General VX Questions

[Ldub]

Make sure you wipe it down thoroughly with lacquer thinner. AmourAll is one of the biggest enemies against new paint... it contains silicone, which will cause "fish eyes". (looks as if the paint is scared, and won't adhere to that particular spot)

Or just $and the pi$$ out of it... Then wipe it down.

[Luna X]

still, it's a good idea to try to get any/all AmourAll or wax off before sanding.

It is possible to actually push/work the contaniments into the panel being worked on.... just tryin' to promote safety

[samneil2000]

I like the way mine turned out using trim paint after sanding.

http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?t=17352

[Knivx]

A) You can start without your foot on the brake if your trannie is in Park.

To shift out of Park, you have to have your foot on the brake.

PK

Not on mine. I'm not even sure I need to push the little button on the shifter. I do out of habit though. (I know, I know, mine is messed up somehow)

[RickOKC]

I "think" the front bumper is ALSO chipping off due to road debris/abrasions from high speed/highway driving.....so I'm really disappointed with that aspect. I haven't yet attempted reapplying it to the front, but I think it'll blend very well. I'll post a pic of my front bumper to show how it's chipping/peeling off.
My single coating on the hood insert is holding up just fine, looks great.

303 protectant...I worship that stuff!! Get some!

Hmmm, the R/R chipping concerns me. Now I want to try 303 on my cladding first. My weekend project has been cleaning off the Bondo Restore Black. I put on Mequiar's Natural Shine and it looks great, but I'd like to see what the 303 does after the Mequiar's gets washed off.

If I understand it correctly, Isuzu included the hood insert to cut down on glare. The intent was for it to be a matte or satin finish so that it eliminates reflections/sun-glint.

Hey, Tom... I thought I'd read that so "non-gloss" seemed right. That Line-X looks great!

If you decide to paint the insert...

Make sure you wipe it down thoroughly with lacquer thinner. AmourAll is one of the biggest enemies against new paint... it contains silicone, which will cause "fish eyes". (looks as if the paint is scared, and won't adhere to that particular spot)

Due to the sun/fading, I suggest painting with a basecoat/clearcoat combination. Clear contains UV protection, so it won't fade in a year or less.
To get that satin look, you can add a flattening agent into the clearcoat. A little of that, more or less, will give you different levels of sheen...

Thank you for all the great tips!

I like the way mine turned out using trim paint after sanding.

http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?t=17352

I was so impressed with that write-up that I bookmarked that thread before I even bought my VX! That looks terrific!

[VX KAT]

Front bumper where the Refinish/Restorer is chipping & peeling off. It's only on the front (and where my front fender "may" have kissed a bush or branch in Moab). I'm convinced it's from a combination of high speed debris from highway driving and constant dirt/debris on my dirt road. It just chips /peels off like ladies clear nail polish.

I'm pretty sure if I reapply it, the areas will blend pretty good, but if you're going to do ANY wheeling where your cladding will come in contact with anything or much highway driving....I can NOT recommend R/R.

I SOOOOO wish I'd known about 303 before I did the R/R. Based on everything I've soaked in that stuff, I think it will be fantastic on the cladding.
Especially because it doesn't leave any type of film or sticky residue so doesn't attract dirt. I've used it on my tires then almost immediately driven the dirt road, they get a faint amount of orange dirt on them, but no more than w/o R/R.

If anybody has a good suggestion for how to remove the R/R without melting or destroying the cladding....I'm all ears!

I'd prefer to reapply 303 every month or so, than deal with the R/R.

[RickOKC]

I now have a couple more questions as I get to know my VX better:

* Should there be some kind of a "stop" when moving the shift lever into Drive? I'm used to other vehicles where the shift lever would stop naturally in Drive when moving it from Park, but I often seem to slide right on past into 3rd. No biggie, of course, just curious.

* Wow, is it supposed to get to operating temperature so quickly? This VX warms up at least twice as fast as any other vehicle I can remember. It never gets hot - I'm just surprised. I hope it's normal because it's great to have warm air coming out of the vents so quickly on a cold day.

[vt_maverick]

Can't say about the second one, but mine does the same on the shift straight through drive to 3rd. Doesn't happen much to me though, you get used to it over time.

[RickOKC]

Thanks, Mav!

Yeah, part two is kinda vague. Lately it's been in the low 40s outside and the engine hits operating temperature in about 3/4 to 1 mile.

[tom4bren]

Rick,

Mine warms up fast too. I can't explain it but never complain either.

Tom

[RickOKC]

Good to hear! Thanks T4B!