It's over a month late, but better late than never. At last, the 4th and final chapter of my Hopper restoration story. The first few days at the shop was slow. It was mostly settling in and preparing the Hopper for its transformation from a junker into something more acceptable. One of the first things that happened was that the LeGran hubcaps were removed and sold online. I had also gotten my hands on a decent set of windshield wipers and an interior rear view mirror. I later went with my neighbor (that one with the green D-Series and the orange Bruckell Alauda) to that place where those three Hoppers were at, and ordered some more stuff, such as these really nice black STX wheels, offroad lights to go on the front bumper, new rollbar padding, etc. My neighbor kindly helped me bring the new STX tires to Firwood, since I was so eager to get those 14.5x5 LeGran wheels off of my Hopper. After those 14.5x5 wheels were removed, as well as the old rollbar padding, I put on the STX wheels and the new door mirrors. Do you really think I was going to keep those wheels off of a LeGran? Of course not! It looked too tacky for my taste. As for those LeGran wheels, they came in handy for this family who brought in their LeGran station wagon, which was needing new wheels. One night when I came in before it was closing time, I was shocked to find the tires of my new wheels shredded! The same could be said for a Maluch that was also in the shop with my Hopper. The owner of the place was there, and he explained to me that he assumed that a very angry and unsatisfied customer came in while he was out to get a bite to eat, and used a knife to slash the tires on all of the vehicles, including his Grand Marshal that was parked outside. He also told me that he had already called the police. Later on, his theory was proven correct, as the Firwood Police Department arrested this one woman who was throwing a fit nearby because her car broke down. She claimed that she wanted to get revenge against the owner of the shop for "sabotaging her car," saying that it after she got her car back a few days before, it kept malfunctioning on her ever since. I didn't hear all of it, but I do know that she was extremely angry, and was making quite a scene that even had the cops unnerved. To demonstrate how much of a wonderful guy the owner is, he offered to replace my tires for free. He did the same thing for the guy that owned the Maluch. I offered to pay him for the tires, but he told me to keep my money. I thanked him, and he smiled and said "your welcome." After that event, the new parts arrived. I put on the new rollbar padding and started getting out the rest of the stuff I planned to install, including the new front fascia, which still needed to be painted black to match my Hopper. Did I mention the new third light and the spare tire, complete with its own cover? A decent amount of time passed, and my Hopper was looking a million times better than it did when I first got it. It finally had a front fascia with working headlights, some mirrors, a spare tire, fender flares, and a shiny rust free body. I couldn't resist putting on the snorkel from that green Hopper from the other town. One day when I drove my Pessima to the shop instead of my ETK, I saw that my neighbor brought in his Alauda to get it inspected. He told me about how much he thought my Hopper was looking good, saying that it didn't even look anything like the piece of junk he saw be delivered to my house a while back. I thanked him for his complements. Finally, that day came. The day the restoration was finished. A new grey soft top, the bumper offroad lights, new half doors, a towing hitch, and selectable locking differentials were some of the last things to be installed on my Hopper. Me and the owner spent a good few seconds staring at the Hopper, admiring how beautiful it had become. As I was leaving, the owner told me to have fun with my reborn Ibishu. I shook his hand and told him to keep on running his good business. Driving around Firwood in my fully restored Hopper felt amazing. I decided to celebrate by getting myself some ice cream. When I got to the place where the H-Series ice cream van was parked, I ran into a familiar face: that same cop that pulled me over that one time. He was munching on a donut when I pulled up next to his police cruiser, and I will never forget the look on his face when he saw my Hopper. The cop even asked me if it was the same Hopper he saw before, of which I confirmed that it was. He shook his head and said "you really did a great job fixing it. It almost looks brand new." I chuckled and thanked him, thinking about how he called it an eyesore before. It's not surprising that the cop was eating a donut. After I finished my little treat, I drove home and settled down, feeling satisfied. That concludes my Hopper restoration story. A before and after comparison.
Its about to get boxy. still a noob at taking pictures so I will explain: a box cop is chasing a box car chasing a box taxi.
This thing really handles better than before with the new 4WS system it even gets away from the more powerful ETK!
Found an old screenshot... Ah, the good ol' times. It reminds me of the times before when I still went to school. When I still had lots of friends and talked to a lot of people. When I had fun... Look at the stars, Look how they shine for you, And everything you do, Yeah, they were all yellow.