Project Isuzu VehiCross: Part 5 – Bodywork Round 1

With four project installments of our Project VehiCross, you would expect we would have done something insane to it.  After all most MotoIQ projects don’t stay stock very long and so far the only aftermarket parts this truck has seen are an air filter, brake pads, and tires.  After ranting and raving about how terrible replacing a power steering hose on a VehiCross is, we promised we would start putting on some sweet aftermarket parts.

The top half shows the damage to the mounts of the tailgate cladding.  The impact also slightly bent the bottom of the back door, but not badly enough to warrant a replacement.  The bottom half shows the top view of the bumper cover.  As you can see, it held up well, but also required replacement.

We sourced a used replacement rear bumper and tailgate cover from a forum user.  Many will be asking why used?  Simple: New parts would look too nice.  Brand new bumpers would be shiny and new and wouldn’t match the faded plastic on the rest of the truck.  We want to simply pretend this accident never happened, so used, slightly faded plastic it is!  As for the tailgate, I wanted to avoid a paint shop as much as possible, as this would take away my only means of transportation for at least a few days.  The tailgate is easily repaired and the plastic is easy enough to replace, so DIY it is.  

While the bumper was in transit, we worked on a few other items.  The first was the cowl and wiper arms.  Both had peeling paint and lots of surface rust.  Considering how much of a hassle it was to find a bumper, we decided to fix these ASAP before the rust became worse.

You can see just how bad the paint is peeling on the cowl.  If we let this spread, especially into salt season, we can kiss our cowl goodbye.  

The wiper arms are also pretty bad.  Since they have to come off to get the cowl out, we can refurbish these as well.

Getting the cowl out of the truck was fairly simple, but it did require removing the hood.  A handful of clips and screws hold the cowl down, along with the wiper arms.

Fortunately, the corrosion is only skin deep and can be removed with some sanding.  A bit of rust stopper will prevent it from coming back.  To prep, we stripped off the rubber seals and all of the plastic fasteners that attach the cowl cover to the body.  The plastic grates also pop loose easily.