Spectre 2008 H3 - Building The Ghost

Howdy everyone. I realized I never made a build thread so I thought I would lay out what's going on with my truck. So here a little back story about me and how I got my hummer.

I have wanted a 4x4 for about 9 years, so this is kind of a dream come true. I had a 1991 Bronco for about a month in High School. Learned more about cars in that month than I could have imagined and ended up ditching it when the repair bills were going to be 3 times what I paid for it.




Then ended up going off to college, and got handed the family minivan. Now…for some this would be upsetting. But I ended up loving that thing. I took it offroading in Arizona and had a blast. I eventually ended up in Florida, with a set of General Grabber At^2, dual CB antennas, and a custom set of taillight guards. We lovingly dubbed it “The Oddity”





Had to dress her up for Christmas.





Sadly after 216,000 miles my beloved Oddity died. Transmission went and I decided against the $1500 repair bill. Then spent the next year zipping around in a 2004 G35, but began to miss the go-anywhere do-anything attitude. I figured it was about time to pick up that hummer I always wanted. After a few weeks of looking I found one of my top 3 color options in great condition and at a good price.


Here she is the day I got her home. 2009 Birch White, Lux, and tan leather interior.




One of the first things I did was fab up some really god aweful accessory rail for the sole purpose of holding my antenna's. But they actually worked as 1/2 decent anchor points when I had to toss a couch up there a few weeks ago. But no way they could support any weight. I've got a plan for a custom roof rack down the road so for now these are still on.








Not a week after I had gotten the truck I replaced the highway tires with some Mickey Thompson ATZ's. 305/65R16. I have to say I like them. Time will tell how they do offroad or in Chicago winters. But so far so good.









Next I plastidipped those wheels. Had to kill some of that chrome.








Then came the ARB. It took over a month to get because the first one I received was an obvious return item (scratched, dented, not wrapped or protected). But it was worth it. Love this thing.




And a shot while I was storm chasing back in May.

Great improvement over the Oddity!

Thats awesome, I love seeing bizarre things off road. Congrats on the 3, it will be able to take you to places you couldn't reach with the van

Great post and pics!

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cool ride

Sweet ride and love the arb bumper

Kcco!

Nice looking rig!! In in Chicago area too!! Can't wait to see you in the road or on the trail.

Nice looking rig!! In in Chicago area too!! Can't wait to see you in the road or on the trail.

Ok, I've been doing some work on the truck so it's probably a good time to update this.


Last weekend I did some maintenance. Over the winter my turn signal on the ARB went out, along with one of the fogs. I discovered the turn signal was due to the connector being...well...this:





So I cut them off and spliced the wires together. I figure the next time I take the bumper off I will just add a new connector. Since I don't have a clue when that will be, this will work for now.


I also replaced the fog light as the bulb had gone out. Simple Fix. The bulb is an H3 55W just for reference.


While I was messing around with the front, I decided to paint the D-rings to add some color. (Also painted the skidplate black)







Then this weekend I put my roof rack back up. It needed to be painted since I kinda rushed it last year.





I built a DIY roof rack. I used a 10 ft piece of Superstrut, cut it into two 5 ft pieces and used them as rails. For the basket I used a hitch carrier that I picked up from Harbor Freight for about $50. I used truck bed coating for the Superstrut and plain ol' black Rustoleum.





It's small, but it was the only thing I could find that was wide enough to reach the sides of the truck. I like it, it's a perfect size to hold a duffel bag, cooler, and gas. Plus if I need more room it's very easy to bolt up another carrier and extend it forward.





Side view. It's short.





The center of the rack needed spacers to replace the 2x2 steel tube that would normally act as a hitch mount. For spacers I used some PVC I had laying around, all the do is give the bolts a little resistance so the lock nuts work.


With my roof rack back up, it was time to get the CB in. I'm not finished yet, but I started by hacking up a Daystar dash panel. I'll get some more pictures as I get on with the install. I want to make a fiberglass cover for the CB. When it's done it should blend in well with the interior and all without drilling any holes.







As far as wiring goes, I think I'm going to run it to the unused wires under the dash. I think they are there for a brake controller but seeing as I don't have one I think this is a good substitute. The trick is going to be getting the wire from the CB down to the wires. I tried looking but couldn't see a direct route. Does anyone know if I will need to remove the upper part of the dash to do this?


OH, also got this. I figured it would come in handy while storm chasing.

Nice work and great idea with the roof rack!

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Nice works indeed. Love the color by the way.... Hey Spectre sent you a message. If you get a minute check it out.:thumbs: