Not long after I got the ute (the same weekend I think ) I stripped out the interior. I put two seats out of a Honda Civic into the front. Three of the mountings lined up but the fourth (at rear) had to be removed and the old Hilux bracket welded on. All the brown trim pieces were dumped into the back of the ute.
After cleaning up the floor I undercoated the interior and painted it Harvard Blue Pearl (the same colour as my Civic). I bought a few cans of Septone Vinyl Colour in a dark grey and black, and did the roof linings and the dash pieces, as well as the cluster surround.
I went to Bouncer 4WD Spares and Steve who runs the place fixed me up with the complete interior of a crashed SR5. I got everything including a great rear bench (no sag ) door handles, sunvisors, rear view mirror, exterior mirrors, chrome tail latch, digital clock, plastic floor caps, knobs for the air vents and aircon sliders, door trims, winders, seatbelts and fittings, etc. This matched up nicely with the new trim colour.
After the paint dried I installed a stereo system behind the bench seat. This system was made up of mostly secondhand Jap gear courtesy of SSS Automotive. Split front speakers are Boston Acoustic, rear doors have a set of Sony EXPLOD that I had bought some time before, amps are Pioneer Carrozzeria 4 Channel and Alpine 2 Channel. Head unit was also Pioneer controlling a matching 12 stacker also behind the bench.
I installed all the SR5 trim, seatbelts and door panels. So now the ute was nice and clean, had tunes, and was comfortable.
Also from SSS Automotive I added a Momo steering wheel and RAZO polished gearknob. I tried a polished wood wheel and gearknob but I preferred the matching black in the long run.
I bought a full carpet kit online from Knox Auto Carpets in South Australia for $140 delivered and installed it over some underlay that I got at Clark Rubber.
I then sanded back and painted the exterior. I needed a towbar, a heavy duty one, so I bought a secondhand unit from Just Commercials in Fairfield for $100 and fitted an Electronic Brake Controller from Tekonsha for the electric brakes on the trailer.
A set of secondhand Jap wheels in 17 x 7 were sourced again from SSS Automotive. They were a bit old school but I liked them, and they were undamaged. They replaced a brand new set of wheels and tyres that were on the Hilux when I bought it.
So at this stage the ute was left alone for the full racing season but the engine was consuming copious amounts of fuel making it uneconomical to drive on a daily basis. So I ordered a 1GGZE from SSS Automotive for that legendary low down torque and pulling power.
Next instalment will look at some other modifications including new sports bucket seats, new wheels, and fitting the IGGZE.
Costs so far:
Ute - $2700
SR5 Interior - $700
Odds and ends (paint, stereo cabling, etc) - $240
17" secondhand tyres x 4 (about 70% tread on each, 2 Michelin Sports, 2 Bridgestones 225 x 45 x 17 back, 215 front - $160
Towbar - $100
Electric Brake Controller - $165
Carpet and underlay - $180
Honda seats - from my Civic (which got the JDM buckets out of the race car)
Note: Race Car - EG6 imported from Japan as a road car by SSS Automotive
Cheers,
Peter
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