Tips on order of restoring the van

[HX76King]

Hi,
I am just about to seriously get into the restoration on my HX Kingswood van, when I realised that I don't know a thing about restoring cars (this will be my first) ha ha.

What I'd really like to get from the vast knowledge of you all is your advice and experiences in this area.

I plan on doing a ground up rebuild. I will be getting Jeff Briffa to do the panel and paint only because I couldn't do the work to a good enough standard or the standard that I wanted.

I will be doing most of the mechanical work.

What order should I do things in. I was thinking of powder coating the chassis and working up to the paint and panel last then the interior. What are your opinions?

[0488TINTER]

you're right on track
check some of the full builds that others havedone and you'll see the order they did it

If you plan on keeping it i would invest in galvinising the chassis before the powdercoating so you'll never have to worry about rust

[Blocker]

You are exactly where I was 12 months ago, and what I have learnt over that time is there is no hard and fast rule. Just common sense what what your budget can afford, definitely do your approximate costings before you embark on this huge project.

My process and plan is;

• Strip - bag and tag.
• Remove shell.
• Strip chassis.
• Engine rebuild.
• Body repair/paint.
• Chassis rebuild.
• Chassis and engine assembly.
• Body and chassis.
• Internal assembly.

It's all going to come down to what do you want as the end result and cost. You wont make compromises, you will just make sensible choices in your restoration process. Ask lots of questions get the advice and ask again.
PS - I have never done this before either!

[mook]

Bag and Tag, No 1
Blocker is spot on with the order, you can always do the chassis in 2 Pack, from what i can see with powder coating it can chip, then the rust can travel underneath the coating, causing rust to pop out elsewhere.

have a designated space to do the work in. Indoors, as you will be spending a lot of nights working on the car.

The only other bit of advice is don't do it if you plan on spending any money on anything else or having a life. I'm being serious, very expensive exercise.
Good luck

[Vombil]

not that i can speak from experience but mook has a few good points. it is going to cost an absolute bomb to do it right!

first make up your mind if your going to be comfortable with the fact that youve got a kinga van that owes you $15,000 to $20,000 once your done. if not, i suggest you dont even start because if you get half way through and give up its going to be worth less than what it is now.

kinda a pessamistic view but its a bit of a reality check.

best of luck and we just love photos

[mook]

not that i can speak from experience but mook has a few good points. it is going to cost an absolute bomb to do it right!

first make up your mind if your going to be comfortable with the fact that youve got a kinga van that owes you $15,000 to $20,000 once your done. if not, i suggest you dont even start because if you get half way through and give up its going to be worth less than what it is now.

kinda a pessamistic view but its a bit of a reality check.

best of luck and we just love photos

Chassis off resto is a crazy amount of work, not to equal bloody hard work especially if you have not done it before.

If you can do a rolling restoration it would be a more bearable process, I'm very lucky that i have a very experienced Holden man (Matt) helping me.

Also take into consideration if you plan moving anytime soon. It is pain in the bum especially when your van is in bits.

[playwme]

Once you've calculated how much it's going to cost you, double it. If that doesn't scare you then continue with the resto.

Also, being in Dubbo, if you see parts in real good nick for a van, just buy them. If you stop to think about it chances are Jennie and Rodney will have snuck in and bought them while you weren't looking.:shifty:

[jennie285]

Once you've calculated how much it's going to cost you, double it. If that doesn't scare you then continue with the resto.

Also, being in Dubbo, if you see parts in real good nick for a van, just buy them. If you stop to think about it chances are Jennie and Rodney will have snuck in and bought them while you weren't looking.:shifty:

Yeahino

[RodneyHZ253]

You have some pretty good advice in the above comments if you are ever in parkes I would be happy to show my results and works in progress and discuss the long and winding road to the end result
We started hear 1year ago

And now 1year later

There is a lot of photos of the rebuilt of this van can post a link if you require but it under( back from the soda blasters) and (blackouts)

[KRUIZ]

its good to see you are asking questions before you start and all the addvice you have and will recieve is great just remember as people are telling you to do a body of resto and depending on the condition before you start if you are paying people to do paint and panel and mechanical and the interior and want to do it to show room condition do not expect any change out of 40k and remember that a car takes up twice as much area when it is pulled to pieces.good luck and i hope you keep your dream alive