Couple of questions on HJ Sandmans.

**hux454** · 03-03-2010, 01:17 PM

G'day All,
1. Did the HJ Sandmans have a black or silver GTS dash, or was it a matter of choosing one?
2. Were the GTS guards flutes blacked out or not, as I've noticed from factory brochures some did & some didn't.

Cheers,
Glenn.

**Blocker** · 03-03-2010, 02:09 PM

Originally Posted by hux454

G'day All,
1. Did the HJ Sandmans have a black or silver GTS dash, or was it a matter of choosing one?
2. Were the GTS guards flutes blacked out or not, as I've noticed from factory brochures some did & some didn't.

Cheers,
Glenn.

Hey mate, building up a repository of factual data on each model which will take time. HJ is here;
http://www.mysandman.com.au/forums/s...andman-details

There is no evidence at this stage pointing to a factory supplied black dash for a HJ Sandman.

The flutes were not originally blacked out, but it was a common addition in later years by people modifying their vans. e.g. Adding chrome bits where there shouldn't be and window trim blackouts when they were not the case for the HJ.
I guess it just reflects the fashion at the time, when people like to modify and personalize their van/ute.

**hux454** · 03-03-2010, 02:38 PM

Thanks Blocker,
If the flutes weren't blacked out from the factory why do some of the brochures have them as blacked out then?

**Blocker** · 03-03-2010, 03:03 PM

Are these photo brochures or graphic/artwork? Can you post or link to some pics please.
I'd like to find a definitive answer to this question - whatever the answer is.

**hux454** · 03-03-2010, 03:40 PM

G'day Blocker,
The photos/graphic artwork are on the Sandman website I assume you blokes set up (well done again). Under the HJ brochure pics there are 5 brochures. 3 have the HJ's without the blacked out flutes & 2 have them with. The only reason I ask is eventually when I put the guards on my HJ I am just trying to make it original as possible.

Cheers,
Glenn.

**Absinth** · 03-03-2010, 05:47 PM

I wouldn't put too much faith in brochures for what is correct for your Sandman..... These were pre-production vehicles built for brochure pics and promotion and parts seen on them didn't always make it on to production vehicles. The mirror on the HJ brochure that Adam has pointed out is one such part, it is not on any of the other brochures and was not fitted to production vehicles. The HX ute with a build date of 4-76 and 19V trim was a pre-production promotional vehicle and 19V trim was not used on production vehicles.

The HZ Sandman brochure features a Absinth Yellow HX Sandman van that has had some HZ parts fitted to it and the twin headlight front.

Road test vehicles pictured in the magazines of the day are probably a better source for how they came off the production line.

Production HQ and HJ Sandmans had the flutes in the guards blacked out the same as GTS Monaro and HQ SS.

The dash is a hard one as the late HJ parts catalogue lists the silver dash for Q69 models only and Sandman isn't even mentioned. I believe all HJ Sandman had the silver dash as the Sandman was modeled pretty much on the GTS sedan however there are a lot of HJ Sandmans around with black dashes...... ??? All the pretty much original HJ Sandman I have seen have silver dash fascia's and the two HJ Sandmans I owned in the 80's and the several vans I stripped or butchered into utes all had silver dash fascia's.

Blocker has found remenants of silver on his fascia and I have a pic of one that is black around the instruments but the bottom radio panel is silver..... seems the owners liked the black look better and removed the silver paint..... I have seen a truckload of HQ GTS fascia's that have been painted black over the original silver fish scale.

I guess in the end it's your car and you have to make the decision based on all the info you receive.

**Absinth** · 03-03-2010, 06:21 PM

If you go off this GMH HJ Sandman advertisement they didn't even have fluted guards let alone blacked out....

**Blocker** · 03-03-2010, 06:43 PM

Most of those brochures have had artwork done after the photo. The ones that look like partial blackouts are only painted by hand on the print, as they do not blackout the whole flute. They have been added by the art department to enhance the appearance of flutes on the guards.

**Absinth** · 03-03-2010, 06:49 PM

It was sent to me about two years ago, the guy that sent it said it was out of a Oct. 74 dated magazine.... I don't recall which magazine.

This one is from a Jan. 75 dated magazine. $4888.00 for a base Sandman against $4201.00 for a base Belmont van. That makes it $687.00 for the Sandman package.

**Blocker** · 03-03-2010, 08:34 PM

Ok so they had black outs on the flutes. I'm man enough to admit when he's wrong (just don't tell the missus). But why does this one have black mirrors?