703 replies to this topic

[Redslur]

So glad you are doing this to an original theme.  I personally love Papaya and the original red accent stripe sets it off perefectly.

 

Keep up the good work!

[GMHAz]

Final hand polish done out in the full daylight. That just about wraps up the paint & panel. Just got to paint the mirror satin black and I'm onto mechanical. Can't believe it has taken what, 3 years to complete all that? Still, I had absolutely no help. Did the lot myself, with some good advice from knowledgeable people here of course.
 
Nice photo while I had it fully out of the garage. Gotta love that fresh 2K gloss!
 
10374026_10152462310622491_6591363038125571423_n.jpg

Dam Anton, your making me think again about what colour to paint the hatch.

Az

[Stinga]

that last pic out in the sun looks awesome, i like the colour and the stripe. sure it may have taken three years to complete but can you imagine the cost if you handed the car over to a shop and asked for a finish like that... thats a lot of beer money

[hanra]

So did you do the body shell at home?

^ Is this a gee up?

[notna]

Yea, all at home in the shed and garage.

 

With 24 pages of posts, can hardly blame someone for coming in late and not reading it all.

 

This is my absolute favourite stage of a restoration. I enjoy all this work, and really do get bored when they are finished!

[Ice]

If you got another spare 3 years i need a little panel and paint done Anton
but seriously bloody great job take my hat of to you

[mika03au]

Looking good, wish I could progress at a similar pace as you have.

 

Isnt Papaya a hard colour to capture in photographs.

I have taken pictures of mine all sorts of instances and it looks different each time.

A lot of 2 pac recipes get it too orange, it is quite a pastel/pasty orange originally.

[notna]

Spot on Michael! In some photos, the light will make Papaya look like a bright orange, similar to what Ford do the Focus in at the moment, and in other light, it will look like a dirty soft orange. I think the gloss of 2K also takes away the original flat characteristic of the 70's acrylic colour. I also noticed a difference in the colour from 2 coats to 3 coats of 2K.

 

Today I christened my Papaya with these...

 

 IMG_20140524_160635.jpg   94.48K   3 downloads

 

It had 2 on it when I bought it, but this one here is actually off my old original SL/R, that I sold in 1993. Back then, de-badging your car was cool. I don't know why, but I kept this badge wrapped up and stored for 21 years. It's REALLY nice to finally put it back where it belongs.

[N/A-PWR]

Cheers Anton

Great Christening, here on the GMH-Torana Forum, well done

[notna]

General question... I would like to have the "Holden letter" that most SL/R or SS owners seen to have. That is, the authentication letter that Holden can supply, based on chassis number. How do I go about obtaining this? Who is the appropriate contact, and is there a cost?

 

Cheers. I should have done this when I bought it. Just a bit lazy on that non-mechanical type of job

[hanra]

I just contacted Holden customer service via the Holden website. Then received a phone call from them I think just to confirm everything. Cost me nothing. Was a Jeff fella I spoke to.

https://m.secure.hol...orms/contact-us



This one cost me a cupla bucks from memory from Historical Vehicle Services.

Edited by hanra, 05 June 2014 - 08:38 PM.

[r2160]

Just on a side note, I used Chris to do some zinc plating. Did an awesome job. Thanks for the contact

 

Looking awesome

 

cheers

Glenn

[hanra]

Geoff Bartlett was the dude I dealt with.

[notna]

Glenn, good to hear mate! My pleasure.

 

Brad... I love the detail in the Historical Vehicle Services certification. If I had the build and sale info for my SL/R I'd be stoked! How do they find that out?

 

I contacted Holden via your link. Thanks mate!

[hanra]

Cool man.

All that info was already known to me when I spoke to Geoff at Holden in regards to my letter of authenticity. So I guess HHVS have access to the same info as Holden.

[notna]

So I took Brad's advice and got myself one of those fancy production reports, and I could not be more amazed by what I have found out.

 

Let me give you a quick bit of background info...

 

I was born and raised in Epping, a northern suburb of Sydney. When I was 1, my dad bought a LH Torana from Caldwell Holden in Crows Nest. In 1982 this was traded in at our local Holden dealer, the closest one to our home. That dealer was Les Vagg Holden at Pennant Hills. My mum bought a brand new VH Commodore from there, and the salesman even delivered it to our house. I remember it arriving and the old Torrie being taken away. In 1993 that Commodore was traded in on another brand spanker at the same dealership, which by now had changed name to Barry Smith Holden. In 1994, I bought my own Commodore from that dealer, only to write it off a year later. I recently took my VE SS there for a service, as it's still a local Holden dealer to me, and I walked to my work from there. My mum still lives in the same house, but, in 2010 she literally ventured across the road from that Holden dealer, and bought a... Toyota! Let's just let that one slide shall we

 

So imagine how downright bloody gobsmacked I was, to find out, that my Project Papaya 1976 SL/R Torana, was sold new from that very same dealer! Even more amazing, is that when I was a kid, it could well have been garaged in my own neighbourhood. You see, after 38 years, a car can end up anywhere in Australia, and when you buy a car this old, it could have begun life from any Holden dealer. I picked up this car from a small town 2 hours south of Sydney. The chances of it being sold new from my local Holden dealer would be pretty slim, or next to no chance really. This resto meant a LOT to me, undoing the bastardisation I did to my old SL/R 20 years ago, restoring one back to factory original. The fact that it is an absolute local car, from a dealer that my family has done business with, is pretty special to me.

 

So, here is the production report. I have edited the chassis and engine numbers out. I never usually worry about doing that, but... you just never know.

 

 Holden Historic Authentication.jpg   107.89K   4 downloads

 

I have questions now about the build and sale dates. What is typical back in these days, and is a 6 month gap, as I have here, excessive? Could this car have been a demonstrator? And.... HOW CAN I FIND OUT THE ORIGINAL OWNER?!?

 

This info has for me, really taken this resto to a new level. I love it!

Edited by notna, 15 June 2014 - 09:40 PM.

[Ice]

Hey anton how do you go about getting one of those reports

It ok just saw the link

[StephenSLR]

 

Are you going to black out the 'Torana smile'; that U-shaped section behind the number plate under the grille?

 

Mine for some reason isn't blacked out, as far as I can tell it's the original apron.

 

s

Edited by StephenSLR, 24 August 2014 - 06:48 PM.

[StephenSLR]

This is to become my L32 SL/R resto thread.

 

Feel free to put up the details in the L32 SL/R register thread:

 

http://www.gmh-toran...2-slr-register/

 

s