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WB UTE STOLEN/RECOVERED PROJECT

Started by _LH SLR 3300_ , Dec 07 2012 07:09 PM

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13 replies to this topic

#1 _LH SLR 3300_

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Posted 07 December 2012 - 07:09 PM

Today i took delivery of a WB Holden ute project i'm undertaking for a close relative. His pride & joy was stolen just over two years ago, the thieves were caught before they'd managed to totally destroy the car & after going through all the legal stuff, the Police finally released the car this week. Two years of sitting in a Police impound yard have taken a toll on it, but overall it's held up OK apart from some rust & missing parts. The car has sentimental value to the owner, he's worked his whole life for his family & now his kids are grown & have families of their own, he just wants a neat old Holden to cruise around in on the weekends. Plans are for an injected 5.0ltr conversion, neat trim & repaint in VE Commodore Poison Ivy.
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When stolen, the car was powered by it's original 3.3ltr 6cyl & 4 speed, it now has a dead 253 tri-matic.
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I have a fairly big clean up job to start off with, the owner is a hands on sort of fella & will be helping along the way to keep costs down.
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more evidence of the thieves attempt at rebirthing the car.
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#2 kingsly

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Posted 07 December 2012 - 10:38 PM

awesome cant wait to see this take shape..
esp with ur build quality and workmanship

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#3 _toranatime_

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Posted 08 December 2012 - 07:59 AM

^^ Totally agree, can't wait to see how you do the paint and panel work on this.

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#4 wot179

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Posted 08 December 2012 - 12:31 PM

^^^^^^^^What they said^^^^^^.

Stickshift or bleeder?

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#5 _LH SLR 3300_

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Posted 08 December 2012 - 02:07 PM

Idealy we'd like to run a stick shift. I'm thinking T5, the WB was a factory 4 speed car & still has the cable clutch pedal. Failing that we'll put an TH700 auto in it for now. Although the owner has had a few old Holdens in the past including a couple of Toranas, HTs etc, he has never restored one & the main things he wants with this car is V8, power steer & A/C. Oh yeah, i'll be fitting some fuel & ignition kill switches so hopefully it doesn't go missing in the middle of the night again & i told the owner to put full comp insurance on it once it's finished too. Had another look over the car today & found some more rust spots.
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One positive though is despite the patina paint & rust holes, the body & quarters still have their original lines & i don't expect to find much filler. We're not going for a top 10 Summernats show finish but i think i can make this car look pretty neat, the owner told me if it turns out as good as my Toranas, he'll be stoked.

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#6 _Quagmire_

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Posted 08 December 2012 - 02:25 PM

watching this one with interest

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#7 _heapa_

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Posted 08 December 2012 - 10:35 PM

no top 10 matt just maybe a top 5 then at the nats lol . if ya need any parts let me know have a bloke up here at sevenhills that should have or can get most parts u mite need. Gee u love wiring up these bloody injected 5lt lol be doing them in your sleep soon lol.

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#8 _heapa_

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Posted 08 December 2012 - 11:03 PM

hey bud just letting u know i have a brand new replacement driver side floor pan here if u need it and if you do its free for u

Edited by heapa, 08 December 2012 - 11:03 PM.

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#9 _LH SLR 3300_

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Posted 08 December 2012 - 11:12 PM

Thanks Ty, yeah i do love fitting these engines to old Holdens, can almost wire them up off the top of my head. I might take you up on the offer of the floor pan, would appreciate it if you could ask the fella you know about factory power steer & or A/C for HQ-WB. First thing i'll be doing once all the junk goes is stripping the front & interior out so i can paint the engine bay. Would be good to have the A/C set up so i know what mods i'll need to do to the firewall etc before i paint it. Cheers Matt

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#10 _Quagmire_

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Posted 09 December 2012 - 04:49 AM

i can pm you pics of my stato firewall if you wish?

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#11 yel327

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Posted 09 December 2012 - 06:33 AM

Matt

Geez, that body is almost r00ted! Good luck with it! All that rust you can see, wait until you get the shell blasted and see how much more there is!

If you do go for a V8 T5 you'll have to get a V8 WB pedal, 6cyl won't have enough pull in it.

For the A/C buy a whole firewall off a HJ-HZ with all the air still on it and copy a you transfer it across. There are 4 x big holes to drill.

Check the rails for cracks while the front is off.

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#12 _LH SLR 3300_

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Posted 09 December 2012 - 07:49 AM

Any pics of HQ-WB with factory A/C would be great. Will more than likely use a later Commodore R134a compressor & get new high-low pressure hoses made up. A good mate is an A/C specialist with his own workshop so he'll help out where needed. Thanks for the heads up on the clutch pedal yel327, that was something i wasn't aware of & you've saved me a potential headache there. You're right about what can lie under patina paint & rusty stains, i've seen first hand what appeared to be clean original cars come back from media blasting a hornets nest of rust & previous substandard repairs. I think this car will be OK & i've repaired some basket cases of cars in the past. Any input is greatly appreciated though, i am like most people here a hobbiest & always keen to learn more.

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#13 _heapa_

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Posted 09 December 2012 - 09:42 AM

yeah cool matt i will get onto it for you i mite have a engine bracket here for air con hq to wb i all so have clutch pedals here. i will have a dig around today and what ever i have that u can use is free to you bud its my time to pay back to you bud for your help on my car

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#14 _LH SLR 3300_

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Posted 09 December 2012 - 09:53 AM

Appreciated Ty, any & all help & advice is welcomed. I've owned a few HQ-HZ Holdens but never really went that far with them in terms of restoration, i've always been a Torana fan first, so i'm kinda sailing into uncharted waters with this one. One thing i'm loving about these utes is the access behind the quarter panels once the covers in the tray are removed, very repairer friendly unlike some of the cars i'm used to working on.