Is the contention here that appx. 600 completed body shells had their firewalls changed under improvised conditions, no jigs, spot welds cut, repaired, resealed to the plenum, respotwelded, etc etc? Probably 2000 man hours of rework.

It really doesn't sound very plausible.

Is there any photographic evidence of this rework anywhere? The cars must show some evidence, surely.

A common myth among HQ owners is that there are two versions of the standard "Holden" grille badge. One that features a red stripe around the edge of the badge and another without the red, just grey. Try telling a believer of this one that they ALL started out with the red stripe and that the Aussie sun fades it over time so that it completely disappears eventually.

I think that they just go from blue to green and then they go gold.

A dude I know collects them horn buttons, does them up and sells them.
Maybe only the red ones go gold, I will ask him.
I thought they went from blue to green due to fading, I have seen silver or a chrome look as well.

With the red I think it's the because of the lead in the red.

Gday, the myth regarding HQ grille emblem is an old topic, but I have 3 examples of different colouring all in as new condition. No.1 is the emblem obtained from rare spares. The lion in the centre is on a black background. There is a boundary line of red with thin chrome edging. Outside the red line is a perimeter of blue that has HOLDEN in chrome.No 2 and 3 were found at swap meets. No. 2 the lion is on a black background. There is a red boundary line with thin chrome edging. Outside the red line is a perimeter of black with HOLDEN in chrome. This would have to be the rarest.Condition wise I am referring to.These 2 version appear a lot, but of course the red stripe has faded and in its place is a silver colour. No 3 is all black. Lion on black background. A boundary line of black with thin chrome edging. Perimeter of black with Holden in chrome. This version has been thought to have gone on the SS and or Sandman. I don’t know anything about what goes we’re, but I do have 3 different coloured emblems. And if I could I would send through photos. Please tell me how.

The reason for the 4.44 rear axle is well known. When the HQ commercials were released late in 1971 the standard stock order vehicle was 173HC, 3spd on the column and 3.55 rear axle. You could option 173LC, 202HC, 4spd and Trimatic. 3.36 was the economy rear axle option. That was it. The standard 4spd was a wide ratio M20 Aussie 4spd, later coded as M22. You could get a standard M20 behind 202 but it would have been horrid even with a 3.55 rear axle.
In early 1973 a V8 model cab-chassis was offered which was 253HC, 3spd and 3.55 rear axle. Options were 4spd and Trimatic. I think 3.36 rear axle was standard for autos and also if you optioned integrated A/C with a V8 you got a 3.36 rear axle. Manual also had 3.36 as the economy option.
What happened was with the 6cyl engines the clutches couldn’t handle the 3.55 rear axle with a load on the back. There was even a National competition for what dealer mechanic could change a cab-chassis clutch out the fastest. So for HJ the 4.44 rear axle was developed for 6cyl only applications and was the standard rear axle. 3.55 became the economy 6cyl rear axle. These would have been for job sites where only low speed use occurred, they were useless over 80kmh. What did occur though is for some reason GMH did allow some 6cyl with standard M20 4spd. These were almost as bad on clutches as a 6cyl 3spd with 3.55 rear axle. A 3spd has basically the same 1st gear ratio as a normal Aussie 4spd M20 (3.07 vs 3.05), so there is no difference in 1st. But reverse is a different matter and this is where you really fry clutches. Reverse on a 3spd is 3.74:1, whereas by nature of its design an Aussie M20 is 3.05 reverse, so that means in reverse with a 4.44 rear axle an M20 is almost the same overall reverse ratio as a 3.55 axle with a 3spd.

You could not get a 308 in a HQ cab-chassis. During HJ the Ambulance pack was offered with L31 M41 GV4 only. That changed to TH350 in late HZ and Trimatic in later WB. An Aussie 4spd wouldn’t handle a 5.0L on a loaded cab-chassis.

4.2 tonners were OK, especially WB. No good as an M20 4spd, too hard to reverse with the 3.55 rear axle. The best 4.2L examples were Trimatic with 3.36 rear axle or a 3spd manual with 3.36 if you didn’t want to tow or carry heavy loads.

No 3.9 in a cab chassis as they were all Salisbury. You could get a 3.9 in any other HQ 6cyl as they were all banjo.

253/4.2 manual was either M15 or M20. Wide ratio M20 (also later called M22) was 6cyl only. All 253/4.2 manual cab-chassis were 3.55 unless optioned with GV4 (3.36) or C60.

Any 4.44 cab chassis was horrid with a 4.44, but it was a godsend on site vehicles or farms with a manual. Even 3.55 was horrible at highway speeds. The HX 4.2 was so gutless that GMH changed the standard rear axle from 3.08 to 3.55 on all of them except cab-chassis which was already 3.55. That was the worst Holden of all, a HX 4.2 manual ute or van. High reviving 4.2, strangled with ADR27A.

I forgot to add, when I was about 15 I bought two tonners to drive around on my Nan’s 6 acre property. A HQ 173 and a HJ 3.3, both 3spds. The HQ was 3.55 and the HJ a 4.44. Both were pretty low km, one was rusty and one banged up. The 4.44 was heaps better for low speed work, far less clutch slipping.

Edited by user Thursday, 24 June 2021 6:52:23 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Probably 95% of 6cyl HQ cab chassis would have been column shift manual or auto. Very hard to find floor shift 4spd examples.

Remember 3.55 in an EH with 13” tyres would be close to 14” tyres with 4:1. The optional 3.9 in an EH would be like a 4.44:1 with 14” tyres. Plus a cab chassis was designed to move/carry 2600kg around.

Haha My mate had a lot of Austin A40's but they were all OHV 40hp the same engine as in a Mini they were and a 4sp box but only used 1st and 2ed from what I can remember.

Yep interesting times back in them days, the younger generation just can not fathom such in reality. I will point out on some back road that this is just like the major highways was like back in 1973 and they go No ! I will stop off the highway and show them the old road that still exist beside the new at some points, I remember them new being built, concrete bridges that were much higher than the old not to mention wider. if you go north NSW you will see timber bridges that are one way only nowadays, well they were once 2 way, only people nowadays are to stupid and pathetic to be let drive both ways over them now.

On the 1973 highway we had you could drive 2 cars on the bitumen but you were playing with say 3in between each car and so most got 2 wheels of as you past and we has stone nets in front of the windscreen to stop it getting smashed. even in the early 1980's I would get a buster windscreen every month say or a laminated one hammered with a big star once a month off the main highway that was wider by then.