The series 1 (smaller) tailshaft = a green colour similar to British racing green & that's the colour i used on my resto, There was a update on the tailshaft to the 3 inch in Lavender at some stage during production on the HK GTS range & that carried through to HT so im led to beleave if that helps....
Others on this forum may have more details????

Lavender? What are we, interior decorators?
Holden says Violet, and that's plenty good enough for me.

Here's what I think happened:

HK307 and 327:

Originally a Dark green tailshaft, part number 7439318. 2.75" OD, .065" wall thickness. 1" front universals, and 1" / 1-1/16" rear universals. (For the rear universal joint the 1" cups are in the tailshaft, the 1 1/16" cups are in the diff drive flange)
At some time in the HK model date range this was changed by recall to a Violet tailshaft, part number 2810283.
It is 3" diameter, .065" wall thickness, 1" front universals and 1" / 1-1/16" rear universals.

HT 350 manual version 1:
Violet tailshaft, as per HK recall/retrofit shaft, same universals as above.
HT350 Auto and HT308 manual:
Dark green tailshaft, as per original HK.

HT350 Manual tailshaft version 2, and also HT 308 manual:
Orange tailshaft, part number 2816742. I believe this was handled as a service replacement. It was 3" OD, but a thicker wall thickness than the Violet shaft, and had larger flanges as it used 1-1/8" cup front universals and 1-1/8" / 1-1/16" rear universals.

HG308M and 350M.
As per HT. The original HG parts book still specifies the Violet shaft for HG350 manual, so I'm guessing the orange shaft appeared after the HG release.

HQ350 Manual and Auto (Updated)
The standard shaft diameter is 3" and the wall thickness is .065". The shaft is longer than the HKTG Violet shaft.
The HQ350 manual shaft is Violet, and the auto and manual shafts are different lengths.
It uses the same 1-1/8" cup front universals as the orange shaft, and 1-1/8" cup rear universals, meaning the diff flange takes a larger cup than the HKTG type diff. (Which is completely different in most other ways as well).
The HQ350 manual does share its tailshaft and universals with the 1 Tonner.

As a bit of useless trivia, the HT/HG 350 manual shafts were not the largest diameter Monaro tailshaft, that honour goes to the humble 186S Opel shaft which was 3-1/4" OD. More because it was much longer than the rest, rather than due to the enormous power output of the 186S, or the extreme strength of the mighty Opel gearbox.

Edited by user Saturday, 22 August 2015 9:14:53 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Yes, I admit to getting off track. Typical engineer; you'll get an answer that's technically correct and practically useless.

I was going to recommend what I've used in the past, in spite of the name, VHT Lively Lavender, part number SP758. Problem is that I quickly looked today, and I don't think its available any more. Check around and see if you can source some near you.

Failing that a good auto paint supplier should be able to match your existing shaft and even put some enamel in a spray can for you. I'm having a violet one matched myself in the next few weeks, but I don't think there is much point in recommending a paint place in Melbourne to you.

Cheers,

Geoff

Thanks guys

Footnote. These mufflers are NASCO and dated 1971. I am assuming that Jeff Brown found these when he restored the car back in the 1990s. I will remove these soon and will give them to someone who is good with Oxy welding to refurbish. This is going to be tricky.

Edited by user Sunday, 30 August 2015 4:42:09 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Nice car Nick. The underside looks as good as the topside photos you've posted and, given how old the resto is, you must do a lot of upkeep. It's a credit to you.

Heres the original colour. It looks a little darker to me, but that could be just age and wear and tear.

Edited by user Monday, 7 September 2015 1:02:03 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Hi all.

The colour I did was matched from the original tailshaft and appears to be lighter than yours. Ben S reckons it is good.

Remember, my car is a Brisbane Type two engine car.This adds to my (and many others ) thought that there was not 100% consistency with things. The importance of the colour match on all tailshafts would not be a priority as the colour coding was done for production line workers so they could grab the correct tailshaft.

Edited by user Sunday, 29 November 2015 2:29:46 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified