My 1999 Vehicross, "Silvia", progress thread

[RamAirZ]

Well I decided to just start a thread for the build progress on my 1999 Isuzu Vehicross. This way I can just keep all my postings on my mods and such in one thread instead of taking up thread space. Well her name is Silvia, she's #1209 and painted Astral Silver. I picked her up in orlando for the tune of $4000 bucks back in April. this is what she looked like when I picked her up:








I pulled the step bars off and installed some Aisin manual hubs as my first "mod":





I knew I wanted to toss a lift on her so I bought a set of OME 912 coil springs for the rear and went to work. I bought a set of 5 Isuzu Snowflake rims (16x7.5) and purchased some new 285/75-16 (33x11.50) Definity Dakota MT's:

Bringing wheels/tires home







I installed the SBC window brackets today (during which I found out someone had tried to fix the drivers side window before and messed up the regulator) and gave her a good cleaning inside and out. I also decided to move the CD player down to the cubby hole/cd changer area in the dash, going to mount some gauges (oil pressure, boost, AF) in the original radio slot. Here are some pics of the inside after some cleaning today:










After some cleaning decided to take out the factory spare since I have a full size now, never realized how happy she would be without a spare back there



I decided to haul some "tools" back there now, which include: gas can, air compressor, jumper cables, towel, and my hitch mount:



I also realized there is a decent amount of room for some necessities in the jack/lug wrench areas (got a big tow strap, some ratchet straps, bungie cords, full size maglite, first aid kit, tire pressure gauge, LED flashlight for your head lol)





Also decided to work on my headlights tonight while the wife was watching the new sex and the city movie with her friends from work. Took some 3M rubbing compound, a little elbow grease, and voila!

[RamAirZ]

And last but not least, I can't forget my most precious cargo:

My 4 month old daughter Chloe


My 22 month old son John


They need a place to ride:




Well that's it for now folks, I've got some new balljoints, headlight kit, mecatech CV boots, urethane greasable sway bar bushings, low pro droop snubbers, and my gauge setup on the way, so updates coming soon! Will probably be ordering some sliders here soon to start modifying for her Thanks for checking out my gal!

[RamAirZ]

Well it was dark when I finished her last night so decided to snap a couple clean pics. It was her first bath since I've owned her lol:

[Marlin]

Looking good man. Sounds like me, I went from bone stock to what you see now in about 3 months time(except my bumper). I will say one thing, you need to get a new tow strap. Most parks and meets HIGHLY frown on the use of tow straps with hooks on em. As a matter of fact, the Zu group in uhwharrie won't let you use it. Those hooks are 8oz of fling death if the strap breaks, not to mention the damage it will do to the vehicles. Just go to harbor freight and pick up a 30 foot strap and a couple of shackles from northern tool. Less than 50 bucks total, and that is definitely worth it, especially with all the work you are doing to her. Sorry, lecture off, just don't want to see anyone get hurt, or broken rigs from something as silly as a cheap tow strap.

[RamAirZ]

Thanks man! I've actually got one in the house lol. I had that one in there for emergency road side stuff, like if I need to hook it up behind a friends truck to pull it out of the way. Thanks for the advice though! I use the good one with my hitch ball on or my front tow hooks but I'm planning on putting some shackles on her. I had her flexing out yesterday on a trail but my stupid cell phone won't send the pics to my email anymore, it's pretty irritating. My wife took the digi cam to work yesterday, blah.

[RamAirZ]

I love being a pack rat sometimes with car parts lol. I had a 91' Suburban parts truck awhile back and I grabbed this neat little light assembly from under the hood:



It has an on/off switch and a retractable cord. Well I was thinking about mounting it under the hood but couldn't find a real good place for it, then I got a bright idea, I'll mount it in the rear cargo area, above the drivers side cubby hole. It'll be tucked up out of the way, can turn the light on when needed at night, and the cord is SUPER long and I can run it all the way to the engine bay with plenty of slack to use it as a flashlight if needed or just have it hanging from the hood. Probably be a few days before I actually mount it up but thought I'd post my find!

[technocoy]

Lookin good man, can't believe you can haul the kiddies in yours, I'm afraid it would rattle em to death!

Adorable kids too. All 'round good job so far I'd say. Ha.

[RamAirZ]

Thanks and I can't believe how smooth she rides with the lift and tires lol, no rattling of the kiddies. And they won't be in there when offroading unless it's just driving down a smooth trail.

[tom4bren]

Adorable kidz dude.

I can almost remember mine that young (youngest is now 16)

We still throw him in the back of the VX - shoot, at 16, he can even fall asleep back there (of course - at 16 he can fall asleep whilst taking a shower).

BTW, nice mods too (didn't wanna totally jack the thread).

[LiquidVX]

what color paint did you use on the dashboard? I am thinking of doing mine also but would only want it if it was exactly the same as the doors and leather. Would you recommend a different shade than what you used? How do others feel about a painted dash. I am still on the fence as to whether it is good or bad. I imagine a bright colored dash would be distracting but maybe i will get used to it.

[RamAirZ]

Thanks man! It already feels like they are getting big so fast! Seems like yesterday John was just born. As far as the dash, well it was done when i got it and honestly, whoever did it did a DAMN good job with it. I mean part of me thinks it was actually a "dealer" thing or something. I didn't like it at first but it's growing on me. I'm thinking I may paint it astral silver to match the truck though, haven't decided.

[etlsport]

if you paint the dash here is a tip.. tape off the area around the gauge cluster, dont paint it!! i painted mine silver and didnt tape that area off, i had nasty glare on any day with sun, couldnt see the gauges at all.

[RamAirZ]

ya mine is still black in there too

[LiquidVX]

thanks for the tip. Can anyone recommend a color, specific brand or type of finish (satin, gloss, matte...)?

[RamAirZ]

Got the panel and gauges in today. I didn't get a chance to get them wired up yet (kiddies woke up from there nap and now about time to get ready for work) but here are some pics of the install: