It was repainted because I replaced the drivers side fender (lower mount for it used to just be pop-riveted) and some of the paint was fading. I had it painted to match the original as close as possible (done by Maaco 2 years ago) but the top used to be black. I wanted it all to match instead of black top and blue truck. Another reason for it being painted was one night some kids thought it would be funny to throw a softball size rock at my windshield, well I guess it was too heavy for the wimps so it bounced off the hood, broke the windshield wiper and somehow bounced over the whole roof. The windshield was never touched thanks to the wiper. That dented the hood some which you can sort of see in the picture and scratched the gold stripes that used to be on it. While having it painted I had the stripes removed too.
The headgaskets have never been done, and also never had a problem with overheating. I was aware of the recall, but didn't want my local dealer to mess up anything else while they did the head gasket (If it ain't broke don't fix-it) At least for major things. I still believe in preventitive maintenance though. But many years after I got the recall notice in the mail, I checked into if they would still honor it if I ever had to have it done and my dealer said they weren't honoring it anymore. I don't know if all do this or not??
Reason why I shaved the locks was because after the 1st week I came to Dayton, my stereo was stolen. They used a screw driver to pop the lock out and lift the metal lever. SO.. the bezel around the radio is cut on the upper left and right side even with the top of the radio. Thats about the only damage they caused stealing my JVC mp3 player. Right now I have a stock Toyota radio/tape deck in there. But they won't be popping out anymore locks, but I also live in a better area now too. I did all the work myself shaving, reinforcing, and painting the door lock area, because at the time I didn't have enough money to have it professionally done.
The alarm has keyless entry, and another channel could be added to it to roll down the rear window. I do still have the original key locks for the doors too, but the only lock on the truck is for the rear window.