I was a mechanic but I have never tried to do a job like this before . But I am sure that I am not the first so I would appreciate any help or feedback .

Photos of everything, so you know where it goes later. Bag/box and tag everything like it is a crime scene.

Welcome to the club! It is great fun.

Perhaps the first thing you could work out is what you want the car to be when you have finished. Original? Hot motor? Lots of little modifications? Lots of huge modifications?

Once you know that, work back and you will find the place where you have to start. From there it is all easy.

And yes, record everything as you do it.

Fortunately there is a heap of info already out there. As wbute stated above someone has already done it so use that info, it is so much easier. And there are a heap of really cluey people out there who can answer every question you have.

It will take longer than you thought, much longer probably, but the feeling when you finally go cruising makes every second worthwhile! Enjoy.

Yeah, good advice above. I don't know how many times I just done a small job on the car over one day and should have photographed stuff, let alone whole job over many months/years


HG Premier 6 cylinder in Mediterranean blue metallic with Sandlewood trim. That would have to be one of my favourite premier trim/paint combos right there

Yes HK , I intend to replace the 186 with a 253 . If it is a reasonable thing to do . But from memory I don't think the stock 3 speed box would like it much . This will be my last car and I want to do it right , I don't want it to be a hotrod ( at 62 those days are beyond me ) but I don't want it standard factory either . I want it to look like an Hg without 30 inch wheels , but if I came across some GTS guards I wouldn't say no . I don't really like all the fancy chrome trim work . they catch water and cause rust . Was thinking more along the lines of Monaro and Sandman blackouts .My wife likes the Mediterranean blue but I really love Electra blue . I don't know ? But we both think a white roof .

But at the end of the day it is my car and I don't want to win shows with it as it will be my daily car . But my first Sandman was a 253 and I loved that motor . Yes it's bench seat and I think that I will keep it that way .

Thankyou HK and everyone else for your advice , by the time that this is done you will be cursing my name .

Lots of car people in Ballarat.

3spd in a HG is the same box for 6cyl and V8. You just need a V8 input shaft and the longer cover for it. Keep your eyes open for a whole V8 box, they were in HT to HZ although the HT box is different ratios. It will be the easiest way to get an input shaft.

All you need then is a bellhousing and clutch fork from any V8 Aussie 3spd or 4spd with a push clutch fork so HT to mid HZ. Ideally a V8 banjo centre too as they have a bigger uni.

I wouldn't bother chasing a HG 253, just use a HQ or HJ one but you will need a HT-HG sump and pickup. All of the HQ or HJ engine bits work although you will also need a HT-HG alternator bracket and sort out the carby linkage. Radiator needs to be bigger too.

You also need the clutch linkage bracket on the bellhousing for V8 3spd, it is different to 6cyl. However it may work out easier to just use a HK pedal setup with hydraulic master and a slave cylinder.

Edited by user Friday, 2 August 2019 9:14:17 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

I'll suggest a bit more, ramble on a bit about planning & space, and it might prompt others with ideas as well.

Your question is more about where to start - as in what to get the ball rolling, but it won't take much - and believe me, once the ball is rolling, it will snowball, and you'll have no shortage of tasks mounting up.

The hard part is dealing with feeling overwhelmed. Myself, and many others I've spoken to about doing project cars, almost always have had that moment when it seems all was lost, and it would never get done.
But trust me - you will push through it, and a week or so later, you'll wonder why you ever doubted yourself.

So my best advice for starting is to work out your plans first. This is often best done when looking at the car, so you get an idea of the scope. Take as long as you need to work on this. Invite a few mates over for a beer and they may suggest something you haven't thought of. "Rebuild a car" is a daunting task on it's own, but if you break ot down into dozens of stages, you can deal with it a bit at a time, and get the satisfaction (and motivation) from finishing each stage.

Work out what level of finish you want on each area (ie, completely rub back the underside & paint it in 2 pack gloss, or just clean it up, make sure there's no rust lurking, repair any that is, and proofcoat the underside.
This will dictate how much you will do yourself, and how much you'll want to pay others to do.

What space & tools do you have at your disposal, and should you get more (of both)? A double garage is ideal, but many have built cars in smaller spaces. I'm fortunate to have chosen my house for the garage (wife liked the house, I liked the garage - deal done). Mine is 8m x 8m with an additional workshop area and under-house storage running off it. I found myself keeping the car over to one side of it (with space to work all around, with doors open), and using the other half for smaller "off-car" tasks - including painting of larger items like, bumpers, and a lot of small parts & sub assemblies. I simply hung sheets from a beam to isolate it from the other areas of the garage. Plan our how you are going to deal with all these smaller paint jobs. Perhaps you might choose to bag up a whole heap of stuff an have it powder-coated instead? Do you have a compressor & do you plan to use it? Should you buy one if you don't already own one? Restoring/rebuilding a car is a good excuse to increase the tool collection, but it erodes the budget you have left to spend on the car too.

If you plan to do a lot of painting, work out all the colours you'll need (body, interior, chassis black, proofcoat, etch primer, primer, clear etc and the quantities you'll need, and find a good paint shop who will colour match. If you buy as much as you can from the same place, they'll often give you advice on mix ratios, how to set up the gun etc. There's also Youtube these days, which is a huge help for anyone wanting to see what it's like to learn a new skill.

To give you an idea of breaking it up, here's some of the steps I went through (these steps often had dozens of sub-tasks as well).
There are some differences here - I did an '87 VL Brock, and a lot changed in 17-18 years, but it still gives you the idea.

1. Assess the overall car - looking at what's visible in the way of rust (I had some under the screen, and the passenger floor). Start working on the plan, and work out a logical process to keep it moving - so the order is in such a way where you won't be having to stop all the time because something else is in the way of completing that task. I spent many weeks (maybe 2 months all up) poking around the car & writing things down that I needed to work on over time. You'll be amazed how much you'll end up noting.
2. Disassemble the components that hide rust - in my case plastic bumpers, and lift carpets to check floors - this gives you a clearer picture of how much bodywork will be needed.
3. Electrics were an issue on my car, with many items not working, and a dog's breakfast of additional wiring. So I bit the bullet on that stuff early, and decided to get it all working well, so re-assembly wouldn't do my head in chasing faults whilst trying not to scratch anything. I removed every wire that had been added by previous owners over the years - multiple alarm systems, dodgy central locking relays (when the OEM ones worked fine) kill switch wires, car stereo wires. I had a milk crate full off excess wire I'd removed. I then went back to returning the loom to stock - many soldered & heat-shrunk joins to get rid of scotch-lock damage. A new fuse rail to replace the melted one, and re-joining wires that were cut by alarm installers over the years. I also checked & re-did all the earth points, and then went through each & every item (headlights, horn, blinkers etc) to make sure I got them all working perfectly off the original, but repaired loom.
4. Strip-down started - engine bay accessories - all carefully labelled, screws put in bags with the component, and some components kept together (eg charcoal canister, bracket, screws & hoses all in one box - along with a hand-drawn diagram of what port each hose ran to). Sometimes photos don't give you the detail you need, so notes are always handy.
5. Engine & box out, then suspension, crossmember, steering, brake lines etc - absolutely everything out (if you're going to paint the engine bay).
6. Half a day spent pressure washing all of the above items, getting rid of any remnants of grease, oil and dirt.
7. Dash out, steering column, pedals, wiring loom - leaving a bare firewall (carpet pulled back as well). This was so I could weld up holes in the engine bay, inner guards, firewall, plenum, and around the front screen opening. I covered the interior with old woollen blankets I bought for $5 each at garage sales.
8. After welding, grinding, and smoothing all the repairs, I cleaned & prepped the engine bay, trans tunnel, front floors (underside), chassis rails etc & re-painted the lot.
9. The small amount of exterior rust (screen opening) was also done at this time, to minimise the instances of paint mixing - I just made sure I mixed enough to do the spots I needed in one session.
10. Strip crossmember, steering & suspension components, tear-down struts, toss brake rotors & bearings, toss pads. Source rebuilt rack.
11. Strip & re-paint the inner guards (wheel side) and spray with proof-coat.
12. Re-paint all suspension & steering parts.
13. Fit new bushes to all the suspension components, new shocks in the struts, and new strut tops, bump stops & boots.
14. Start fitting back into car (to get it mobile again). New bearings, new rotors, new pads etc.
Some parts need work from multiple areas - eg brake lines running from the engine bay out to the flex lines to the wheels.

At this point I split it into 2 areas - engine tear-down & rebuild in one side of the garage, while I worked on the rear suspension, brakes & diff on the other.

I'm going to stop here, as those steps took many months, and had many sub-tasks under each one too, and I haven't even touched the exterior yet.

Things I learnt during this process that you may find handy, if you haven't already planned to do things like this:
1. Try to get cardboard boxes that are consistent sizes & stack well, so you can store parts, well labelled, in a stack that won't topple over. I'd even consider the bunnings stackable crates these days - 50L ones are like $8 each now. Wish they were around back then.
2. Take your work-space to the vehicle - a tool trolley and a work area on wheels so you don't have to walk far each step of the way when you need to put something down. I ended up using a 4-tier shelf unit on wheels, each shelf being ideal for a different working height on the vehicle. Also makes re-assembly easier when you stack all the parts on the trolley, ready to fit.
3. Invest in a comfortable face shield. Not only will it keep sparks out of your eyes when grinding, but it will be invaluable during the tear-down & cleaning process, especially when working with air, the pressure washer, or under the car.
4. If you are working under the car, get it up as high as possible (safely) and support it on decent axle stands. You will probably need to move these as sections progress (eg from under the diff to the body jacking points when you want to drop the diff).
5. Static-time the engine on the stand to 10° BTDC (or whatever you'll run it at) aligning #1 with the notch in the dizzy rim, and mark this terminal on the cap with a label. Having an engine start first go is not only an amazing feeling, but also good for running in the cam.
6. Tools worth buying if you don't have them already - MIG welder (you can get small 10A ones that can do sheetmetal), compressor, decent spray gun like a S770 knock-off, and a pressure washer. Buy heaps of flap discs for the grinder, and wire brushes to fit the cordless drill.
7. If you don't have an old vacuum cleaner, buy one from a garage sale. Get a bag-less type. It's amazing how quick you'll fill it up. You'll use it daily when stripping the car down, and nothing is nicer than working on a clean floor under the car. I vacuumed the car and the garage floor more than I'd ever vacuumed the house..... It's also good for getting crap out of difficult areas like the bottoms of doors. In really tough spots, you can use the vacuum and an air duster gun to dislodge crap and catch it in the vacuum.
8. Keep a few old buckets handy around the car for chucking rubbish into. Unwound electrical tape, rock-hard maccas fries from under the back seat, 1c & 2c coins. It's a pain having to take a handful of crap to the bin all the time. Also comes in handy to empty the vacuum into.
9. Really hard plastic scrapers are a godsend for getting rid of years of grease & grime without scratching through paint, making it easier to then use an old paint brush & prepsol to finish off the cleaning.
10. Buy heaps of prepsol - it's the best at getting rid of grease, without leaving another greasy surface that could contaminate where you want to paint.
11. Buckets are also handy for keeping task-specific tools together - like a "grease cleaning kit" in # 9. Or as the car comes along, things like your buffing compound, microfibre cloths, and polish.


And the most important thing of all - buy a couple of fire extinguishers to keep in key locations around the car. I accidentally set fire to some carpet under-felt. Not from welding, but a stray grinder spark that went across the garage. Fortunately I still had a 20L bucket half-full of water, and a wet rag (which I had been using to cool welds), so it was put out quick. But fire can quickly spread.


I told you I could go on..... and I'm sure others have even better advice for you.

the key to add to what is pretty well covered in my eyes; "final assembly starts at initial disassembly" thats the first thing i was told at age 17 by an 82ytr old coachbuilder/fabricator hotrodder in about 1983
at first i though "what you on about old man" as i wrecked my hand on an FC holden bellhousing inspection plate trying to get the bolts out of the grey, now i get it some 30 odd yrs later

about 40 years ago my tech teacher used to say " give it a good coat of looking on paint sonny "
because his tech teacher said it to him 55 years before that