Aussie Panel Van

The Last Post

2011-07-24T19:38:00.000+10:00

Well, this will be the last entry on this blog.

I've started a new one site for the HZ Wagon rebuild. If you'd like to visit it (and follow it) you can visit http://hzpremwagon.blogspot.com

Gone!

2011-07-04T14:53:00.002+10:00

Well, the van is gone so this blog will no longer be updated (not that it was updated very often anyway!).

We sold the van to finance the next project, which is a 1978 HZ Premier Wagon. I'll create a new blog (perhaps) or I might just throw photos at Facebook.

Thanks for those who have followed!

Off the the show

2011-03-04T18:00:00.000+11:00

Tomorrow (5th March, 2011) the van will be at the Geelong Holden Day - run by the local Holden club, of which I'm a member. Should be a good day, with the weather expected to be clear and mostly sunny.

I'll upload a few pictures after the show.

Under bonnet clean up

2010-10-30T08:52:00.001+11:00

Another update (wait, it hasn't been six months yet?). Got a bit more done last weekend, and the engine bay is starting to look half decent. I figured this needs to be cleaned up in case someone opens the bonnet at a show and shine.

This is what I started with 5 years ago:

I did some painting to improve the look a bit, but I've never been happy with the dual fuel snorkel and all the extra plumbing:

Before the Albury run I removed most of the LPG, however the electric fuel pump and a lot of the wiring was still there.

I've finally managed to clean it up, put a mechanical fuel pump in and get the thing looking half decent:

A couple of you may recognise the replacement washer bottle / radiator overflow. The standard WB unit is a huge plastic thing. Functional, but hardly pretty.

That's probably all I'll do for now, as there are that many holes in the inner guards I'll replace the guards and hide the wiring when I paint the car.

New seats

2010-10-22T14:38:00.000+11:00

Ok, the new seats have been in for just over a week, and I must say they are brilliant! Here's a little guide to how I did them, and (of course) some photos.

Disclaimer: This was the way I approached the project, and may not necessarily be the best or easiest way to tackle this.

I already knew that the front bolt holes in the VZ seats will line up with the WB front seat holes in the floor. That's the only thing that's easy about this!

The floor pans are different. The rear mounting points on the VZ rails don't lineup, and are designed to bolt in at 90 degrees:

There are two approaches to fitting the seats - the first is to mount the seats by modifying the WB floor. This involves welding a tab of metal onto the floor to suit the VZ seat brackets. Another vanner sent me some photos of such an installation (Thanks Dean!). The second method is to modify the VZ seat rails to suit the existing seat mounting points. For various reasons, I decided to try the second way - so this is it. The first way probably would have been easier.

Step 1: I removed the new seat from the rails, and placed them in the van to see how things would line up.

Remember to take your old seat out first, otherwise it could get awkward.

I started with the passenger side first as it's easier. I used a level to try and work out what height the rails should be - the confusing thing is that the seat rails look as though they are designed to sit at an angle in the Commodore, so mounting them level in the van would have created an awkward seating angle.

At one point I took the rails out of the van, put the seat back on the rails, then sat in it to try and get a feel for the correct angle. I put a level on the rails, then moved the rails into the car and tried to get the same level.

Step 2: As you can see from the photo below, there's a lot of brackets at the rear of the VZ rails. I cut these off, as I wasn't going to use them, and they were in the way.

Step 3: Putting the rails back in the car, and using the level, I worked out what sort of bracket I needed to make to weld onto the seat rails. In the end (for strength) I decided to cut a 100mm long piece of "U" bracket. I made a template from cardboard to start with, and then managed to score an off cut of some rectangular tube with 2.5mm thick walls from the local metal place.

After making the brackets and drilling a bolt hole, I welded them in the correct place to the bottom of the seat rails:

Step 4: Back to the car, to make sure that everything lines up. All good. Hit the the new work with some matt black paint, and it's starting to look factory:

Step 5: Bolt the seat back to the rails, then bolt the whole lot back into the car. This proved actually to be very fiddly, as the bolt has to be put through the bracket from inside the "U" piece. My best friend here is a set of ratchet ring spanners which made the job a little easier.

Step 6: Do the driver's side, as above. With the driver's side, there are some motors on the seat rails which are used for electric height adjustment. This time I decided to do all the work on the rails, and bolt them in place first, then bold the seat on top after wards. The photo below shows the drivers side after painting. You can see one of the motors in the picture:

Step 7: Connect the wiring up! As you can see in the picture below, there's a connector which comes from the driver's seat. I cut this, made my own connector and using a fuse and some wire I ran this to the car's fuse box - patching it in so that it's only live when the ignition is turned on.

Step 8: Sit in your new drivers seat, nursing a beer, playing with the electrics, and grinning like a mad man.

350 versus 253

2010-10-12T09:03:00.000+11:00

Once again, it's been a while since my last posting, but that doesn't mean nothing has been happening.

The 350 Chevy motor has been stripped, and is in need of some specialist work - it basically looks good, but need a lot of new moving parts. When I have some spare cash the block and heads will go out for a clean and inspection.

In short term as least, the plan is to keep the 253 in the car and run with it. Why? Because the engineering cost for the replacement motor is more than I will wind up spending on the motor itself. The blue 253 with HEI ignition and the Quadrajet is a top motor, and still runs really well, so there's no hurry to replace it.

As a result, I've decided to make some changes. I've removed the dual fuel system. There are a number of reasons - clean up the engine bay, the tank is years out of date, and I can get it tuned to run properly on petrol.

As you can see from the photo above, there are still some items to remove, and the plumbing and wiring will be cleaned up further when the manual fuel pump goes on - removing a lot of the crap associated with the electric fuel pump.

The other change will be some new seats going into the van.

These seats have come from a VZ Berlina (Commodore). Should look good when installed - no, they don't bolt right in, I need to make up some brackets.

I'll post another entry when the seats are fitted.
Cheers!

2010-04-23T12:12:00.000+10:00

Some progress has been made with the engine tear down. So far it looks as though there's some wear here and there, however the overall condition is not too bad. Pictures tell the story.

No roller rockers here! Pushrods will be replaced as the ends came off two of them, and I found a crack in another.

Another view.

One head is off.

Some pitting on the top of this valve. This was the only one affected.

The rest of the valves looked like this.

Some carbon build up on the piston tops.

Valve train organiser tray is a good way to keep things in the right order.

Heads and sump removed. You can see the oil pump and pickup.

Engine flipped over. No 4 bolt main here - two bolt only.

Van Nats 2010

2010-04-22T13:59:00.000+10:00

Engine strip down is progressing - more photos in the next day or two.

In the meantime, we went to the show and shine for the 2010 Van National at Phillip Island, and took a bunch of photos. You can find them here:

http://gallery.perryr.com

Engine strip down

2010-04-06T15:18:00.000+10:00

Yesterday I had a chance to put the SB Chev on it's new stand, and start stripping it down.

I wondered whether it was worthwhile doing a rebuild, as it was running when I got the car - as you will see from the photos, if I'd shoved the Chev into the van as is, I would have been taking it out again soon.

Enough talk. Time for pictures.

The new engine stand. Ripper!

The engine on the trailer at home

Very neat cradle that Dave put together for me

On the stand, about to be removed from the trailer.

Finally, on the stand!

Strip down starts

Timing chain is waaay loose

Yep, waaay loose!

Both cogs and timing chain will be replaced with double row units

More picture of the strip down soon.

Engine at home

2010-03-30T08:21:00.001+11:00

Well, I finally have the small block Chev engine sitting in the shed at home. Pretty soon I'll start stripping the motor and then (all being well) starting the rebuild.

Stay tuned for some activity and photos!

Chev 350 history

2010-01-12T15:13:00.002+11:00

While I wait to start work on the Chev 350 engine from the donor ute, I thought I'd track down some of the history and find out exactly what I've got to work with.

These are the numbers on the block:

Engine casting Number: 3970010
Engine ID: K0315TKB

First, the casting number. A "3970010" is:

Year

1969-79

Casting

3970010

Capacity

350

Low Power
185

High Power
370

Main Caps
2 or 4

Application
car, truck, Vette

So, the casting number doesn't narrow it down much - if i was lucky, the engine started as a 370hp Corvette engine. If not, a low power pickup truck engine. In some ways, a low power engine wouldhave less stress, so that might be a good thing.

Next, the Engine ID:

K = Ontario, Canada Engine Plant
03 = March
15 = 15th day of the month
TKB means the following specifications:

Code TKB	Year 1976	Capacity 350	Application conv.cab	Engine Code L LS9	HP 165	BBLS 4	Body C-10 & 1500
TKB	1979	350	conv. cab, m/t	L LS9	165	4	C-30 & 3500

So, it seems that my engine was made in Canada in 1976 or 1979. It's a LS9, built as a 165HP 4 barrel unit, for pickup trucks - one of C-1, C-30, 1500 or 3500 depending on the year.

Not very exciting, but perhaps it's had an easy life - sometime soon I'll be stripping the motor down.

Thanks to Dave for sending me the numbers.
References I use to decode the numbers can be found here:

http://www.nastyz28.com/sbchevy/sblock.php

Quick trip to Torquay

2009-11-13T13:08:00.005+11:00

Took the van out for a quick run down the road a couple of weekends ago to Torquay for the annual show on The Esplanade. A good turnout (I'd say a couple of hundred cars at least) and plenty to look at.

Help! What brakes are these?

2009-09-09T09:40:00.006+10:00

Well, I'm averaging about 6 months between posts here, so I thought it was time to try an improve the average.

As you may (or may not) remember, there's an old HJ ute sitting on a property somewhere in country Victoria that has a 350 Chev, Turbo 350 transmission, and Ford 9 inch diff in it. The whole drivetrain will eventually be transplanted into the van.

My brother-in-law was either a bit bored or got tired of having the ute sitting around, so he ripped out the engine and transmission. Looks a bit tired now, but all good things start from humble beginnings! A few photos for you.

The diff and steering gear still needs to come out, then the shell will be sold off.

Rear shot - tranny is still attached.

Front shot - transmission oil cooler still attached.
All the bits I need are there - somewhere!

Side shot - I believe that it's now sitting on a custom welded frame :-)

One of the things I don know about the ute is that the wheel stud pattern all around is Ford. It looks like it was better to put a later model Ford wheel hub and brake setup on the front. I'll probably transfer the whole thing over to the van and look for some wheels to suit.

Help! Can anyone identify the brake calipers in the shots below? I'd like to know what model Ford they came from :-)

What do these calipers originally come from? Click on the picture to zoom in.

Another view. If you can identify them, please leave a comment. Thanks!

Another Van Show - Easter 2009

2009-04-07T22:00:00.004+10:00

Not great, I'm averaging one entry on this site every 6 months. Oh well....

Went for a drive last weekend to make sure that our donor ute was still where it should be - I'm pleased to day that it is, and that there's some chance of the 350 Chev coming out of it soon.

In the meantime, the Yellow Van will be at the Van Nats 2009 in Geelong this weekend (on the Sunday anyway).

Click on the image above for more details, and if you are in or near Geelong it will definitely be worth a look!

Update - long overdue!

2008-09-30T13:52:00.002+10:00

It's been a while since the last entry, so I thought I'd better put an update in, just to prove that things are alive and well!

Not much has changed for the van in recent months - building and moving into a new house have seen any time we had to put into the van disappear.

On the positive side, we have a new shed where we can put the 350 and running gear from the ute, so the plan is to move those things in over the next few months and start working on them.

In the meantime, here's a local event which may be of interest:

Front Off

2008-04-15T09:10:00.003+10:00

Did some work on the donor ute over the weekend and prepared it, ready for the motor to come out.

Took out the radiator, radiator support panel, unbolted the exhausts, disconnected all the wiring etc.

I ran a compression test on the engine before the disassembly, and found that one cylinder was slightly (20psi) below the others. After the engine is out we will be taking the heads off and checking things out - a new set of gaskets and welch plugs will be the go!

Doesn't look all that flash now - but keep watching!

Van Nationals 2008 and 2009

2008-03-26T10:33:00.003+11:00

Van Nationals 2008 - come and gone! We went over to Port MacDonnell (near Mt Gambier) for the 2008 Nats, and saw some great vans, met some nice people.

Pictures can be found in the Van and Ute Gallery here:

http://www.perryr.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=7060

The Van Nationals of 2009 will be held in Geelong at the Showgrounds, and should be huge!

Some early information is already available here:

http://www.infresments.com.au/SXV/

Safety first

2008-03-18T16:28:00.001+11:00

Well, the old van is a bit safer now. The brakes were behaving badly, and a simple check of the components and bleed wasn't enough to improve things much.

I gave the van to the pros who decided I needed a new master cylinder, some work done on the calipers, and the front rotors machines.

The end result is a hole in the bank account, but at least it stops properly! I'll put some pics up here soon.

Engine update

2008-03-07T18:54:00.003+11:00

A couple of weeks ago we moved the ute out to a place with a bit more space, and I stripped some bits off and sold them on eBay. The ute is rusty, and while it would have looked pretty good a few years back, the bog is falling out and it's very sad.

The good news is that the engine started, and the ute was driven off the trailer.

The plan is to remove the 350 Chev motor, TH350 transmission and Ford 9" diff, give them a spruce up (and check them out) and them put them in the WB.

This presents some problems from a registration point of view. In Victoria ("The Nanny State") if the engine swap is to an engine offered as an option with that vehicle, then all it's not too much of a problem.

In this case, because the WB never came out with a 350 Chev, so I will need to obtain a VASS (Vehicle Assessment Certificate) from an approved Signatory - this replaces the old "Engineers Report". Once you have the certificate you attend an inspection at VicRoads where you present a completed "Change of Vehicle Description" form, proof of ownership of the new engine, and the VASS.

The other catch is that the new engine must conform to the vehicle anti-pollution parts that the original engine was fitted with. In this case, the charcoal canister, pcv valve, yadda yadda. The way to avoid this is to put the thing on straight gas (cleaner, less emissions), which is what I'll be doing.

Haven't got any new pictures really, so here's a picture of a 350 Chev in a HQ.

Interested in the VicRoads regulations? Here's the link:
http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/Home/Registration/ChangeOfVehicleDetails/

Chev 350 running!

2008-02-12T09:49:00.000+11:00

Last weekend it was time to start stripping the donor ute, but before we started we decided we should try and run up the 350.

Edward, our intrepid camera man, caught the action and I've included the short video here.

The engine fired up and ran, although it was missing on one cylinder which we think may be a stuffed plug. At some point we will give it a thorough check and assess the health to see if any work needs to be done.

Thanks to Ed for his help in stripping the ute, and to Dave for helping with the pickup and storage.

Donor Ute

2008-02-06T08:31:00.000+11:00

Thought I'd share with you some picture of the ute I picked up from Canberra earlier this week.

It has a Chev 350, Turbo 350 Transmission and Ford 9 inch diff. Many of the parts will go into the van (eventually) and the stuff I don't need will be sold off.

A big thanks to Harro for driving up with me in his Pajero to pick up the ute. Diesel power!

Win some, lose some!

2008-01-17T09:53:00.000+11:00

Sometimes things don't always pan out the way you expect. As you know, I'm changing the interior colour of the Panel Van to black.

Many items have been done, and it was time to do the visors., however I thought I'd put a vanity mirror in while I was at it. Easy, right? Well, not so easy this time.

I pulled the visor off, and cut the hole - that wasn't so much of a problem. The problem was trying to get a neat finish around the mirror. The old thick vinyl used on the old visors meant that I couldn't fold it to get the sort of finish I was after.

I decided to give up, and look for some replacements. I asked my friends at oldholden.com, and I got lucky. Michael (who lives in Geelong) had a spare pair which would suit - and they are black! I picked them up and fitted them - minus the vanity mirror.

Overall, I think I came out ahead. Thanks Michael!

Van and Ute Gallery

2008-01-08T07:59:00.000+11:00

Happy new year everyone! Over the break I did something I've been wanting to do for a long time, and I've put together a Van, Ute and Pickup gallery.

I've uploaded over a thousand picture already, mostly a collection of Holden vans I've picked up from the 'net.

You can check the gallery out at http://gallery.perryr.com

Feel free to register and add your own pictures to the public albums, or your own private album.

edit: Now over 2,000 images on the site. Thanks to those who contributed!

Van Nats 2008

2007-12-17T19:44:00.000+11:00

Well, paid the money, and we are off the the 2008 Van Nationals in South Australia over the Easter weekend.

This will be a first for us, and if previous years are anything to go by, there will be some fine machinery on display.

We plan on travelling over with some of the folks from the Western Districts Club (Warrnambool). You've been warned folks!

More details on the Van Nats 2008 can be found here:

http://www.infresments.com.au/VANSw3/index.html

If you are going, look for the yellow van and say hi!

Sunday Drive and Tailgate

2007-12-06T13:21:00.000+11:00

Tailgating

Put a new tailgate on the van a couple of weeks ago, and learned something interesting:

When you buy a new ute tailgate (reproduction, made in Taiwan as they all are), you will need to so some modifications to get the tailgate to fit a panel van.

The mods need to be done at the top right corners of the tailgate - the corners need to be cut out to fit into the rear pillars of the van.

Fortunately, I did a trial fitting before I painted the tailgate and everything is cool. Could be a trap for the unwary though.

Now I just need to try and get some shine into the painted tailgate - acrylic out of a can isn't the easiest stuff to work with if you want a nice finish.

Long drive

Last weekend we took the van to Traralgon (about 500k return) and she ran beautifully. That was the good news. The bad news is that my in-laws were moving, and it was payback time for when they helped us move. I'm getting too old for this....

Click on the map to enlarge

There's nothing quite like an old Holden V8 which is running well. Quite a few people waved to us - exactly what does one finger mean? :-)

It was a warm drive, and it reminded me that one of the major projects I have lined up is to put some air conditioning in the van. I've got a second hand unit out of a Statesman, and most of the bits, but it still looks like a big job.

If anyone has any hints, please let me know!

Geelong November Cruise

2007-11-13T18:30:00.001+11:00

Took the WB out to play with some friends last night - the November Geelong Cruise at the Showgrounds.

I took quite a few photos, you can see the collection of old holden photos by clicking here.

Leave me a comment if you'd like to see any of the other cars that were there.

The simple things

2007-11-07T07:04:00.001+11:00

As part of the interior colour change, I did a small job (about 20 minutes) which makes a big difference. Pinchweld is the stuff which goes around the doors to create a nice finish.

I bought 6 metres of the stuff from a Holden Spares Store on eBay (again!) for about $30. If you are planning on changing your pinchweld, it's best to buy new, as once it's been on the car for a while it retains the shape.

The before and after pictures are shown below.

before (brown)

after (black)

The only other tip I have is that the pinchweld has small metal hoops embedded all the way along - which are used to clamp onto the edge when you push it on. When you cut the pinchweld, it's so much simpler if you cut between the metal hoops!

Also, I used a rubber mallet to ensure that the pinchweld was on tight.

Project: LED Brake light

2007-11-05T22:01:00.000+11:00

Installed a new LED high mount brake light today. The unit is from Hella, and fits flush into the top of the tailgate.

The job took about 4 hours, with most of the time spent in cutting and filing the hole in the tailgate.

Full details of the installation can be found in my old holden shed.

Old Holden Meet

2007-10-28T18:44:00.000+11:00

Went on a meet and greet today with some people from the oldholden.com site. Great day!

Jobs Done

2007-10-27T16:42:00.000+10:00

Completed a few small jobs today, in preparation for the Meet and Greet tomorrow.

installed the handbrake cover and grip (see previous post)
put the number plates on the van, along with covers
re-installed the newly coloured door trims
installed a Statesman interior light
Installed a newly painted fuel cap. I bought a cap from the local wreckers for $10, and paint it up. Shows how badly in need of a paint job the rest of the car is...
Installed some new spark plug leads

The interior light was pretty easy to install - required some wiring and drilling, but went together without any problems.

The Statesman light was bought on eBay for about $30, and is superior because it has a couple of map lights, as well as looking a whole lot better.

The full details of the installation can be found by looking at the project in my old holden shed.

Handbrake Cover

2007-10-23T22:08:00.000+10:00

Picked up another couple of components on eBay (again!) as part of interior colour change. Actually, the old handbrake cover was broken, and the grip was missing - so I needed to buy these anyway.....

I'll install them this weekend!

Project: Recolouring Door Trims

2007-10-21T15:51:00.000+10:00

As part of the on-going quest for a black interior, I needed to make a decision regarding the door trims. To replace, retrim or recolour?

I don't mind the vinyl trims - it's just the colour I'm not crazy about, so I decided to have a go at recolouring them.

Here's the door trim removed form the car:

Door trim before

Door Trim just after dyeing

I'm quite impressed with the overall finish, and the ease with which it can be done. I used a VHT Vinyl Dye, which soaks into the vinyl.

If you want full details on how this was done, click here to see my old holden shed.

Rubber and Seats

2007-10-15T08:26:00.001+10:00

The weekend was fairly productive - I managed to do some minor body repairs, put some new rubber on the van, and get the second of the new sets in.

New rubber - 215 for the front, 245 for the back

I'm still on the lookout for more black interior bits - the biggest job will be to get the dash recoloured, and a new headlining for the whole van. I might have a go at retrimming the door trims myself.....

Updated Wheels and Rubber

2007-10-11T17:04:00.000+10:00

Time to make some changes in the wheel and tyre department.

The existing wheels are ROH Gamblers, 15"x7" with 215/65 x 15 tyres. Nice enough, but I'm a fan of the old school type of rims - in particular the Dragways.

I've been looking around for some wheels in good condition which wouldn't cost me a fortune (aren't we all?). Ideally 7" for the front, 8" for the back.

After one false start I picked up some Dragways (eBay again) for $400 with tyres, a pair of 7" and a pair of 8"- although the tyres are pretty well stuffed (as I found out when I picked them up):

All good, but consider this:

Some nuts came with the wheels, however they were an incomplete set, and many of them were rusted.
Tyres were (as I said) stuffed. Not really a problem, as I always intended to put some new rubber on.
Caps were not matching, and one of them was very badly damaged, so I needed some new caps.

The nuts:
The nuts which are on my existing wheels are different to the ones I need for the Dragways. For the Dragways wheels, they are long shanked 7/16" nuts with washers, which are readily available (by order) from your local tyre place. Price for 16 nuts, washers and a set of locking nuts is $120.

The tyres:
The rubber on the wheels were 215/65x14 on the front, and 235/60x14 on the rear. I took the wheels to the local tyre place and they are fitting up some 215 for the front, and 245 for the rear (about $450 including balancing). The rear tyres are not a common size, so you'll most likely need to wait a few days while they get them in.

The caps:
Some brand spanking new caps are available on eBay for $64 (plus postage), so I ordered a set. Actual picture from the eBay ad shown below. To find them, search for "Dragway" on eBay.

It all sounds expensive, but remember I'm selling the existing set complete with roadworthy tyres, caps, nuts, locking nuts. Hopefully the change over won't be too extreme!

Once I get the new ones fitted up to the car, I'll update the "latest pic" photo at the top right.

One seat in

2007-10-07T15:44:00.000+10:00

Well - I managed to get one of the new seats fitted into the van today.

The seat runners are totally different, and there are brackets welded onto the WB seats which can't be taken across to the new seats. Bummer.

HZ Seat Runners

WB Seat Runners

I managed to fabricate some adapter plates which allow me to use all of the original seat mounting holes in the floor pan, and the seat brackets which come with the HZ seats. I'm happy with the end result - the picture below shows the new seat in place, along side the old one.

New seats

2007-10-06T18:43:00.000+10:00

Picked up some seats today which I bought on eBay for $290. These seats have been retrimmed in velour, and are in great condition - one of them still in the plastic.

I figured they would look heaps better than the brown seats which are in the van - and have lost their shape.

Although these seats were advertised for HQ-WB, on getting them home I found that the seat brackets are different. Apparently the WB models have seat runners and holes in the floor pan to suit early Commodore style seats. Next job is for me to see if I can fit the runners from the old seats onto the new ones!

Project: Carpet and Console

2007-10-01T08:54:00.000+10:00

Time for a change - I'm not fond of the brown interior, so over the coming months everything will be changed over to black.

Brown Interior

I bought some carpet and underlay a while back from Tru-fit, and also bought a replacement centre console from American Autos. I decided that it was time to install the carpet and console.

Full details and photos of the project can be found by clicking here to visit my old holden shed.

The end result was very good, as you can see from the photo below.

New Carpet and Console

The next step is to find some new seats, or get the brown ones retrimmed.

Project: Statesman Front

2006-12-24T08:30:00.000+11:00

Always liked the Statesman fronts on a van and ute, so it was time give the WB the treatment.

If you are planning on doing this, try and get a Caprice front as they are more highly sought after than the DeVille. The Caprice front has a nice grill (all metal) whereas the DeVille has a plastic job. You can't swap them over easily.

I picked up a full walk off front on eBay (again!) for $1100. The whole thing was in great condition, and was still attached to the rest of the car. We dismantled it ourselves, which meant that we could ensure nothing was damaged.

After getting the front home, I checked things out, and realised that even though the radiator support panels are similar, I need the Statesman one fitted to the van to hold the larger headlights.

The Statesman support panel was painted white, so I spent $190 at the local painters and got it blasted, and then painted in 2-pack black. End result was pretty good!

After that, it was a case of painting the nose panel, dismantling the existing front, and fitting the new pieces.

Very happy with the end result!

For the full details of what's involved, click here to visit my old holden shed!

A big thank you to Ed for helping me pick up and
transport the new walk off front.

Project: Adding Flashlube

2006-06-13T13:49:00.000+10:00

Anyone who drives and older car knows that in some cases modern fuels can be harmful to the valve seats of your engine.

The solution to the problem is to add something to your unlead fuel to help with the upper cylinder lubrication. Easy if you run petrol, a bit harder if you run dual fuel. Enter the "Flashlube" kit.

This kit is hooked up to a vacuum line on the carb of your engine to "suck" through some of the special lubricant at a steady rate, which automagically mixes with the fuel.

Click here for more info on Flashlube, and what it does.

As the van didn't have any such kit installed, and I had no idea as to whether the heads had been upgraded for LPG and unleaded - I decided to add a kit. After all, the kit won't do any harm!

I picked one up on eBay (again!) for $35. A bargain. The kit arrived, was brand new, and it took a couple of hours to install.

The full kit

For full details on installation of the kit, click here to see the project details in my old holden shed.

Headlight Reminder

2006-05-12T12:50:00.000+10:00

Because I'm getting older, and more forgetful, I decided to install a simple buzzer to act as a Headlight Reminder.

Not a difficult job, but it's saved me from a flat battery more than once.

The unit was a very low cost item I picked up at an electronics store, and it took me about an hour to wire it in.

Click here to see the full details of the project on my old holden shed.

Project: Rocker Cover facelift

2006-05-05T19:29:00.000+10:00

After the success of the wiper facelift, I decided that things needed improving under the bonnet.

Check out the photo below, and you'll see what I mean:

So, I set to work with a few simple tools, and spruced up the rocker covers. While I was at it, i painted the snorkel - because I could:

If you want to see the full details of the project click here to open the project in my old holden shed. All the instructions are provided to do the job.

Project: Adding sill moulds

2006-04-12T08:40:00.000+10:00

I've been on the hunt for some sill moulds which will fit along the bottom of the van.

What are they? The photo below shows the moulds as fitted to a Premier station wagon (they were standard on the Prem wagon). They are the chrome strips underneath the doors:

Sill moulds were also fitted to Statesmans - however for a panel van you need to get the wagon versions, as the Statesman moulds are about 6 inches shorter than the wagon versions. For a panel van, you need moulds which are 2080mm in length!

I bought a pair of moulds off eBay (again!) for about $75, and it cost me another $25 to have them freighted via TNT, as they were too long for Aussie Post:

After they were installed:

Click here to see the full details of how they were installed.

Project: Hole repair

2006-04-10T13:09:00.000+10:00

In a recent entry, you saw that I replaced the guard mounted aerial with a roof mounted job. Nice work, but it left a hole in the guard which needs to be repaired. As a temporary measure I installed a plug - ugly plus!

The repair job was a simple fill and paint, and the end result was pretty good.

Click here to see the full step by step details in my old holden shed.

Project: Chrome Door Trim

2006-04-08T21:12:00.000+10:00

At the All Holden Day in 2006, I spotted a van which had some nice chrome door trims from Statesman. I took a picture at the time, and I've included it below:

After watching eBay for a while, I snagged a set in good condition for around $40.

Before and After Pictures:

Click here to see the full project details, including more pictures.

There's more to the story - turns out I met the owner of the van (Leigh) at a van get together in Warrnambool. Check the pictures of the All Holden Day here, and have a look at the interior of the van. Wild!

Statesman Mirrors

2006-04-04T09:46:00.000+10:00

Not sure if you've noticed, but the mirrors on the van don't sit quite right. That's because they are from a Gemini, which has the same style of mirror as the WB, but a different base.

Not sure why they would have been changed bu a previous owner, but I decided it was time to get something different on there.

I watched eBay for a while, and finally bought a set of Statesman mirrors from a WB - the cable operated types. Good news and bad news. The good news is that the mirrors look great. The bad news is that the cable operated controls are not worth a pinch of s#%t.

The mounting holes in the door for the Gemini mirrors were different to the original holes, so while the Statesman mirrors went into the original holes, I now have some Gemini holes in the door I need to fix....

New Gear Shifter Boot

2006-03-30T14:46:00.000+11:00

After changing the gear know, I decided that the leather shroud around the gear shifter also needed to change. Compare the older photo:

To this one:

'nuff said!

Project: Knob Update

2006-03-20T22:40:00.000+11:00

You know - I never really thought that the gear shift know installed on the old Aussie 4 speed really suited the van, so I decided to make a change.

Check the black/brown shroud. That needs to be changed too!

I hunted around some of the Auto parts stores, and found a SAAS timber look knob which matches the SAAS wheel.

Installation is a simple job, and you can click here to see the full project in my old holden shed.

I'm sure you will agree that it was a job worth doing!

Project: Roof mounted aerial

2006-03-19T21:45:00.000+11:00

One of the things I've always liked on HQ-WB Holden is the roof mounted aerial. So I decided the time was right. A couple of hours and the job was done.

This aerial I bought at one of the auto parts stores (can't actually remember which one!) for under $20.

I'm pleased with the end result, especially as the aerial it replaced was one of those guard mounted extendable jobs, with the spring at the base.

To see the full detail of the project (including lots of pictures) click here to open the project in my old holden shed.

You can probably just make out the temporary plug I put in the guard. Repairing the hole is Whole other project!

Project: Wiper facelift

2006-03-17T16:12:00.000+11:00

Time for the first project on the van. One of the things that was very obvious from the day I picked the Panel Van up was that the wiper arms were in need of some work.

Check the original photo below:

Like I said - obvious! So I set about cleaning them up and repainting them.

The after shot:

If you want the step by step instructions as to how it was done, or just want to know how to remove the wiper arms click here to see the whole project in my oldholden shed.

I was very happy with the result, and it cost bugger all!

Rear Bumper

2006-03-14T09:55:00.000+11:00

One of the things which I particularly like to change is the rear bumpers on the panel van.

The standard Holden Van has two small "bumperettes" which protect the corners of the van. They are functional, but don't look particularly good. The picture below shows another van with the standard bumpers:

I picked up (again, on good old eBay) a very used HQ Station Wagon bumper for the top price of $10.

As you can see from the above photo, the bumper had a few dents - these are easy knocked out with a block of wood and a hammer.

After an afternoon of removing the old bumperettes (rusted bolts!) and fitting the new station wagon bumper, the job was done - and the number plate flap which pulls down conceals the LPG filler perfectly.

Early changes

2006-03-12T09:47:00.000+11:00

While the van was in pretty good condition, there were a few things that needed to be done early on.

Early changes included:

Window tint - darkest legal tint on the driver and passenger windows, and ambulance tint on the carry space windows. Made a huge difference to the look! Cost: $300
Exhaust - The van had a set of extractors and a single pipe, which sounded LOUD, but were obviously in need of some work. We wanted twin pipes, so we Johnny Mac's exhausts in Moolap (Geelong) put together a nice set of extractors and twin system which suit the van really well. Nice work! Cost: $800

The original exhaust
Stereo - the radio cassette player had to go! We wanted a good quality CD player with MP3 capability, and installed a Pioneer unit, along with some new 6" round speakers in the doors, and 6" x 9" jobs in the back. The whole thing cost about $400 - good value!
Spare Wheel Cover - I bought (eBay again!) a spare wheel cover in black which was from a WB Statesman. While I'm not a fan of the spare wheel being in the back of the van, I won't drive without a spare (I don't like being stranded!). At least the black one looks a bit better. Cost: $10

The beginning

2006-02-23T09:21:00.000+11:00

Where's the best place to start? At the beginning, so here goes! We were on the lookout for a van for quite some time - the preferred choice was a WB on dual fuel, V8 without side windows.

This van showed up on eBay, being sold by a fellow in Daylesford (Vic) who has owned and driven it for quite some years.

The photos below were taken when I went and looked at the van, before we bought it.

Standard WB front, with GTS guards

Leather Interior

Wood grain wheel, GTS DashROH Alloy Wheels

Carpet trimmed interior (with spare wheel)

After some negotiation, we paid $5,500 - which included a roadworthy. We had to wait for a couple of weeks while the roadworthy was organised, but we think it was a pretty good buy.

As you can see above, the spare wheel is in the cabin because of the LPG tank. This van is a 253 4-speed, on dual fuel!