HJ Ute, Sandman?

[Sandaro]

Nice looking ute. Saw it on eBay recently at buy it now of $18k. Its dandenong built, so not going to have xx7 on plate even if a sandman. Lack of guards makes me doubt it, in fact put GTS guards on and it would be a great replica, is missing something with stripes but no guards. I believe xx7 would have had derated gvm at this stage of hj- but theoretically could have been a xu3 sandman.

[Cocko750]

Alisco, Sandmans were built at every factory and were not stamped unless they were Brisbane built.

X2 only Brisbane built vehicles will have xx7 stamped

[seavan]

Sandaro it would not have been derated until later 75. I would forget the guards as they can be changed. The real way to id this as a sandman would be to look for the front and rear console mounts. In hj it was only sandmans that came out with the consoles shift and everything else tag wise says 100% sandman.

Seavan

[Lastxc]

Thanks for the replies, yes it was the one on Ebay and ran on there for a few weeks and failed to sell. I made the guy an offer and after a bit of negotiation we agreed on a price. The car had a RWC yesterday and only needed new front disc's and everything else in in great condition so I am pretty happy. It's factory standard under the bonnet even has original air cleaner.
The front guards was the one thing that had me wondering that it may not be a Sandman but everything else seems to match Sandman. I agree with seaman that the guards may have been replaced with standard ones as GTS ones may have been unavailable or the owner didn't care if it had standard ones were used. The guy that was the original owner had it for 38 years, I will update to GTS guards anyway. The car is a factory 4 speed, M20 on the tag. Also on the tag seat capacity is stamped 2. That being the case wouldn't it have been fitted with a console and therefore have factory mounts?

[Sandaro]

Hi Lastxc, that's great news on the rego front. At the time if buckets and 4 speed were optioned on a non sandman it didn't get the full console.

Seavan, you may be right about the derating thing, I thought it occurred with the model year change (ie this ute is 76 model year- whilst still built in 75) but the sandman change seems to have occurred in Oct 75 onwards

[wbute]

Yeah as Sandaro said, you got floor shift without the full console on all HJ commercials if you optioned a 4 speed. Only Sandman got the full console hence the console brackets being a Sandman identifier in HJ. It's still not proof so to speak as the brackets are easily added later. But if yours looks like it was there for ever it would be a good sign. As for the GTS guards, they didn't just send them out to the dealers with standard gaurds if they ran out, they delayed the car.
Contact HHS as stated, they should be able to tell you what's what and that will give you definite proof hopefully.
It's a great ute regardless! Well bought.

[alisco]

Alisco all the information is on the My sandman homepage. Might be worth a read. XX7 and GU3 were the codes for different GVM,s

According to my research, all genuine sandmans had a reduced gvm (as well as only coming with 2 seat capacity). Is this incorrect?

[Lastxc]

Thanks again guys for your input, yes it's a good ute and even if not a Sandman it's a very close factory build spec. I'll pull the console out when I get a chance and look at the mounts. One other question the compliance plate says it is a 9/75 build but the VIN says 1976. So if built in Sept 1975 would it not have been built to the GMV spec applicable at the time, 2200 as plated? My question relates around the reduction of the GMV in later built Sandman's. Did the springs change on the rear of the Sandaman's or did they stay the same and just reduce the GMV on the compliance plate?

[Sandaro]

According to my research, all genuine sandmans had a reduced gvm (as well as only coming with 2 seat capacity). Is this incorrect?

2 seat capacity is a must for sandman. Not all sandmans had reduced GVM, in fact hq and early hj did not get a reduction at all

[Sandaro]

Thanks again guys for your input, yes it's a good ute and even if not a Sandman it's a very close factory build spec. I'll pull the console out when I get a chance and look at the mounts. One other question the compliance plate says it is a 9/75 build but the VIN says 1976. So if built in Sept 1975 would it not have been built to the GMV spec applicable at the time, 2200 as plated? My question relates around the reduction of the GMV in later built Sandman's. Did the springs change on the rear of the Sandaman's or did they stay the same and just reduce the GMV on the compliance plate?

Like GM in the states at the time Holden changed up the model year in about September preceding the year. In the states this usually meant a completely new looking model, so for example the 76 Pontiac model range would be released in September 75. Manufacturers still do this now, you can probably but a Year Model 2017 Subaru or whatever out of a showroom now.

No changes to springs or anything else on the car, bar the tyres. The heavier GVM had commercial tyres fitted, lower GVM had passenger car tyres