Delivery day on Maui!

If all goes well I should get a call from the shipper telling me I can come and get my car at the docks TODAY! I could see the barge arriving in the harbor yesterday, as I drove down the hill to work. :)

After I give it a good used car checkover Saturday morning, we'll take it for a shakedown run around the Kaupo side of the island. :) She'll get to drive too because it's an auto trans and she hasn't learned stick!

Our two dogs will be testing the cargo area for travel worthiness!

First mod: SUNROOF FOR DOGGIES! :p

Wouldn't ya know it... the docks are sooo crowded and full they couldn't even get the barge unloaded today! Crazy! The Harbor Master says it's the busiest Kahului Harbor has been since WWII!!!

Tomrrow they said... tomorow. :rolleyes:

aw man that sucks! thats like that stupid little note UPS leaves when im not home that says "haha we have new stuff for your VX but instead of your super cool parts, we are giving you this crappy note with stuff you cant read written on it" or somethin along those lines.. i HATE when i get those notes... i know that my stuff was at the door.. but instead i just get a sticky piece of paper...

Hey Bandit, at least your harbor is working on a Saturday which is pretty cool. Since you have dogs, if you don't need the back seat here is a option that I did since the rear seat is pretty much useless.
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da.../IMG_00023.jpg

Friday Rowhard... TODAY! ...not Saturday? :p ...that would be nice, but no.

That's a cool dog mod! I was thinking of removing the rear seat too. I hardly ever have any rear seat passengers.


dogs dogs dogs :)

but was removing the front seats really a good idea? i mean, eventually you have to stop thinking about looks and give a little thought to comfort....

I think John (rowhard) is taking a long holiday weekend or something. It WOULD be nice if the dock workers decided to work on Saturdays, but they are, like ULTRA-union labor.

I can't even imagine having a VX and living in Hawaii. The only thing you'll need is an aftermarket sunroof!

Oh, and definitely remove the rear seat. With only a girlfriend and two dogs,you'll love the extra cargo space. In my mind, the 2-door VX should have been a 2-seat SUV.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kelvin

but was removing the front seats really a good idea? i mean, eventually you have to stop thinking about looks and give a little thought to comfort....

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BWAA-haha... I didn't notice that until you brought it up. Yes, removing the FRONT seats gives you even MORE cargo space, plus some weight savings for improved gas mileage. But man, the ride is already bumpy enough WITH the front seats.

I think this will be the ultimate Maui vehicle. I'll be sure to post plenty pics of our adventures and share the ride! ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dino

Wouldn't ya know it... the docks are sooo crowded and full they couldn't even get the barge unloaded today! Crazy! The Harbor Master says it's the busiest Kahului Harbor has been since WWII!!!

Tomrrow they said... tomorow. :rolleyes:

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I hear they are all gawking at some strange new vehicle on a barge?

Dino, thought sure you would have a comment about the flip flops.

And the front seat mod is only if you are a very tall driver.

actually had them out while doing a power amp/sub woofer install. Am to old to be bending around seats that are in the way. Now that I'm thinking about, am to old period for most of this stuff.

:cool: Ya know I'm so used to seeing flip flops here that I did'nt give it a second thought other than,... "hey that's cool" which it is!!!

Molly & I went out tonight at Mama's Fish House where I work (backend four star restaurant support stuff) and it was pure joy to hand over such a cool ride to the valet!

So far, it drives out just fine. Tomorrow we take a real cruise and get into some dirt!!!

The windows have the worst case scenario... the windows are completely free of the lift bar!! That means that they either came out of the horizontal track, or the track has corroded away at the anchor points.

...I'll be up before dawn crawlin inside checkin it out!!

It's got a bad case of cigaratte smoker smell.. YUK!!!!! Ozium has helped a lot and I hope the rest goes away after a wipe-down with some uphostery cleaner.

I love it!!

Oh boy, bandit's got his ride.

Many threads and many repairs have been posted about the windows. Looking forward to your repairs. Hope you have a digital camera.

I have a thread here on outside doorhandle repair, some photo's there to show the panel removal so you know where and what along with clips part #.

Someone here posted about taking their car into a dealer friend or something and they used a ozone machine that takes out all the smells. Don't know much about it but it sounded pretty cool at the time and it might be something for you to might check into.

Welcome to the fam :cool:

I can relate to waiting for the Matson barge...it takes 4-ever for that call to come.
Maui (from what little I've seen of it) should be great fun to wheel in a VX.
Have they improved the road to Haleakala ? Pardon my spelling if it's off, going from memory. ;)
Last time I drove da bugga (long time ago, prolly 1982), my poor wife lost feeling in her hands from hanging on to the door handles in da kine rental car with a "white knuckle death grip". :p
But I digress...enjoy the addiction, now the hard part is waiting for parts to show up from the mainland so you can mod your baby to make it your own sweet ride. :cool:

Haleakala Road is awesome for a sporty handling anything now! Fresh repave about a decade ago. Nice!! I love to take the Miata up there on a full moon night!!

As far as parts go, I have some really good connections here. From 91-93, I actually made a living working on cars on site from the back of my VW van! :p ahhh those were the days. At the beach every day! I worked just enough to get by and play as much as possible, which means that I was mostly broke! :rolleyes: Anyway, I got in good with the parts guys here. ;) A few years ago I was service writer for a short time at a shop upcountry. I liked wrenching way better but I made some good contacts there for new and used parts.

Having the VX in the family is gonna put some FUN back into my weekends!

I'm out the door with my camera in hand to check out those windows!!

Stay tuned!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rowhard

Oh boy, bandit's got his ride.
Someone here posted about taking their car into a dealer friend or something and they used a ozone machine that takes out all the smells. Don't know much about it but it sounded pretty cool at the time and it might be something for you to might check into.

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That was me, John. My VX had a weird sweet, sour, blehhh smell when it was delivered to me. The ozone generator got rid of the smell completely...

...until it came back. I was considering getting new carpet, but it ended up being unnecessary. When I had the new stereo installed, they removed my driver's seat to do some wiring. Underneath the seat was a cracked plastic bottle of some cheap Chinese "Barbie" perfume for little girls!

Threw away the kiddie perfume = no more smell.

My guess is, an ozone generator will work wonders for cigarette smoke. Industrial ozone generators are used to remove smoke smells from buildings with fire damage, and also used to "clean up" hotel rooms. Give it a shot!

The smell is going away... :rolleyes:

So, I opened a door panel this morning with my trusty panel popper

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da...nel_popper.jpg




...and found this!

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da...indow_clip.jpg




I'll bet most of you have seen this one.... the nylon gets brittle with age and SNAP! The window is loose from the track!!

So, I have what I think will be a pretty good solution and here's my supplies... :p

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da...x_supplies.jpg

Earlier today when I was under the hood, I did the "ounce of prevention" procedure. ;)

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da..._pcv_valve.jpg



I bought brake pads to go all around and while I'm down there, I'll start troubleshooting my ABS. Still no worky, which explains wheel spin when I'm in 4 low with a wheel off the ground. As I understand it, that wheel should lock thus transfering torque to the other wheel on said axle. NOT!!

The TOD kicks in nicely on gravel roads. On pavement while driving I see one light on per side to the front axle. I'm sure the fluid is low, it has the symptoms but I've got that covered too.

I like the cargo net! We used it for groceries today and it ROCKS!! The handling is sweet and firm. It's like riding in a corporate jet. The Climate Control works like a dream, factory shocks still in good shape, radio/CD OK, interior in good + condition.

FIRST MOD:
Removed rear seat!

....we figured out that there's enough room to lay down in the back... ya know just to errmmm relax and stuff! :_drool:


...more pics on my window fix later. :smack:

Right. Relax. Of course. ;)

The day you started this thread the forums were down for me all day from the time I typed the post below and it apparently didn't post, so here it is.

Enjoy your new ride as I know you will. And good luck with all your fixes and mods.

My first mod was to cut up an old Husky bed liner and make it fit perfectly into the entire cargo area of my VX (when the seats are folded forward). So the guide dog could have a place for his bed, but I could minimize the fur collection in my vehicle. He's a yellow Lab and very much prefers to shake off his loose fur before jumping out of the truck even though I beg him to wait. heheh

Had to cut out slots for the seat belts and hatch of course. But I have not yet cut out slots for my tie downs. I never used the tie downs in my Rodeo, so may not use these. If I go camping or to Moab though, I'll be cutting those slots because I will need my cargo net to hold the supplies in place.

PS: Cool signature. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dino

I bought brake pads to go all around and while I'm down there, I'll start troubleshooting my ABS. Still no worky, which explains wheel spin when I'm in 4 low with a wheel off the ground. As I understand it, that wheel should lock thus transfering torque to the other wheel on said axle. NOT!!

The TOD kicks in nicely on gravel roads. On pavement while driving I see one light on per side to the front axle. I'm sure the fluid is low, it has the symptoms but I've got that covered too.

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ABS has nothing to do with wheel spin...only braking.
In 4Lo TOD is not in play. The transfer case simply splits the power 50/50 between front and rear axle. Your rear differential is a LSD. If one wheel loses traction the clutches heat up and engage the other wheel. The front differential is open. Only one wheel will spin...unless you (or the previous owner) have installed a locker. Only two lockers are available for the front Isuzu 10 bolt...the Aussie auto locker and the ARB selectable air locker.
Hope this helps your trouble shooting!

Thanks for the better understanding of the TOD. ;)
That info will indeed help. Maybe someone put the wrong diff oil in. I've seen it happen before. I"ll be checking all the fluids anyway.

So, here's what I did with the parts:

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da..._clip_mod1.jpg


...and here's the one that needs to be raised in order to tilt the glass:

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da..._clip_mod2.jpg


The part is a roller assembly for glass shower doors. Just abourt every hardware store has them. I paid about $17 for four of them. I pulled the roller hardware off them, drilled holes in the proper locations and bolted them to the lift bar with two M6 bolts and nuts. Then I smeared some Weldwood contact cement (I didn't like the Goop stuff) onto the rubber pieces that I cut from the shower door bottom seal I bought. I placed them on the new clips, got the window in place and smeared some cement in the glass then pushed them together firmly. It took some doing to get the rubber to slip in the slot and pinch the glass, but it's there now and holding.

I tried it once going up and it worked fine. It just needs an overnight cure now. Before I put things back together I lubed the track with copper anti-sieze. Tomorrow I'll get some dry graphite powder into the rubber channels and free that friction point up a bit. I like it way better than silicone spray.

Total cost of mod, about $25 and an hour and a half of work.
Time will tell...

I'm interested in the dry graphite in the rubber slides... Most of the stuff I tried other than silicone just gums up with dirt after a while.

Keep us posted. Nice fix.

I ended up using a bit of Rain-x and graphite! ;)
Got em workin fine!!

I did the front and rear brake pads this morning and
I put two quarts of trans fluid in the tranny in using this...

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da...d_IV_setup.jpg

...and this controlled the flow...
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da...d_overflow.jpg

About 1 quart ended up back in the pan and I poured in 3 quarts.

We're about to load up and take a drive around the backside of the island and get it off road a bit.

:cool:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dino

...
I put two quarts of trans fluid in the tranny in using this...
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da...d_IV_setup.jpg
...

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LOL!!! Right on! :) :)

Bandit, thought you said you were a mechanic, looks more like something a nurse would use.

Pretty cool Dino :thumbup:

Well, he is nursing his vx back to health. :)

Cool contraption.

Thanks! It shifts much better now. Smoother and a more solid feel.