My Vehicross - a love story

Ok, so I should provide some background info. (I tried making this thread yesterday and somehow I accidentally hit the “back” button and it all got deleted (an hour down the drain) so this time I’m typing it up in a word doc and copy/paste.) Brace yourself for wall ‘o text, but I’ll do my best to make the read interesting. :)

The automotive world is really missing two things at present. One of those I’ve been talking about for years; a 500 hp, turbocharged AWD fastback-hatchback coupe. The 3/s is the closest I’ll ever come to that dream—and is arguably the last car even close to that. But there’s also another niche that’s essentially empty; the off-road sports-car. Specifically, something 4WD, 300+ hp (even 200+ would be great) and virtually competition ready for off-road events...in a compact 2-door SUV—preferably under 100” wheelbase.

There’s subcompact SUV’s on the market now, but they don’t offer even close to the same performance as my beloved Vehicross (VX) has stock. Ford Ecosport, Chevy Trax, Hyundai Kona, etc—all potentially great, but come with anemic powerplants, and many don’t even offer AWD (let alone a 2-door option). Ford isn’t offering a 2.0L ecoboost even though it offers an N/A I-4. It would be heavenly if SVT got their hands on the ecosport and tossed a 2.4L ecoboost in it and then raided the suspension off a Raptor for good measure. At $35,000 it would still sell like hotcakes...but I digress.

These are also select few vehicles that meet the <100” wheelbase requirement. The most diminuitive of these in the US market is likely the Jeep JL—but even the 2-door variant of that has a wheelbase a full 5” longer than that of a VX (91.8” vs 96.8”). And as far as turning radius, only the Jeep Hurricane concept could exceed the turning radius of the VX, and it had a turn radius of 0—thanks to its crazy articulation of the rear wheels. Alas, it’s just another Jeep concept quasi-sports-car that never made it to production.

The idea of an “off-road sports-car” dates at least as far back as the AMC Eagle. AMC had the crazy idea to stick a Concord on a 4WD chassis and it actually sold quite well. It was intended as a “stopgap” between the Jeep line and conventional cars. This idea is finally coming to the forefront of the automotive world over 30 years later. Subaru now offers the CrossTrek—based on the Impreza—which follow almost the exact same design idea AMC used. Ford has gone all-in and has eliminated conventional cars in the US market; they will be gradually phased out in favor of “Active” counterparts. These will all essentially be passenger cars on slightly raised suspensions. This is a welcome shift in my book, but still not enough.

There have been several “concept cars” in the spirit of an off-road sports car over the intervening years. Sadly, none of these ever came to market. Not the Jeep Jeepster (1998 concept), nor the Jeep Renegade (2008 concept), nor the Kia Niro, nor the Toyta RSC, nor the VW T off-road coupe, nor even the Pontiac Stinger. Even when something would potentially come close, it wouldn’t make it to the US market (I’m looking at you, Renault Wind). Back in the day, concept cars were two things only: either 1 step removed from production, or so wild and outrageous that they would never be brought to market. Isuzu broke that mold. But first, let’s take a trip down memory lane.

There is unfortunately one American car manufacturer that has repeatedly demonstrated that it has no idea what it is doing. While vehicles like the Syclone and GNX were audacious and commendable, for every one vehicle like those, there’s at least two designs the likes of a Cimarron, Aztek or Citation. Of course, I’m talking about GM. GM’s greatest achievements weren’t the work of genius; they were throwing stuff at a wall to see what sticks. This is important because it sets the tone for what happens next.

GM proceeded into a steady decline that lasted until at least 2010. In the process, they would offer rebadged vehicles across more “models” than you could count on 1 hand (Buick Regal, Buick Century, Pontiac Grand Prix, Chevy Impala, Olds Intrigue, Chevy Lumina, Olds Cutlass Supreme...and possibly others I’m mentioning; all were essentially the same car). Anyone paying attention could have seen it coming. GM had too many brands, not enough vision in leadership and no direction. In the process it destroyed: Geo, Saturn, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Hummer, Saab and Isuzu. Isuzu is a special case, in that it’s only dead in the US passenger-car market. Overseas sales of it are alive and well—and Isuzu box trucks & the like still sell fairly well in the USA.

In 1972 GM procured 34% ownership of Isuzu. While this partnership helped to bring Isuzu to the USA, it would ultimately prove the brand’s downfall. But more on that in a bit.

http://oldconceptcars.com/wp-content...u_4200R_01.jpg

This is the Isuzu 4200R. This concept car debuted in 1989—which incidentally is the same year that the Mitsubishi HSX debuted. The plan was mid-engined, RWD layout with a 4.2L v8. Had this car came to market, it would have been in a rarified class of its own—even among the “Japanese supercars” of the 90’s. The only other M/R offerings from Japan were the Toyota MR2 and the Acura NSX—both of which would have had presumably less power than the 4200R. Needless to say, had this car came to market—it would have been the stuff of legend. If the C8 Corvette debuts with an M/R configuration, it will be bittersweet irony—both for the 4200R and the AeroVette.

Now the logical inference here is that GM simply wasn’t about to have one of its stable’s brands offer a car that would dethrone the almighty Corvette. M/R with a v8 would have likely done just that—and looks wise, the 4200R was clearly superior to the C4 and possibly even the C5 corvette (the C5 wouldn’t debut until 1997). So, as with so many other great concepts Isuzu had, the 4200R was consigned to a has-been in order to keep GM’s “preferred” brands buzzing along. To Isuzu’s credit, they did bring an AWD turbocharged coupe to the market. That didn’t stop GM from pilfering it to sell it as a Geo.

Isuzu didn’t just design sports-cars though. By the early 90’s, Isuzu was one of the best options on the market for an off-road vehicle. Compared to the likes of the Land Rover Discovery and the Jeep Cherokee, the Isuzu Trooper matched up very well and was inexpensive. Isuzu was actually hard at work developing competent off-road capability—this too would be pilfered by GM. GM arranged to trade vehicles with Honda. Honda sold the Trooper as the Acura SLX and the Rodeo as the Honda Passport. Of course those weren’t the only brands that Isuzus were sold as; the Trooper was also sold as a Subaru, Holden, Opel, Vauxhall, etc. In return, Isuzu got to sell the Honda Civic and Hondy Odyssey. It’s pretty easy to see that this was a lopsided deal. The Passport formed the basis and foundation of every Honda SUV that came since. It sold very well for Honda. On the other hand, nobody remembers the Isuzu Oasis or the Isuzu I-Mark. Even the Geo Spectrum (identical to the I-Mark) outsold it.

By 1993, Isuzu was dying. The Honda deal had just been inked, sports cars were entirely off the table, and the best of Isuzu was getting sent to the 4 winds and rebadged as anything and everything else. But then came something no one expected at the 1993 Toyota Auto show.

http://oldconceptcars.com/wp-content...Concept_01.jpg

This was the concept car Isuzu Vehicross. It debuted to such acclaim and interest that Isuzu decided to pull out all the stops and go for broke. It would do the unthinkable; it would put a concept car into production. Not some watered-down version mind you (ala Pontiac Aztek). No Isuzu wanted this thing as it was—with minimal changes. To do that, the designers would need to heavily raid the Isuzu parts bin; which is why a large majority of the resulting car would be lifted directly from the Isuzu Trooper. The wheelbase was shortened to the dimensions of the 2-door trooper and given high-articulation steering which gave the VX a very short turn radius.

Isuzu wasn’t done though. If bringing a concept to market untouched was an automotive first, Isuzu might as well go for the gold. Vehicross became the first production vehicle ever to feature the Borg-Warner Torque-on-Demand system; a full-time 4WD, torque-sensing application (a standard feature in the US market). This technology has become standard on virtually every AWD/4WD SUV since. It is the first production vehicle to feature external-reservoir monotube shocks—standard. From the leather Recaro racing seats (cloth Recaros in the JDM market) to the internally mounted spare tire, to the back-up camera (JDM models only, and one of the first production vehicles to have one) to the fold-flat & fold-forward rear seats...Isuzu went all-in. But the biggest question left was, how do you make the body panels?

Isuzu opted for yet another automotive first by choosing to mold the exterior body panels via ceramic die. This was about 1/3rd the cost and about 1/3rd the time required for conventional steel-stamped dies. As Isuzu had always intended this to be a limited-production-run vehicle (again, much of it lifted from other Isuzu platforms)--and given the expense of the top-caliber standard equipment that the VX was to be outfitted with—this was a logical choice. The downside to ceramic dies is that they do wear out significantly faster, and this resulted in a calculated production run of <6,000 vehicles. 5958 were eventually manufactured and sold. 1805 JDM and 4153 USDM. JDM models were introduced in 1997 and the USDM market debut was in 1999.

The body itself was a thing of beauty. Isuzu opted for several features that give the VX a distinct look and additional functionality. The lower paneling isn’t just Pontiac-esque cladding; it’s actually part of the body. There isn’t any suitable body paneling underneath. Compared to fender-flares and many GM offerings of the day, this was a drastic design departure. The hood had a blacked out center section; this was to help reduce glare reflected off the hood. The hatch would swing sideways. The lines (silhouette) of the vehicle were so distinct, so iconic that virtually every SUV since has copied or paid homage to them in some way. Indeed, after GM carelessly let Shiro Nakamura slip through its fingers and into the hands of Nissan, his very first designed Nissan vehicle was the Nissan Murano—which has that same sports-car feel to its external lines that the VX had. SUV’s were to no-longer be box slabs on wheels. Incidentally, around the time that Nakamura joined Nissan, Nissan had started to bring ITS concept cars to market in unmolested form; undoubtedly hearkening back to Isuzu's decision to do the same with the VX during Nakamura's stay there.

Even at that time, it was exorbitantly pricy. Justifiably priced, but still pricey. Compared to the Jeep XJ (arguably it’s closest rival), the Vehicross was light-years ahead—albeit at double the price. The VX had significantly more power (235 vs. 190), more advanced 4WD system, and all the bells/whistles. Stock for stock, the contrast between them was night and day. Fast forward to today, and the 2018 Raptor’s MSRP is about $50,000—which even inflation adjusted is pricier than the VX’s ~$29,000 MSRP back in 1999 (1999 base model Wrangler had an MSRP ~$14,000 with a Sahara going for ~$20,000). Point being that people are willing to buy—and in considerable numbers—modern high-performance off road vehicles that are comparatively more expensive...so the proposition for the VX wasn’t insane.

Perhaps this is why the VX remains so badily misunderstood in the annals of automotive history. It was not a failed production car. It was Isuzu’s swan-song as the brand languished into obscurity. It was the halo-car of production-spec off-road performance. Isuzu only designed one USDM model after the VX; the Axiom. It was already selling rebadged Chevy S-10’s/Colorado’s. By the time the rebadged Trailblazer debuted as the Ascender—Isuzu’s fate had long been sealed. Perhaps then it is with some bittersweet joy to see GM and Isuzu part ways on pickup truck manufacturing in 2014. GM sucked the marrow out of Isuzu. Everything for performance cars, everything for off-road. GM took it all and gave Isuzu back nothing. And that is why I shed more tears over the death of Isuzu’s presence in the US market than any other brand GM destroyed.

Next up: why I have one.

I can’t recall the first time I saw a VX. It might have been back around 2008 or so. I’d probably seen ads for it, or prototypes of it—but not an actual car on the streets. The same was true of the first time I saw a 3000GT; that was around 1999 and it was a dark green 1g. Like my experience with the 3/s, I just had to know more. I learned about the VX’s successes with racing. I discovered that they had plummeted in price to considerable value/affordability. I’d wanted one. I’d posted about it on here or 3sdie years ago. But I’d never gotten one.

Fast forward several years and I’d ended up living overseas. Fate was to hand me VERY mint 1994 Kia Spectra, and which I was happy to tool around in for my stay. But when that ended, I came back to the states and I needed a car. I’d fallen out of love with my 3/s (that’s another story for another time). I wasn’t about to make it my DD again. I’d had a growing infatuation with the R171 Mercedes SLK 55 AMG...but the cheapest of these was in the $15,000-20,000 range used. VX’s were considerably cheaper if older. As fate would also dictate, I ended up driving a rental car for about 2 months in Phoenix before moving to Utah. It was during this time that I decided that the price justified a VX and that I would take my time and seek out the right one.

This was a prudent decision. It’s lucky to find 1 VX for sale in any given state at any given time. I had my work cut out for me. I had a deal in MD fall through—either by dealer chicanery or by someone beating me to the punch. I passed up a deal in IN I’d had my mother-in-law test-drive. I test-drove one for the first time—myself--in Phoenix, but it was a bit rough and the dealer wanted more than I was willing to pay for that condition. There were a few others here & there, but either too pricey or seemingly beat-up. And then I found the perfect one.

Now granted, I’d have taken a 2001 in a heartbeat—since I like “new as possible” and that was the last production year. But this was a 1999. On craigslist. I’ll pause while you groan…. It’s ok though, I bought my 3/s on Ebay, so what’s the worst that could happen?

Anyways, I happen to be on a VX forum, and one of the members there, Jo Birch, happened to live about 20 minutes away from where this VX was being sold. He was kind enough to offer to go test-drive it for anyone interested—and I was. Amazingly, there was virtually nothing wrong with it that he found. Rust was not an issue (crashbar was intact) windows went up/down fine. Leather was in great shape. Car ran smooth & shifted great. There was no hint of burning oil. Etc, etc, etc—there was nothing mechanically or cosmetically wrong that really stood out. And the incredible part was that it was only 5 hours away from Phoenix (in San Diego) and although it was a 16 year old car (at that time) it had an obscenely low 81,000 miles on it. That’s right. 5000 miles per year. I immediately got the owner on the phone and tried my best to reassure him out of me being some kind of craigslist scammer. I wired funds in full, booked a plane ticket, and was on my way. I arrived at Jo’s house by 10 am. By 4pm, I was on my way back to Phoenix. This in the 110F+ heat of death valley...which might have been part of how I ended up blowing a head gasket eventually. More on that later.

I made it back to Phoenix just fine. It was a surreal experience. I got stares everywhere. The 3/s generates a few stares of its own, but the VX is on another level. And this was 100% stock. I couldn’t wait to put my own touches on it.

I drove my VX—dog in the passenger seat—all 13 hours up to the Ogden, UT area. Never gave me any problems that I recall. I think the good lord must have been watching out for me. I could hear the coolant boiling when I was in Phoenix after my trip. I could hear it boiling again in UT and I ended up needing a head-gasket repair up in UT. But I NEVER had an issue getting there. Somehow it survived a 13 hour trek north like a champ. I’m pretty sure it had the cooling issue when I got it—becuase I was fighting the temp gauge all the way down I-10 from San Diego; heat-on, windows-down. It survived though. And ever since I’ve had the head-gasket fixed, it’s never once had an issue with temp. Needle has been rock-solid stuck in the middle. 2200 miles cross country from UT to GA, no problem. GA heat of the summer, no problem.

Even better, apparently the VX has an achilles heel in the 3.5L that causes it to burn oil. Some have reported as much as a quart or more between oil changes. I don’t know how—perhaps a previous owner’s rebuild, but mine doesn’t burn a drop. I’ve checked it religiously too—every fill-up. Nothing. Either I’m lucky, or I’m taking good care of it—or both.

Titling it was a bit of a pain. Arizona required a notarized bill of sale—which I stupidly didn’t get when I bought it. I ended up meeting up with the seller down in Yuma while he was down there taking care of the late owner’s estate (turns out it belonged to a guy who had died, and his wife was having her brother sell it). Temp plates in Arizona, permanent plates in Utah, and permanent plates in Georgia—and it’s now home. It’s been on 2 coasts. All I need now is to actually take it to the beach in Savannah and it will have literally been driven—coast to coast—by me.

So now here’s some pics of when I bought it.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...x.jpg~original

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...f.jpg~original

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...m.jpg~original

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...e.jpg~original

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...m.jpg~original
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...f.jpg~original

Next up: what have I done?

Ok, so I set a few ground rule with myself. I’d learned a hard & valuable lesson with my 3/s—modding is difficult, it destroys reliability, it requires constant attention/expertise to maintain—all of which is compounded by vehicle’s rarity. The 3/s was a vehicle with a total production run of 100,000 or so. The closest comparison to the exclusivity of the VX would be a 3000GT Spyder; admittedly a smaller production run. However apart from some body panels, mechanical roof pieces and weatherstripping—the rest of the Spyder is very much similar to the 3/s. Similarly, the VX shares much in common with the trooper—while having cosmetic parts/panels unique.

I decided I was going to keep the mechanicals stock. That’s a hard sell with some vehicles that seem to roll off the assembly line begging for upgrades. The VX however came with a 235hp 3.5L stock and with enough high-tech stuff to even make a 3/s blush. I didn’t feel I needed to belabor something this well refined stock. In fact, VX owners to this day maintain that the OEM shocks are the best ones by far. I also felt that opting for any type of lift would potentially damage long-term viability of the drivetrain due to increased stress from the angles put on the parts. Nor did I want to alter the gear ratio. Nor did I have to seek an automatic (all VX’s came with automatic). So long as I could suppress the “horsepower bug”, the VX was quite literally perfect as it is. Mechanically.

I therefore set about seeing what I could do to improve the looks to something a bit more my speed. Now granted, this is already a niche vehicle that generates rubbernecking to and fro no matter where you drive it. I just wanted to put that stamp on it that said it’s mine—something that befits a unique vehicle. The tires that came with the 16” stock wheels I’d bought it with—were not original (good, because I’m sure those would have dry-rotted). Those Yokohama Geolanders had a sidewall 5 higher than stock—meaning that the speedo was off by about 5mph, and the ride was already higher than stock by a small amount. Even with the increased rolling diameter, the VX didn’t have any fitment issues, amazingly enough.

I wasn’t too sure about going for a full off-road look though. 31” tires on 15” steelies has been done on a VX without a lift—so it is possible...but I just wasn’t sure that look was for me. I didn’t want to go all-out on being off-road; I daily drive my VX. I also didn’t want to go all ghetto and put 20” wheels on it with rubber-band tires (although I’ve seen 20’s on a VX and I’d considered it). In the end, I ended up at the middle ground; 18” rims. 18” was stock size on the 2000-2001 models, so it’s not out of place on the VX. Slightly heavier than the 17” that some had recommended, but I think the look is better. I opted for All-Season tires instead of off-road tires; this saved me a few bucks on purchase price, improved MPG slightly, and still leaves me confident of driving capability. I was driving these Pirelli Scorpions in the UT winter w/o issue; the VX just grips and grips and grips. 6” of fresh unplowed, unbroken snow? No problem. And unlike off-road tires, there’s no worries about the suppleness of the tire, sloughing/shedding issues with tread, etc.

Now I just had to find the rim design that complimented it. I wanted something unique. More importantly, I wanted 3-spoke. Those who know me know that I’ve always preferred 3-spoke to 5-spoke. The sprockets on my bikes are 3-spoke. The JDM steering wheel I installed last week in my VX is a 3-spoke. I have 3-spoke Volk C-Ultras for a 3/s sitting in my garage. Every ceiling fan (but 1) I’ve installed in my home here in Georgia has 3 blades (Hakiu, Stingray, Force). I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY wanted 3-spoke wheels for my VX. That’s when I noticed a guy on my forum had some that he’d modified by stripping the paint off them. I loved the look. If I could paint them, that might be killer too—but even without modifying them, they were perfect.

So after extensive review on wheel diameter, wheel width, backspacing, etc—I came to the conclusion what I wanted. I didn’t want “mexiflush”. It turned out that my procrastinating on a purchase of wheels while I was in Phoenix might have hurt my selection. I was only able to find one company even reasonably priced on these wheels, and they did not have any of the +24 offset I’d wanted...I had to settle for +12. This ended up with me having to trim the outside leading edge of the front wheel wells—a fairly simple task. I would have preferred to keep the wheels further inboard and have no protrusion, but woulda-could-shoulda. I’d already spent an amount equal to the purchase price on initial maintenance and a head gasket. At least I’d been able to find a buyer for my old wheels, so I did get a couple hundred back after shipping them out.

I also had a problem with hazy headlights. This happens over time with ALL vehicles; polishing them does nothing to fix it, as the protective layer is now gone and the lights will re-haze. I weighed my options and decided to buy some covers for them. GTS seemed to be the only manufacturer who had them. I had 3 choices; clear, smoked or carbon-fiber. Smoked was VERY dark and I was concerned about light penetration through them. So I opted for carbon-fiber. I was VERY pleased with the look of them installed. The “horns” on top of the headlight were now contained within the cover and didn’t look abnormal. And because of the black paint, the lights front and rear now blended better with the overall “murdered out” look that was starting to form.

I wanted to get some smoked marker lights to match, but that proved impossible. I did buy some clear lenses for the front bumper. Those, plus the front fender lights plus the rear fender lights I ended up using nightshades on. Nightshades have the unfortunate side effect of looking matte finished unless they are wet-sanded/polished or clear-coated. However, with my application (and the cladding) the matte look actually works quite well. Other exterior touches were a Curt towing hitch, a Super-Bumper with bypass hitch attachment (light duty use only), an antenna off a VW, smoked license plate cover and—most recently—purple LEDs all around. Of course that makes my blinkers go nuts, but that’s a small price I’m willing to pay for purple fog lights & turn signals. If I could get the 3rd light on the spoiler smoked—that would be great too...but I’m pretty much done with the outside for now.

The inside just seemed dated. It was arguably dated when the VX debuted; being that the dash was lifted straight out of a trooper. I set about finding ways to upgrade it. First step was a dash-mat. I wanted something plush and black. The dash mat in my 3/s was ok, but the armor-all dash ruined the velcro stick and it never was quite right. The owner had NOT used armor-all, and the mat stuck on perfectly. It almost doesn’t look like the same car—certainly not as aged. I paired that with a plush black steering wheel cover and plush black seatbelt pads. The uniformity really does help to pull the interior together and give it a softer, more modern appeal. Next I wanted to find some floor mats. Winters are NOT kind to stock floor mats. The carpets were so well manicured when I bought it, I figured it would be a shame to sully them with mud/dirt/snow/etc. Again, I wanted to keep with design queues that the VX already had. The front grille on a VX is a hex honeycomb. This made hex mats a perfect choice for the interior. Their deep-pocketed design absorbs a LOT of inadvertent fluid, and they are custom cut/fit for the VX. I opted for some oil-slick colored pedal covers (meh) a shift knob cover from a VW that doesn’t fit supremely well (meh) and I even put in purple LEDs in the instrument cluster, shifter assembly and the climate control. The gauges are a bit dimly lit now, but sufficient. I didn’t want to disassemble the actual gauge assembly, so this is a direct plug-play with the brightest purple LED’s I could find. The dome light is now a white LED that is sufficiently brighter than the stock bulb.

Next I decided to do something about the seats. They were just fine; the leather was in great shape. But I immensely dislike leather seats. They are sticky in the heat, cold in the cold, and they require regular maintenance to prevent them from fairing badly in the sun/elements. I did love that they were customized to the car’s logo though. Several other VX owners had suggested Wet Okole seatcovers. Now to be fair, Wet Okole is like the top-tier of seat covers—pricey and quality. I tried to find a color/style combination that would best fit/represent the red/black areas on the original seats. I also managed to get them to put the actual factory logo on my seats; I sent them a file of the logo, they put it on for the standard logo pricing. I’m proud to say that I have THE VERY FIRST set of “VehiCROSS” logo’d W.O. seat covers ever made. And unless you knew they were covers, you’d be hard-pressed to know they weren’t stock. I went with the full set so the rears are also covered.

Continued...

I also decided to upgrade the stereo system. I was fortunate enough to discover it had already had a sub amped and wired when I bought it. I wasn’t sure about the stock speakers though. The head unit was already aftermarket—with a USB port that convinced me that upgrading it was not necessary. I bought a micro-sized USB drive, installed my entire music library of some 2800 songs (at present) and plugged it—and if you didn’t look for it, you wouldn’t even know it’s there...it’s also red/black. I researched the speakers a bit and found that the fronts were 6.5” but the rears were 4”. I’d also read that some had replaced their rear speakers with larger ones by cutting a larger hole in the speaker mounts. Armed with this knowledge, I decided to go full-bore and put 6.75” in all 4. The fronts, I discovered, had already been replaced at some point—and they were still in great shape. I went ahead and replaced them anyways since I was in there. The rears were totally shot. The stock clarion paper cones had disintegrated and one wasn’t functioning at all. Arguably the hardest part about replacing the rears was fiddling with the body panels in order to get the bolts in or out of the mounts. I got a lot of scrapes though. Once the mounts came out, all I had to do was trace the paper template the speakers came with—in sharpie—then dremel out the shape. This took about a half-dozen dremel blades, but the result was great. Then I had to worry about speaker depth. Here’s where I got creative. I took BOTH the optional speaker mount brackets from BOTH sets of speakers and placed them in pairs under the lip of each speaker. With some rubber no-stick pads cusioning each layer of this “sandwich” from the next, I was able to push the mount depth upwards towards the body panel and away from the external wall of the VX enough to be able to bolt the mounts back on without having to bend them. After clipping some protrusions from the speaker webbing, I put it all back together and the clearance was perfect. Weatherstripping and more pads on the speaker magnet, wall/fender of the VX, etc—and it was good to go. No worries about vibration or anything.

I also replaced the 8” bass-tube ported sub with a 10” downfiring sealed sub. The difference is extraordinary. The bass in my car is fantastic—as is the overall soundstage with the speakers replaced. And I haven’t even figured out if there’s an amp driving the 6.75”s or just the sub. Plus the cargo area is more usable, since I can stack things on the flat top of the sub box.

The latest project (I don’t have pics yet) is a steering wheel swap from a JDM VX. I lucked out and found that the clockspring off a 1996 trooper is plug/play with the plugs on the steering wheel and in my car. Everything bolted right up, but I now have an airbag light & non-functioning horn...which I’ll have to diagonse (might be OBD issue, might be back clockspring, etc—i don’t know yet). The stock wheel wasn’t terrible, but the 3-spoke Momo steering wheel looks a bit better, imho. I also have some extra fabric from W.O. that I need to get recovered over the armrest to match the rest of the interior. I’d like to swap door panels to the grey/black ones or find someone who can plasti-dip the red into purple. I’m also planning on painting nail-polish on some of the finer details around the wheel caps.

Oh yeah, I also got her tinted. I believe it was max legal in UT up front (the tint stripe is WAY too big for legal in UT, but I’m happy I have it now that I’m in GA. Rear tint is darker, but not at the 5% that the Sonoma had when we bought it—you pretty much had to roll down windows to see in the dark with that thing. I religiously put a sunshield in the window when I park it—I’m trying to keep the interior as minty as possible for a vehicle almost 20 years old. And I couldn’t resist getting a vanity plate. Turns out I wasn’t the only one with a similar idea, and I ran into a guy in a Toyota FJ with the same idea. Anways...on to the pics:

we must think alike:
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...r.jpg~original

early on in UT after wheels installed:
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...psnl2euwf5.jpg

Dash-mat, Hex mats, shift knob installed--no seat covers yet--old steering wheel cover. Yes that's a purple die-cast VX:
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...ps8thxcrff.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...4.jpg~original

Initial install of rear light covers & hitch:
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...ps3ks5af6j.jpg

Initial install front light covers:
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...d.jpg~original
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...psh9vdas3b.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...psqw9bndiz.jpg

Initial install seatcovers. Yes, there's a purple Body-Glove backpack on the back of the seat:
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...pszcgdalb0.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...pswpeuccpv.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...psgmm9xedb.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...psclle0k9s.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...psexftor8z.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...pskzj6glwb.jpg

And one from a bit more recently, here in GA:
https://i.imgur.com/pDXrCS1.jpg

Every time I walk up to this thing from the side, I just stare. I've heard it called all sorts of ugly names "roller-skate" "old running shoe" etc. I really think those people are either trolls or just tasteless.

I have gotten more compliments on this thing than you can shake a stick at. Everyone is always staring. I've had MANY people think this is a late-model (2015-2018) car. Almost no-one knows what it is--and even those who do don't really know how awesome of a vehicle it was when it rolled off the assembly line. Maybe I'll do some more cosmetic mods (JDM-OEM factory purple paint isn't out of the question--neither is Line-X for the cladding)--but I'm pretty much done. I intend to just drive it and enjoy it--yes, including speedbumps at speed. Because it will eat them up and ask for more. I've owned two "halo" cars (for their respective manufacturers) now, and I have to say that this one takes the cake. I hope this is--in fact--my forever car. For having only owned 4 total cars in the 20 years since I've had my driver's license (one not-by-choice from being overseas), I'm not one who buys cars on a whim.

Thanks for reading! I appreciate your time.

Seriously, I love these silly things. I remember the first time I saw one and was old enough to remember it. I'll have to give your story a proper read when I get a quiet moment.

I like 'em too; even the botox wheel-wells.

Seriously, Carlos - it's pretty cool. :D

Wall of Text TLDR


I'll have to read this another day.

Well hopefully it proves to be an interesting read, Alan. :)

I want credit for reading the whole thing IN ONE SITTING, damnit.

I didn't even mention that I swapped to LED headlights in order to mitigate the effects of the light covers. :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by IPD

Initial install seatcovers. Yes, there's a purple Body-Glove backpack on the back of the seat:
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...pszcgdalb0.jpg

---

Doors and steering wheel need the color purple. Looks GREAT.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 2fnloud

Doors and steering wheel need the color purple. Looks GREAT.

---

There is an Oprah Winfrey movie joke in there somewhere, just add photo shop

This is nice

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 2fnloud

Doors and steering wheel need the color purple. Looks GREAT.

---

Wheel is now JDM. I'll get pics later, but here's a before with a 1-color trooper wheel (same design as the 2-tone one in the VX) and the JDM.

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2543f22c.jpg

https://a.d-cd.net/80d4df8s-960.jpg

Mine is the style on the top with the "momo" print, but with the Isuzu logo on the bottom one & it's recovered to look more like the bottom one...with black instead of blue stitching.

---
I will either swap to the grey/black panels (like in the 2nd pic) or get lucky and find someone who can help me do plastidip over the red and make mine purple.

We're okay with the purple.

Proceed. ;)

Welp. I think I have had a 2nd head gasket failure. I'm blaming the aluminum block. I'm selling it.

Thinking about buying a minivan.

Ointment avec fly.

Damn, Carlos.

Think we need a bit of background, btw.

Not much to tell. Stuck to cosmetic mods. Avoided mechanical mods. After 1 head gasket replacement already, and now burning coolant again...I'm fed up.

Probably even less of a market for this car than my 3/s; so I'd probably have to pay someone to take it off my hands. I'd rather wrap it around a tree first.

For now, I'm just going to keep flushing 50/50 thru it until I figure out what to do. Minivan was just an idea of something fuel efficient that should be plentiful come repair time.

Why not fix it? I'm assuming the last gasket change didn't include making sure the deck was straight? MLS gasket?

^That^

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by anyonebutme

Why not fix it? I'm assuming the last gasket change didn't include making sure the deck was straight? MLS gasket?

---

Aluminum block /Aluminum heads. Cannot verify the block wasn't warped when they did the last head gasket. Decking the heads doesn't address any potential issues with the block itself. No way to verify integrity of the block without tearing it down; and these are single-use head bolts. Plus it's my daily.

I just bought a remanufactured longblock off S&J engines. $4000 and includes a 7 year 100k mile warranty. So will probably be close to 6 grand after I pay for labor. The mechanic I have here is one in a million and I'm very lucky to have him; he's gone over every option, jot and tiddle with me. We're going to tear the old engine down and check the block for warping; something I really didn't want to do without a backup plan--it would leave me without wheels. If it's clean, we'll rebuild it. If not, then I scrap it or try to get a core charge from it (doubtful they'd pay though).

It's always the tiddles that get you - damn them, anyway...