wife as they were headed right by the grille on their way to see family. I will be spending old years eve with them and some other friends, at which time I hope to collect the grille.

I had lived in hope that I would find an original steering wheel to buy to replace the nice one I have fitted, and to regain the self cancelling indicators.




You will see the replacement wheel pushes out quite far into the cab.



Then I got a text from my friend Ian Brown up in County Durham 

His side of the conversation went like this.

Hi Rian, I have one of these “ in my shed” it’s missing the centre cap / horn push and it’s grubby ( would definitely need some Grizz “resto-magic “ ). I remember checking the part number and it was 73 to 80 something Blazer and Suburban. I’ll send it down to you if it’s any good? 

You should be able to get someone on the forum to send you a centre cap.

Hi Rian, front & back and part number photos attached. I’ve tried cleaning a bit of it with interior shampoo ( not the best but all I have to hand ) it should come up great with a bit of elbow grease (and patience) 

All the horn contacts are there too but will need a good clean
I’ve tried cleaning a small section of the wheel using Armour-all tyre foam cleaner and a very fine scotch-brite. It will clean up ok I think. I’d have done the whole thing but the tin was almost empty.

Front.



Rear.



Part number.



Hell..... Yeah !!!

Of course I would be able to use it, someone somewhere would be able to find and sell me a Centre section/horn push 

I had messaged Dennis in St Louis to tell him that I had “got lucky” with Ian having one to give to the Blazer free of charge, and he said that was good, but to make sure that the three screws and a plastic piece that took the screws and a metal cup that the horn button snaps onto were there as they were not in the original pics Ian had sent.

So I texted Ian again and a few minutes later he replies that he found the parts as well, and they would be making their way down south soon.



Got a message this afternoon at 13.20 from Ian to say that he had boxed and dropped of the wheel at a courier, to make its way down South to me.

All I can say is Thank you, and that life certainly is good.

Today was a good day as well, as I had some garage time with my friend Henry who came over from Romford in Essex to give me a hand in the garage.

More Later.

Today mate Henry came over from Essex to fit a very sexy LED spotlight in the loft of my garage.
I did not realise just how LED technology had moved on.



Lovely feel of quality 



I mounted it high in the apex.



While Henry did all the clever stuff, like wiring it into the mains with a complete new circuit and connected to a mains light switch. Beats another extension cord rigged light.



And.........

Action. Bright as anything 



Around 13.00 we had lunch and a long chat, then back to the Blazer out in the cold, it was chilly though the 5 layers and woolly hat I had on, but Henry agreed to help me try find the reverse/back up light live wire as it needed two hands, we also consulted the Oracle that is Dennis, and an online source plus a full 79 year service manua.

Count them......

5 cut wires and three connecting blocks.

Passenger side.



Drivers side......

Fail.



So in the end, the cold and not finding a live reverse wire to connect the LED strip light that Euan had sent, meant we packed it in and had another coffee instead.

Fight another day.