Gday, Yes i had a 62 EK windlowless van about 10 years ago, replaced all the stock running gear with a HJ Prem wagon factory 5 Lt, turbo 400 + 10 bolt diff & a combination of V6 conversion parts along with home made stuff etc...
Some Advice???? Don't do it unless your real handy on the tools & have VERY deep pockets!
Also the engineering rules have changed in some states now, others on this site mat be able to offer good advice on this but i think you cant put anything bigger than a 327 in these old Holdens now due to new rules on power/weight ratios?????
However if your hellbent on this conversion then here's a few things that we encounted along the way, By the way this car is still in build, i sold it to a mate who continues the struggle today, it is getting close to being finished, It dosnt help either that we were time poor either....
10 Bolt Diff - We had shortned & the HJ coil springs removed, then welded on EK van leaf mounts, ran EK rear leafs, bolted up good & had Turbo 400 tailshaft shortned to suite, Used HJ drums & stud pattern.....
Turbo 400 - Cut out EK floor tunnel, Welded in HJ tunnel, Used HJ Turbo crossmember which was a good fit & bolted up to the RHS full chassis we hand made, Used HJ speedo cable & a combination of EK hand brake items from dash to crossmember & HJ to the rear drums.
HJ 1975 308 (pre polution) motor - *Note from HX (1977) onwards you have to run the polition gear which choked up a good V8 donk, Anyway we installed a HR front end running new HJ discs & calipers, Welded in the engine mounts & spacers 1.5 inch forward of centre so the dizzy clears the firewall & you have access to RHR plug, had a custom made sump & 1" 3/4 extractors made running inside the rails (very tight clearance), we used HJ auto radiator, Thermo fan mounted on front, modified the radiator support panel which also mounts the bonnet catch, this was a hugh job... (Theres a better way i reckon)?
Steering, A nightmare as we went for the factory EK column auto look, dont try this, it took years to get it right, V6 conversions supplied the cut down EK factory auto column into VK Commodore shaft & onto VK Commy rack (rear mounted), The kit was a dud & had to be modified several times to make it work, The shift was mechanical on the column onto a special shift block then cable to the auto, Reverse/Neutral switch was HJ converted to fit - Its been a nightmare, Just run a floor shift there's a heap of good after market shift kits to choose from....
There's also a heap of engineering & welding box's to tick along the way!!!!
Brakes - We used factory HJ all round, hand made brake lines, VK Commy V8 booster was a good fit, ran EK auto pedal box with HJ lower brake pedal & the HJ Accelerator pedal on cable, this worked well...
We custom made a new wiring loom, easy to do on these old bankers as there is not much to them compared to the modern running gear, Think you can buy these looms from new now?
There's many more small things i cant remember, That's the main stuff i have listed, remember the Engineering???? Will need to be working closely to someone who will sign off on your mods etc...
Costs???? HJ donor car = $500, Rebuild running gear & conversion items = $10k, Time/Labor =???? 100s of hours over 3 years!
Having a complete donor car was GOLD, there's just so many times you need a bolt or bracket or something & its there, I wouldn't do it with out a complete car to raid from etc....
My tip would be to go for a VN/VP commy now with 304 fuel injected + better running gear & brakes for the donor these days?
There's also plenty of info from folks out there who have done this sort of thing & some will have good ideas on how to do it better than we did all those years ago.....
Hope that helps? (KISS method IS BEST)!!!!
Good Luck....
I now have a HK GTS 327 on the go so that's keeping me busy & broke these days.....
Cheers....
