Matts New Toy

[Torquative]

Okay theres been some speak of matts new toy since before Christmas, well its not road registered yet but here it is.

Now to those that own VNs and the like and think they have the oldest car at JCCC NSW think again!

Here she is ... Matts new baby

The run down

-1975 HJ One Tonner
-4 speed manual, "on the floor". Was originally a Tri-Matic so stop whinging about the 4 speed box in the Commodores, things can always be worse
- no air conditioning, no power steering which makes it hard to move at low speeds, like reverse into the driveway.
- 253 (4.146 litre) V8 twin barrel carby, which in a ute is more then enough go, and also the same engine fitted to the original Monaro!
- did once have 140kW of power, which doesnt sound like much but think 1975 ... thats years before most of us we're born so 140kW is quite a bit!
- front disc brakes, rear drum brakes which at the moment dont work (I had the pedal flat to the floor when reversing it off the trailer and it didnt stop!)
- Monaro LS dash fitted, says 200 KPH on the speedo which is scary to think about ;P

Now as you can see shes not in the best condition, keep in mind tho its a 33 year old workhorse, but after track day I'll be getting stuck into it, including a spray job, with the aim of having her on the road before the V8 Supercars hit the track in March. It looks worse then it is, like the front looks bare - but all its missing is the chrome bumper bar where the number plate bolts too (which I have sitting in the tray, I just need the RH bracket to bolt it back to the car) and the interior needs the center console from the Monaro because the bench seat has been replaced by 2x VL seats to make shifting easiser.

Anyway bit of a project but it'll make an appearance at some stage this year on a shorter cruise.

All i can say is the One Tonner is back

[Swordsy]

- no air conditioning, no power steering which makes it hard to move at low speeds, like reverse into the driveway.

Same in mine, but mines a windowless panno!!, cannot see backwards

[Swordsy]

She looks pretty neat though, no probs with rust arount the cabin?

[rch-13z]

Nice, but shouldnt this be in the my ride section.... lol

This makes me miss dave's old EJ Ute....

[Torquative]

hey can someone confirm how to tell what engine it is?

Im pretty sure its only a 253 but I have NFI how to tell with these things and havent started looking into it yet

Richie, no, I'd rather keep it in the JCCC section. MODS PLEASE DO NOT MOVE IT TO THE MY RIDE SECTION.

I'll put one up there one day, still havent done one for the Acclaim!

Swordsy, theres some spots of rust around the cabin. havent really stripped it down and had a good look though.

Oh and if anyone knows where I can find RH brackets for the bumpr bar please let me know, I cant find em on Ebay (only LHS), Rare spares and American Autos dont have them from what I can see!

[andyman]

oh i hate you lol!!!, ive wanted to get one of those exactly like that for so long hahaha,

good luck with it

[Swordsy]

Should have 253 cast into the passenger side of the motor (front bottom)
You can get a whole bumper with brackets for less than $150 from most wreckers. Thats with or without the black rubber strip (pick the one you like best) If you want a plain straight one and have a good one with a rubber i'd be willing to swap.

[PaulSV6]

Nice Pickup there, Matt
Can imagine it has a nice rumble when idling?

[keza87]

Matt, it looks better in the pics

[Torquative]

yeh I know but we're going to straighten up the front end, then its getting sprayed mid feb, that and the electrics are the 1st things I will be doing as ive found a complete wiring harness for everything, brake lights, headlights, dash, engine ... complete with new fuse box ... I'm just trying to talk him down on price

Paul yes it does, even better when shes revved and the induction sound of the carby sucking air sounds awesome

[PaulSV6]

Paul yes it does, even better when shes revved and the induction sound of the carby sucking air sounds awesome

Yeah i know hey, i love the sound of the 'ol carby engines. My late Grandad had a 1970 Ht GTS Monaro. I was only about 2 or 3 at the time, most of u guys hadnt been born yet but the sound from that engine was unbelievable.

[Torquative]

well i think we might know where a bumper bracket is so if thats the case I'll chuck the bumper and front number plate back on during the weekend and get a better photo

[andrewmac]

Its gonna look great once shes all painted and chromed up

Looks like its time to start wrecker hoping

[PaulSV6]

Lmao, i knew this was going to be moved to the my ride section.

[-Junior-]

Nice ride Matt. Mates got one and loves it.

[Torquative]

its on a temorary re-direct but ive asked for someone to explain why.

As you JCCC guys and girls know Ive been mentioning it over Xmas/New years and because I cant just rock up to a cruise in it I decided to post the photos and details as Ive kept it secret til now, but then its been moved despite me askin for it not too.

[Jo3_Blo]

Why don't you want it on here? It's fkn awesome!!! Love it.

Also, that dash - pretty sure it's just a standard HJ dash, not a monaro or GTS one. And it's also got a HZ Stato front if you didn't already know.

Looks pretty good overall, mind me asking how much you paid?

And with the brakes, assuming there is no pressure in the pedal, (I had the exact same thing in mine, just rolled off the back of the truck lol) you probs just need to top up the brake fluid and maybe bleed it. I did mine just by topping up the fluid, and pumping the pedal with the cap off (but very careful no fluid gets onto the paint). So you can just rest the lid on top, without sealing it, so the air can get out. you know?

Also, with the bumper bracket - try aussie v8 forums, might even find someone willing to give one to you. Plus, a lot of people willing to give you advice and stuff there.

Aussie V8 | Holden - Ford | Australian V8 Engine Community


Check out my WB if you like........nothin too special, just a 202 with 4 speed (I'll come under the new p plate laws.)

Also, I'll take those GTS mirrors off you if you don't want em.

[dynamytedave]

This makes me miss Dave's old EJ Ute....

It was an EK Rich, but you and I both miss the old girl.

Looks alright Matt, I'm very partial to the old girls. It's a good start for a worthwhile project. But you gotta get rid of those God Awful 12 slotters. They belong on Fords man, not Holdens.

Don't expect it to set any land speed records with the old 253, you should do an injected 5 litre conversion. Or an LS1/2 conversion would be nice. Even a 3.8 V6 would go harder and have better fuel economy than the ol' 253.

And just a little point, when refering to an old girl's specs, they're always in imperial. It's not a 4.2, it's a 253, it doesn't make 140kw, it makes 190hp.

Good luck with it.

[rch-13z]

get the panels off the side & rear of tray and through them as far as possible....

Old utes should only have the flat tray.... mmmm nice polished timber base would be sexy as

[Torquative]

thanks guys, I will re-do a proper my ride thread, this was only supposed to be a quick write up to let the JCCC guys know.

Jo couple of things

- I dunno about the dash. Everything Ive seen for HJ shows 2 square dials for speedo and tacho. This has a rectangle speedo that stretches from 0 to 200 kph so I dont know. I'll get better pics on the weekend.

- someone did mention the stato front end but I couldnt remember, ta for that. The bloke I brought it off has the bracket at home so the bumpers going back on during the weekend.

- the brakes yeh Ive gotta bleed them. I have to drain everything because its been sitting idle for so long, so new coolant, oil, brake fluid. It was on the road til Oct 2007 and been sitting idle ever since, so just on 15 months.

I paid a grand for it, brought it from a bloke at work. He bought a bike and hasnt worked on the ute since. Being a mechanic he's sort of over the work all day then work all weekend on cars, so he was happy to get it off the back lawn.

Dave, I mainly got it to play around with a carby because lets face it, when will I ever have a carby car to play with?

Rich - yes the side panels will come off, they rattle around too much anyway. The whole tray will be gone in the not distant future as its stuffed. A truck sideswiped the ute and managed to only clip the tray, just before the rego ran out, so the bloke i brought it from got an old tray from a tradie who was wrecking his one tonner and it shows.

Depending on how far into restoring it will determine wood floor or not, but I highly doubt I can justify spending the money on it. A straighter tray yes, but on something thats going to be a mis aligned sh!tter not really.

Oh and Dave I know about the imperial, I was just making it "current"

[Jo3_Blo]

Yeh, I know what you mean, but I'm pretty sure it's NOT monaro or anything. Fairly certain its just kingswood. Coz I've seen both types..........monaro/gts dashes are the round gauge ones.
hmm, might have to look into this one. I'll ask on the aussieV8 forums.


a grand!!!! bargain!

And the twelve slotters aren't that bad........and I like those trays.

Umm, can I ask how long your tray is..........not sure if its the long one or the normal one. If it's the long one, I might grab the sides (or one of em) off you when you take em off.

[Torquative]

nah I'll be keeping the sides in case I need to load stuff into it, plus their very stuffed I'll be taking them off and leaving up the side of the house

[andyman]

I paid a grand for it, brought it from a bloke at work. He bought a bike and hasnt worked on the ute since. Being a mechanic he's sort of over the work all day then work all weekend on cars, so he was happy to get it off the back lawn.

ahhhhhhh i hate you even more now lol, do you work with anyone else that'll sell me one for 1g?

[Ado]

Nice pick up for a grand,its a HJ dash and it looks like some extra gauges have been put in it.HJ,HX,HZ Ststesman front(all the same bar the grills).Looks like you have a non working heater to.Those mirrors are gold at the moment,id take em off until you need them as they might go walk about.
Shove your hand up underneath the passenger side exhaust manifold(while its cold)and you will ne able to feel the numbers 253 raised on the block.
Do the lines up the bonnet match up to the ones on the panel in front of the screen?That car would have come out with a HQ style front from standard so they wouldnt match unless it has been changed.

[Torquative]

hmm i can use your expertise coz i know nothing about it except that I wanted a carby ute to play around with !!!

What makes you say the heater aint working out of curiosity? Im eyeing off some rewiring kits so I'll be re-wiring everything.

Im surprised about the mirrors but yes, I will store them somewhere. Personally I dont like them, I think their too small when trying to reverse, but that might also be the size of the tray annoying me. what makes them so special anyway?

The bonnet, both side guards and front bumper are all from the same car, Stato so Im being told. The photo doesnt show it too well, but it used to be purple, with the replacement panels being a charcoal grey colour. But that plenum cover (whatever their called on these cars) will probably be replaced anyway as its fairly rusty in spots.

Im surprised, i had it on ebay for $1500 for a few days with no response, lots of watchers, but no response. I had the phone number and said Im ready to sell it, $1500. not one phone call, so i decided bugger it, I'll keep it, get it back on the road and go from there, but the more I read the more I think struth, I made the right decision!