Meanwhile on another forum....

[mauser]

POST 1.
"hi i have a hq 81837 that came out with manual 4 speed muncie and last owner replaced it with a t400 and welded a plate where the original hump was. the original muncie and linkages came with the car so im putting it back how it should be and need to remake the hump. i have looked every where for a pic and cant find one. think the original was pressed."

POST 2
"Hey mate, I'm in the same boat with my HQ, send me a message with your e-mail and I'll send you what I have."

Although this may be totally innocent request it would raise questions to me that is this a "set of tags" looking for a car.

This highlights to me the view that Byron has voiced about MySandman not directly publishing a step-by-step how-to guide to fake an entire Sandman from only the tags without obviously hindering people from using "large chunks" of a doner vehicle to minimise rust repair costs when saving a vehicle.

I wasn't aware that a manual HQ GTS and GTS/4 350 had a unique floorpan with a hump in it like an earlier monaro. That would have to be a rare shell.

I have seen a HQ full lenght, large opening console advertised on Ebay saying it had a muncie hump in it but at the time I was unsure that this was correct. Are the floor pans and consoles totally seperate part numbers? I have seen the complicated linkages for the clutch have been remade and the rest of the components could be easily sourced from the USA I assume.


Mauser

[jaft]

Its true i guess if u tell how to identify a fake. More ppl would use this to their advantage to make it hard to pick.. Original to a fake..


Might be a innocent but then again if its just a plate welded over the top it should not be that hard to see..

[HK1837]

The Hurst shifter required a hump to be welded into the floor just like on A9X with a T10. It is welded in unlike a HK-HG with M21 or M22 where the hump was part of the floor pressing.

Mauser, you just about nailed it with the reason I won't publish how-to's!

[hqgts]

Not only do they need the hump but the centre console is unique in a hq 350 manual car as well.... Good luck finding one of those...

I agree with not telling all the secrets.... However this can be an issue for a buyer wanting to id a genuine car prior to purhasing it.... If you dont know what to look for how do you know... There is no easy answer in all this i guess

[playwme]

I agree with not telling all the secrets.... However this can be an issue for a buyer wanting to id a genuine car prior to purhasing it.... If you dont know what to look for how do you know... There is no easy answer in all this i guess

Very true. It's one of those catch 22 situations where the faker doesn't need to know all the secrets because most of his buyers won't know them either. The only ones that do know are the experts that already have one. The really collectible cars sell themselves and a buyer doesn't always have the option of getting a vehicle fully checked out by one of the few who know the secrets.

[mauser]

haha well there was a console on ebay a while ago. There wasn't many GTS350's so manual ones would be hard to find let alone find someone who will let this poor chap rip up the carpet for a gander.

Did it look like they cut the bum out of a wok and lap welded that to the floor? I guess for the small numbers involved they wouldnt of been pressing a new floor.


Mauser

ps the console looks the same just with an addon bit... The add for this car says there was only 53 manual ones made.
http://australianmusclecarsales.com....gts-350-monaro
hq350hump.jpg

[HK1837]

I don't have a problem telling individuals, it is posting them up on the web for all too see that I won't do.

Mauser there was many more than 53 HQ 350 manual cars made. There was 206 coupes and 54 sedans. Plus the odd other car like the white HQ 4 Kingswood sedan with L30 MC7 which was at the Warwick Monaro Nationals. So yes the consoles are hard to find, but probably no rarer than HQ Sandman steering wheel caps.

[mauser]

haha well I have one of those caps... :-)

Thanks... interesting I cant remember seeing any origional HQ 350's years ago but i remember some chev HK,T,G Monaro's. The HQ's must of been a bit thin around my way.

Mauser

[HK1837]

There were thousands of HQ Deville with 350 made. Probably more of these in total than all of the other 350 powered HT-HQ combined!

[mauser]

Oh yeah.. I have seen and driven different HQ Statesmans as a 350. They were all T400.

Mauser