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| STYLINUte:  2003 BA XLS  "STYLN" Owner: Peter Styles Colour:  Winter White  Standard Features: Fuel injected Barra 186 - inline 4.0L 6cyl, 4 speed semi auto tiptronic gearbox, 2" lowered suspension (leaf rear, coil over front), 4 wheel disc brakes (twin pot callipers/large ventilated discs front), Cold air induction, Air Conditioned, Cruise Control, Power windows - seats - mirrors, Climate integrated stereo and factory Bucket seats Performance Mods:  2.5" catback custom exhaust (single pipe and sports muffler to the diff, twin pipes split before diff going straight through to quad 3" chrome dump tips), rebuilt diff & k&n panel filter. 2.3tonne towpack also fitted. Interior / Stereo Mods:  Factory MOMO leather steering wheel, Mobile phone stereo integrated hands free kit, Front speakers Alpine 5x7", Rear speakers Alpine 6x9" two ways, Amplifier 2ch Sony 222W bridged (high level input sourced), Sub 10" Kicker EX 250W in shallow box, FPV seat covers, NOS Matts, Neon enhanced. Visual Mods:  AWC Enhancements; Carbon fibre boss bonnet - BF Pursuit (GTP) front bar customised to suit XT headlights - BF Pursuit driving lights - BF Pursuit side skirts - Pursuit quad pipe rear bar customised to suit towbar and additional reverse light; Carbon fibre BA series 1 tail lights, Factory alloy sports roll bar, Window tint, Painted callipers & rotors, Coloured lights, 17" ASA Chrome Wheels (temporary only). Build Time:  24 Months total Cost: Approx 21K ute & 6K upgrades   PROJECT STYLN 'The Practical Way' Seems like a long time ago I went in to buy a brand new Proton Jumbuck and spotted this beauty instead. I gave way to practical reasoning (the wife), bit the bullet and bought an ex govt BA XLS fleet ute. Turned out the wife was right.......AGAIN!!! She was everything I needed in a runabout ute for the project car and day to day use. I joined utez.com.au shortly after to learn more about its features, I set up it's own page on cardomain to show it off and as the members of utez will tell you, haven't shut up since!!!   Early on I fitted the seat covers, mobile phone hands free kit, tow pack, and window tint just for everyday use. The bug really didn't hit me until after a mate on utez sold me his carbon fibre boss bonnet for a great price. In the earlier days she would turn heads everywhere I went, but that's about it! I took a trip to Bundaberg (32hr round trip) to pick up and float home a project car (Factory Sigma Turbo) last June, and started looking at the ute in a whole new light after the easy trip. Why couldn't it look hot and still do the same job???   With my new car warranty only 9 months away from expiry I started settling into interior and exterior improvements to avoid anything that could void the said warranty. Mostly just small things that wouldn't prevent daily use. Stereo gear that was lying around, calliper paint and blue xenon lights were all used to marginally improve but not limit the usage of the ute. The stereo gear was the most difficult of the lot, given that the standard head unit does not have RCA's. Not wanting another head deck in the car, i chose to install the sub and amp via high level inputs (split from the 2 rear speakers). The end result is a simple install that takes up very little cabin space, integrates with my mobile kit, allows full use of steering wheel controls, still provides great sound quality and cost about $10 given i already had the gear. I still to this day, pile the groceries around the sub, behind the seats...   Since March this year when the warranty ran out it's all been happening for the ute. Carbon tail lights, alloy sports bar, factory option MOMO leather steering wheel, cheap little 17" chromies as temps ($350), and custom number plates,  were all fitted. The boys at AWC hooked me up real nice with the new body kit, fitting the XT headlight modified GTP front bar, driving lights, pursuit skirts, and customising the rear bar (to suit the tow pack and accommodate the additional reverse light my mate had suggested). Sounds simple, but this was to be the first quad pipe rear bar to be fitted without sacrificing the tow bar and amazingly enough the first with twin reverse lights. The resulting look is nothin short of tough without looking like an FPV mock up.    Almost immediately after returning from AWC i had the exhaust done, with an old mate Azza more than happy to accept the challenge of working a catback twin system without sacrificing the spare or disturbing the tow bar. It took some visits to get it right, but at the end i ended up with a note unlike any other I've heard and ute i can still load up to the hilt. Availability of good tips though sent me to another mate at Valley Tyres to complete the picture with quad 3" dumpers. It really has to be heard to be understood, as words just dont cut it.   Still to come are bigger 19" wheels, additional 2" lowering, colour coded door strips, a custom carbon hard cover, some interior carbon bits, under bonnet carbon bits, headers and a flash tuner upgrade. When all that's done, I'm done. For me, it's always gunna be a daily driver, a house mover, car tower, spare parts carrier, dirtbike transporter, shopping hauler, race car, show car, utez cruiser, dog tripper and a place to throw the mattress for 'special cuddles' or sleep. If it can't do all that, then why'd I buy it??? But with all that said, we all know what the bug can do..... Maybe an XR6T conversion???   Special Thanx:  Thanks go to my wife Casey for putting up with me, her family for their support, my mates (especially Jase, Geoff & Boppa) who help keep it lookin and running great, the dog (for chewing the mudflaps and old kit), MZ83CK for her help locating a great photographer, XMETAL for his awesome photography work, every member of Utez.com.au for their feedback and support (in particular UTE69Z and MS UTEZ), all the members of my other forums for their input, Kevlar for the bonnet that started it all, Fernando from Ace Window Tint, big Chris @ Newcastle Pro Sound, Azza at Argy Tyres & Exhausts Glendale, Jason at Valley Tyres & Mechanical East Maitland and finally, all the boys at AWC (www.awcinfo.com) for rising to the challenge with the rear bar at the last minute and doin a top job on the rest of the kit!!! Sorry to anyone i may have forgotten!                    |
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