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1964 EH Special Wagon: The wagon arrives!!!

1964 EH Special Wagon: The wagon arrives!!!

The wagon arrives!!!

So... after almost 12 months of searching for a car for my project for the next say... 5-10 years, I finally found "the one". She was a steal, purchased on ebay for a very small price. I believe I could easily sell her tomorrow,  for 3 times what I payed. Easily... (not that I would)

I went to take a look at her, and from the moment i saw her, I knew she had to be mine. I have had visions in my head for a long time of what my finished project would look like. I have always loved the EH, and have wanted one for as long as I can remember.
I have owned a 1960's Holden before (a HB Torana - with a powerbox 1.2 Litre engine) but no other car compares to the excitement I feel when I see a nice EH. I also have somewhat of an obsession with Wagons. Not sure what it is, maybe it's the practicality of a wagon, surfboards fit in, seats fold sdown to make a bed, etc etc etc...maybe it's also that wagons are not as often "done up" which makes them more unique. .

I had gone through the stages over the last year or so, of giving up on the idea of an EH, because I just could not find one that had what I wanted, so was looking down the lines of HD/HR wagons and HK/HG wagons with lots of bidding wars going on on ebay, and fate decided I wasn't to have any of those cars. At the point of giving up on the idea... this one came along.

I haven't given her a name yet, but am working on it. I need to drive her first to find what sort of attitude she has, and name her from there. So my plans for the project are set in different levels, because I see no point in aiming for the big picture when you have a small picture budget to begin with.

The Initial Plan:

I want to have it registered to be my daily driver from the start, then I can get it to the places I want to take it to get the work done.

What needs doing to get it on the road (in my eyes):

The suspension needs a complete overhaul, and I want it LOW, so that's one of the main things I want done before it's on the road, not only for safety, but it's gotta look good too.

Seatbelts are an issue, 1964 Holdens didn't come out with seat belts in the back, so I need to have seatbelts installed in the back seat so Felix (my 2 year old) can enjoy travelling about in style. I spent quite some time trying to find out legalities of fitting seat belts in the rear in QLD, and now have the information I need with some help from a forum for Holden enthusiasts http://oldholden.com/  If you have any questions relating to Old Holdens, this is the place to go. Lots of friendly helpful people on this site. It's not like other car forums where the people are dickheads and just like to criticise everything you do, this is a site full of people who are genuinely interested in giving and gettting advice.

Wheels and tyres need replacing, the Jelly bean wheels on her when I bought her don't do anything for the look of the car, so what my plans are is to get some 15 inch wheels off a volvo in standard width, as I have wheel spats that won't allow too much width in the rims. White wall tyres will be the go, and some nicely chromed hubcaps to suit.

Interior is actually in pretty good condition, the front bench seat has been replaced by bucket seats from a Mazda RX7. They are pretty comfortable so don't see the need to change them. I do however need to fit rails to the passenger seat so it can be adjusted for the passenger. The carpet will need replacing, as it is old and faded blue, so have sourced a place that does moulded carpet for EH Holdens from front to back. Roof lining is original but in very good condition, so will just get it tidied up a little with some fresh vinyl paint. The door trims are in bad shape, but have also sourced some remanufactured ones for pretty cheap, and just have to cover them. I don't plan to go all out with the interior just yet, but want it to be very tidy and matching. Future plans are for full leather re-trim, so don't want to go overboard early and waste my time and money.

Paint and Panel is where the most manhours are going to be spent. The rust isn't so bad, but the fella who had it before me took to it with a wire wheel, and the entire body is covered in gouges into the paint, all of which are going to need to be fixed. The previous paint has had a lot of crazy cracking through it, and if I can do so, I will strip it right back to bare metal. I have found a paint supplier that can supply me the colour i want in 2pak for 4L @ $150 plus the same for clear etc. My plan for the bodywork is to get a bunch of mates around, fill the fridge with beers, and get sanding. Should only take a day or two to sand the whole car back to bare metal, and spray in primer. the body is relatively straight, so there won't be much panel beating needed at all in the prep. Once that's done, will take it to a friend of a friend's paint booth to spray it. The colour: Minty Green.

Engine: Now for the best bit. My plans for engine are simple, cheap, and effective. It has currently got a 202 with a Jap 4 speed behind it. I plan on a full engine rebuild, as I don't really know what the condition of the current engine is. Will put in quality race series gasket kit and some internals that will strengthen it up. I will be fitting a Toyota SC14 Supercharger with Intercooler into a 450 Holley. It will be backed with a twin 2 and 1/2 " exhaust that should push enough out. It will also have a 3 core polished aluminium radiator for better cooling and show. I plan to have quite a bit of chrome under the bonnet, and have already been getting my bits and pieces together for that.

Other small things I want to do before it's on the road is fit an alarm and immobiliser, polish the chrome up, add some window tint, some new speakers and a  DVD player, and a lot of the rubbers on the doors and windows are in need of replacing. Also the locks and Ignition barrel need replacing as well, but with my locksmithing skills of past, this should be no issue.

So that pretty much sums up the Initial plan. After writing that up, I think the next level of plan might have to wait for another day.

Thanks for reading...