My Faithful HQ Panel Van

[barbadosGreen]

Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone.
You're right, the paintwork is in unbelievably good condition.
I was very lucky that the previous owner was a paint and decorator, as well as a classic car collector himself. He knew that value of protecting paintwork, and although the van was his daily drive for 27 years it was always garaged or under a carport when not in use.

You mention the Overlander chassis - is that the original 4wd conversion done by a fella in Tasmania (Launceston?), or just a 2wd wheels/tyres/clearance mod?

You've really got me thinking about whether to respray or not. I like the Idea of "survivor van", considering that 95 % of the paintwork is intact. Maybe rust repair and a good touch-up spray is the way to go.

Goodness knows, there's plenty of more deserving areas I could work on (eg weather strip replacement (they literally crumble between you fingers) as well as body mount and suspension rubbers, not to mention doing up the gearbox and clutch

Whatever transpires the colour won't be changing - I love it too,(that's why I bought that colour !!)

Oh, and I'm already bidding on those ebay seats...

Mmm.... got some more thinking to do...

Cheers

Bruce

[wbute]

If its as good as it looks paintwise, just fix the rust I reckon for sure!

Overlanders were done by Arther Haywood in Tassie. They are the standard chassis modified to fit a dana front and rear axle. They used a transfer case attached to a turbo 400 transmision.

I am amazed at where you took your van all those years ago, and just goes to show how addicted to 4wd cars we have become, when a 2wd would mostly do the same job!

[Robbo]

Welcome Bruce, that is an amazing story, and wonderful the fact you were able to be reunited with it once again. All the best to you in bringing it up to standard again. "Holden commercial vehicles" and how versatile they are, backed up by documented and photographic evidence. That say's it all really.

[playwme]

You mention the Overlander chassis - is that the original 4wd conversion done by a fella in Tasmania (Launceston?), or just a 2wd wheels/tyres/clearance mod?


Cheers

Bruce

Either/or. Obviously a full Arthur Hayward style conversion may be costly but a clearance mod and a diff with electric locker and some chunky tyres would probably do the job. I'm assuming that 36 years on you may not be as willing to do some of those things you had to in order to get out of muddy rutted areas so a few helpful mods may make it easier. Electric winches front and rear may be a saving grace as well. Even put in a V8/auto conversion onto the other chassis and take an offroad camper trailer with you. Then when the trips done drop the body back onto the original chassis with the 173/3 on the tree and you've got the original van back.

That would really make people oh and ah if for every photo you had in the album from the 70's, you had another in similar location from now.

[HK1837]

GQ Patrol chassis would be the go nowadays. That way it is still a Q. One might call it a GHQ. 80 series cruiser chassis would be even easier as no need for a transfer case lever.