There were some modifications, I wish I could find the pictures that I took at the time...
Central locking all round (aftermarket kit) and a CAT1 alarm/immobiliser allowed me to get in and out with a single button built into the key, the last part alone was some grief! Obviously the wheels, they required longer studs and some spacers to allow the rears to clear the arches as I wasn't prepared to dress them. Install wise there was a Nakamichi CD400 up front, 3 Alpine MRV-T707 amps under the seats, focal mids, tweets and crossovers in MDF builds behind the (Encore) door cards, a pair of 12s in a box behind the bulkhead (with quick release wires) and plenty of dynamat.
In 2018, Despite living in a 'nice' area, it suffered an attempted theft:
Two of them apparently, when the alarm sounded my neighbour opened his window and shouted at them and they 'ran' off. I slept through the incident, which at first I was livid about but now I am grateful as a confrontation could not have ended well....
Seeing as this is a daily drive work van and I am self employed I had to call my customer and explain, luckily they understood. It was not easy but I did manage to source a replacement door locally and fit it that morning, the bad news being that it was red. The roof and shell behind the door were both damaged, so all in all it looked a bit shabby.
Seeing as the initial rust removal and re-paint was three years old at this point the front roof edge, sills and rear arches were all showing through as bubbles under the paint. I had also had a little falling out with the paint man over a set of bike bodywork that I had given him, he managed to introduce a new dent in the fuel tank and denied all knowledge when I asked him about it, (I'm a great believer in putting a hand up if at fault) so the van certainly wasn't going back to him. About six months previously however I had met a local guy with a Monaro that had used a local paint shop and I was seriously impressed with the work. I went and met the paint man responsible, ummed and arred and commissioned him to sort out the paint:
Start of the stripping process:
The load area floor had surface rust in many places and needed welding in the tie off wells:
This bodyshop uses fibreglass rather then filler 'because it's stronger' so the finished areas looked a little red, still rust coloured but actually not... (if you see what I mean):
I knew that the A pillars were on their way but when revealed they were pretty bad. Welding and grinding happened here both sides:
More preparation:
