Threeonthetree's 1970 Holden HG Brougham

[Threeonthetree]

Discussion Thread

 

So I decided to start a separate thread for each vehicle.

 

This is my 1970 Holden HG Brougham. If you're familiar with the Holden Statesman then this car is basically the Statesman's father.

Holden introduced the statesman in late 1971 (when the HQ series was introduced). Essentially the big players of the Australian car industry all had luxury long wheelbased cars which were their flagships.

Ford had the LTD of 1967 which was based on a regular falcon floorpan but was stretched around 130mm to make the car longer and allow more rear legroom (where legroom equals luxury).

Holden on the other hand had to play catchup. In 1968 with the advent of the new HK model, Holden introduced the Brougham (pronounced Bro-em). It was based on the regular HK sedan floorpan. Because Holden was cutting costs, rather than stretch the wheelbase by a few inches they decided to stretch the boot instead. Therefore the Brougham looks like a regular Premier but with a big old boot. It's huge.

 

Holden finally did the job properly when the introduced the HQ series with the Statesman receiving a longer wheelbase than the regular model.

 

 

 

The registration is on Hold and when I bought it, she'd been sitting in a cowshed for half a decade.

So far I've pulled up the carpets and had a decent poke around but I daresay that it's actually a very solid example indeed.

I managed to free the starter and crank the engine over with the key.

It turns over like a champ!

Because it's in my lockup facility a little while away from my house, I haven't really done much to it.

The next step will be to remove and prime the oil pump, compression test the motor,  replace the Quadrajet carburetor with my ready-to-run spare (part of every good toolkit hahaha), replace the basics (oil, filter, plugs, leads, distributor parts etc) and fire her up for the first time.

 

 

The farmer that I bought it off knew the previous owner who used the car mainly for towing his boat.

At one stage the boat trailer slipped off the towball and gave the beaver panel (below the rear bumper) a bit of a shunt. The beaver panel is a bit rusty and I have a spare one ready to be welded in so that's not an issue. Because it was mostly the Old boy boating along with his boat in tow, the interior is in very good condition for its age. Sure it's grubby, but the door cards are complete and merely need a clean. The same goes with the seats, they aren't even ripped! Just dirty but a good clean should see the brocade fabric come up wonderfully.

The carpet will need to be replaced and I'm at a crossroads as to whether I should shell out for the original 80% Rayon 20% Nylon carpet which is a faithful replica of the original item or just go for a cheaper alternative, possibly in black instead of the original tan.

 

Check out the flaming B motifs on the armrest in the centre of both seats. Love it!

 

 

 

 

Note the rear pillar courtesy lights and 'stirrups' next to them. Perfect for an early 70's Businessman and his many mistresses.

 

I'm also going to track down an original Holden Air Chief radio for the dash. It's the only thing missing.

 

 

Arggghhh, I'm becoming a foamer!!*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*actually that happened years ago

[Threeonthetree]

The HG Broughams generally ran an all Australian made driveline, unlike the HK and HT which had a Chevrolet engine and/or transmission.

 

My one is no exception. Under the bonnet is a 308 cubic inch V8 which is coupled to a three-speed Trimatic automatic transmission.

At the rear is a Holden 'banjo' type differential.

 

 

 

 

The bottom picture shows the original oil filler nick hole on the top of the timing cover. It's been blanked off with a frost plug as was common in those days. This early style of oil filler through the timing cover was only used for the very first years that Holden V8s were in production and are very uncommon. Sadly, most were blanked off and the filler necks were cut and welded to one of the rocker covers, as is the case here. But thankfully I have several early timing covers so I'll change it back at some point.

Also not the early Holden V8 rocker covers have no oil cap embossing or stampings like all of the later ones did. These are pretty hard to find as most have had holes cut into them etc.

 

It also came with an original aircleaner assembly installed, albeit cut off at the snorkel end. Still happy though, it's really difficult to find a Quadrajet aircleaner for an early Holden.

[Threeonthetree]

Here you can see just how long the rear of the car is in proportion to the rest of the body.

'Dat ass etc.

 

 

[Threeonthetree]

A few weeks ago I changed the oil and filter, removed the rocker covers and compression tested the motor. Two cylinders were at around 90psi while the others were an even 130psi. I ran the engine up to temperature and maybe a bit above that too which cleared out a lot of the internal deposits as well as shooting the exhaust baffles straight out the back. I replaced the ignition components, fuel filter and flexible line while I was there.

 

I went down to the shed yesterday to do some work on the Valiant, but became sidetracked working on this. Ben turned up a bit later, Here's what happened:

 

I installed a relay to provide a bit more voltage to the coil during cranking. You can see my exceptionally tidy wiring with the relay hastily taped to the heater box. Just like a bought one.

The existing Rochester Quadrajet carburettor required rekitting at a minimum. So I had a spare later Quadrajet from a VK Commodore. I installed that and blanked off the appropriate outlets. I had tuned this carb briefly on another 308 a while ago so in theory it should have settled into a consistent idle once running. After a little bit of extra help from my new jumpstart pack (I love that thing already) it fired up and I set about adjusting the timing. I borrowed a vacuum advance hose from a spare 253 and connected that too.

After about five years of sitting dormant, it settled into a steady idle.

 

 

Once I'd removed the thermostat and refilled the cooling system, we carefully slid the old girls column gear selector into D and rolled out of the shed. The brakes were reassuringly solid and the engine was on song. So being a lazy quiet afternoon the next step was to go for a drive. No wof, no rego, no bonnet, no worries.

We hit about 40mph in places and the car performed wonderfully. The ram-type power steering was still tight and it was a pleasure to drive. Still had some get-up-and-go too.

Here she is after her maiden voyage, we decided to tear the vinyl roof off and see the extent of the rust issues:

 

 

 

All things considered it's bad but not too bad. The passenger side has had steel welded into it before and the vinyl was redone at some point. Eventually I will reinstall the original island roof that it came with. These are unusual as the vinyl does not go to the top of the front windscreen and gutters. It stops about an inch short and the edge is covered with a chrome trim which runs all the way around the perimeter like so:

 

[Threeonthetree]

 

 

She's a pretty big job but I have time on my side.

The next logical step will be to remove the carpet and dry out the interior. The seats will then be removed too as the Brocade fabric gets covered in filth very easily and is a right pain to clean. The roof needs to be addressed as soon as possible, with the rear quarters to follow. The right rear door is the worst of the lot and will be replaced but for now the bolt-on panels can wait.

 

[Threeonthetree]

The poor Brougham has been languishing at the back of the shed for some time now.

Last night I threw a battery in her (actually placed it in very gently and lovingly) and it fired up after about ten minutes 

Zebra Dude was there too and we used it to tow another vehicle out. It drove well and left two black marks on the concrete. The old Banjo LSD still works.

 

So now I have finally decided to get onto this project. It's my favourite car by far, followed by the Panelvan/Triumph Half PI.

The HQ Holden has been a good old shitter to drive around in but I am ging to sell it and put the money towards the Brougham. Driving it last night made me realise just how much I love this car and parking it at the back of the shed is no way to show that. Felt a bit ashamed.

 

So now the car is at the front of the shed and once I've serviced the transmission and replaced the leaking rocker cover gaskets it will be ready to drive to the panelbeaters for roof repairs.

[Threeonthetree]

Also, I previously mentioned that an original 'Air Chief' GMH radio is something that I will fit to this car.

Well, a package arrived from Australia last week and this was in it:

 

[Threeonthetree]

Brown on Brown

 

[Threeonthetree]

Minor update. Every year I have wanted to take this car to Kumeu just to do a little bit of cruising in and to also try and extract some information and possibly parts sources from people who walk past and see it. It will need to be taken there on a trailer which means that I have a small list of things to sort before I can take it up.

First of all, I needed to sort out the crusty old rocker cover seals which were dripping oil over the hot exhaust manifolds:

 

 

With that sorted, I degreased and cleaned the exhaust manifolds and any other oil residue I could find. I then ran the engine for a while to burn off whatever else was left on there.

 

So with that taken care of the list is now this;

 

- Replace transmission filter and gasket, replace fluid and get the car to shift gears properly.

- Drain differential oil and replace with new oil

- Remove and test starter motor (possibly replace?)

- Get the drivers' power window working. Maybe even the other three if I have time

- Pull the wheels off and check the suspension and bearings

- Give it a good clean inside and out, remove the bootload of spares. And all of the spares inside the cabin.