Just another set of plates and a vehicle for discussion (HX)

[Valencia]

Keep looking would be my advise but your money if its what you want to restore

[seavan]

Lupine, have a look in the tray behind the cab and see if it has the correct drain holes either side, if it was a van they may not be there or have a look on the A pillar for a weld or herringbone type of join where the new roof my have been joined or as mentioned the rear of the cab. Still a nice ute all the same even it has been cut but dont forget, vans were all utes once apon a time on the production line. ( that should get a few bites)

[Valencia]

Lupine, have a look in the tray behind the cab and see if it has the correct drain holes either side, if it was a van they may not be there or have a look on the A pillar for a weld or herringbone type of join where the new roof my have been joined or as mentioned the rear of the cab. Still a nice ute all the same even it has been cut but dont forget, vans were all utes once apon a time on the production line. ( that should get a few bites)

WHAT

[Wombat7051]

Lupine, have a look in the tray behind the cab and see if it has the correct drain holes either side, if it was a van they may not be there or have a look on the A pillar for a weld or herringbone type of join where the new roof my have been joined or as mentioned the rear of the cab. Still a nice ute all the same even it has been cut but dont forget, vans were all utes once apon a time on the production line. ( that should get a few bites)

Yea they all great things start somewhere

The door handle don't look to be black so it might be a re-body

[Wombat7051]

Sandro if that is the case the LH7 may be the cut down to a ute. ???

[Sandaro]

Sandro if that is the case the LH7 may be the cut down to a ute. ???

Yeah, that's what I thought, or if its a body swap to ute and an inspector has seen panelvan on plates and says it needs mod plate

[jason.ruff]

While it is a touchy subject it is possible to rebody back to panelvan with the right donor. Fit a correct date coded engine and you are close to being original. Depends on what you want and how deep your pockets are.

[wbute]

If it has the drain holes then it's a ute body. Not van cut down. Unless I am mistaken. Plus they normally didn't put the tonneau clips on a cut down van.

[Lupine]

So all things aside then there's a few options for making something nice.

Thoughts on what makes better sense colourwise? Matching the plate or going to something else.

If we had it plated back to a van (if suitable donor and work done obviously) would that be better than leaving as it is?

Just looking for opinions while we kick ideas around. So put yourselves in our place, where money isn't an issue because there's all the time in the world to save and bargain hunt with pretty much all the various tradies as mates.
What would you do with it?

Also I'm not looking for detailed valuation but what would people say its worth as it sits now with the issues here and in fair-average overall condition?

[Big Rob]

If money was no object then I'd buy a great van body (good luck) and rebody your chassis back to a van, then paint it the original colour and restore it. However..... you could possibly spend $50-$70k doing it.

You have a cool ute that has it's own identity now, so you have to ask yourself what YOU really want.

If you want a ute, stick with it.

If you want a van, maybe selling the ute and buying a good van is a good option.

Think about it for a while..... time is your friend in this case.