Thanks for the comments guys. Its definitely a great way to learn but I always have this fear that I'll stuff something up and cause a few grands worth of damage somehow...so there is some hesitation to just dive in and go nuts. Shopping bags work great unfamilia...you aren't the only one hehe. Oh and I'm keeping the witches hat orange, it just makes such a statement I think...purchased 4 litres of matching 2 pac to recoat it...official name is "blood orange"

Some more quick info that I left out about the ute when I purchased it is that it came with a fully working A15 engine already installed (sweet!). Transmission was also converted to a 5 speed, dunno what type though; Disc brakes installed on the front; 2" exhaust system; Custom horn (sounds like that annoying one you hear at a football game from some dude in the crowd); Custom over-sized aluminium glove box; older style CD player + speakers; Supercheap Auto type wood steering wheel and floor pedals; Sports bar and tonneau cover with attachments; some spare parts left in the tray. I believe the rest of the ute came pretty much stock. Ute was unregistered.


Okay fast forwarding about four months after purchase with this post's pictures. By now I had grinded most of the rust back to bare metal with a hand grinder, lightly bogged where it needed it and put a quick coat of primer over to make it passable for RWC. The more serious spots I hit with rust converter and patched them with a fiberglass reinforced filler, then sanded and lightly bogged over. In order to get a RWC I also needed to fix some electrical items (with a mates help) including a faulty wire at the reverse light switch which took us ages to try and switch out. Found an access panel under the interior carpet after three or four hours which I'm not sure was originally there but it made it a bit easier to work on that area of the transmission. Dash lights were fixed due to a faulty wire. License plate lights also rewired. Dodgy headlight also replaced. New spark plugs (first time ever installing these myself) New battery and a few other things. Fingers crossed and it passed RWC first try, but I think the inspector had a few datto's of his own. He really didn't like the play in my steering wheel though. Several weekends of work invested I was glad to finally get her on the road.

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