The moment you've all been waiting for!

[Grant Lamontagne]

Thanks Terry- I've heard good things about Herculiner from lots of folks.  I read an article in a 4x4 magazine a while back where they applied different liner products to sheets of metal, set them up in a field and shot at them with a 12 gage.  I can't remember the magazine, or even the results, but I remember it being an interesting test.

I haven't thought too much about the battery thing yet- I have a friend who does automotive customization and restoration, and I figured I'd hit him up for some help when I got that far.

Def

[jzmtl]

Yep optima blue top, darn expensive thou.

Funny you want to do bedliner, herculiner and por-15 frame are the first things I did to mine.

[NutSAK]

Yep optima blue top, darn expensive thou.

Funny you want to do bedliner, herculiner and por-15 frame are the first things I did to mine.

POR-15 is great stuff!! 

[Grant Lamontagne]

I love the look of the bedliner in there.  How do you find it for cleaning/ insulating etc?

A friend of mine knows a professional sprayer and may be able to set me up with a professionally done sprayed in liner.

Def

[jzmtl]

I put the carpet back in because it was really noisy without it. 

Cleaning the bed liner is kind a pain to be honest. If you get dirt on there you'll never clean it completely, dirt seems to stick to it. I hauled a Christmas tree in it (for planting at parents' house, not Christmas) and herculiner never looked shiny again. But if you are okay with that look then cleaning is just a problem of broom or hose.

[Grant Lamontagne]

That's pretty well what I was wondering... I'll make sure to keep the carpet then...

Def

[Viking]

Here's what I drive:

[Grant Lamontagne]

I wish I had your kind of money!  Of course, given it's placement, you'd probably be ok if it ran on methane...

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

A few updates...

The second battery thing doesn't look like a priority anymore since I spoke to some members of the local Jeep club and they showed me that the stock alternator is pretty heavy duty, and one guy ran almost his whole house off the giant inverter he has in his after the hurricane we had a few years ago.  Seems to me, if he can run a fridge, Playstation and TV on his, I can charge my laptop safely with mine!

I hadn't planned on a lift kit (and I still don't) but I see the cost of lift kits has dropped (no pun intended) drastically over the last few years, making it somewhat more acceptable in my mind.  I can get a 3" lift installed for around $1,000.  Still, I'd rather spend that money on a winch.  It doesn't matter how big your wheels are, stuck is stuck!

I finally got the back window fixed yesterday.  I was waiting for a nice day, but those are few and far between here in Nova Scotia, so we (the seamstress and I) decided to bite the bullet and get it done despite the rain.  The zipper had to be replaced, and she reinforced the seams to extend the life of the top by a few years.  She also added a marine canvas protectant that should keep it looking nice for a long time.  Since she was doing it on her own time, at home, rather than contracting her professionally, she did it for an amazingly small amount of money, so I also got her to do a small mod...

When I first went to see her a month ago she showed me what she'd done to her Jeep, and I instantly fell in love- she'd cut out most of the rag top and replaced it with flexible plastic, so the Jeep is just as bright inside when the top is up as it is when the top is down!  Let me tell you, this is amazing.  I'll try to get some pics from inside, but I doubt they will do it justice.  Here's a pic of the outside:



Def

[NutSAK]

I hadn't planned on a lift kit (and I still don't) but I see the cost of lift kits has dropped (no pun intended) drastically over the last few years, making it somewhat more acceptable in my mind.  I can get a 3" lift installed for around $1,000.  Still, I'd rather spend that money on a winch.  It doesn't matter how big your wheels are, stuck is stuck!

A locking differential would be money well spent also.

[Grant Lamontagne]

It's on the list...

Def

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Great to see it coming along mate , you still should have bought a BMW GS though

[jzmtl]

Great to see it coming along mate , you still should have bought a BMW GS though

You know what's the difference between a BMW and a porcupine? Okay okay lame joke.

$1000 for a lift kit seems a bit expensive, even installed. What brand are we talking about? I have Old Man Emu 2.5" HD kit, which is probably one of the best < 3" kit for TJ, cost me $650 shipped from the states, and I put it on myself in a day.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Yeah but a GS has only got 2 wheels so it should only be half the price

[jzmtl]

I'd like to see you go through this with two wheels.  That was in Dec. last year mind you, still had three more months to go. 

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

I've ridden in snow up to the front hub before, with 120bhp at the back wheel (oh happy days  )

[WhichDawg]

wow that looks great! she's goooood

I guess you could have velcro stitched inside and just stick up cloth panels if you want privacy inside
to keep thief's from scoping out what you got inside, not that you have that problem in maple leaf land

[jock1]

That really does look great Boss i would hate to run that in this country with our fuel costs I would be broke in a month

[Grant Lamontagne]

Great to see it coming along mate , you still should have bought a BMW GS though

You know what's the difference between a BMW and a porcupine? Okay okay lame joke.

$1000 for a lift kit seems a bit expensive, even installed. What brand are we talking about? I have Old Man Emu 2.5" HD kit, which is probably one of the best < 3" kit for TJ, cost me $650 shipped from the states, and I put it on myself in a day.

Pretty certain it's a Skyjacker 3" kit, but to be honest I wasn't paying all that much attention as I'm really not looking for a lift.  The kit itself was $710 I think, and then a few hundred for "worst case" installation.  I figure it's better to put that money into tires and a winch- winches being a bit more pricey than I'd expected.

We have crime here, and it's always possible that someone will break into my Jeep and steal it, or it's contents, but I honestly doubt anyone is likely to see any more looking from above than they would looking in the window, so that's not really all that much of a worry.  And, the whole thing is insured, so if someone wants to steal it, I get a new one- no big deal!

And, it's not really all that bad on gas really.  I was expecting it to be horrible, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Def

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

So what MPG does it do mate

[Grant Lamontagne]

Dunno- I haven't counted it, but I have gone a lot farther without filling it up than I thought I would.

Bear in mind we also had to burn twice as much gas in the Sunfire when I was driving Kim everywhere too- now she goes one way and I go the other so two cars are more economical than one.

Def

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Dunno- I haven't counted it, but I have gone a lot farther without filling it up than I thought I would.

Bear in mind we also had to burn twice as much gas in the Sunfire when I was driving Kim everywhere too- now she goes one way and I go the other so two cars are more economical than one.

Def

I'm sure there's a degree of logic in there somewhere , or was it justification 

[Grant Lamontagne]

The wife can take her car to work, and I can go to work in the opposite direction an hour later, rather than me driving her to work, then coming back home, then going to work- saves at least one trip each morning.

Plus, the wife doesn't like driving in the city so she only takes it up to the bus terminal then takes the bus from there, instead of me having to sit in traffic to drive her to work, then again to come home.

Def

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

The wife can take her car to work, and I can go to work in the opposite direction an hour later, rather than me driving her to work, then coming back home, then going to work- saves at least one trip each morning.

Plus, the wife doesn't like driving in the city so she only takes it up to the bus terminal then takes the bus from there, instead of me having to sit in traffic to drive her to work, then again to come home.

Def

I was joking

I would imagine it'd do at least 20 mpg

[NutSAK]

The wife can take her car to work, and I can go to work in the opposite direction an hour later, rather than me driving her to work, then coming back home, then going to work- saves at least one trip each morning.

Plus, the wife doesn't like driving in the city so she only takes it up to the bus terminal then takes the bus from there, instead of me having to sit in traffic to drive her to work, then again to come home.

Def

I was joking

I would imagine it'd do at least 20 mpg

On the highway it should.  I would say you're doing pretty good if you're getting 15-16 in town and 20-22 on the highway with the 4.0 litre.

My 4.0 XJ gets 12-15 in town, and 18-20 on the highway, which are typical numbers.  I live in a fairly small town, so "in town" driving is typically going to be worse than in a more urban area, as I rarely get above 40 mph.

I can't remember if you said it was a manual transmission or auto.  Of course that will have some bearing too.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Got the 5 speed- wouldn't be caught dead in an automatic Wrangler!

Def