First published in the January 2006 issue of Street Machine

Shed finds are the stuff of street machining legend. Just last week, I saw a perfect XT Falcon blinking at the light from under a thick layer of dust. It made me feel great that this aging princess was waking up — how long had she been asleep? The dust was inches thick as I passed her trailer on the freeway north; yet with little more than a shower and a meal, she could once again get on with life.

Other shed finds reek of lost opportunity. I’ve walked away from farms almost crying that yet another classic Holden, Ford or VW that I’ve been brought to see is too far gone to save. Even more frustrating are the healthy cars, patiently hoping for fresh air in their flat tyres and clean oil in their sumps, but never to be released by their now-senile owners.

So it was with a mixture of emotions that Glenn Swift responded to being told of an EH Holden panel van that had lain dormant in a shed since 1981.

“I said I didn’t want the heap of shit,” says Glenn, indicating that he has also seen too many wrecks. “I was sick of doing up cars. But I went up for a look and I took a trailer just in case.”

With the van pushed into the daylight for the first time in 15 years, Glenn was glad he’d brought the trailer.

“It was covered in dust. It was so thick the roof gutters had to be raked out with a screwdriver. Everything was seized and the doors and front guards were rusty. But the rest was a really good windowless panel van.”

Glenn’s plans were to restore it. “And that’s what I did, — at first. I had it to the stage where it was painted and ready for assembly. The six cylinder red was in there, fully reconditioned and connected to the three-on-the-tree.”

Then came a moment of clarity. “I thought: ‘I’m not going to be happy with a six. I’d really like a V8.’ So that’s the way it went!”

After seeking advice from Rod at Rod’s Rack & Conversions in Beaudesert, Glenn bought a $500 VC V8 Commodore to use as a donor for the engine transplant. He considered a Chev V8 but really wanted his resto-custom pano to be all Holden.

“I took the van down on a trailer, with the engine and ’box in the back of my tonner. I gave Rod a pile of parts and a fistful of cash and he did the lot,” says Glenn.

Under the car is an HR Holden crossmember — it has ball joint suspension, rather than clunkier king pins — and a VN Commodore rear axle narrowed by Phil’s Diffs & Suspension. The steering was updated with a front-mounted Commodore rack working HQ stubs and the car stops courtesy of HQ Holden front and Commodore rear discs.

One of the most innovative parts of the engine transplant was Rod’s adaptation of the EH column shift auto selector to the Trimatic, achieved by a mechanism under the dash that links the trans to fingertips via a cable. The floor has also been raised to clear the gearbox. “Rod’s just a whizz at that stuff,” says Glenn.

Engine improvements include a 20-thou clean of the bores, new pistons, ported heads, a Crane cam and a balance job. Since the photo shoot, a toothed belt-drive has been installed too. The tricked-up column-shift Trimatic trans is fronted by a 2500rpm stally for a bit more poke and the tailshaft is a cut-down Statesman unit. Detail work includes the battery and brake booster relocated under the load area and the coil and fuses mounted in the glovebox when Tony from Foyes Auto Electrician rewired.

The late change of plan from six to V8 came after a mate, Stewart Lee (Stewart’s Smash Repairs, Brendale), applied the paint in the original Balhanna Green. Glenn explains that it is a commercial colour that was used only on vans, utes and some business (taxi-pack) sedans.

“I also had some work done by Col at Macdonald Smash Repairs,” says Glenn. “It was a team effort — one helped with the body, one the paint.”

The stripes are vinyl so Glenn can strip ’em off easily if his mood changes, but there’s little chance of that occurring. Even with the lift from the door handle guards and extra chrome splash from the GTS wheel trims, he reckons it looks too plain and bland without them.

“I wanted the GTS wheels to give it a Sandman look,” says Glenn. “It sounds like a cliché but I wanted it to look like a Sandman had Holden made it a decade earlier.” If he hasn’t nailed it, I’m a monkey’s uncle.

Like the exterior, the interior was restored to keep the classic 60s appeal. The front seat has been rebuilt and retrimmed to standard specs by Lance Forrest Trim and the door trims are the ridgy-didge 1960s originals fitted to this car on the production line. Glenn finished the load area with splatter-pattern paint.

“I didn’t want to pad it out — I’m too old for that poofy shit,” he reckons. Subtle interior updates include retractable seatbelts (a legal requirement following the V8 engine transplant), a CD player, a fire extinguisher and carpet where Holden’s original factory fare was easy-hose rubber.

The worst part of building the car, reckons Glenn, was detailing the undercarriage. Like a modern Michelangelo, Glenn lay on his back as he cut through sound deadener and created a floorpan work of art.

“I had the body hanging from chains in my shed, with no nose or chassis. I had a four-inch wire wheel. It was the worst. It took me a month.”

The best part? “It drives beaut and everyone loves it,” says Glenn. “Young people, old people — except for one old bloke one day. He said he’d owned one for 20 years but swore at me and reckoned I’d cannibalised it by putting in a V8.”

What would he know?

The marque of a man

I’ve always been into EHs,” reckons Glenn. “My uncle had an EH station wagon that he used to take us everywhere in. We used to sit right up the back. He inspired me. I think I was about eight and right back then I knew I was going to work on EHs.

“At 19, I had a hottie EH sedan with triple SU carbs and all that gear. I only recently sold that to make way for my new Monaro. I go to a lot of swap meets and I’ve wrecked about eight EHs. I keep the lot — heaters, nuts and bolts, starter motors — so there’s always plenty of spares for the projects.

“I’ve just acquired an immaculate EH sedan from a mate — it’s an absolute pearler. I’ll get stuck into it soon.”

Glenn Swift
EH Holden panel van

Special thanks
To all my mates who helped — you know who you are — with putting it together on weekends.