So, the decision, is to keep her as original as possible, without compromising looks, or originality. That means period fitments are OK. I think rebuilding as much as I can will be the order of the day. Sure, I could buy a new alternator for her, that was made in China, or a new fuel pump (also from China) but if that means replacing a part that is 40 years old if it could have been rebuilt, I’d rather not … because I think that would mean the ‘patina’ of the parts that she is made of, will be compromised.
Now I should say, from the outset, … I know, I know it’s 6 months into the journey, but it must be said …
The way that I am going to restore my lioness, will be my way. It may not be (though, I always hope it is) absolutely the right way. There may be a time, (again, I hope … ) when it’s the best way and on one occasion, it might be a brilliant and perhaps even ‘novel’ way of doing something. I am not advocating that what I am doing should be copied by anyone … this is probably where one should say something like “… this restoration was done under controlled conditions and no-one should attempt to replicate what is done, except with the supervision of a professional.” Hmmm, I can see some smiles already, but it has to be said.
In my work travels, I visit a few mine sites around the world and at the site, I most frequently visit, it has been drummed into everyone, “ … you have the time to do the job safely. So, please, be safe”. It’s a lot of fun (and sweating and swearing and laughing and ‘liquid’ refreshments) restoring a car, but there are heavy parts that make up the car, (the whole car, for a start, the engine block, suspension cross-members, the “traumatic” box that’s in my HR) that can injure you or even cause death, if not handled properly. You will be working with a grinder, perhaps an ‘oxy’ torch, so there is a chance of causing a fire. So be careful, be very careful. There, I have said it.
The first lot of work, is to completely strip her down of everything that is not part of the body shell. So, engine “out”, gearbox “dropped”, tailshaft “out” and then, eventually, cross member “off” and differential “dropped”. That way, I’ll be able to see all her wrinkles (age, as well as bingles) and rust. I can then see how bad she is and get her prepped for a blasting, to get rid of as much rust as possible. If I make a note of what is fitted to the HR, I’ll be able to decide how to restore her. (I think I am going to need a few more plastic boxes and marking pens …
Now, the build plate says:
Body : HR 2106 - 5261-A
Trim : 510-E78
Paint : 585-9562
My research (with help from friends, family and forums like oldholden.com) so far tells me … http://codes.oldholden.com/index.php?Model=HR ->
2106 is a ute.
5261, I pretty sure now, is the ‘order’ or perhaps more correctly the ‘build #’ .
A, means it was driven out of the Holden Elizabeth plant, in Adelaide.
Trim: 510 … confirms white … and E78 is Mephisto Red (with a little help from Holden Club of SA … to be confirmed)
585 is a Dulux Paint Code and 9562 - Grecian White
There is no INSERT, which simplifies things and the blank TOP means the roof of the ute is not a different colour.
The ‘wizards’ out there will see that she has been ‘modified’ by someone in the past. Yes, that’s a ‘Trimatic’ and yes, those are the remnants of the manual gear linkages in the top left hand side of the picture. It looks like she left the factory with a ‘161’ ci engine, but someone saw fit to upgrade her with ‘186’ ( … complete with twin ‘Strombergs and a genuine X2 inlet manifold). So, the decision is to replicate an X2 out of her. That way, she will be technically correct. So, as far as the engine goes, visually, it will mean getting the engine paint code correct. That means, I believe, Holden ‘Bright Red’ rather than Holden Engine ‘Red’ for the engine block and an X2 exhaust manifold … that’s assuming the engine still has enough metal in it that it can be rebuilt. I’ll find out soon.
