Voodoo Blue 82 Complete Refresh
- Thread starter gpassida
- Start date
- City
- Redding
- State
- Ca
"Phase 2" of my build has officially been started!
The plans are to increase the highway drivability for distant Overlanding/Rocklanding trips. It runs great now with the V8, 5-Speed and 22 gallon tank. The problem areas are heat, noise, dust and lockable storage.
When my F350 died and we drive it 3K miles to Colorado and Idaho and back to California, it cruises easy at any speed up to about 80 mph. 80 mph is a bit too fast but 70-75mph is perfectly doable for long stretches in 5th gear. But heat and wind noise can be brutal. Especially on triple digit temperature days. And once on a dirt trail, the full Kayline soft top is not optimal due to the back window getting very dusty, including the zippers. I have had to clean and fix the zippers more than I care to. It allows a good amount of dust inside as well. And on cold days, frequently opening and closing the back vinyl window isn't fun when it gets rigid.
Here are the plans:
- Air Conditioning (Vintage Air Kit)
- Full length hard top (Xtreme Tops)
- Heat and noise insulation on the floor and side surfaces (Dynamat type stuff - need to research)
- Likely a CJ-7 Bed Rug kit for the front of the tub and custom (matched to the Bedrug) carpet in the rear
- Rock lights (Switch is already wired and active on my S-Pod)
- Interior lights (Switch is already wired and active on my S-Pod)
- Front and back cameras that show on the iPad mini I use on my dashboard
- Potential bonus item 1: Cruise control for the Chevy 350TBI
- Potential bonus item 2: Custom second gas tank under the bed in the empty space. (maybe 5-8 gallons)
Once all of this is done, I anticipate running in either FULL TOP mode for Overlanding and general camping trips OR for the Rubicon and similar trails, just my full-length bikini top and the YJ steel half doors I will finish rebuilding and install this summer. (also painted Voodoo Blue)
I can drive it to any trail or tow it.
I bought the full Vintage Air kit with the Sanden compressor and brackets for my Chevy V8. Will be working on that very soon.
And, after looking for 2-years for any West coast Xtreme Tops/Rally Top type full hard top, I just ordered a new one from Mike at Xtreme Tops. Shipping to Northern California is brutal. But the time has come and Mike has been great to work with. I gave him detailed measurements of my full-length roll cage, and it looks like his top will fit - just barely. It should start its journey to me next week sometime.
I used AI to generate this picture to see what the Xtreme top would look like on my Scrambler. It did pretty good and it helped me sell the concept to my wife. (She also recalls the hot, noisy 3K miles trip...)
So... we're off the starting blocks for Phase 2! This Jeep is my escape from everyday life and the events that happened to my family on April 3rd last year. We take Athena with us everywhere and leave these buttons behind. She's our constant sidekick on all of our adventures. We will never forget her. All of our friends have these buttons as well and send us pics of where Athena has been with them. We also have a TV in our house that constantly rotates a slide show of her short 21-year life - including the button pictures.
And lastly, I want to get these upgrades done while I have a job. Our plan is to retire at the end of this year - both at Age 62. Unless we go into a significant recession, that should be happening for us. We're excited and once it actually does happen, the adventure gates will open wide for us. Look out! We're hoping to have a lot of action in our "Go-Go" years before moving into the "Slow-Go" and then "No-Go" years.
Scrambler's rule!
The plans are to increase the highway drivability for distant Overlanding/Rocklanding trips. It runs great now with the V8, 5-Speed and 22 gallon tank. The problem areas are heat, noise, dust and lockable storage.
When my F350 died and we drive it 3K miles to Colorado and Idaho and back to California, it cruises easy at any speed up to about 80 mph. 80 mph is a bit too fast but 70-75mph is perfectly doable for long stretches in 5th gear. But heat and wind noise can be brutal. Especially on triple digit temperature days. And once on a dirt trail, the full Kayline soft top is not optimal due to the back window getting very dusty, including the zippers. I have had to clean and fix the zippers more than I care to. It allows a good amount of dust inside as well. And on cold days, frequently opening and closing the back vinyl window isn't fun when it gets rigid.
Here are the plans:
- Air Conditioning (Vintage Air Kit)
- Full length hard top (Xtreme Tops)
- Heat and noise insulation on the floor and side surfaces (Dynamat type stuff - need to research)
- Likely a CJ-7 Bed Rug kit for the front of the tub and custom (matched to the Bedrug) carpet in the rear
- Rock lights (Switch is already wired and active on my S-Pod)
- Interior lights (Switch is already wired and active on my S-Pod)
- Front and back cameras that show on the iPad mini I use on my dashboard
- Potential bonus item 1: Cruise control for the Chevy 350TBI
- Potential bonus item 2: Custom second gas tank under the bed in the empty space. (maybe 5-8 gallons)
Once all of this is done, I anticipate running in either FULL TOP mode for Overlanding and general camping trips OR for the Rubicon and similar trails, just my full-length bikini top and the YJ steel half doors I will finish rebuilding and install this summer. (also painted Voodoo Blue)
I can drive it to any trail or tow it.
I bought the full Vintage Air kit with the Sanden compressor and brackets for my Chevy V8. Will be working on that very soon.
And, after looking for 2-years for any West coast Xtreme Tops/Rally Top type full hard top, I just ordered a new one from Mike at Xtreme Tops. Shipping to Northern California is brutal. But the time has come and Mike has been great to work with. I gave him detailed measurements of my full-length roll cage, and it looks like his top will fit - just barely. It should start its journey to me next week sometime.
I used AI to generate this picture to see what the Xtreme top would look like on my Scrambler. It did pretty good and it helped me sell the concept to my wife. (She also recalls the hot, noisy 3K miles trip...)
So... we're off the starting blocks for Phase 2! This Jeep is my escape from everyday life and the events that happened to my family on April 3rd last year. We take Athena with us everywhere and leave these buttons behind. She's our constant sidekick on all of our adventures. We will never forget her. All of our friends have these buttons as well and send us pics of where Athena has been with them. We also have a TV in our house that constantly rotates a slide show of her short 21-year life - including the button pictures.
And lastly, I want to get these upgrades done while I have a job. Our plan is to retire at the end of this year - both at Age 62. Unless we go into a significant recession, that should be happening for us. We're excited and once it actually does happen, the adventure gates will open wide for us. Look out! We're hoping to have a lot of action in our "Go-Go" years before moving into the "Slow-Go" and then "No-Go" years.
Scrambler's rule!
- City
- Redding
- State
- Ca
Yes, that's definitely something we're addressing. Fortunately, we have been investing using a "3 bucket strategy". 401K, Roth IRA's and an after tax Brokerage account. We're able to pull some from each during the three years and stay under the MAGI cap so we qualify for ACA incentives. And I've been modeling our retirement plan in the "Boldin" software which has been amazing for us.