Builds Well into my build - Herculiner today

[Black Rhino 13]

Your name is Black Rhino and your not going to paint the wheels black??? I actually rattle canned my wheels black and they look great and nice and easy for touch up. (my truck is green)

I love those tail lights I wish they would have had them in the smoke color when I bought mine like that.

Hey Jrob80, Yeah, I thought black wheels would have been too much. As far from stock as mine is, I wasn't intentionally trying to make it look different. The problem with the wheels was the corrosion and clear coat was all jacked up. I tried the plastic bristle cup brush but it wasn't as effective as I would have liked. I mostly just wanted them sandblasted/cleaned up. I was open the idea of rattle can, but since I had to go to the trouble of getting the tires off and take the wheels to a place anyway... $45 ended up not seeming that bad.

I'm hoping for a good outcome. Should have the first pair back today.

Yeah, I think those smoked lights are the bomb-diggety! I think I saw a spray can you can buy which will accomplish the same thing though.

 

[Black Rhino 13]

Man, things can change quickly. Where am I?

I just put over $1K down on a bumper from Jason at Cruisin Offroad. I'll likely remove the interior spare mount and hoist #6 up on the roof for trips.

We are going to do a 1600+ mile loop from Montana up through Glacier National Park, into Canada by Waterton Peace Park and all the way across British Columbia on Hwy 3. We'll have the bumper installed by Jason and then swing through Vancouver and Seattle, hopefully catching the 4th of July. Mother in law arrives on July 7th, so some of this is in preparation of her visit.

What have I done lately? Mostly bought stuff. I have a new Clarion double din DVD player and a back up camera. I got the Polk DB651 speakers and some super high quality Audioquest speaker cable. On top of that, I bought some 1/4" MDF and I'm going to create a panel for the front doors. I'm going to trim the board to cover the factory speaker hole and remove the map pocket too. I have some tan marine vinyl but still not sure about the adhesive. I also got these speaker pods which were intended for the UTV market and are specifically marketed with the DB651 speakers. My plan is to paint them the famed Bronze with the speaker grills and mount it all to the panel. In the rear doors I'll probably do the same but retain the factory door panel. Some of this is uncertain yet how exactly it will play out. I'm basing this partly on other threads and partly on patience and hope. And, I'm going to end up mounting the camera either to the tailgate or more likely to the ladder when the license plate is relocated by Jason.

Additionally, I have 100 sq ft of Quiet Crap, 100 sq ft of Mass Loaded Vinyl, Wagongear tailgate is on the way, I'm waiting for the fancy 3-way light harness from the group buy but I just installed one clear corner. Install on that was nasty, probably due to P.O. front end damage. I can't say for sure that the eBay lights aren't a great fit yet.

I got the winch wired up finally. A friend welded the Warn bracket to my ARB bumper and I mounted the control module to that. It's nice to have it working. Just unwound the steel cable and wound up orange 5/16 Amsteel Blue synthetic cable. The new Factor 55 Prolink is on the way, in orange I hope. We immediately used the winch to pull trees off of trails. Oh, just bought a chainsaw to make that process easier. Stihl MS 290. eBay so hope it works. Looked good in pics.

Got a weathertech rear mat which looks nice. Won't know for sure until all the other projects are done. I'm done with the powder coating on the wheels. They sure look better than when they were all nasty. Color was called Anodized Silver which came out a bit lighter than a gunmetal gray. Clear coated too. It looks pretty good. Yes, I need to do pics soon. This is as much a shopping and laundry list as anything. Pics and install info is coming soon. I found a different powder coater. Should be $65 per wheel. Not sure if it's as good a job as the $90 per wheel guys or not. How do you ever know?

Thanks to anyone who is following this. I'll try to make it beneficial. I have some other little projects ready to go. Gonna Herculine the wheel wells, rear shocks, interior rear racks, and the Slee sliders. Still haven't done the diff breathers.

 

[calfj60]

Wow!!!! That's a long post with lots done.... I have done nothing

 

[Black Rhino 13]

Ha ha, thanks! Doesn't feel like I've done that much. Taking a year to get the winch hooked up was ridiculous, but I never needed it before.

I also got an eBay exhaust jack, ARB tire repair kit, and some other things. I mostly posted a shopping list and to-do list. But, yeah, the wheels and winch and synth line are nice.

I am out of school for the summer and not working. So, this is my only thing, plus taking care of the kiddos and stuff. I would like to start back in the Fall without a long list of unfinished projects like last year. I should try to focus on school more this time.

 

[Stevesnj]

How do the LED tail lights look compared in brightness to stock?

 

[Black Rhino 13]

That's a tough question because I never see my own brake lights. I didn't even think to do any kind of A/B comparison. I can say the brake lights are plenty bright and they are on par with the upper center brake light. My brake lights pic was taken on a bright blue sky day in Montana at around noon and my rear was facing W/SW. Doesn't get much brighter outside than this and the lights are all very visible.

I do have the issue where my cruise control cuts off when I use the blinker. I don't usually drive distances with cruise, but it is annoying now when I do. I'll have to figure out that resistor solution or something.

Oh, I got new tie rod/relay rod ends yesterday and an alignment finally. 3rd time's a charm. 1st attempt I ended up getting a friend to help tighten the bearings because they couldn't do the alignment with all the play there. Ended up getting new bearings 4 months later. 2nd attempt I needed a new tie rod end. So, CDan sent me all 4 rod ends and I got the whole thing done yesterday. Seems to accelerate and brake better, plus it's a bit quieter now.

 

[Black Rhino 13]

I can't think of anything special to add. I started removing things and just didn't stop. Nothing was too far from intuitive as far as removing things is concerned.

Next up will be cleaning up 15 years worth of dirt and yuck. Have a little leak or something in the front passenger foot well to deal with.

A picture is worth a thousand words: (sorry these are a little over-exposed for some reason).

 

[mickeyt]

Areyou lining the interior?

 

[Black Rhino 13]

Areyou lining the interior?

That's the plan. I have 100 sq ft of Quiet Crap and 100 sq ft of Mass Loaded Vinyl (MLV / 1lb per sq ft) ready to go. I have industrial strength velcro, a can of contact cement...

My plan is to clean up the vehicle first. I already found various odd objects like rivet pieces in the rear doors. I'm planning to apply the Quiet Crap pretty much everywhere. I'm going to have to see how the MLV goes.

I'll have to figure out a new type of plastic to cover two doors with. I'm also putting in a new stereo, new speakers, a backup camera, and so on. It's a big, integrated set of projects.

 

[mickeyt]

Can you post links of products your using? Have you looked at Sound Deadening Materials for Noise Reduction | Second Skin Audio

?

 

[Black Rhino 13]

The site you mention is very well regarded. I'm not saying I did 100% thorough research before buying stuff. I made some changes along the way.


Quiet Crap is from a 'Mud vendor. It's 70 mil butyl sound dampener. . QC was about $220 for 100 sq ft.

Quietcrap land cruiser sound deadener

I got the 1 lb sq ft mass loaded vinyl on eBay. The MLV was $170 for 100 sq ft delivered. I couldn't believe FedEx dropped off a 100 pound roll of rubber sheet at my door. Seems like shipping could be that much.

1 LB Pound Mass Loaded Vinyl 4' x 25' Rolls | eBay

This is for the plastic on the doors:

Amazon.com: 3M 08578 Black 1' Strip Calk, (Box of 60): Automotive

This is to hang the MLV on the QC:

Amazon.com: Velcro Industrial Strength Sticky-Back Hook & Loop Fasteners, Black, 2inX15 Foot Roll (VEK90197): Office Products

And I'll try to use this to put the MLV on the QC also, possibly on the roof. Also will use this to put the marine vinyl on the new partial door panels up front:

Amazon.com: Dap 25332 Weldwood Nonflammable Contact Cement 1-Quart: Home Improvement

There is another site out there which is very instructive. According to that site, you only need 25% coverage of something like Quiet Crap to kill vibrations and rattles. They recommend an insulating layer like Closed Cell Foam between that and Mass Loaded Vinyl. Kevin Rowland of Wagon Gear showed me this site and mentioned DAP products. I actually just got the low-voc contact cement at Ace Hardware.

Sound Deadener Showdown - Your Source for Sound Deadening Products and Information

However, I'm gonna stick with what I've got. I figure 100% coverage of 70 mil butyl sound dampener and 100% coverage of 1 lb MLV should be pretty good. If I was starting from scratch...

Oh, side note: I went with a clarion DVD double din player and the usual Polk db 651 speakers. I'm going to remove the map pockets on the front doors, cover the original speaker hole and lower door with 1/4 " MDF + tan marine vinyl. And, I'm going to mount the front speakers in these ATV pods I found. Looks like these pods are specifically marketed with these speakers too. The Polks are rated for marine applications. I'm going to paint the pods Bronze along with the speaker grills. It's a cheapo version of those custom door pods some people have made. That also gives me two pair of spacers to use on the rear doors if necessary. I also have an extra pair of the pods. Depending on how it all goes, I will either use the pods in the rear or sell them on 'Mud perhaps.

Amazon.com: Speaker Pods Mounts Enclosures Rhino or UTV durable: Electronics

Lastly, Jason of Cruisin Off Road is making my bumper and he's going to add a little protected spot on the ladder to mount the backup camera. This will allow the wires for the camera to run along with the wires for the license plate lights.

Amazon.com: Clarion CC4001U Rear Vision Camera: Car Electronics

 

[Delancy]

Have any close ups of the sunroof assembly that might be advantageous for someone planning removal?

 

[Black Rhino 13]

I'll put up a dozen or so later today.

 

[Delancy]

I'll put up a dozen or so later today.

Thank you.

 

[Black Rhino 13]

You're welcome - Anytime! If these aren't what you're looking for just let me know. I can take as many as needed and post them up.

From what I can tell the sunroof structure is fiberglass or plastic. There are brackets around it with one or two bolts/nuts in the roof/wall and one for the sunroof. Half of the bolts are currently removed from mine. I don't think any of these support points are on the rear edge but I'd have to look again to be sure. I can do more on that tomorrow.

On the front side there are smaller nuts to remove as well as two nuts above the center light/switch. I believe it will be easier and make more sense to remove the glass before removing the structure too. I'm going to do this anyway to get the glass tinted further and to do the bicycle tire mod to the rubber surround.

These pics start at the passenger rear corner of the sunroof assembly and work counter clockwise to the driver's side rear corner. Pic 3 shows what I believe are the 3 bolts holding the sunroof glass down on each side.

Note: I ended up breaking off the "garnish" all around the sunroof glass while trying to remove it. I don't think I'll bother replacing it. You have to remove this to get to the glass structure bolts/nuts.

 

[Delancy]

Excellent pics and description. Thanks again.
A tremendous "help" in determining wether to delete, or not.

 

[Black Rhino 13]

Areyou lining the interior?

Maybe I didn't understand the question. Did you mean: Am I using Herculiner on the interior?

If that was the question, I wasn't going to, but now I'm actually thinking about it. At least the floor. I scraped up some of the insulation and vacuumed but it wasn't as miraculous as I'd hoped it would be. I need to give it another go. I also need to get a bucket of soapy water and some good rags and give the entire interior a good wash.

But I am now thinking that I might just do the floor with Herculiner. Why not? I would do it without the rubber bits as stirred up as usual. I think the Herc would just cover the remaining insulation and would provide an extra level of sound proofing, protection, and adhesion for the Quiet Crap.

Depending on how the ceiling insulation goes, I could do that too.

We have predictions for rain most every day for the next week or two. Really annoying. As you all know, I'm doing this in an on-street parking row. So, I have some peculiar limitations I'm working with. Just makes me a little bit more proud of it.

 

[Black Rhino 13]

Excellent pics and description. Thanks again.
A tremendous "help" in determining wether to delete, or not.

I'm wondering if you mean it's a help in determining whether to delete your project or my thread.

...

Like all projects of this nature, things twist and turn as I go through it. Little changes, new ideas, trips to hardware stores, searches on 'Mud, searches on .au sites now, etc...

I removed the map pockets from the front door panels. That was super easy - just a half dozen screws. I guess I'll have a little "for sale" thread soon. The door panels are a pretty flimsy cardboard kind of material. That's unfortunate. They break easily and you can pretty easily rip the hole where the plastic snap inserts are when you pull the door panel off the door. I found a little Snap-On fork tool underneath the carpet. Not sure why it was buried under the carpet. Would have been useful for removing parts.

I was wondering how I'd cut the 1/4" MDF to the door shape easily but now it's obvious I can just trace the door panel with the map pocket off. I can remove the factory speaker grill and draw that circle. Then I can create the curve up which will cover the old speaker hole. Duh!

What to do next? That's what I keep asking myself. Need to be more productive. Only spent about 15-30 minutes actually working on it yesterday.

 

[Delancy]

^^. Haha. Delete the sunroof, actually.

 

[Black Rhino 13]

Oh! You're thinking about removing the whole thing and welding metal in its place or somehow sealing it? I've heard about sealing the sunroof one way or the other but haven't really investigated it.

I wouldn't mind if it was easy to just make the glass really dark and then set it in there permanently. I'd be happy to delete the rest of the thing.