Delivery day on Maui!

[Dino]

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!

[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.

[etlsport]

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...

[rowhard]

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.

[Dino]

Friday Rowhard... TODAY! ...not Saturday? ...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

[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....

[PHO2GR4]

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.

[PHO2GR4]

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....

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.

[Dino]

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

[Techy-D]

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.

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

[rowhard]

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.

[Dino]

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!!

[rowhard]

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.

[Ldub]

Welcome to the fam

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".
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.

[Dino]

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! 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! 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!