HQ Sandman - Consoles

**mauser** · 08-02-2011, 08:59 AM

Yeah... The kingswood armreast were fitted to all HQ Belmont Sandmans.

I thought the ones you see were just an improvement made by owners throughout its life...

Anyone own one from new???

Mauser

**HK1837** · 08-02-2011, 09:37 AM

HQ commercials don't even have the holes in the body for intertia reels. 1974 plated HJ have them but they are filled with grey body putty.

**mauser** · 08-02-2011, 07:36 PM

Thanks Byron,

I'm sure you are right on the inertia seatbelts. I just dont have any pictures of a HQ Belmont Sandman Panelvan interier to work from. They all seem to be different in configurations. The utes are mostly Kingswood based so not much of a reference.

Armrests on a Belmont van are a new one to me.

Do you have any photo's of an interier on a complete one?
Does the tailgate have a belmont badge as well as the V8 one?

haha I guess I have a few questions... :-)

Mauser

**ozbox** · 09-02-2011, 02:30 PM

Originally Posted by HK1837

HQ commercials don't even have the holes in the body for intertia reels. 1974 plated HJ have them but they are filled with grey body putty.

byron hq commercial ran the seat belt holes at the bottom of the pillar not half way up so putting car type belts in was a straight bolt up except for hq coupe..

**Absinth** · 09-02-2011, 03:36 PM

This is an LS Monaro brochure pic but it appears Holden wasn't too concerned about which seatbelt/console combination they fitted. The LS appears to have inertia rell seatbelts but hase a belt buckle storage console.....

Also take note of the console front lid and shifter surround.... fully chromed with the plastic woodgrain insert panels fitted over the chromed section. You have to wonder how Rare Spares decided a black border was correct??????

**mauser** · 09-02-2011, 07:42 PM

Funny how the Chestnut interier ones all have the black inertia consoles...

How the fw%^k did HJ ute/vans pre-75 find their floppy bits with a full console that had an armrest????? Must of had stalks.

I would of thought as a run-out-model toe-in-the-water sports commercial they would of used everything from the '74 GTS/4 bin. That would of included the black fish-scale dash facia and console lid as well as the consoles. The Kingswood utes would of looked fairly identical to them with the same door trims and armrests.

Were the commericals the only HQ range without inertia seatbelts in '74 that had full floor consoles? I thought Belmont/Kingswoods either got the half-console or a bench seat.

Mauser

**Absinth** · 10-02-2011, 12:34 AM

Originally Posted by mauser

I would of thought as a run-out-model toe-in-the-water sports commercial they would of used everything from the '74 GTS/4 bin. That would of included the black fish-scale dash facia and console lid as well as the consoles.

The early HQ fishscale fascia's, console lids and shifter surrounds were not black.... they were a chromed finish.... ADR's came in about reflective finishes on dashes so Holden painted a translucent grey/green finish over the chromed dash to reduce the light glare. The console lid and shifter remained the chrome finish without the translucent paint finish.
I am not sure if a black GTS fascia was released later, I have the 1973 HQ parts manual and only two type 4 floor shift fascia's are listed, chrome fishscale and woodgrain finish.

This is also why the silver HJ/HX GTS fascia's are a matt finish. The black HJ/HX/HZ fascia's are supposed to be a matt finish also but years of cleaning turns them glossy.

Originally Posted by mauser

Were the commericals the only HQ range without inertia seatbelts in '74 that had full floor consoles? I thought Belmont/Kingswoods either got the half-console or a bench seat.

Half console (seat seperator) was used in Belmont/Kingswood with bucket seats and column shift, or you could order a console shift which was bucket seats and the four speed floor shift with full console. Inertia seatbelts were optional on Belmont/Kingswood sedans and wagons.

**GNW1974** · 10-02-2011, 10:27 AM

Originally Posted by Absinth

The early HQ fishscale fascia's, console lids and shifter surrounds were not black.... they were a chromed finish.... ADR's came in about reflective finishes on dashes so Holden painted a translucent grey/green finish over the chromed dash to reduce the light glare. The console lid and shifter remained the chrome finish without the translucent paint finish.
I am not sure if a black GTS fascia was released later, I have the 1973 HQ parts manual and only two type 4 floor shift fascia's are listed, chrome fishscale and woodgrain finish.

This is also why the silver HJ/HX GTS fascia's are a matt finish. The black HJ/HX/HZ fascia's are supposed to be a matt finish also but years of cleaning turns them glossy.

Half console (seat seperator) was used in Belmont/Kingswood with bucket seats and column shift, or you could order a console shift which was bucket seats and the four speed floor shift with full console. Inertia seatbelts were optional on Belmont/Kingswood sedans and wagons.

Interesting the differences between so many cars. Unfortunately as so many parts are interchangeable many cars have probably been changed over the years, making it difficult to know what was original and what wasn't. As we know many people order unusal combinations when buying cars, even more so back then when so many trim combinations were available.

In reference to the fascia, I bought the new one in around 1983 and it was definately a fishscale pattern but not the chrome finish like some are referring to. That doesn't make them wrong but could indicate that Holden had to change the finish to meet ADR changes.

The replacement I bought was identical to the finish on the one I replaced, except much shinier under lights as I previously mentioned. This would probably just be from cleaning it over the years (I did look after the vehicle and usuallly cleaned it every week.)

I can very clearly recall the Spare Parts Man at the Holden dealer going through the parts book to order the correct fascia for my Sandman ute, and yes there were several options available for fascias.

As for the floppy seatbelts I think most of us who have owned a car with these belts,it just became second nature to lay the end of the belt on the seat when you undid it, and only occaisionally did it fall down.

**HK1837** · 10-02-2011, 08:25 AM

Originally Posted by mauser

Funny how the Chestnut interier ones all have the black inertia consoles...

How the fw%^k did HJ ute/vans pre-75 find their floppy bits with a full console that had an armrest????? Must of had stalks.

I would of thought as a run-out-model toe-in-the-water sports commercial they would of used everything from the '74 GTS/4 bin. That would of included the black fish-scale dash facia and console lid as well as the consoles. The Kingswood utes would of looked fairly identical to them with the same door trims and armrests.

Were the commericals the only HQ range without inertia seatbelts in '74 that had full floor consoles? I thought Belmont/Kingswoods either got the half-console or a bench seat.

Mauser

I'll check on the stalks thing, but i'd say you are right. Greg has a 10/74 Dandenong ute out there with original seatbelts.

That is correct on consoles, ie you couldn't get a floor shift auto on HQ commercials outside of XX7, 4spds just stuck out of a rubber boot. So Kingswood and Belmont commercials got buckets and a seat separator or a bench seat.

**HK1837** · 11-02-2011, 04:52 PM

Originally Posted by ozbox

byron hq commercial ran the seat belt holes at the bottom of the pillar not half way up so putting car type belts in was a straight bolt up except for hq coupe..

I know, but you couldn't order retractables on HQ commercials. Was not available until 1/1/75 in HJ.

--- Updated ---

Originally Posted by AN5590

Yep no doubt about the vinyl floor as I removed it to put the carpet in, it still has the original vinyl floor under the rear part of the console. Will be interested to see what Byron can add to this one as well as the console lid etc. The dash is fishscale but not chrome, I think the finish was called gunmetal - a grey/black type finish, dash also has the clock in case that indicates anything different.

Also in terms of the seat belts in they used to have black plastic covers over the buckles but these disintergrated years ago.

HQ Belmont XX7, and from what I can tell HJ HOLDEN XX7 up until 1/7/75 had floor mats. If carpet was optioned it was dealer fitted. In HJ, carpet was mandatory with buckets except it would appear on XX7.