Hi all, I'm new to the forum so I thought I'd introduce myself and my car. My name is Al and I'm from Perth, WA. I've always had Holdens in the garage. First car was a 1981 VC Commodore with a 173 and 4 speed, then a VN 'S' 5 speed, WB tonner with 202, 4.44, and HZ Premier front end, currently driving a VT V8 Berlina. Had a couple of other cars thrown in the mix too.

I bought this car from an old boss as a very original one owner vehicle. Its an 01/1974 HQ Premier sedan with 122,000 kilometres. It came from the factory with a 202 motor and Trimatic gearbox with column shift. I'm not sure if this is common or not, but it also came with bucket seats and doesn't have a radio.

Its painted Aquamarine metallic (567-15821) with a Glacier White (568-13134) roof. The interior is delightfully brown (1394-39). I'm not sure of the name of it or anything, but the rear seat in perfect and unmarked. The crash pad has no cracks or anything either.

My plans for the car are to restore to original condition, but I'll be swapping the 202 for a 350 SBC coupled to a TH400 gearbox and probably a 9 inch diff. Ideally I'd like to keep the column shift arrangement when I change the gearbox.

So no doubt, I'll be asking a lot of questions in the future. Hopefully you guys will be able to help me out along the way!

Cheers, Al

Cheers Hainzy

The plan will be to keep everything I swap out so I will still have a matching numbers car if I need to. But because its only a Premier, I cant see it being worth much more as a matching numbers 202, so I might as well make it a fun car to drive!

A few more de-progress photos. I finally have the car back to my own shed as I was travelling last year. Basically want to get it to a stage where I can get it blasted. So far the only rust Ive come across is at the bottom of the RH guard and both sides of the cowl.

Edited by user Thursday, 25 June 2009 9:06:40 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

quote:

---

Originally posted by Big Al
Whoa, went mining for old threads today. Its been over a year since I have updated this, but it gets hard to post updates on things that haven't happened, and no-one wants to read about what I had for lunch...

Plans have changed since 28/10/2008 at 12.42.01pm. I have retired my faithful old VT 5L Berlina and am using the engine as part of the conversion in the HQ. The rest of the driveline will remain as I first proposed. TH400 behind the 5L and 9" diff out the back. I really like the look of the Blacks Racks rack and pinion system, and I spoke to a panel beater who has installed one and he was really happy with the results. I don't have any radical plans for the engine initially. I'm just going to put new gaskets and seals etc through it and give it a bit of a clean up.

---

Hi Al, Don't forget to check your plenums as these are prone to rusting out in Q's. What a great start for a project like this, and a pretty nice colour combination as well. I hope you keep the appearance of it as stock as possible as I believe it's a Premier only colour you have there. As with all projects like this, it's a long and ardous task and requires a lot of effort. I therefore wish you the best of luck and hopes for staying focused on the task ahead.
Best regards, Erik

love the venetian!
aquamarine is a sandman colour too.

Al, do you live in Belmont?

Tuning for Holley carbs in Perth? PM me.

OK, finally got my front end suspension stuff delivered, so now Im pretty much got everything I need to get the front end back together. Picked up a power assisted steering box and pump (thanks Frank) to finish it off. All new bushes, ball joints, tie rods, ends, sway bar etc.