so glad FabRats mentioned your youtube channel - subscribed!

We had one of these for 8yrs, it was a great vehicle.

Saving money and time seems like a no brainer!

Love the old MTB with Kooka cranks in th ebackground!

I remember when Turtle Wax came in a green glass bottle. It was my job to wash and wax my Late Dad's 1967 Ford F-100 Camper Special Ranger. You did not do more than one panel at at time cause if you did the whole side of the truck and of course it was a long bed it was a Major pain to get the wax off after it dried. That truck was the very first brand new vech. that Dad had ever bought. It was only $3200.00. I miss you very much Dad.

Suzuki for the win. Heck yeah!

Fab rats sent me over.. I had no idea you guys had a KZfaq channel. Subbed straight away.. fantastic!! Used to watch you on the other show !!!

This is awesome!! So, I've built 4 of these, and a couple GV's. Currently have 04 on 31" tires. (My daily/exploration/Toad) I have a recipe for a cheap 3" suspension lift, and axle (gears/lockers) if you're interested. 04 is actually the best year. Strongest front diff with no TPMS. 5 speed is actually an Asian A750.

wow,... super cool. THX!

Black out the Giant chrome strip below the hood, and then black out the tiny chrome strips in the grill. Next, bake apart the headlights and blackout the chrome inside. These things look incredible when the chrome is blacked out.

Excited to see this build, I knew a guy when these were new, wheeled the piss out of it. When everyone had samurais in the ckub, Yankee Tim was wheeling with a/c and leather seats.

As a resident of Phoenix I can confirm. This is a yearly thing to do here.

Can't wait to see what you do with this. I sell suspension lifts and body lifts for these if your interested.

Great video

Bug spray will clean yellowed headlights too. The higher the Deet, the better.

Excited for a Suzuki build!!!🤘🏻

Nice work

Dude. Been waiting for you to do an XL7! I have one and I’m trying to build it too. Although I can’t weld and not nearly as talented as you but as soon as I get my Calmini lift (been on order since March) I’m going to have a blast.

We offered headlight polishing back when I had my state inspection station. Very satisfying gig. We'd start with 800 wet, work up to 2k, then use a rubbing then polishing compound, and finish up w/Meguiars headlight coating, and advise customer to clean and recoat every 6 months or so.

Curious to see where you go with this. I've always been interested in these as a budget base for a build. Fully boxed frame is a great base to start from.

Did this with my 22 year old Jag. Used a kit. Probably works better with power tools. Tape the paint surfaces around it and you don't have to be as careful. No new lights available for my old car.

As good as new

Love all the vids Dave! Thank you!

Man. I've used mother's aluminum polish, seems to work alright. Love the little Suzuki.

That is one cool trick, I need to use that on my truck before I sell it, thanks for the tip!

A really neat often overlooked 4x4, sweet!

Excited for the build, love the channel, keep up the good work!

I love the Me guides quick detailer, too. I use it on everything, too. My wife even like the smell so I use it on our epoxy floors.

Thanks for the tutorial, Dave! I bought my 2001 Tracker to make into my fun rig. I love it. I want to be doing stuff on it today but I'm instead in hospital bed with the biggest infection you've ever seen. Maybe soon, I'll get to run into you on trail in your XL7!

Dude! I bought an 03 commodore on Saturday (been sitting a year). And Sunday I took headlights out, 400grit, 1500grit, 2 stage machine buff and re-installed. Probably around the same time you were doing yours I reckon. 🇳🇿

All you need to do now is spray some 2K clear over the polished lenses to give them some UV protection.

I am stoked for this build.

Those headlights look pretty good! Looking forward to the build - I used to have a Sidekick on 33's - go anywhere trucks for sure👍

I used the 3M kit with a drill with good results.

Great information! Can't wait to see the overland build!

Great video brother worked so well on thos lights. Just remember people if you are new to this if you use masking tap on the plastic and corners of all the areas you have a better chance not to burn the paint. Do not let the tape sit for alot of hours or you will get tape clues on the parts.

Going to do this to my wife’s explorer this weekend. Thanks for the knowledge Dave!

Already excited to see what you make of it!

Great tech tips!

Impressive results!

I clear coated my first ones, I just polished a set one for shidds-n-giiggles. I have to touch them up every year or so but takes a minute or less and looks awesome 😎

I just did this on my wife's 2011 bmw x5 diesel. That and led halo bulbs made it look several years newer .

Great video. ✌️😁

Thanks for the information 🙂will come in handy. 👍🏽😎

$110 each is pretty solid. Mine are like $220 a piece... made me sad when I cracked one on accident, and felt like I had to replace them both because of how gross they looked...

BLINGGGGGG !!! Nice !

Thanks Dave!

Just bought a 2014 Mini Countryman, horrible suspension clunk in the back, prev owner had no idea why, internet search, $20, 2 new sway bar bushings, 20 minutes and clunk gone

🦅🇺🇸💪😁👍 hey try mother's mag wheel polish with the power ball for your cordless drill. Works great you'll be done in two minutes or less

My dad has one of these XL7s and my brother and i have been trying to convince him to do a small overland build. Cant wait to see what you do with it!

Amazing what a little TLC will do

Awesome! I had a 2004 Suzuki Grand Vitara before, which is a shorter version of the Suzuki you got. What I loved about it, was it was great on MPG and was true 4wd and not Awd, it even had 4low.

This is a good method, I’ve done this many times and living in south Florida there is a point when the polishing doesn’t last very long but if you polish them every 3 or 4 months, they don’t get as bad.

Just sold my 2003 chevy tracker zr2 to a friend. I'll send him a link to this video, so he can fix the yellowed headlights I ignored! P.S. I named the tracker the barbie jeep. Your welcome to use that name for yours..

Suuuzuuuukiiiii!!!

Great advice! Toothpaste is about the grit you were looking for, I believe. N cheap too. I use Toothpaste and a drill brush. Works a treat!

now i need to buy a buffing wheel.

I did the old toothpaste trick and it worked pretty good on my headlights. Love the channel and your content 💪🏼

👍

Good info. Gonna try this on my old Ford Crown Vic. I've used other things, but they always eventually faded back pretty quickly. So I'll give it a shot

Super excited to see this build. I've been abusing a 2000 Grand Vitara (GV) I picked up cheap two years ago. It's just fun to drive and makes me laugh everytime I take it somewhere I didn't think it could go. I put a Rocky Road 2 inch lift on it (Old Man Emu springs and struts and spring spacers) for a little better clearance, but it's not quite what I'm looking for so I've been shopping around looking at kits from Calmini, Altered Ego, 4xFourArt, and parts from Jimny bits, but not sure I want to do those either. If I'm not careful I eat up ball joints and tie rods and have to realign it a little after every outing, but its all good. If I treat it a little nicer I dont jave those problems ;) I think the XL7 has a little sturdier rear axle, better gear ratio, and will ride smoother than the shorter wheelbase GV. Stoked to see your take on this! Also, I gotta say thanks for all the great content and good times over the years. DED got me into wheeling in 2019 and motivated me to buy my GV and just have fun with it, learning to fix or upgrade things along the way. But now i can't stop. I have three projects in various stages and now I want to build a bug and go to Baja! Or maybe an Isuzu Amigo! :)

Pretty excited to see what you do with this one. I've long wondered if the newer Zuks are worth a damn offroad.

Nice work, coz i don't have polishing tools i just use Mosquito off spray the green one and a towel paper...spray on and wipe off 2x and its like magic...liked what you doing

I usually use 1000 or 1500 grit and then spray them with a good clear spray paint. That way the paint reseals the plastic

Awesome! I'm looking forward to see where you take this one! I have had an interest in these SUVs and have wondered why more people haven't built them?

I have 2004 XL7 too

Finally a replacement for your old Isuzu amigo,

I’m gonna try this on my 06 dodge 3500 headlights 👍🏻

they came out well , Dave is braver or more talented than me .. i always put a few strips of 2" masking tape round the headlight unit

Hey you should bave topped up the flasher fluid as well, looks low to me

Throw a coat of wax over the top and help seal that plastic to help delay the next round of oxidation. 👍

Great video. I have wet sanded an buffed many headlights in the past. 3M sells a kit for $10 that works great. I just did an old Civic with the kit last weekend. I am curious to see how they hold up. Excited to see what you build out of this Zuk.

I've heard that clear coat should be applied after polishing out headlights. Especially if sanding is required. My brother was using the spray cans of 2K clear and the results have lasted for a couple years so far. Need to polish my Tahoe headlights next.

OMG!!! Please say your gonna SAS this thing!! I’ve been refurbishing a 2000 Tracker. The front end is terrible. Bushings that hold the axle housing are shot and the whole front end vibrates. I have a samurai axle laying around and feel like it would be perfect. I was thinking FJ80 steering box (outside frame rail and forward swing). Leafs would be nice, I’ve never tried building a link suspension. Thanks again for the great channel!

🇺🇸💪

Tons on the Suzuki!?!? What 🤔🙏

As an Arizonan I'm a little offended that only talked about the sun damage and not the INCREDIBLE RUST-FREE FRAME?!

I did this on a corolla once and it looked like ass again in a couple months. Its like $80 for a set of lights for my Silverado so i just replaced them with clear and eliminated the orange lense (used orange bulb).

Save time next time and use aluminum wheel polish and a polisher. Skip all the sanding. It takes about 2 minutes.

What on earth could Dirthead Dave do with a tired, outdated Suzuki? Oh we shall find out and I for one am SUPER jazzed to see what comes of it. Where are you located, Dave, generally speaking?

Hey can we get a bikecheck of the raw aluminum hardtail with the purple Topline cranks and Ringle(?) post? I love it!

Need to reseal it once you do all that polishing, or it'll get foggy again real quick. The yellow is a combination of UV rays and oxidation, so if you clear-coat it with a UV protective coat it should last longer.

I picked up a 2007 Suzuki Jimny last Friday . Guess what I'm gonna be doing tomorrow !

My ex had one of these, doing anything on the front of the engine was terrible, theres like 2" between the heads/block and the radiator

How ironic I just did this to my girlfriends G6, they were terrible, just some 1500 to 2000 an buff it an they look great now.

You might want to wipe it with some uv protectant. Other than that great job love the channel!

The 3m kits come with a clear coat/uv protection step. Is that worth the effort?

Could you add a link to your buffing pad or one you recommend for an angle grinder?

What do you use to protect it from UV so it doesn't cloud up again in a year? They get nasty again really fast after you do them without any protection on them, but I've not found anything; not that I've searched real hard. lol Maybe one of the vinyl wrap places has a clear film that'll work for that? I'd never thought of that until just now... Ha!

Do you every put the clear coat on after buffing?

I’ve always started with 1500 then step up to 2500 then I’d buff and polish

Will that work on a canary yellow Amigo?

What’s your game plan with this rig? Daily or build it?

Link to the buffing wheel?

Where can I get one of your stickers ?

So... 1 tons when?

UV sealer?

Did you say 40’s and tons??

Did the hairy pink guy find a new job yet?

Bug spray.. spray it on and wipe it off..