Dealer Built Sandman????

[Martin Hubbard]

The car has GTS Guards but they're weld in sections. It also must have had a tap in the nose at some time and the owner opted to fit an HJ kingswood nose with single headlights no doubt due to the fact the prem fronts were in short supply. Being a Mopar person my Holden knowledge is a bit limited but what has me really confused is that it has the HJ decals. Given this car was built in July 78 you wouldn't expect a dealer to use the early decals.Front (2656 x 1494).jpgRear (2656 x 1494).jpg

[wbute]

I don't think a dealer would have done that. Well a Holden dealer anyway.
Not a bad looking ute though.

[Valencia]

If it has a different nose cone and weld in flutes in the guards there is a good chance its had more than a tap on the nose
but stranger things have happened
nice looking ute

[Sandaro]

Obviously someone's done up a HZ to look like a HJ Sandman. The dealer bit is a bit of a tall story...unless we're taking a used car dealer in the 90s.

Anyway, as far as I know (please correct me if I'm wrong) Hq/Hj never had the hq/hj style sandman script sticker on the tailgate. I think classis carlectables/trax put the sticker there on their 1/43 models around the late 90s and a few real cars restored following that put them on thinking the 1/43 models were accurate. Probably dates the restoration to that period.

[maxsandman]

What are the chances this is a HJ body with HZ tags, or on HZ chassis? check for matching numbers, then is it a HJ or HX or HZ body?

Id start by looking at the firewall wiring harness hole to see which model it is

cheers
Max

[playwme]

Once they get to this age they've usually been through 4 or 5 owners. Statistically, at least one of those is likely to embellish the truth a bit and make up a story that gets passed along with the car. Unless you have some kind of dealer receipt then all it is is a story. It could have had some stickers fitted at the dealer, but it could have also just been a V8 Kingswood and somewhere in its life someone decided to make it a Hj Sandman replica.

Does it have a GTS dash?

[stickthis]

Obviously someone's done up a HZ to look like a HJ Sandman. The dealer bit is a bit of a tall story...unless we're taking a used car dealer in the 90s.

Anyway, as far as I know (please correct me if I'm wrong) Hq/Hj never had the hq/hj style sandman script sticker on the tailgate. I think classis carlectables/trax put the sticker there on their 1/43 models around the late 90s and a few real cars restored following that put them on thinking the 1/43 models were accurate. Probably dates the restoration to that period.

Correct. No tailgate "sandman" decal from factory.

Are the stripes printed onto clear? Or are the cut out from black vinyl (stickers)

1900kg gvw? Are you sure its not 1950kg?

Tags sound to be an XU4.

[Martin Hubbard]

Hello again,
I've been trying to post some replies but they don't appear to have been posted so I apologise for being so rude. I'm grateful for all the great information thanks guys. Two things, firstly it seems I read a code incorrectly for the diff as a C instead of a G and secondly I also tried to post some photos of the car so I'll try again now.Front (2656 x 1494).jpgRear (2656 x 1494).jpg

[Martin Hubbard]

Yes it has a GTS instrument cluster with yellow needles, which I'm told were HZ.

[wbute]

HZ and WB.