I wasn't going to do one of these, but too bad! Here we go:

Lets start from the beginning.

I started looking for a car while I was still on my Ls, i wanted to have one by the time I got on my Ps. I was looking around for a VS commodore, maybe a VR if it was in good enough nick. After looking at about 6 or 7 of them, i realised commos were overpriced and in generally flogged out condition.

One day my parents saw a "nice green sedan" and told me to come with them for a look. I ended up buying it 2 days later! The EF was in excellent condition, only 120 000km and was about 4 grand cheaper than equivalent commos! excellent!!




First thing i needed to do was some tunes, i couldn't handle a cassette player! So i got hold of a Pioneer MP3 headunit. I spent two nights after school with a mate putting it and fabricating some brackets (i would just monster the factory ones now though! ) and was the first mod i did.

The all out grunt of the new head unit blew the old paper cone speakers to bits, so i decided to up the ante and put in a new sound system. it involved 4 x 3-way 6" kenwood speakers, a 12" kenwood sub, clarion 2 channel 200w peak amp. stereo i put in myself. i was proud of my efforts!



This was finished in around september 2004. The car stayed like that for a while. I always knew i wanted to put suspension in it, and after reading around on here i ended up choosing whiteline to do the business. it took me until july 2005 to save up the cash for that job (its hard to save money when you are a povo uni student!!) I payed to get the suspension put in, i wasn't confident doing that kind of thing back then, it was a mistake, cause they didnt do a proper job!!



Next up was to change the evaporator. This was a huge job and i decided to take it on my self. this was a big thing for me, i still hadnt done anything like this myself yet, and was the first big job i had done.

If you do a search in the Off Topic forum, my thread in there asking for help on bits and pieces and a lot of swearing is in there.

The evaporator was done in december 2005. In February 2006 i finally got o the front of the waiting list on the clear indicators line. a nice subtle mod, but they look good.


2006 i moved to townsville for uni and i didnt have much time or space to work on the car. nothing at all happened for the rest of the year. I lost the mod bug for a while there.

in january 2007 i decided to upgrade the standard steering wheel which was F**k from being in the townsville sun all day, every day. AU momo gear got the go ahead.


About March 2007 i went with a mate to an audio store to help him buy speakers for his daewoo. i got the mod bug back after that, and felt it was time to step my sound system up from okay to a decent SQ level. In April i bought some alpine SPS-171A splits for the front. In June I bought a monoblock amp for the sub so i could let the clarion run the splits. In september i installed the whole lot. I know its all spread out, but it takes a while to save as a povo uni student!! (see a recurring theme here? ) i wont put up lots of pics on this, as there is a thread in the audio section on it.


I was really stoked with how the system turned out, it sounds brilliant and the false floor is good too. i want to modify it, but hey, that'll happen down the track.

December 07 and Jan 08 I was doing my placement work for uni, so i was bringing in a bit of cash (compared to a povo uni student!). so when i saw a cheap power windows conversion come up on here, i jumped on it. There is a thread in the interior mods section on this.



i really enjoyed doing the work on the power windows, it was definitely the most enjoyable mod i had done to date. I think because i was becoming more proficient at it, it became fun.

on the day after my birthday, (in response to a drunken birthday PM i sent over this site ) i got the phone call to finalise the purchasing of the mod i had always wanted to do - manual conversion. I got the box and s**t and bits off a fella from on here for a really good price.

About 3 or 4 weeks ago this all went into the car. it took a mate and i three days to get it all done, and i pulled the dash right out to change the heater core as well. neither of us had taken on a job this big before, so we were both proud of how this one came out.






and to finish off the manual conversion, today my AU momo gear knob arrived.






so there you have it, there is the whole history of me and my car. i hope you enjoyed having a read through, i like going back and looking through all my old photos and things. i also hope you see some common themes:
1. uni students are all povo!!
2. I owe a lot to this site for all the help over the years
3. I have learnt a metric s**t doing all these mods myself, and have enjoyed the majority of it!

let me know what you all reckon.

Last edited by nicco on Fri May 13, 2011 5:36 pm, edited 6 times in total.

i spose that leaves me with what happens in the future.

i am in two minds as for what to do next year. I finish my uni degree at the end of the year, and i should be able to tee up a decent paying job.

i am dead split between the two options i have:
option 1. Sell the EF and all the good bits, then go and buy an FG GT. and if the EF goes, that will be the replacement!!

option 2: This involves a fairly major overhaul of the EF. Plans include new driveline, interior and paint job, bodykit etc. if i go down this path, i guarantee that it will be done to magazine levels. i wont take this path and do it by halves.

i figure either way i turn will end up being similar money in the end, and neither will make any profit on the re sale. both would be brilliant fun. both would be similar in the power, handling and comfort stakes.

I spose the difference then is do i want to go to the time and effort of modifying a car, or simply buy a new one? i'm genuinely undecided.

yeh i better go for a ride in this beast

more mods!!

i've added a trip computer. it needs some cleaner to make it the same shade as the rest of the dash though!!


i've put in some chrome door handles (i did these a while back but forgot to mention it) they are in a photo in my first post.

and i've added some foglights

i've done the fog lights differently from everyone else that i've seen before and i reckon the results are sweet! i've made it up into a tech doco and submitted it to the mods.





let me know what you reckon.

Not that Bad, I guess it came out alright. How bout take a pic at night time with Heads and Fogs On??

great work with the car, especially having the patience taking the dash out a couple times !!

and the fog light install looks to be the best fitting ive seen to date on a base model EF. They fill the gaps nicely

Looking good man. I like the foggies and that AU wheel.
What did it set you back for the wheel?

Good job on the mods.

Any more upgrades before you jump to the FG?

BenJ

Looks good dude, Has come a long way!

cheers for the good comments guys, its nice to see that other people appreciate it.

asizzy: not a fan? i was going for stock looking. as for the night pics, i need to polish the headlights up a bit first, they look really yellow compared to the nice white light from the fog lights.

FordFairmont: yeah dash is great fun!

Fabs: I bought the wheel a few years back now, i think it set me back around $200 at the time. you can buy them now from this mob though, its where i got the gear knob from. http://www.autotek.com.au/cart/cart_pro ... tek&mid=24

BenJ: cheers man, i've been watching your build up for a while now as well. to be honest, i'm actually thinking more of keeping this thing and dropping a crate motor into it over the next couple of years instead of the FG ha ha

fairmont599: thanks!

hey nicco... thats a real good price for the steering wheel... i paid 380 for mine (although its red)... have you considered spaying the dash surround? (see my gallery)

yeah i wouldnt mind doing the dash surround gt style with the matte black. if i do that, i would want to get hold of some old grunged woodgrain trims so i can paint them up the same way benJ has.

which brings be neatly to my next point, if anyone has old woodgrain trims they want to get rid of, condition is unimportant as long as they arent cracked in half, let me know

or fairlane armrests! those things look comfy

Hey mate what lights are those that you used. They look like the are made to fit the holes. I have been looking at doing this for a while but haven't been able to find a suitable light... til now.. Did a good job looks great

fordnuttz - its a special secret

i have submitted a doco to the mods to put up on it, but bugger it, i will spill the beans here.

i used a rectangular light and mounted it in behind the brake duct.

Ah clever..... I had actually been looking at that and thought that's what you may have done but yeh it looks great. I might have to invest in some of those