This is where it all starts - at the dealers. John Sivyer Holden to be precise - on the Moorooka magic mile. I kept find it it amusing to find myself out there but this is where I got the best deal. On road costs of $43305. Here 'My good friend George' ( nearly every one is his good friend - quite a character!) stands proud beside his latest sale. One new VZ SSZ Crewman - Impulse blue. The first item to go when the car got home was the dealer plate frames- they just looked terrible! Much to my annoyance the weather was damn near cyclonic for the first week of me owning this car.... Bugger! The plates we attached where left over from our old '57 Plymouth -'Christine' So we thought EVL 57 to be appropriate for the Crewman as it is the last of the 5.7 litre engines.

-Here it is - the last of the 5.7 LSI engines. Hmmm I wonder how long it stays clean and new looking for?

All the standard SS features here- ABS, towel rail between towers etc etc... I may upgrade the cold air intake when they become available later on.

Gee this is a bit flash! The Adventura binnacles have been added to the SSZ and filled with battery and oil gauges. This car is so new here - I have yet to buy floor mats.

It was off to Advance window tinting after a day of driving this thing around. We went for the t35 tint - that's as dark as we can legally go - and was dark enough for me!

The tint is all marked out from the outside - then the door trims removed to apply the tint properly . Advance tinting import their own films- so are rather competitive. The whole job only cost me $180 - a look after me trade price I know but even the retail prices are not that much more. The dealers quoted me $450 for the same tint!

These guys are thorough and make sure that there is no chance of any issues- here the widows - even though new are scrubbed clean first.

When all the bubbles are squeegeed out, the car is reassembled and taken outside for inspection of any more bubbles that may be left behind.

The back of a new Ute... Ahh I wonder how long it stays like this for?

A better view of the inside of the tray - You can actually sit a whole pallet between the tubs here - as long as its not stacked too high! A rubber Holden mat was purchased shortly after these pics were taken.

This is pretty much how it looks now. I have had the car lowered - 70 mm in the rear and new heavier coils fitted to the front- which lowered it about 15-20mm up front. Also note I have fitted the 2500 kg tow bar - this was its very first addition ha fitted.
you cannot see it in these pics - but we also added a bigger exhaust from the 'Y' piece back - now its 3 inch instead of the choking 2 1/4 inch . At least now its sounds like a V8!

Another good view. Notice the car looks much better with a simple bit of lowering ,tinting and deletion of dealer plate frames.

It had to happen. That first dent!. I let the tailgate down on to the trailer hitch - after telling everyone not to lower the tailgate with the trailer on ...should have listened to my own advice! No big deal - just have to get the paintless dent guy around.

Gary from G&F Dent- a local guy came around to sort out my stuff up. This dent was easy to access. The lock cover was removed and the dent spoon could reach inside. The dent is easy to find with the use of a fluoro light- as seen in the previous pic reflection in the tailgate.

Alright - if I'm a panel beater then why don't I do my own paint less dent removal? Well its simple - horses for courses- I don't own many paint less dent tools and these guys can have all that sweating and swearing to themselves. Plus at least this way it gets done and not just added to my 'round tuit list'
Anyway this is what the dent spoon looks like - there are a whole range used - this one was tad long so Gary used a smaller version of this with a ball type end on it.

The dent is worked up slowly and any resulting high spots are dressed down via a few delicate taps on a rubber punch
. A quick polish and my dent was gone.

Time for some sign writing. But I don't want the Crewman ruined with graffiti like signs - at the same time I want something different. But what? Dave from Hardysign (07) 3206 4136) had the answer. If you open up this image you can see what he came up with.
The layers jpg shows how the artwork was designed combining 3 different techniques, hand drawn, photography
& computer generated graphics

One clever way of working out how it is going to look on your car is Dave takes photo a of the area the design is to be applied. The rough design is then digitally put in the picture and this gives a better idea of what the finished product will look like. We decided to enhance it a little from here.

This new design was printed onto a perforated acyrlic material- so I can see out - but its rather dfficult to see in. This is a very durable material and easy to work with

The finished product looks great and has generated a lot of interest. Thanks Dave! You want something like this for your promotional vehicle or boat?
Give Dave a call on 07 3206 3146
or 0412 982 386
Costs vary pending on size & artwork but roughly start from $500

A closer view- pity about myself in the reflection holding that pole up - But overall a very effective bit of signage.