♻️ Grizz’s ~~ ASTRO Van 🚙 Renault SCENIC 1.5dci 🚙 1966 Chevy C10 🚘 1991 Oldsmobile 88 🚙 1999 Škoda Felicia Cube Van 1.9d 🚐

[grizz]

Yesterday was busy. 

 

Like busy busy. 

 

I had sourced some used 4x8 (1200x2400) Dibond sheets that I am going to use to re-roof Mickey’s and my wood store with as well as cladding the weather side of my woodworking shed. 

 

Dibond sheeting, also known as aluminum composite material (ACM), is a rigid but lightweight panel made of a solid polyethylene core sandwiched between two thin aluminum sheets. It is a durable and versatile material commonly used for indoor and outdoor signage, as well as for cladding and interior design, due to its weather resistance, strength, and high-quality print surface. 

 

Key characteristics

• Composition: Consists of a polyethylene core sandwiched between two thin aluminum sheets.
• Durability: It is rustproof, waterproof, and weather-resistant, making it suitable for long-term outdoor use.
• Weight and strength: Despite being lightweight, it is very strong and rigid.
• Versatility: Can be drilled, cut, and shaped, making it ideal for various applications like large signs, tray signs, and other custom designs.
• Surface: It has a flat, high-quality surface that is excellent for digital printing, providing sharp and durable results. 

 

Common uses

• Signage: A popular choice for long-term outdoor and indoor business signage, shop fascia, directional signs, and hoarding panels.
• Exhibitions: Used for exhibition stands and displays due to its strength and lightweight properties.
• Architecture: Employed for cladding and interior design elements.
• Other applications: Can be used for photo mounting, kitchen splashbacks, and as a substrate for fine art. 

 

So the Astro was called into service. 

Collection 35 miles or 50km from here. 

Loaded, paid the man and back home. 

Craig was headed down from Shropshire to collect some machines, goods I have gathered for him over time. 

He also collected a used Renault Scenic towbar with full wiring loom for me from a seller about 180 miles from here. At £50.00 for the towbar it was a logical thing to do to expand the usefulness of my awesome car. 

The Dibond sheets cost a fair chunk new and prices do vary.  

Example below is one random example from Google. 

I paid £10.00 per sheet, and took some that were not full sheets, but two halves still equal £10.00 

So my total purchase was £85.00 

Plus taking the Astro 70 miles there and back. 

Few pics of Astro doing Astro things. 

 

 

I will unpack it later today because the rest of my day was filled with fitting the towbar with Craig. 

He did all the work, I made coffee and cleaned up stuff. 

 

 

.

[grizz]

 

Well

 

I lied. 

 

Previously 

 

Astro unpacked. 

[grizz]

Those of you who do read more than just the pictures will have realised that there has  been an uneasy low intensity thing going on in my mind lately. 

 

My manual 2005 model Renault Scenic 1.5 diesel with only just 67k miles or almost 108k km done, which returns 64mpg on the open road or 54mpg around town……,, 23km/l open road or 19km/l in town is an awesome functional, amazingly comfortable car that really demands very little from me other than diesel and sensible use, with the occasional wash and vacuum thrown in. 

 

Latest MOT is valid for 12 months 

 

But in typical me style, I have more recently used the Astro van a lot more for tasks that needed a larger capacity. 

Fence panels (more getting collected tomorrow) Steel sheeting, Dibond sheets this week and railway sleepers, bricks etc. ohh and an American refrigerator for Pedro. 

 

So i started looking for a van derived minibus, camper van styled vehicle that can drive at 70mph on the motorway commercial vehicles are restricted to 60mph here,  of course NOBODY adheres to that if you look at the speeding vans in the fast lanes, mostly driving significantly faster than the legal limit despite often overloading or maxed out, making them absolutely impossible to stop in an emergency. 

Every van driver will be in denial about this……. But you run over one of their relatives and you will be in hiding. 

 

Anyway…… The cheap, up to £1500.00 vans/minibuses I was looking at all were high mileage, high risk, high potential cost vehicles. 

Add to that the cheapest limited insurance quote of £300.00/year and a road tax of probably £400.00/year and my replacement vehicle is at £2200.00 on a good day. Plus increased fuel and running costs. 

 

I really like the idea of a Vivaro/Trafic/Primastar/HiAce/L800 van or bus. But of course realistically I don’t need it. Yes I do. No I don’t. Yes I do. No I don’t…….

 

Darren and his wife popped in for a visit a few weeks ago and we were chatting about it all. He knows people and he knows things……

 

I told him I have access to the neighbors long wheelbase Transit pickup truck. 

 

So he immediately challenged me, knowing I have a caged, enclosed, galvanised 5 foot trailer. The one we used to fetch the 300cc Aprilia Leonardo scooter with. And said, “Why not fit a towbar to the car you really enjoy?” 

Darren stood in my garden and searched on FB marketplace for three minutes and showed me a complete towbar, with fixing bolts, brackets and wiring loom. 

Located in Tamworth about 167 miles from here. 

Cost: £50.00

Bit far to go fetch. 

UNLESS………

Unless @craigrk was headed here from Shropshire 204 miles away and could collect two weeks later. 

Fitting instructions? 

@westbay Tony got me a bunch of online manuals and links before I even committed to buying the towbar. 

 

Seller agreed to deal directly with Craig who is spending most of his time working in Sweden but would be heading down to my place to collect various tools, machines and equipment that I have been gathering for him this year. 

 

So on Wednesday I fetched the Dibond sheets early in the morning and Craig after multiple motorway detours, got here by 13.00 in his beautiful new VW ID BUZZ 

Fully electric, I completely get it and like it, a lot. 

But my preference is still to burn my own fossil fuel, rather than having someone else do it remotely only to sell me electricity for a guilt free trip. 

 

Coffee, chat, rummage, unload Craigslist car and load all the stuff I had for him, we then proceeded to dismantle my Scenics rear end and fitted the towbar. I cleaned up some parts and *DISCLAIMER: Craig did all the hard and clever work for me. 

 

By 7.30 pm we had a fully fitted towbar, reassembled car and working tailboard   

 

A dinner of fish and chips for Craig, Pedro and I was £22.50 

 

So……. Final cost, done using “man maths” was probably around £80.00 for the change of useability of the Scenic. 

 

 

This was a great little day, spending time in therapy with Craig and netting the outcome I probably should have pursued before. 

 

 

Life is good. 

 

  

 

.

[grizz]

And then we got going, working. 

[Westbay]

Well done Craig !

[grizz]

4 hours ago, Westbay said:

Well done Craig !

Thanks indeed. 
 

 

2 minutes of 5 hours spent. 
 

 

 

[SilverMachine]

3 hours ago, grizz said:

Thanks indeed. 
 

 

2 minutes of 5 hours spent. 
 

 

 

watched that this morning before work! great stuff! took me a good few hours to put one on the fusion - only for the mrs to find the fusion isn't the best for towing its limit - particularly over all the hills in yorkshire....  and yes i did forewarn her but wasnt heard apparently! 

[grizz]

46 minutes ago, SilverMachine said:

watched that this morning before work! great stuff! took me a good few hours to put one on the fusion - only for the mrs to find the fusion isn't the best for towing its limit - particularly over all the hills in yorkshire....  and yes i did forewarn her but wasnt heard apparently! 

ahhh yes. 
 

warnings……😂

[grizz]

Write up for @BobLon because of the food content. 

 

Sarah “The Widow” popped in for about three hours today. Two coffees and a guided tours worth later she headed home. 

 

I really enjoy her intelligent personality and she makes me chuckle often. I think I somehow do the same for her. This is not romance for all you romantic people. 

 

She came to discuss some jobs she needs help with. Payment will be in vegetables and friendship. 

 

I get the feeling she’s going to be over paying. 

 

As a sweetner she brought me some Rainbow Chard. 

 

Which I cooked up tonight with some chicken wings in Japanese Teryaki sauce   

 

Served over some plain chicken rice, it was good. 

 

 

,

[Westbay]

if the caps in the last photo are alloy - don't use 'em they corrode and 'weld' themselves to the valve stem !

[grizz]

 

Astro collected fence panels 

 

Visited Woodsie, Terry and Toby the cat. 

 

Noticed their shrub fits the GOLVFDS-Q agenda. Look again, seems it can identify as shrub or Bonsai 

 

 

In other news, my new friend (friend it will stay) Sarah, is a very capable girl. 

She made some Biltong at the weekend, essentially challenging me to a biltong “dry-off and taste-off) 

 

I don’t do competitions. 

 

So yesterday I went shopping and bought a 2kg or 4lb Silverside joint. Supermarket grade, Irish beef at £15.00/kg, probably not as good as Sarahs butcher sourced Silverside joint. 

I also bought all the spices, salt and vinegar needed, Fresh. 

 

Came home and had an air fryer warmed onion and vegetable pasty. It was sublime. 

 

Then proceeded to clean, trim and cut the beef then sliced into strips. 

Salted, vinegar washed, and spiced. 

Followed by threading them onto my hanging wire. 

Hung in the drying box and closed up. 

 

5 long days before we can start thinking about taste testing. 

 

 

.

 

 

[ruffgeezer]

5 hours ago, grizz said:

 

 

Astro collected fence panels 

 

Visited Woodsie, Terry and Toby the cat. 

 

Noticed their shrub fits the GOLVFDS-Q agenda. Look again, seems it can identify as shrub or Bonsai 

 

 

In other news, my new friend (friend it will stay) Sarah, is a very capable girl. 

She made some Biltong at the weekend, essentially challenging me to a biltong “dry-off and taste-off) 

 

I don’t do competitions. 

 

So yesterday I went shopping and bought a 2kg or 4lb Silverside joint. Supermarket grade, Irish beef at £15.00/kg, probably not as good as Sarahs butcher sourced Silverside joint. 

I also bought all the spices, salt and vinegar needed, Fresh. 

 

Came home and had an air fryer warmed onion and vegetable pasty. It was sublime. 

 

Then proceeded to clean, trim and cut the beef then sliced into strips. 

Salted, vinegar washed, and spiced. 

Followed by threading them onto my hanging wire. 

Hung in the drying box and closed up. 

 

5 long days before we can start thinking about taste testing. 

 

 

 

If the Whiskas is your secret ingredient, I'll pass! 😄 

[grizz]

1 hour ago, ruffgeezer said:

If the Whiskas is your secret ingredient, I'll pass! 😄 

Garage assistant is paid in pouches. 

[SilverMachine]

13 hours ago, grizz said:

 

 

Astro collected fence panels 

 

Visited Woodsie, Terry and Toby the cat. 

 

Noticed their shrub fits the GOLVFDS-Q agenda. Look again, seems it can identify as shrub or Bonsai 

 

 

In other news, my new friend (friend it will stay) Sarah, is a very capable girl. 

She made some Biltong at the weekend, essentially challenging me to a biltong “dry-off and taste-off) 

 

I don’t do competitions. 

 

So yesterday I went shopping and bought a 2kg or 4lb Silverside joint. Supermarket grade, Irish beef at £15.00/kg, probably not as good as Sarahs butcher sourced Silverside joint. 

I also bought all the spices, salt and vinegar needed, Fresh. 

 

Came home and had an air fryer warmed onion and vegetable pasty. It was sublime. 

 

Then proceeded to clean, trim and cut the beef then sliced into strips. 

Salted, vinegar washed, and spiced. 

Followed by threading them onto my hanging wire. 

Hung in the drying box and closed up. 

 

5 long days before we can start thinking about taste testing. 

 

 

.

 

 

im really fancying having a bash at attempting some biltong since recently tasting some of my friends home made stuff, he uses a smoker though, so gets flavour through the wood too not sure if thats standard or his polish method - but it was tasty!

good luck wiith the non competition! although im sure it is a very friendly contest! 

 

[666jjp]

13 hours ago, grizz said:

Garage assistant is paid in pouches. 

if looks could kill!!

[grizz]

7 hours ago, SilverMachine said:

im really fancying having a bash at attempting some biltong since recently tasting some of my friends home made stuff, he uses a smoker though, so gets flavour through the wood too not sure if thats standard or his polish method - but it was tasty!

good luck wiith the non competition! although im sure it is a very friendly contest! 

 

Morning, there are loads of ways to process the meat. 
 

Smoking is certainly a Polish thing. 
 

Anyone can smoke meat, fish, game, chicken etc.  And it is a bigger skill than realised. 

 

Biltong is an air drying process. 
 

People get caught up in the drying box or dryer. I have had about 4 of them. 
In SA they just use open air. 
cool, dry air is ideal. 
Over here I have a hot light bulb in the bottom of a cardboard box now (diesel heater box) with a small metal shield over it. 
 

Online you get beautiful creations. 
 

Not necessary. 
 

 

And for a first go, I would just buy a small Silverside joint. 

[grizz]

2 hours ago, 666jjp said:

if looks could kill!!

Totally 

 

But he does like hanging around with his feeder

 

Right this moment. 
 

07.00

 

 

.

[grizz]

I was chatting with my friend Vladimir in Russia this morning. 

 

He has been taming a feral cat in his parents’ village. 

 

 

Vladimir Loves cats and they are naturally drawn to him. 

 

He also feeds a whole gang of them. 

 

 

[grizz]

Still trying to find a bad home for a good bike. 
 

Then this clown shows up. 
 

Nope. Not the first one. 

[grizz]

Insurance? 

[grizz]

Between hurting (fracturing??) my thumb a month or more ago, having to stop using heavier tools somewhat and the weather changing for winter, I have been a bit stressed. 

 

You can’t paint in colder conditions. 

 

Also, both bedsides are stripped, not yet final bare metalled for primer, but noticeable in oxidation due to moisture in the atmosphere. 

 

So right now we have had unseasonally warm weather. Up to 16’C with wind and rain intermittently. 

 

On Monday I thought I would give it a go to get my “new” drum sander that’s actually gone through only one sanding drum so far, out, and do the final bare metalled preparation before primer. 

 

10-15 minutes later, it gave up in s puff of acrid electrical smoke. 

I investigated brushes, switches, speed controller and the fuse but it’s dead. 

 

Of course return to Amazon will take tome as it’s out of the return period. 

So I have to investigate a possible warranty claim, swap, reimbursement. 

It’s not acceptable that a machine dies after less than 3 hours of light use. 

 

So I asked Craig to order a replacement on Monday, via his Prime account. 

We missed the next day delivery by minutes because he was in back to back appointments. 

 

So delivery was scheduled for Wednesday. 

 

Guess what??

 

I sat at home all day, waiting for my delivery because I didn’t want to risk it on my front doorstep as its wide open to the street. 

 

DELIVERY TIME……..

 

9.40pm last night. 

 

I know it’s within their agreed parameters. 

 

But surely a massive company like that with allllll the AI and IT power it has, could narrow down the time frame to 6 hours, or Four hours or seriously 2 hours. 

 

I am pissed at Amazon Prime for their distinctly below par service 

 

Anyway. 

 

08.20 now

 

Hope to start sanding indoors before 09.00 because we still have a band of rain forecast but possibly 16’C which really is not ideal for primer but I have little choice. 

 

Fingers crossed. 

 

 

.

[comfortablynumb]

We've got Amazon drivers who regularly turn up after 9pm, leave packages under hedges, 50 feet from the front door, or on the bins out the front.

Some of them are so stealthy that even my gsd's don't hear them!

I think we're going to start 'item not received ' cases in future if they keep doing it, I've complained several times, you can guess what effect it's had...🤦

[MAF260]

I've found Amazon to be extremely helpful if you speak to them. Look up the order online and follow the process until you can request them to call you - the phone rings immediately and in my experience an actual human being tries very hard to rectify the issue - even with a product outside its return window. Worth trying.

[grizz]

31 minutes ago, MAF260 said:

I've found Amazon to be extremely helpful if you speak to them. Look up the order online and follow the process until you can request them to call you - the phone rings immediately and in my experience an actual human being tries very hard to rectify the issue - even with a product outside its return window. Worth trying.

 

When I had the Chevy S10 I had ordered a correct item but supplied wrong. 
 

I don’t recall the other issue but also eventually spoke to a real person called Britney in Arkansas on the helpline…… 

She actually knew my friend Clem Johnson of Tuba Trucks. 
 

Problem also fully resolved.  
 

I have initiated an electronic enquiry about returning the item as it is beyond Amazons initial returns policy date.  

[MAF260]

How to request a customer service call in the mobile app:

 

1. Click on the icon on the right hand of your screen and scroll to the bottom of the page to select Customer Service.

 

2. On the next page, scroll to the section that says, ‘Something else’.

3. Click on ‘I need more help’ at the bottom of the list. A chat window will immediately pop up.

4. Type in 'Request a phone call' and then select that option from the bottom of the screen.

5. You’ll be prompted to enter your phone number for the call. Once you’ve done this, you’ll be redirected to Amazon’s Call Me Service.

6. Double-check that the number is correct and click the ‘Call me now’ button.

 

 

[grizz]

Awesome help @MAF260

Thank you.  

[Bmwdumptruck]

On 01/11/2025 at 08:17, Westbay said:

if the caps in the last photo are alloy - don't use 'em they corrode and 'weld' themselves to the valve stem !

I’ve got quit a few decorative caps on my bikes and cars and a wipe of copaslip on the threads has always kept them from corroding in place.  

[SilverMachine]

still within a year should have no problem returning - within 6 months usually regarded as being dead on arrival... 

 possibly not the most ethical, but people do purchase the same item again to return a faulty one, have seen it many times working in tesco! (this helped me obtain a spare  remote for my mums tv) we dont sell nearly a quarter of the electricals we did 5 years ago... no need towonder why lol

oh and amazon deliveries, they used to tell you what time it was coming, say between 11.45 and 14.15 and usually it was about right...  but recently it has been saying that -  but then changing to between 16.45 and 19.15 and so on etc, im sure im not the only one that has noticed this! 

Edited November 6, 2025 by SilverMachine
amazon delivery rant added

[GlenAnderson]

The point about some decorative valve caps is valid. Most of the threaded parts of tyre valves are brass. Brass and aluminium absolutely hate each other, and in an environment where there’s an electrolyte present (as in a wet, salty road) the resultant corrosion is rapid and catastrophic. 
 

As for the stripper. If they won’t change or refund it, buy another, then send the broken one back in the new ones box. 

[grizz]

12 hours ago, GlenAnderson said:

The point about some decorative valve caps is valid. Most of the threaded parts of tyre valves are brass. Brass and aluminium absolutely hate each other, and in an environment where there’s an electrolyte present (as in a wet, salty road) the resultant corrosion is rapid and catastrophic. 
 

As for the stripper. If they won’t change or refund it, buy another, then send the broken one back in the new ones box. 

yes.