They are good cars to wreck! U17 instruments, sports wheel, HX LE woodgrain fascia, discs, late rally rims etc.
They are good cars to wreck! U17 instruments, sports wheel, HX LE woodgrain fascia, discs, late rally rims etc.
hey just wondering how many HZ SLE they made, always been a bit of a favourite off mine. love all the gts gear on them and the tail lights and grill.Originally Posted by HK1837
Driver -1981 WB kingswood 253 4 speed
Weekend- AC Cobra replica 302ho(425hp) 4 speed toploader
Project Complete- SLR 5000 LH mock up(next door Neighbors)
never late in a 5.0 litre
They were a limited edition, only in the 100's (less than 1000). Grille is a pig on them, it is all plastic and the chrome peels off especially on the surround and after a stone hits it. It is really just an HZ grille with extensions on every second bar but missing the stainless surround (a bit like those dodgy Rare's HZ replica grilles). I had a few NOS upper and lower a while back, but they were never as popular as the HJ (vertical) and HX (horizontal) Statesman grilles, I think I ended up giving away the last ones I had. I just looked up while i'm typing and i've still got a fair few HX/Z and HJ ones hanging up in the shed (may even have some new ones somewhere) but the SL/E ones are gone. Biggest problem with the SL/E is as they are mid 1979 they all got the TH350 which was a pig of a box when it was first put into HZ and VB, if you ask anyone that was in service at the time they'll attest to all the warranty problems with them, GMH should have gone back to the Trimatic straight away rather than waiting until 1981.
I rather liked the SL/E Statesman grill with the larger box look, although it would have been nicer with stainless surround.
Hated the alloy rims with a passion. Nothing uglier every made. More Gemini, UC Sunturd, Commodore influence. YUK!
I think the N67 rims were OK on the Statesman, and they didn't look too bad on Premier or Kingswood when you optioned rally rims after about August 1978. It was the GTS's and Sandmans where they really looked out of place. I don't think the N67 rim was all that much worse on HZ GTS than the standard N66 rim though as they were colour coded prior to being replaced with the N67 alloy rim. No wonder they sold so many wire or polycast sets on new casr.
While where on the subject of grills are the hz sle grills hard to get and what would one be worth in good cond
im talking about the big chunky square type
They are not as common as the others, epecially in good cond as they are a crappy design, the surround is all plastic and the chrome comes off. The lower grille is a 3-piece design too (grille bit, "tub" bit that goes under the nosecone like the others, and a joiner strip), and always busted very easily. They'd only be really wanted by someone with an SL/E as they are too hard too keep in good condition. The others you can glue back together and paint, plus repair the stainless.
At least you have many options for a grill HJ-HZ if you are doing a custom. I remember buying the HZ SL/E Grill brand new from Holden. They were still available in the '90's and I think you can still get them on occasion from Rare Spares. I won't budge on my thoughts about the N67 Alloy wheels, they are revolting on every model!
Have you seen an earlier HZ GTS with colour coded N66 rally rims? That is awful too! Most got changed to the HJ-HX colours pretty quick.
Let's face it, most flicked the factory rims for aftermarket stuff.
I remember widening a set of GTS Rallye Wheels for my big block HQ Van and people thought I was mad not buying some shiny chrome aftermarket rubbish.
But I knew the look I was after and it wasn't following the procession of sheep.
HZ's were pretty bad with the rim and other inflictions from factory. Luckily it's not hard to put them right.
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