Doing SBC window mods on the Astral VX this w/end....
...plus removing TONS of dead end wiring left in place from unfinished mods by PO :eek:
jo
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Doing SBC window mods on the Astral VX this w/end....
...plus removing TONS of dead end wiring left in place from unfinished mods by PO :eek:
jo
I have been slowly acquiring several items and I hope to begin installing, etc. sometime this week.
1. Window fix (Plastic to Metal) Thanks SBC!
2. Cut the Bump Stops I got off of blujfan9293's scrapped Ebony, in half. (I dont want to mess with mine)
3. Replace the current rubber sway bar bushings with energy suspension greasable bushings. (It sounds like I am jumping on my bed right now)
4. Grease the U-joints
5. Replace the Serpentine belt with Gatorback Serpentine belt.
For future summer plans....
1. Flush Transmission fluids
2. maybe replace timing belt (52,000 miles. Maybe I can push it a little further)
3. New rims and tires before winter.
4. win the lottery and hire a mechanic to staff my 30 car garage.
good idea for a thread!! it has gotten a ton of activity in one day!
lets see....im still waiting on my sliders to show up so i can install the diff gaurd and sliders at the local welder...
install my air tank and figure out how to run the hoses
order the SBC tabs
install all the parts sitting in my closet- dynamat from the doors back, 4channel amp, finish and mount my rear speakers, run all the wiring for roof lights, run wiring for door popper (eventually), run ipod cable to the radio.
2 weeks from now-
flush rear diff, x-case, radiator, and tranny fluids to get the VX ready for moab....
Man, you guys have some serious plans, whilst all im doing is changing oil and doing some headlights. Ah well, I do have to do that on three cars. Between the VX, the wifes Saab, and the damn VW that I still don't have the title back from the DMV for (seller is chompin at the bit), Im turnin into a full time cartaker.
- Os
2nd and 3rd plate for the skid plate, replace SS bolts in front plate with SS barrel nuts, thanks for the advice guys. Drill more holes for hitch and mount permanently, wire hitch connection, Using reflective tape, put "Vx" on my hitch step. Finish sanding/painting rear half of undercarriage. Calibrate trailhead deflators again and play with CO2 bottle that is finally charged, gotta post how long it takes start to finish to deflate and inflate. Gonna be a busy saturday...you know you are doing it right when your wife complains that you love your car more than her:rolleyes:
I would love to wash it again, but its pollen time here, glad I have a proton, even my red expedition looks like a proton right now.
For what it's worth department. I had a local shop install non-tone popper, and he wasn't sure how well it or how long it would work having to mount it in plastic. It did get out of adjustment causing an alarm issue.Quote:
Originally Posted by MSHardeman
I'm going to try and track down a wire harness for my new head unit. If the weather isn't too bad I might pop the hood and take the elbow off of my airbox.
pittVX- sorry man i forgot to get back to you on the harness...
you need a metra 70-7712
any audio electronics store will have one...its a universal harness for all isuzu radios...
I removed the front hubs today. Will pick up the seals in the morning then clean and repack the bearings. I am getting a rear end on Monday from Wisconsin. Will have a good project for a bit.
I changed the alternator on mine today. Horrible job, but the old one was clogged solid with mud from last weekend's amusement...
A
well i have a confession...
i treated my cladding today with Back-to-Black plastic coating...:thumbup:
i must say, it actually works VERY well! the cladding literally soaked up the coating..you do have to apply it extremely liberally to not get dry spots, but as long as your willing to use nearly a whole bottle of the stuff it looks great!
now, for the confession part, which i know is punishable by death around here...it was my first time EVER treating my cladding, and probably the first time it was ever treated on my VX! :eek:
i thank moncha and mshardeman for inspiring me...i felt like a bad owner at the colorado meet when i saw how great their trucks looked... i always have kinda felt that if someone truely uses/wheels their rig it will most likely have some trail scrapes and scratches. but after seeing how clean they keep theirs (and keep up with the rest of us in moab) i realized that i can still have a great looking VX with some R&R!
now for me to start searching for parts to fix all the dented, scraped, scratched, crooked parts that i have interior and exterior of my VX :(
i have a feeling this may end up being pricey!
I was browsing Craigs list and a local Toyota dealer had some Yakima Load Warriors listed. I called their parts dept and talked to the guy and he said he would take any reasonable offer. I offered him 200 and he said he would give me one for that out the door. (I should of offered 150:) )
So I picked it up and instaled it today.
Summerizing?? Removing the winter wheels/tires and installing the Summer set, also re-installing the CF scooped insert I pull it each winter and run the stock insert plus I just had the CF insert clear-coated (CF1 c/c was getting weak). I also installed the rear camera/half-moon assembly (I run a stock during the winter also) but the biggest change I have done in the last week was the "Gas Cap" don't laugh... I've had a power loss and low-end hesitation for the last month or more and reading our forum and a few others the gas cap was the culprit. It still sealed and clicked and felt great but the big prob was up inside there's a whiteish plastic ring above the O.D. of the threads, it was broke and missing sections. So while I was a wal-mart I picked up the replacement (Stant model 10834 I think) I screwed it on and it runs much better. It never gave a a check engine error was the odd thing. So the fuel pump is getting it's positive pressure for recirculation now. I also threw a spare cap in my rear storage box ...
Well, I got the plate done, pics in the skid plate thread, replaced the fasteners, permanently mounted the hitch, then pressure washed her, and created a skidplate support bracket for my cone air filter. good enough for today.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marlin
Update... never got the step bars installed for two reasons:Quote:
Originally Posted by vt_maverick
(1) Lady in a Tahoe veered into my lane Friday at lunch and ran me off the road and over a curb at 40+ MPH
(2) Went casual car shopping and discovered when doing a trade-in eval that my wife's Honda Accord had frame damage from a previous owner. CarFax report was (and still is) clean, but somehow dealer-only AutoCheck had the info (it figures). So in one hour we went from being upside-down on the loan by ~$3000 to being upside-down at least $6500. So for financial and physical safety (infant coming home from the hospital in next few weeks) we needed to dump it ASAP.
No worries, though. I can now personally testify that you can hop a tall curve at 40+ MPH in a VX and sustain only minor curb rash to your rims. And we got a sweet deal on a pristine Axiom (1-owner, paint and interior look nearly new at 77K miles).
So maybe next weekend on the step bars... :rolleyes: :) ;)