Jobs Done

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.

Project: Statesman Front

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.

Statesman Mirrors

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....