Introduce yourself Here!

Hi everyone, I'm Dago, or Damian depends on who you talk to. Found this site and thought I'd sign up and get a little involved. I have a HX Sandman, Mandarin Red that I bought when I was 17. No side windows, Factory 308 4 speed with aircon and black interior. I have no photos at the moment, all the ones I had of it in it's former glory are in a photo album somewhere. It's currently sitting on stands in the shed awaiting the rebuild. I had some lovely people steal the perfect and rust free top tail gate and also the gts dash out of it a while ago, but I'm about ready to get started.
I've owned just about every body shape in the HQ-WB range, excluding a monaro. I'll be keen to get tips, advice and know how so hopefully you guys can help. Also keen on any events that are happening. Cheers, Dago

Welcome aboard Damien, nice to have you on here. Cheers Rob

Hi all,

My name is Dale, i not long ago saw your site that a friend told me about. Been checking it out and thought i should join. I am from Melbourne now but was born in the Ballarat area and love the vans. I bought my first van in 1978, a blue XB GS van with a 302 and 4 speed. I used to take it to shows as it was really nice and go on van runs but i never joined a club but met lots of great vanners over the years. Unfortunately my van, photos and everything i owned were lost to a house fire in the late 80's. Broke my heart it did. I am a builder by trade but these days just work as a handyman. Would love to buy another van soon, i have been looking but to no avail, i will know what i want when i see it. Looking forward to chatting and reminissing.
cheers
Dale

welcome dale lots of people come hear to reminisce and some it makes them bite the bug again realy hard

Welcome aboard Dale, great to have you on here. Your old XB sounds nice mate, we've got a heap of great people on here mate and plenty of van stuff, be it Holden, Ford, Chrysler or others! Look forward to chatting mate and once again welcome.
Cheers Rob

sounds like it was a ripper van mate. especially being a ford

ever thought of getting another?

Hi All
My Name is Michael, I am sorry for taking so long to tell you about My Van, I have been a member for awhile now. I bought this van back in Oct 1999 after I stacked my other chrysler van. The Van is a Chrysler Drifter, it originaly came from the factory in white with the Drifter strips it has a 318 V8, 4 speed with the a sports dash. When I got it, it had a gas tank in it, it had been painted orange and a regal grill on it. I have had the van painted a green colour from G/M known as march 17, fixed the rear floor where the gas tank was and modernised it with the following goodies, Air/cond, power steer, electic windows and mirrors, cruise control, central locking, intermitted wipers from a mazda control box and I have added a video camera facing backwards as my rear vision monitor. The stereo consist of sony DVD player, two amps running front and rear speakers plus the subwoofer. I would like to thank panelvansofoz for posting pictures of my car here.
http://panelvansofoz3.multiply.com/photos/album/437/Vanrgl#
Cheers
Michael.

Welcome aboard Michael great to have another Valiant van on here, hope you've enjoyed your time with us so far and continue to participate in the forum! Feel free to start a thread in the your van section for your van and add up some photos and more details.

Welcome aboard the MV forum!
Cheers Rob

thanks for the welcome guys. Can't get on all that often but have had a look at the van register, very interesting, especially reading about some of the old show vans. I know a little about some so when i get a chance will fill you in on some stuff, so long as the old memory can go back that far.
Dale.

Sounds good Dale, we're trying to do a bit of history on all the old show vans, add some up if they're not already there! And feel free to fill in any info you know mate!
The more we all put in, the more everyone else gets out!
Cheers Rob

welcome dale, i am enjoying reading your memories of all the old vans cheers

Hi Guys & Girls its good to be a part of the site, My name is Mick i live in bairnsdale (vic)
have had at least 2or3 cars at one time inc Cortina's,Escort,Mini's 1 van,Xc,Xe,Xt (Proxt),Eh,Gemini's,Lj,Lc,Hj's,Commodore's,Rotary's Rx2's Rx3 Rx4's,Sigma's inc 150 rkwTurbo,Patrol's,Hilux...
So i like cars the cars we have at the moment are VE Calais V V8, Ford Maverick & a Hq Windowless Project FOR SALE.
Misses wants a van thats less work to get on the road then the q so im on the lookout for something.
Hope this is enough info for you all...........

Welcome Mick, I'm sure you'll find a van with less work, in the mean time add up some pics of your HQ in the your project section(or the swap meet if your selling it!) and feel free to add some pics of your other past rides in the Other rides section.
Welacome again, cheers Rob

Hi and welcome guys.

Regards Tony.

Hi guys, how do i organize an Avatar photo?

Hi @All.

I was getting withdrawals... been without a Kingswood for some years now and seeing as out of the many cars I have owned, my favourites have been the Vans... I decided to hunt down another.

Whiles searching, I found this site and was quite impressed. Not only the quality of the vans you lot own... but the wealth of info you have gained. I have loved browsing many of the threads here... so when I found something and bought it (sight unseen, except for some pics)... I bought it. Paid way too much and there are some other issues...

The main issue... It may be too rare to modify into something 'Majestic', Might be best to restore to original. (Still undecided).

I have started a thread on another site... i won't link it, unless I get the OK from this site.

But because I want info, tips and most of all... opinions, I will be introducing myself on a few of the sites I have found.

"... I'm on the Central Coast, NSW... and When finished this project, might name it VanGoes (if I modify it, no name if restoring it to stock original)..."

Although I will be asking for input throughout the restore (will be my first attempt at a 'from the ground up' restore) there are two points I am most interested in getting opinions about.

1... Should I restore to Original or go the full Dream mod?
2... What is so wrong about the Stato front end? (Some have suggested I change it)

Here are two pics (I'll add more in the appropriate threads later)

72HQ Day1 Front n engine



72HQ Day1 Rear

NOTE: I probably won't keep the lion sticker.. I hope they're not rare.

If the ID plates aren't dodgy... It is a 2 seater, Royal Umber, 1972, 308, 4-speed on the floor M21 Belmont Panel Van.

Anyway... that's my Intro.
Have enjoyed this site so far and hope to chat more later.

VanGoes

welcome to the forum, it is a rare one you have there, keep the stato front hq ones are awesome in my opinion, karl, hqvan has one on his and it looks good, and we are all here to help, cheers andrew

Welcome mate, nothing wrong with stato fronts.They look cool on hq vans.

Welcome vangoes,

Gotta love the HQ vans! Definitely a rare one you have there, 2 seater 308 m21. That is basically sandman spec! Love the stato fronts, can't understand why anyone would tell you to replace it, maybe they want it for themselves?! I have got nothing but positive comments on mine!

Welcome to the forum, great bunch of people here, very friendly and helpful.

All the best for your rebuild, keep us posted.

Cheers,
Karl.

Gday mate and welcome to the MV forum, your HQ certainly does have some nice factory options there! As far as restoring it goes, we have several restored vans on the forum here but ultimately it comes down to your personal taste. Why restore a van if it's not what you want? Just build it the way your happy with dude and enjoy it!
Feel free to start a new thread in the My Project section, we'd love to watch your van come together and enjoy progress shots!
If there's anything you need just holler, we've got an awesome bunch of people on here all more than happy to help!
Cheers Rob

Hi mate and welcome,if it was me I would leave the stato front on it as I think it is the best looking front on a HQ van you can't go wrong.

Regards Tony.

hey guys
been looking through the site for a few days so just thought id say g'day and introduce myself. my names matt, im 20yrs old from up port macquarie way. im a member of a few other vanning forums on the net so i recognise a few people on here already lol.
I bought my wb van while on my L's at 16 and absolutely love it!! grew up with my old man doing up old fords, like xp's and xl's and the like, and taking me swap meets and car shows since i was a little fella, but ive always loved and wanted a van lol.
the wb is pretty basic body wise, is rust free though which was the main appeal when i bought it. has side windows and a bench seat, mattress in the back, standard wb front and 14x7 jelly beans on it. had a 202 and trimatic column shift, but just finished (well a couple of months ago) putting an ecotec v6 and 4L60E out of a vs commodore in it.
its my first major engine conversion and after a few problems all turned and well and shes back to being my daily lol. got plans for a new paint job and some fatter rear rims in the future, oh and currently im fixing up a wb stato front that i picked up real cheap for it too. get off my black near the end of the year so im also looking into charging the v6 aswell, just for a bit of fun lol.
anywas love the site, hope to learn alot more and make some new mates!!
cheers guys
matt

Welcome aboard the MV juggernaut Matt, great to have you on here, and another WB owner to our ranks! (The best model I think....but Im a bit biased!)
Looking forward to your input on here and I'm sure you'll learn heaps and make lots of new mates, we're a laid back friendly and helpful bunch here at MV.
Cant wait to see your WB and it's progress.
Cheers Rob

Welcome Matt!
Hope you enjoy the forum, wealth of information here.

Start yourself a thread in the your van section, we'd love to see some pics.

Cheers,
Karl.

Hi Matt and welcome, looking forward to checking out the van mate

Regards Tony.