Introduce yourself Here!

Hi guys my names Michael, I'm Rob's cousin and already know quite a few of you as I've been a member since MV virtually started. I own a heap of toys including a LH SL/R 5000, VH Commodore, HQ Statesman and Gemini van. I live in Holbrook but work in Tumut at the same place as my little cousin. My Gemini's currently unregistered as it still needs a little bit of work to get her on the road, it's chrome yellow with gold pearl and has a cream leather interior and some 15 inch bling wheels.
Look forward to catching up with a few of you guys again and catching up and meeting some of the newer members.
Cheers Michael

Hi,my name is Phil from sunny WA and I've got a WB windowless van.It is an ex police van originally a 6 cyl/auto.
I painted it flat black because I wanted a hassle free car to enjoy.The van now runs a 350 with an
under bonnet blower and turbo 350 box and the van was made out of my spare parts collection,
including the drive train.
Through the 80's I always had vans,including a couple of Sandmans,and had some great times with
them but then marraige,kids,mortgage,sensible family car,etc...and my cars got pushed down the list.I'm sure you can relate.But now the kids have grown up and no mortgage and spare time.I've also got a HQ SS,88 Corvette and a big block one tonner.

Welcome aboard Phil, nice to have another Western Australian on here, we've got 3 MV members in WA. Love the van, we seem to be getting a heap of WB's on here now. Hope you add some photos up of your van and your other toys too!
Cheers Rob

Welcome aboard. I've seen your van in the shed at oldholden - love it, matt black looks tuff!

Thanks for the welcome.I've spent a lot of time in pez350's shed over the years looking for
inspiration and motorvation.I'm still getting used to this style of forum and will post more pics up when I work it out.

hi all been a bit slack getting around to intro ing myself properly ... my names dean and i live in the north of tassie im a self employed sparky with two girls 11 and 17 ... my partner rosie has two boys of similar age so a few days a week its a real brady bunch and keeps us on our toes from time to time... i worked out of a neat v8 hz van many moons ago and thought it would be good to get another neat van and use it as a work bus ...i started looking and got a bit sidetracked and ended up with andrews old van 'vandil' sitting in my shed..and it definately isnt going to be a work van ....maybe will look again down the track...vans down here are very scarce you only see the odd clapped out standard one here and there.. so no one to catch up and have a chat to [apart from MV forum of course].. havent even seen one at a show for years... im sure there are a few stashed in sheds as there is a heap of slr s , gt s,monaro s etc that come out on sunny days..top place to get away from the hustle and bustle down in tassie.. for those who havent made it down here do yourself a favour.. im open to give some travel directions and maybe even a guided tour if work is giving me the s*^#s just bring some sunscreen as the tassie sun would be one of the nastiest in the country [when we get some] with the uv usually over 10 from now till end of march .. ive had a few mates who have gone to live in QLD for a few years and get burnt the first day they get back .. always a laugh..any way ive got a bit off track here ... top site glad to have found it cheers.....

would be nice to get a few vans onto the spirit and hit a few car shows there

Great to have you here Dean and your van! MV vans seem to stay in our group!

Welcome Dean

That's a weapon of a van you've got yourself there....
Andrew (previous/previous owner/ builder)and I had some good times with that van in toe.

Would love a get together in Tasmania,
got some close friends that I'd love too see down there again in Hobart.

Did try to get a Van Nationals down there one year, but was squashed by the powers to be,
that it was too far away, and nobody would be prepared to get on the boat.!!
Imagine several of us MV'ers travelling down there it'd be a real hoot.

maybe, just maybe....

Welcome again, it'll feel like your on the mainland on this forumn.

Cheers Al.

Found this topic as I was browsing the forum and thought I'd do my bit.

I'm Bruce Wilson and I was born and raised in Surrey Hills (Melbourne).
After qualifying in Mechanical Engineering at Swinburne University, moved to Bendigo as a public servant working at the Ordnance Factory that had been built there during WWII (that's another story in itself).

I was 20 years old at this time and already had my first panel van - a white EH that I bought from dad for $315 !!. He was a shopfitter and used it as a daily work vehicle for the previous 6 years.

I did a lot of work on the EH, mainly to bring it up to "as-new" spec:

New suspension rubber (bushes & pads) throughout.
Rust repairs
Overhauled the gearbox - I couldn't get over how small the 3sp box was - not much bigger than a football!
The engine had almost 100,000 MILES on it and need no work at all - they built good motors then.
New weather seals throughout.

Then it was time to buy myself a belated 21st birthday present - the HQ.
I ordered it in March 1974 and it was over 5 months before it went onto the line in Adelaide (I guess it was the options I ordered).

When I took delivery in September 1974, I was a very happy lad!

(The Barbados Green color no doubt added to the uniqueness of the vehicle - this was pre- Sandman era)

Unfortunately the EH had a sad ending- after I sold it to a work colleague in Bendigo, his hoon of a son wrote it off 3 weeks later.

I'll tell the HQ's story in other topics.

I spent over 30 years at the Factory in Bendigo, and during the 5 years before I retired (Parkinsons Disease) I was a member of the design group the produced what may be (to a warped mind) the greatest "Panel Van" ever - Bushmaster, below.



Almost a thousand of these vehicles have been built, in Bendigo, for the Australian Army and other forces around the world
Read more at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushmaster_Protected_Mobility_Vehicle

I'll tell you more about Bushmaster somewhere else - maybe "General Chat"

Welcome aboard Bruce, great intro - very interesting reading. Don't suppose that you have a bushmaster in your garage you could bring to our next run? It would look kind of cool with a Majestic Vanners sticker on the back

Do you still have the HQ? I assume that's it in your avatar?

Unfortunately, no - at $500,000+ each it's a bit too much capital to have lying in the shed.

I traded the HQ back in 1984 and have just embarked on a quest to find it again - I have confirmed with Vicroads that it is still registered and on the road, but in their cute fashion they'll not tell me any more - still working on that angle

Privacy laws! Privacy laws! Often a good excuse to not get involved. Good luck - hope you find it, and let us know if there's anything we can do.

Do you know what the current rego number is?

Nah!!, that'd make it too easy!
(but I'm still working on levering it out of Vicroads)

It's early days yet, but I would appreciate you all keeping an eye out for likely vehicles - it may well have changed color in the last 20-odd years.

See my topic in "Your Van" for some identification clues

Hi folks,

Thought I better make my MV membership official! I'm Simon or more commonly nick-named as Simo (pronounced Symo not Simmo) from somewhere way back in my past!

Am 37yo from Bris Vegas, married with a 13yo daughter (going on 33). I've always loved Vans since I was a kid and currently own the Mr Juicy and Disturbia Valiant Pano's.

Have built a heap of other Valiants over the years incl. a daily driver VG Hardtop Gasser called 'Old Daze' plus a couple of B&W US style cop car VG's, but have only just recently actually got around to owning project Vans which have always been my first love. I've owned a few Holden Vans over the years (HQ, a HJ and HZ) but they were all pretty rough and mainly fill-in cars while I had something else off the road. Also had an Escort Sundowner replica for a couple of years while I was at Uni back in the late 90's.

Currently work as a Accident Vehicle Inspector for the QLD Police where we do mechanicals on cars/bikes/trucks/dozers/wheelchairs etc. involved in any serious or fatal road crashes (see Feb '10 issue of Street Machine mag) and am a freelance contributor to Street Machine and do as many van or Valiant stories as possible (Time Machines on Mr Damage and the Dieckmann silver FJ most recently).

Had a letter published in CV&T No. 30 as a 9yo which pretty much sealed the deal on my lifelong commitment to Vans.

Best part about the Van scene? Vanners love Vans no matter what make or model, whereas the rest of the car scene is always dominated by Ford vs. GM vs. Mopar crap, we just love Vans regardless of make! It's bodyshape over build marque anyday!

have fun

Simo

Thanks for sharing your story with us Simo. Makes someone who has only had one van feel like a junior....

Cheers

pez350 wrote: Makes someone who has only had one van feel like a junior....

Cheers

We're all equals here Perry and thats what makes it what it is.

Great intro Simo, I've read your letter to C,V and T before and it always brings a smile to my face. Reminds me of when I was a young tacker drawing vans at my nans place with my cousin. Wasn't till years later that I realised the reason his door window shape looked funny was because he was drawing XB Fords and I was drawing Holdens!

Gday fellas im Damo 31 living in brisbane, I have 1 son hes 7. Iv always loved the Hq series and im just starting my first project, its a 7/74 van thats been heavily molested but I can see she is worth fixing.

Damoruss wrote:Gday fellas im Damo 31 living in brisbane, I have 1 son hes 7. Iv always loved the Hq series and im just starting my first project, its a 7/74 van thats been heavily molested but I can see she is worth fixing.

Hey Damo, welcome aboard. I think you'll find the people here friendly, and full of some great knowledge when it comes to questions about your HQ.

Cheers

Welcome aboard Damo, hope you enjoy your time on here mate. We have a MV member in Brisbane already, Glenn (greycloud) lives up that way. Looking forward to seeing some pics of your project!

That's something I haven't done yet --Introduced myself????? Later today.

Hi Damo and welcome to majestics mate

Regards Tony.

Welcome Damo,

Most of us on here (speaking for myself)
Have gone through the early mid-life crisis & bout another van.
I started when i was about 28, am about 12 vans down now.

Plenty of help & friends to be made on here.
Send through some photo's of ya build.

Cheers Al.

Just realised I never filled this out

names Brad and im a vanoholic

Im from Wagga Wagga and I enjoy long walks on the beach




love my old falcs but can put up with the odd lion or 2 hahaha
found mv cause I spotted a couple of vans in town with the stickers on their windows and decided to check the site out.

and thats me

Nice one brad,buts thats a funny looking beach