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Will suss it out when I get home. Might be a Sandman but impossible to tell from ID plates.

Numbers go together OK, it will be 9/75. It is amongst a batch of 8 x consecutive PSN's of HJ vans out of the Dandenong assembly plant, 5 of them are L32 M20 or L31 M21 so good possibility it is a batch of 5 Sandmans. I already had some data on this car, I have an engine number for it and can confirm it if you have its original. I think it was sold new by Reg Hunt Rhodes Limited in Elsternwick Vic.

1898 is Deauville Blue metallic and 19V is black vinyl trim. It is optioned with 4.2L high comp engine, and also optioned with M20 4spd if it isn't a Sandman (if it is a Sandman the M20 transmission is standard) but otherwise no other mechanical options. The only way you will possibly pick it as a Sandman is by console brackets, if it isn't a Sandman it will be floor shift, whereas a Sandman is console shift.

Deauville blue is one of the most common HJ Sandman van colours, but it is not so common on HJ Holden van - I only have 2 HJ Holden vans recorded whereas I have 24 HJ Sandman vans in 1898. If it is a Sandman it will have had XY5 (white) stripes rather than XX7 (black) in a box in the back of the van, either there when delivered or possibly the dealer fitted them depending upon the customer's wishes.

As long as they are all original with red lead over them sounds like console brackets to me, so i'd say you have a Sandman. It should also have a headlining that goes right back to the tailgate, with 0.039" thick strips welded along the drip rails of the roof panel, maybe 40mm wide that start at the cab and go to the back. These are for the headlining. Will be a piece at the back to hold it too.

That engine is from a 5/76 HJ, yours is QR681xxx. I wouldn't bother trying to find another, just use a 308 or better still yours is a perfect candidate for an EFI 5L and auto from a VN-VS, will bolt straight in using your sump and pickup and mounts, just have to find or make a TH350 gearbox crossmember for it, fit a TH400 speeedo cable and TH400 T-bar (bolts in the 4spd hole and console, just uses a different console insert and T-bar harness plugs straight into the HJ harness. Shorter tailshaft and a bit of wiring and fuel pump plumbing and you are away, you can buy harnesses already done and throttle cables already done too. Very easy conversion and you do not have to change the body in any way, the only mod will be to move the battery to the other side and make a hole to get the harness through the firewall near the glovebox, which I have seen done hidden through the fan housing. If you are interested contact me later and i'll help you out more with it.

Yes, but not butcher it. It is only a 253 without its original engine. Perfect candidate for a non body altering engine upgrade.

I’d do a sympathetic resto on it as it very much sounds like a Sandman. But as you no longer have the original engine and it is only a 253 put whatever driveline you like in it that doesn’t need body mods. SBC and TH400 or 4L60 fits easily, or even as simple as a carbied 308 and T5, Trimatic or whatever fits.