Project car

[Jonesy484]

Hi guys
im looking to start a project car (long term) with my uncle, and id like some help in picking a car.
First off it will not be a VL, i was thinking from the H's, and idk if i want to go a sedan, ute or one tonne.
Give us your thoughts. It will be more of a modernisation than a restoriation
Cheers Jonesy

Oh and what should i be looking for when buying one, and what sorta price should i be looking at?

[bogan_vk]

hx statesman caprice would be a good project theres not alot of old statos around.

[Jonesy484]

no one else has any other suggestions??

[Jezza]

i reckon modernising a sandman could look good

[DAKSTER]

depends on just how big a project. sandman with station wagon back door section added in the middle and a lazy axle for an extra long six wheeled 4 doored sandman?
A HZ GTS would make a choice project if you can find a good one.

[DAKSTER]

if you do a sandman, you can go wild with the number of bodykits that were available for them. A monza front end would still look modern today, and you used to be able to get monza kits in flipfronts too..

[ari666]

EH prem

XP falcon (2 door)

[Jonesy484]

im thinking a prem, stato or a one tonne, im leaning towards a one tonne
Things id like to do,
LS1
Supercharger
5 speed auto gear box, with shifter kit or tiptronic
if a one tonne wood deck
Twin 3" full Exhaust
Hidden sound system
some 17" old school wheels
It'll be a modern classic

Its gonna take a long time, and alot of money, but it will be a bonding experience and will be allowed to drive it when im off my p's

[Trevor 062]

HQ Monaro..

Good luck finding one though

[Jonesy484]

HQ Monaro..

Good luck finding one though

haha only about $30k for a shell lol

[2DIE]

HG/T/K Brougham's are pretty nice. Used to be a white one that drove down my old street all the time, it was stock and clean and a old man about 70 owned it. Guessing it had a 327 or 350? not sure but the note was so deep (not loud) and the sound alone would make anyone turn to look.



The shapes of these are beautiful, more so than the Kingswood's.


I'm not too keen on old cars any more as I've had a HR Special and a LJ Coupe, poured endless hours of work into them and always sold them for not even 1/4 of what I had spent before they were finished.

[ari666]

affordable:
EH holden (eBay item 250792154675 end time 26-Mar-11 22:37:04 AEDST) : Cars, Bikes, Boats

not affordable:
Holden Monaro HG GTS (eBay item 120700770682 end time 25-Mar-11 22:08:53 AEDST) : Cars, Bikes, Boats

[Jonesy484]

Had a discussion with the uncle today, going to find a place to do it as his hk pannel van is taking up the only place we had to do it, the car i think we will be doing is a late H model kingswood or premier

[DAKSTER]

Get a well optioned HZ Premier and do a GTS lookalike from it? The prettiest of all the H series Holdens.. 4dr HZ Monaro.
You got the twin headlights already with the Premier, its just a matter of grill, guards, spoiler and badges.

Easy, cheap project.. just make sure you choose the right car as a basis.

[Drawnnite]

if you have the money a LS7 bored and stroked out to 9L and then Supercharged would be nice in the car.
although that would be a hell of alot of money

[DAKSTER]

holy cow a blown 9L LS7? Lets come back to earth here, the OP is still on his P's ! A stock 427 without blower would be more than he can handle or afford to run, let alone stroked to 9L. Is that even possible while still retaining water jackets?

If you want something a little different, stick an ecotec into a HZ.. but I still say a good 308 HZ premmy mocked up as a GTS will be cheap, easy and satisfying.

[Jonesy484]

holy cow a blown 9L LS7? Lets come back to earth here, the OP is still on his P's ! A stock 427 without blower would be more than he can handle or afford to run, let alone stroked to 9L. Is that even possible while still retaining water jackets?

If you want something a little different, stick an ecotec into a HZ.. but I still say a good 308 HZ premmy mocked up as a GTS will be cheap, easy and satisfying.

Yeah as i said i wanna put a more modern engine in it im still thinking an LS1 supercharged, put some modern brakes/ suspension, and a LSD. I've been looking round for cars and i still can't decide. whether to buy a car thats a shell or should i buy a half done project car for like 3k?

[ari666]

The prettiest of all the H series Holdens.. 4dr HZ Monaro.

PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTT

wow. thats a HUGE call. your comparing a 4 door HZ with a HT, HG, or best of the bunch - HK? HZ doesnt even rate. ugly, too square and suffers from the whole 'pollution' problem.

1969 HK prem, any small block chev is legal, no egr holding you back if you decide to go holden V8, looks tonnes better than the HZ or X prems
1977 HZ prem, no SBC allowed without mod plate, EGR, carbon can, TVS all pollution conrol equipment to conform with ADR 27, ugly, common.

[DAKSTER]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

He has specified he wants a late H series, and he wants something a bit different.
He wants to modernise.. not going to be hard to put an ecotec in it. Mod plates I know nothing about, but I assume if you are converting a HK to a modern v6 you are also going to need mod plates? Its hardly a factory option is it..
If you fit an engine that didn't belong to your model, you are also going to have to fit pollutions systems specific to the motor aren't you?

Hes a P plater with plans and dreams. Not trying to stop that, just bringing him down a little closer to earth.
A HK will be a nightmare to source parts for, and expensive to buy in the first place if he doesn't want to do a ground up resto on a rustbucket.
There are still plenty of j,x and z's floating around, they aren't expensive, and you can still get parts for them.

Jonesy, the world is littered with unfinished projects. These are caused by aiming too high, too soon. Decide on an achievable goal, meet it, and then move to the next goal.

[Jonesy484]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

He has specified he wants a late H series, and he wants something a bit different.
He wants to modernise.. not going to be hard to put an ecotec in it. Mod plates I know nothing about, but I assume if you are converting a HK to a modern v6 you are also going to need mod plates? Its hardly a factory option is it..
If you fit an engine that didn't belong to your model, you are also going to have to fit pollutions systems specific to the motor aren't you?

Hes a P plater with plans and dreams. Not trying to stop that, just bringing him down a little closer to earth.
A HK will be a nightmare to source parts for, and expensive to buy in the first place if he doesn't want to do a ground up resto on a rustbucket.
There are still plenty of j,x and z's floating around, they aren't expensive, and you can still get parts for them.

Jonesy, the world is littered with unfinished projects. These are caused by aiming too high, too soon. Decide on an achievable goal, meet it, and then move to the next goal.

Cheers mate, i do have big hopes and dreams for this car, but it boils down to a couple of things, money, time and what is achievable. I think a more modern V8 engine is achievable, my uncle has transplanted an alloytec into his HJ Pannel Van so he knows what hes doing, and i do like the look of the HX and HZ Premiers, it is a bit northern territory abo driven look but i think it can be made to look good with the right person building it, like i said this will be a long term project, i have over 2 more years till i get off my p's and it will be a bonding experience with my uncle

[Jonesy484]

i reckon this would be a good starting point thoughts?
1976 HOLDEN PREMIER Base HJ Private Cars For Sale in VIC - carsales.com.au

[ari666]

If you fit an engine that didn't belong to your model, you are also going to have to fit pollutions systems specific to the motor aren't you? .

yes very true, good point. i stand corrected

Jonesy, the world is littered with unfinished projects. These are caused by aiming too high, too soon. Decide on an achievable goal, meet it, and then move to the next goal.

very good advice

[ari666]

also, could i suggest a 5.0 rather than a V6. V6 are gutless as hell to begin with (i know, people get power blah blah blah) and dropping in a 5.0 would be dead easy. turbo pattern already so may get away with stock mounts and stock tail shaft, engine mounts same as 308. just bolt in, wire up, somehow run lines for the tank and away you go.

[DAKSTER]

v8 would be easier than v6 i agree. Not as unique though, in a H series. Don't know how long you have to be on P's or what the restrictions are.. The v8 should be a reasonably easy job, shouldn't take as long, but if you aren't allowed a v8 on p's and you finish the job in a year instead of 2, you are going to spend a year as passenger in your own car. That'll test your patience lol

Those laws are strange.. i think in QLD you can drive a 199kw normally aspirated 6, but you cant drive a 165kw v8. You can drive a 199kw hot hatch too (factory only i think, no mods?) but you cant drive a turbo-diesel 4wd. No more than 200kw, no turbos or v8s. Doesn't make sense, they should grade cars/licenses on power/weight ratio, not the other stuff.

I think the car that you linked to is already overpriced at $2500 and needs $3000 worth of rust repairs. it doesn't even mention options like power windows and suchlike, you can assume it doesn't have any. Its also only a six with a traumatic.

If you are going to fit a modern v8, find a v8 with all the options and no rust for the same money and save yourself a lot of heartache. If you get lucky you may find one with with a T400 instead of a traumatic, that should make it easier to fit the later model engines.

Keep in mind.. panels and paint can be fixed easier than rust. Don't look for the one that looks in great nick but has cancer throughout, get a sound cabin and go from there. Chances are you will be repainting your project anyway, so lack of rust is much more important than it being straight with good paint.

[Drawnnite]

yeah the blown LS7 is over the top. but as Ari said a 5L would be nice. or if possible the LS1 would also be nice

have you thought about a WB ute? they can look very nice when done up correctly, and i doubt it would cost too much to get one.

i cannot see what would be wrong buying someone elses half done project atleast it should have a good starting base.
take it one step at a time. write a list of what you want to do to the car and catergorise is.
1. must do and needs to be done.
2. want to do very soon.
3. future goals (long term that wont be gained for a while)

and as for driving a V8 on the p's it is rediculous. power to weight would be a much better idea, although i doubt they will go back.