“I TEST-DROVE IT AND IT WAS STILL REGISTERED. IT WAS CERTAINLY A FIND”

only two owners before I got it. The first only drove it 10,000 miles – I have a feeling it may have been the Dirranbandi dealer’s car. And then the bloke after that passed away and his daughters sold it to me.

It was in pretty good shape for the age of the car – minimal rust and it was drivable. I test-drove it and it was still registered at the time. It was certainly a find.

The body was pretty good. There was a bit of rust in the bottom of the doors and the front guards. We did the floor pans in the end and a little bit in the back of the tray. Really it wasn’t too bad all. My mate Perry is a panel beater who welded in the floors and did much of the other bodywork. We took the trouble to strip it down and put it all back together.

“IT’S PRETTY AMAZING TO DRIVE AND IT BRINGS BACK A LOT OF MEMORIES”

We had it off the road for about 18 months, so it was a fairly quick project. The final exterior paint was done in a panel shop, though Perry tackled some of the detail work such as inside the doors and engine bay.

It’s been retrimmed. I had the kits made up by a mob in Adelaide called Winner Products and asked a local trimmer to fit them for me.

The engine was changed over long before I bought it. It would have had a 149 initially. There’s some paperwork with the car that records it happening – I think it was an Opel change-over unit upgraded to 179. We ended up giving it a light rebuild, as there was rust in one of the bores, so that was resleeved. We left it very standard as I wanted something that was reasonably faithful to the original.

I think we succeeded as it’s pretty amazing to drive and brings back a lot of memories. I learned to drive in non-synchro cars and it brings back all those feelings from whenever it was.

Once you get them rolling they feel as though they will go forever. I reckon on a long trip it would be me rather than the car that would be the problem, with the heat or the cold, as it hasn’t got all the mod cons. It’s still pretty amazing to drive.

The signwriting on the side advertises my business and I managed to find a local semi-retired signwriter

“I STARTED ANOTHER EXPENSIVE PROJECT. I’M HOPING TO KICK THE HABIT”

who used to have a business out at Dalby. His name’s Peter and he now lives in Toowoomba. He did a great job and enjoyed it. I hung around while he did it. There was a bit of debate over how it should look, as I really wanted that old faded effect where he felt that – since the ute looked to shiny – the signwriting should look like new. But I stuck to my guns and we kept it that way. He wasn’t too keen on putting the website on the side, either, but apparently the customer won.

It looks like I’ve been bitten by the restoration bug as I now have an HQ ute underway. I was finding it hard to get motivated to go to work, so I started another expensive project! That is more of a restomod and I’m hoping to kick the habit after this one. Wish me luck.

ABOVE If you were looking for a project, this would be impossible to resist. It was still registered, running and in good shape for its age.

LEFT Towing the new toy home is hot and thirsty work.

LEFT The 179 was a change-over engine that needed a bit of work.

TRAY TRAUMAS Actually, this one is pretty good, but the crew took the opportunity to refurbish it properly.

BARREL ROLL It must have been tempting to give this thing a quick patch and spray. Note how solid it is.

PRETTY NEAT Okay, there’s a bit of moisture damage, but the interior was very good given its age. It was retrimmed.

WATER TRAP There are a few on your average ute, including the channels under the tailgate.

PRIME TIME Oh dear, we have a few stages to go before we can break open the primer.

STRAY HOSES It doesn’t look too bad under here, but the assorted lines could do with a freshen-up.

LEFT Owner Peter with his toy. It now seems he’s been bitten by the resto bug. ABOVE Yep, that’s the perfect plate for the old Holden. RIGHT It’s amazing what a resto and some fresh decals can do for an engine bay.

BELOW The retro ‘distressed’ signwriting was a topic for debate.

TOP Those sixties lines have aged well – the old workhorse looks great.