Holden HJ Utility body and interior restoration
Posted: Tuesday, June 12, 2007
by Bob Welcome
Classic Car Trim Pty Ltd
Here is the car when it came home and after some months of work. The old milk crates come in handy don’t they?
Recently a friend took on a very time consuming task of restoring the bodywork and interior of an Holden HJ Utility.
After hearing about this Ute for sale he set off and ended up buying the car for $500 and carted it and all the spares back home. Once he got the car and all the pieces home he wondered what he had done.
However, there was no turning back so the bodywork was commenced and amongst other things, new sills were fitted to both sides. There was a lot of small pieces of rust which were cut out, new metal welded in and then sanded off.
One thing that Greg did do, was to alter the panel behind the seat so that it sat in a vertical position. This gave a lot more room behind the seat which enabled him to fit in a nice set of speakers.
As Greg is mad about yellow, the Holden HJ Utility was to be painted that colour no matter what. The front end was renewed and detailed along with the engine bay. The rear of the car was extensively detailed, with a sunken storage box set into the floor which was finished off with a nice shiny checker plate material.
The black trimmings certainly moulded in very well with the shiny yellow paint. By the way it is in two pack and of course this type of finish shines off the gun.
While he was finishing off the engine bay and fitting the front guards I was busy fitting the new black roof lining and making up some new door trims with a colour coded yellow stripe. The roof lining ended up very smooth and straight and the door trims looked like they were specially made for this car.
Luckily we obtained a yellow vinyl which was a very close match to the paint. Greg was excited.
To see the car start coming together after many months of work was certainly very fulfilling for him. As you can see the nice yellow paint work does look very striking.
Of course it’s the detailed work on all of the little things which makes the finished job look professional. You must make sure that everything fits in nice and tight, is straight, parallel and also matches. It’s not easy, but the harder you try the closer you will get to a top result.
The different colours reflect changing light patterns through the day.
To see more about this car and to read about the rebuild in Greg’s own words please visit my page at
http://www.classic-car-restorer-and-trader.com/classic-car-articles.html
See you in your classy classic car,
Cheers,
Bob Welcome
Classic Car Trim Pty Ltd
98 Livingstone St North Rockhampton Qld 4701
Telephone from overseas +61 7 4926572
From within Australia 07 49265721
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