Help. Just brought a van. Is it a Sandman

[wbute]

Theres no strip or lining. Im pretty sure it has been rebodied at some stage. Its column auto, hx standard dash gts front stamped not welded.
Tell me Im wrong but it seems to be HJ Sandman abesinthe yellow black trim 3:08 diff 253 4 spd. Built at Elizabeth plant 2 seater. Although its all in a shitty hx body. The 2 seater characteristics give me the tell tale sign that its a Sandman. True or false. Did they make a standard pv with 2 seats.

Two seater was available in any van. HX had white needle in all dashboards so it has a HZ dash. Round hole in firewall HX onwards square hole in HJ.

[Philcapo71]

That doesn't answer my question tho. The body is not the issue. Im trying to determine whether its a Sandman tag. Why would someone go to all the trouble of changing a dash, steering column all as standard.

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Ah ok so they can be a 2 seater. So does the tyre placard mean anything as its supposed to have 6 inch wheels

[wbute]

People stripped all the good stuff out and put it into Utes and sedans in the 90's all the time. They then put all the standard stuff back in and sold them. No one wanted a Sandman van during the 90's. You couldn't sell them.
So you need to determine if it's the correct body.

[Philcapo71]

So does this mean I will never know. Are there any signs on the tags to determine what the tags are.

[wbute]

Contact HHS. They might be able to tell you what the tags were. But you also need the correct chassis number.

[Philcapo71]

Yeah thats my next port of call. I had a hq pv back in early 90s and we put a wb front on it with gts dash did it up tottally. I remember wishing I had a sandman back then so it just seems weird that this van been painted up and prem front with all the chrome on it under the bonnet that someone would standardize the interior bits. Everyone is contradicting each other by saying the M is for sandman, or the combination of diff ratio color and trim etc says it is. Then others are saying only the lining and console mounts will tell you. I would have thought holdens would have a tag indication to tell.

[wbute]

It's a combination of most of what you have been told. In HJ the difference between a seat seperate mount is an indication which is the console mounts. HJ could be M or N but they dropped the N version after HJ (not sure about N in a van in HJ though??).
Head liner teeth is important but if you had a body swap you will never know any of the above things anyway.
If only Holden had given them a model code it would be easy.

[Philcapo71]

Update; Holdens dont have any info on this prior to 1985. So I guess Ill never know. Thanks for all your help guys. I wasnt tryin to be a pain in the ass. Just very frustrating to be this close but no cigar.

[Sandaro]

No Holden don't, or are not interested. But Holden Historic Services (HHS that WB mentioned) is a private dude that does have records, will do a report for $90. Try that ti get your answer.

[Geopaj]

No Holden don't, or are not interested. But Holden Historic Services (HHS that WB mentioned) is a private dude that does have records, will do a report for $90. Try that ti get your answer.

Correct, you need to speak to Holden Historical Services - http://www.holdenhistoricalservices.com.au