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I thought I'd separate this out from the other project thread as its not a keeper car compared to the AE86 and the 4agte EP71. So I picked this up for a steal off a mate who had acquired it off marketplace where it had been floundering for quite some time. It was originally a 1300 carby 2E-LU car, and from what I understand somewhere along the line Spec2 put a Silvertop 4age in it. They did an OK job of mounting the engine (I've seen worse) and its got some semi ok gear in it like Link G4 and NZEFI wiring loom, D2 coil overs, disc brake rear, Si interior, LSD, and most importantly its certified and the rego is on hold. It drives pretty good all things considered except the suspension is stupid stiff. Bad news though, the body was pretty fucked which is why it was cheap. The doors, guards, hatch, front valence, passenger sill and passenger rear quarter were all in a bad way. My original idea was to part it out, or build another car on the cheap using the parts as a dedicated track car. Anyway, feast your eyes on the state of it when I got it... the closer you look the worse it is. Yeah, she's a pearler mate, that'll buff out... So this thing was never really supposed to be looked at and I had put it away in storage and had high hopes of forgetting about it for a few years. But then, while showing photos of it to one of the guys at work and laughing about the state of it, he offered to take a look and possibly take it on as a home job. He's completed a whole heap of car restorations over the years so was competent enough to try and recover this thing from eventually being sent to the scrappies. I should state that I can weld pretty well and have been fabricating and building cars for years, but I have zero panel working skills and its something that historically I avoid like the plague. He took a look and agreed to take it on and tick away at it when he could. First things first I hauled it to a mates shed and we ripped it apart and threw away everything that wasn't needed I took it for a drive like this which was hilarious - the weight loss made it quite a bit quicker (if you can call a 20v fast...) I dropped the car over to my workmate, and then popped around occasionally to help when I could. Over the next few months the rusty parts all dissapeared... I don't have too many photos but the passenger sill had a small patch and got straightened, the passenger rear quarter got swapped out, the center section at the top of the hatch opening got swapped out, and some small patches got done under the tail lights etc. We slammed some primer on to protect things and that basically took care of the body work. I took the car over to my Dads and squeezed it in between all his cars/tractors and stationary engines, and we've been ticking away at the finishing work and prep for painting. I really dislike panel work and mainly its because I'm a pedantic fucker and have been filling every little imperfection, plus im slow so its taking a while. As it currently sits the front guards, doors, hatch, side skirts and front lip, and the passenger side are all smoothed off and had some high build primer sprayed on so they getting pretty close. There are a couple of areas that need some minor filling, smoothing back and another coat of high build, but next time I'm over there I'll be mainly focusing on the drivers side that needs sanding, prepping and a first layer of high build. I'm expecting that there will be a few more high build layers and blocking back needed across the whole car but its good to see that its actually getting somewhere. I quite dislike panel work so will be very happy once its painted and presentable, then I can get on with mods! Im hunting for some different wheels and also need some softer rate springs as the front coil overs have 12kg ones in there! Anyway, that's the photo dump for now... I'll get a couple of photos of Dad's stationary engines and crap too, he's got quite a collection.

After spending quite some time reading posts of other people's vehicles - I figured it was time that I got my shit together and posted my rusty junk up for the world to see. After developing an unhealthy penchant for 1969 - 1970 Toyota Crown's some time back, I have seemingly added a hobby to the list of hobbies - collecting Crowns. As was told to me after finding my first - 'You can't have just one!' - the collection has grown. The latest, being this RS56 Ute.... This old girl is the latest addition to the fleet, which currently comprises of 1 x MS55 Sedan and 2 x MS51 coupes (separate threads to be generated for those at a later date.....) Anyways. I get a message from a guy I have bought from before, and the conversation basically went like this; Him: 'Want to buy a Crown Ute?' Me: 'Yes'. It was made known up front that the vehicle was pretty rough, and that a sedan 'half cut' was available at a reasonable extra cost to support with rust repairs. And so it was done. Photos were sent after the agreement was made which did little to curb my enthusiasm. All collected one slightly miserable weekend. Stoked as. Of all the Crown shapes, the 50 series really do it for me. Of all the 50 series body types - the ute really gets me rigid. Once I got it home (and made some space in the shed) it didn't take long to work out just what shape it was in.... Uhhhhhhhh...................... Oh well. I sorta knew what I was getting myself into - so carried on regardless. All in all, the front half of the cabin is..... garbage. But that's why I purchased the front cut of the sedan. Beers were had, and plans formulated. *EDIT* Page of discussion here: