New Van (for me), First Post, Lots of Questions, (HZ Sandman)

[Big Rob]

Someone's gone to alot of effort to make it NOT look like a Sandman.
Colour, spoiler, black bits (body paint plus door handles, glass trim), bumper, front panel, grill, mirrors, wheels etc

If it was modified a while ago then it follows the trend of building a custom van.

You bought a van (sometimes it may have been a Sandman), then went straight home or to a mates place and started changing things to personalize it. Nobody wanted a stock standard Sandman, they all wanted to have a something that was built to their taste. I'm actually surprised that so many have survived in some form of standard trim. The Statesman front on Wills van was almost a required mod. And black vinyl seats? Every motor trimmer in the country was flat-out doing cloth inserts. And absolutely nobody kept the standard wheels. Mags went straight on and the standard wheels turned into hose reels.

Cool custom van, I like it.

[Taily]

Welcome to the forums Will. Looks like a nice starting point to work with.

Grille? From what I know of them: HZ Statesman De Ville.

[Blocker]

Dave the first thing you can do is turn the headlight surrounds around.

The curved edge should be on the grille side to match the outside of the indicator frame.

[willturfdog]

Great stuff heaps of info there, appreciate the effort.

Apparently the sunroof is out of an old van, going to have the whole thing taken out altogether, not replaced.

Will spin those headlight surrounds around, that's something i'd never have known, the attention to detail: Love it.

I am having the interior totally redone, was thinking of going for something in greys and blacks, but was originally thinking fabric, so it doesn't get too hot in summer. But have been thinking that going back to the black original vinyl would look better, and hopefully put a bit of value back into the van. Would I be right in thinking this is the best approach?

Also the back of the van is the bit i spend most of my free (work) time daydreaming about, but I can't find many pics of custom jobs in this department. Do most people go simple and plain?

Thanks.

[HK1837]

Hard to see on my iphone but the grille looks like a HZ Caprice, is the top bar alloy or stainless?

May not be original plates to the body if so much is changed, grab the number off the firewall and i'll know from that if I can read the chassis number.

[willturfdog]

Not sure on the top bar, will check it out later.

Where is the best place to check for the chassis number? Where or what is the firewall? I work away so cannot get to vehicle straight away, but will check this out when I next get a chance and put the number up. That'd be great.

[HK1837]

Chassis number on the Safety Compliance plate where the build month is. Firewall number at about 11 o'clock when looking at the heater box. Will look like 12345S

[willturfdog]

Yeah found a number in that pattern, and its on the chassis too, so suppose thats it: 06910S

Thanks again.

[willturfdog]

Chassis number on the Safety Compliance plate where the build month is. Firewall number at about 11 o'clock when looking at the heater box. Will look like 12345S

HK1873: Have the chassis no. 06910S, any clues?

[RAEME]

Looks good Wil, you will have a great time doing her up. Mate my HZ is a slate black interior as well and I changed it all to velour, now it's your van so you do what you want and what makes you happy, I wished I hadn't changed it now if I had time again and more free spending money I would put it back vinyl. There just seems something too new and modern feeling with velour. But as said its yours mate and it's what you like.