[67StingrayJ]

OK guys, I picked up a VI with my tax return and started cleaning her up. Then Coronavirus came along and I got a big check with our leaders name on it. So I started building this thing to kill coronaviris zombies!

I'm happy with the build. In all, I have had it for about 2 months now and I have completely gone through it top to bottom. It's dang near all brand new. I'll post everything I got from day one, and let y'all know what I'm gonna do next!!

So this is what I saw on FB which caused me to check this thing out. He said he wanted $6k for it and I went to take a look.

 

[67StingrayJ]

so above is what I responded to. notice how the thing is soaking wet. That hid the true condition of the beast. This is what the entire thing looked like.

 

[67StingrayJ]

Down here in New Mexico we get lots of sun. This thing was sun burnt bad! Unfortunately I didn't take a photo of the entire thing in it's sun burnt state. but trust me, the entire thing looked like the above photo. The seats too were shot!

 

[67StingrayJ]

The first thing I did was freshen up the plastics on this wannabe. I did nearly 3 days of research and fount this on amazon.

This stuff really did a good job but it was A LOT of hard work. In hind sight it didn't do nearly as well as the reviews said it would, however there is one place it did particularly well, the plexi glass front wind screen. When I got it, the dang thing was so badly scratched up it looked more like privacy glass. I wish I had a photo of it before hand but here is is after a few rounds with this stuff.

apart from the finger prints, and few water spots this thing is as good as one could expect to see with an abused wind screen. without a doubt, this Novus 7100 stuff worked better than expected.

 

[bd_skrillz]

Looks great! Wait - are those the pics of the redone viking or the seller’s advertising?

Yep, those plastics were faded bad.

 

[cactus]

Go over the plastic again with a lambs wool bonnet in a low speed drill, or hire a buffing machine. Heaps easier and comes up a lot better, if you want to use a polish. Cut it right down to the new plastic and then go over it with a heat gun, we do that on bikes. I'd replace the windscreen it will drive you mad at night or heading into the sun. How many miles/hours on it, is the engine good? Good job!

 

[67StingrayJ]

so What about that darn sun burnt plastic you ask?

Remedy: steel wool!

The trick is to use the finest grade steel wool you can find. I was able to find some 0000 steel wool at Lowe's for a few bucks.

if you look closely you can see where I took my fingernail to the plastic and that oxidization just started to scratch off.

another aingle

This photo best shows how pink the plastic was before i scratched with with my nail.

on this little corner I had not yet buffed the plastic with the steel wool. Hard to get the lighting just right to see how bad it really was.

then I hit it. just a small area about the size of my thumb.

another angle

All I did was lightly buff the surface of the plastic until all the pink/white oxidization was gone. It really looks nice and shiny! It was almost a mirror finish.

I'll try and post the video I took next so you can get a feel for the process, then photos of the entire later!

 

[67StingrayJ]

Go over the plastic again with a lambs wool bonnet in a low speed drill, or hire a buffing machine. Heaps easier and comes up a lot better, if you want to use a polish. Cut it right down to the new plastic and then go over it with a heat gun, we do that on bikes. I'd replace the windscreen it will drive you mad at night or heading into the sun. How many miles/hours on it, is the engine good? Good job!

I'm way ahead of you man! I bought a buffer and the dang thing just didn't work. I couldn't get into the tiny cracks of body anyway. Plus, the buffer started to burn up the plastic.

I also tried the heat gun thing and it warped my hood. And parts of it would cool and you could see tiny lines of where the heat gun was. Yeah, if you want a quick and dirty job done I'd say go for the heat gun. But if you want brand spanking new then my steel wool trick did the trick.

After I was all done I washed all the tiny fibers of steel wool off the wannabe and did a once over with the Novis 7100. It looks brand new now! Except for the hood that I used a heat gun on. I really regret doing that heat gun thing. I'll try and take some photos of the swirl/heat marks and post them...

 

[cactus]

Sounds like you got it too hot. You have to go low and slow, just to soften the surface only. But if the steel wool works then good thinking. It's probably too big an area for a heat gun anyway.

 

[67StingrayJ]

Sounds like you got it too hot. You have to go low and slow, just to soften the surface only. But if the steel wool works then good thinking. It's probably too big an area for a heat gun anyway.

I did the heat gun at least a dozen times, close, far away, fast, cool, hot, whatever. It's just to big of an area like you said. Plus, it didn't do it all evenly. It left these swirl mark kind of things. It's not noticeable from a distance, in fact it looks brand new. but up close the sheen is all different. there isn't any way that I could find to get any uniform results across the entire hood.

 

[cactus]

I can see where you went wrong, you have to get absolutely all the crazed plastic off, every bit of it, otherwise the heat gun will just mix it into the surface giving you a poor result. You must get all of the craze off, steel wool, scrape, buff, polish, whatever first, then wash it right down, the heat gun is just a quick touch at the end to bring the shine up. If your electric buffer burned the plastic then you are going to fast, too hard, or too dry. The buffer is only doing what your hand is, just faster.

But I think I can see your problem, it looks like BadMonkey has left his symbol in your hood plastic lol

 

[67StingrayJ]

After I got the Viking and took it ON the road a little bit, my wife mentioned how she doesn't like how I'm signaling with my arm. She asked me put on a turn signal kit so I obliged. I turned to Ryco for a problem solved solution.

You get the complete kit with all the problems worked out for you, just follow the detailed / illustrated instructions and have a high quality professional installation. This kit is only part of what you need to be "Street Legal" Check your local regulations for specific requirements in your area. Converting off-road vehicles is not legal in all states. Check local laws before purchasing this product.

Kit details:
Kit utilizes the stock rear taillight assemblies as signals for a clean factory appearance. Steering column mounted combination turn signal and horn switch. Front LED turn signal lights - bright amber when illuminated.
Electronic flasher - 114 dB horn
Horn button is located on the end of the turn signal switch shaft
Dash mounted idiot light - White LED license plate light - License plate mounting hardware
Complete wire harnesses cut to exact length with factory type connectors installed.
All necessary hardware, wire ties and connectors
Complete detailed / illustrated installation instructions


I originally wanted something sporty like a RZR or X3, or YXZ. But my tax return would only go so far. Having found this wannabe for sale I thought it would be a nice compromise between my sporty aspirations, my wife's farm vehicle to take out the recycling, and our budget. I decided to go with the RYCO route for a few reasons...

I wanted my wife to drive it and I wanted it to feel natural so the turn indicator lever mounting on the column would help.

Also, I want my girls to learn to drive on this thing before they hit the roads in a real Automobile. Having the turn signal on the column was a great way to get them in that habit, as opposed to other versions that were a button rocker switch.

Lastly, I liked how this had 3 indicator lights for the front, and utilized the factory tail lights as rear indicators. I was sold.

 

[67StingrayJ]

ok, so here is the video of me using the steel wool on the plastics. Gently, I was able to buff the plastic to a nice shine!

 

[cactus]

Lastly, I liked how this had 3 indicator lights for the front, and utilized the factory tail lights as rear indicators. I was sold.

I need one of these kits, what do you mean though by the above though? It has 3 lights for the front and then what, plugs into the rear tail light wiring and flashes the red tail light as an indicator?

 

[67StingrayJ]

I need one of these kits, what do you mean though by the above though? It has 3 lights for the front and then what, plugs into the rear tail light wiring and flashes the red tail light as an indicator?

I'll see if I can take photos of the instruction manual. It was quite good actually. But essentially there are three wires running to the tail lights. You unplug one of them and substitute it with their wire. It was simple. Like I said, I'll post some photos later.

 

[cactus]

I'll see if I can take photos of the instruction manual. It was quite good actually. But essentially there are three wires running to the tail lights. You unplug one of them and substitute it with their wire. It was simple. Like I said, I'll post some photos later.

I googled and got the manual, very good as you said. I see now there are three round amber LED's for each side at the front, they all stay on permanently at 60% as DRL's too (shame they weren't white). Like you said the wiring splices into the rear tailights and makes them flash, so I'm guessing they flash red? Unless there's some secret inbuilt amber light inside the tail lights (part of the flux converter)? I have the Yamaha LED tail lights on mine so not sure if this will work? I think I'll be using amber LED's on the rear instead of the tail lights anyway, for street legal purposes.

 

[67StingrayJ]

I googled and got the manual, very good as you said. I see now there are three round amber LED's for each side at the front, they all stay on permanently at 60% as DRL's too (shame they weren't white). Like you said the wiring splices into the rear tailights and makes them flash, so I'm guessing they flash red? Unless there's some secret inbuilt amber light inside the tail lights (part of the flux converter)? I have the Yamaha LED tail lights on mine so not sure if this will work? I think I'll be using amber LED's on the rear instead of the tail lights anyway, for street legal purposes.

DOT laws say rear blinkers must be red or amber, and front turn indicators must be white or amber. The kit utilizes the factory tail lights which are red. I too have LED tail lights. I hated the factory tail light. It wires up the exact same way.

 

[cactus]

Ah ok, has to be amber here unfortunately, unless built before 1973, then they can be red. Fronts can be white or amber.

 

[67StingrayJ]

well, the next thing I did after I got the body color all straightened out was decide how I was going to power all the additional accessories a Coronavirus Zombie Killer needs. Light bar is a must, maybe some rear lights. Definitely some lighted whips and Rock lights too. And I couldn't forget about a winch. I didn't want to get stuck where zombies may be lurking so hooking all of these extras to the tiny battery that the Viking has under the hood didn't feel right. The last thing we waned was to need to make a hasty getaway and have the battery die on us because the light bar and which sucked out all the juices!

So the first thing I did was buy a battery isolator by KeyLine Chargers. This product is TOP NOTCH!

The next thing I did was go out and buy a deep cycle battery.

I decided I wanted to mount the Auxiliary battery under the drivers seat. In hind sight, I wish I would have installed it under the passenger seat. I have a Viking VI so there was plenty of space under either seat. Either spot would have worked just fine. I stripped all the plastics off the wannabee to start planning things out.

 

[67StingrayJ]

This wannabe was filthy! Pressure washer helped, but it needed a full scrubbing...