72 HQ Wags

  The Magazine Feature Story #8

 https://classiccarsworldwide.com.au 

FROM SAD TO WOW! ONCE UNLOVED AND SITTING IN A SUBURBAN BACKYARD FOR YEARS GRANT MAHONEY’S 1972 HQ HOLDEN KINGSWOOD WAGON BECAME AN AWARD WINNER. “IT’S NO SHOW PONY THOUGH. IT’S BUILT FOR CRUISING!” 

Grant Mahoney, 59 years old sign writer from Mitcham, Victoria talks to Classic Cars Worldwide about his 1972 HQ Holden wagon affectionately called ‘Wags’. “When I bought Wags it had been sitting in a suburban backyard for eight to ten years with damaged bench seats, car park dents, lots of bang marks on the roof both sides the length of the car above the gutter, rusty floor, rusty tailgate, rusty cowl area, in fact in typical condition for a 46 year old wagon that had been used by a family” says Grant. “Also, the old motor became very smoky after doing 1,000,000 miles!”

Grant purchased Wags in 2015 and it took him two years to bring it from sad to wow. He says “I had a crafted plan exactly how Wags was going to look like and the modifications to be done.”

Grant acknowledges his father for the ability to do most of the car mods. “Growing up dad was always tinkering with cars in the garage and I would come out and muck around out there with him, lending a hand and getting in the way. It only comes down to having a go. You will be surprised what you can do” he says.

Previous cars

Grant has owned many cars over the years since he was 18. His first was an HT Wagon followed by an HQ Sandman, a custom 1967 VW type 3 wagon, a Bedford van, a Bronco F350, a HSV Vr Maloo, a HSV VE Maloo up to his present ride a 2012 Cheve Avalanche. Before the wagon build he buit a 1976 HX Sandman panel van Papaya colour windowless 308 4 speed, brining that back from ruins to factory original to win 3^rd best van in the Victorian panel van titles.

1972 HQ HOLDEN WAGON - WAGS – THE BUILD & SPECIFICATIONS

“I had a wagon as my first car and was a member of the Wagon United Car Club and I always wanted to build something like this” says Grant. “Í like things that are different and I didn’t see too many wagons that had been done well when I started this build. Wagons were a bit forgotten and I was hoping to change that. When I was 18 I always wanted to take things to the next level but being young I didn’t have the skill, money or time to do it.”

“In truth, the whole build ran rather smooth. The car is mostly a garage build by myself with a very understanding wife. I did everything except paint or any part of the interior with a stitch as I can’t sew. The main delay was paint which had been there for nearly eight months. During that time, I fabricated many parts and got everything in stock so that when Wags came home there would be no delays. There was plenty of rust, the engine not running so I put Wags in the garage and stripped it down, while of a night buying and hunting parts.”’

Grant details the order of the build. Firstly, the floor repairs were done and then the front chassis was removed and modified for the air bags and HZ chassis braces were installed. The chassis was then ground to base metal and sprayed satin epoxy. The body was put on jack stands and a few weekends were spent grinding back the underside to bare metal and spraying the whole thing satin black. During this time Grant cut out the rear wheel arches for the mini tubs. The chassis was then reinstalled.

Grant bought an air ride system and built a cradle for the two tanks compressor and control electronics. Air lines wire was installed to all corners and huge battery cables were run from the back to the front where there is a charging point or jump point at the front of the wagon. An Enforcer gel battery was used.

After the rear wheel arches for the mini tubs were cut out, they were welded up and Grant chose Intro V-Rod wheels from the USA. Although the build had been running smoothly there was a major problem as Grant explains. “The worst setback was when ShowWheels here in Australia went broke and took my deposit of $2K along with 14 others. Fortunately, ShowWheels had ordered the custom wheels from Intro in the USA, and I was able to do a deal and buy direct from them. I also managed to help many others who had lost money to get their parts from Intro. They helped heaps and I have since ordered other wheels from Intro. They are very easy to work with.” Wheels are 17x8 front and 17x10 rear. All wheels are custom offsets and have Khumo rubber.

A push button mechanical door opening system was fabricated and installed a rear window winder welded up, and electric remote window is used, custom front guard vents were made and the interior was removed and a WB Holden dash support was welded in.

Grant made a dash with custom Speed hut gauges which were used including a GPS speedo.

A handmade grill was made from aluminium along with the bumper holes welded in, its so subtle hardly anyone notices it. The bonnet has a bulge with gussets welded in the sides for more engine clearance and any external antennas removed.

The engine bay with the sleek smooth metal was a real challenge. First the whole lot was fabricated in cardboard to check the fit and shape parts. The inner guard covers were shaped using a tree in the front yard. The metal was cut to shape and then rolled around the tree until the right curve was achieved. A chromed XA Ford brake booster was used because of its smaller size and tucks away beautifully in the corner. After the fabrication all the wiring and pipe work was hidden. To keep the engine bay hose free and electric 12v heater is used for cabin warmth.

Other work included the fuel tank side filler being removed and relocated to behind a sedan rear flip number plate in the back bumper. Rear lower side marker and reflectors were removed, rear guards pumped for ‘an aggressive stance’ and fit the deep-dish rear wheels. The under-floor rear carries the spare wheel battery water bottle and cleaning gear for shows.

 There is a polished aluminum cover over the tank giving the drop tank look with 2x 4” drop chrome exhaust tips. The whole body was taken back to bare metal and epoxy primed followed by any body work that needed to be done.

The rear taillights have custom tinted covers Grant explains “I wanted the tinted taillights we had back then but after so many years there were none around, so I had to make a mold and make some myself”

Front seats are WB statesman along with the rear buckets which are the same but heavily modified to fit. A custom full-length console was made by Grant and in the back section it contains all the MTX stereo gear, amps and subwoofer. A shortened nine-inch diff arrived from Reece @ Diff Company and a hole was cut in the floor to allow the diff inside so the car would go lower when the airbags are aired out.

Dynamat was installed to all floor areas and the car was sent to spray. During the time away in spray Grant filled the holes in the front bumper, fabricated the bonnet hump, made a custom grill and a custom dash. He covered the console and back in Buckskin vegan leather and made a custom 2x fan polished housing.

Back from spray everything went back together, a maroon carpet went in together with an aluminum drop tank cover and last but by no means least all wiring and the sound system installed. All things considered, a remarkable effort!

Wags has an eight cylinder 380 HP new ZZ4 GM crate engine and automatic transmission. Type TH400 Quicksilver shifter with a modified shortened length shifter stick. It has a chrome power steering pump and a Gilmer drive chrome high torque starter motor. The suspension system is an Accuair E level air bag system. The car has two tanks each with six gallons of onboard air with a single Viair compressor remote control.

The paint finish on Wags is late 1960’s, Ford Merlot pearl metallic and the car has VR Holden disk brakes on the rear and all disk vented brakes on the front.

Wags is fully engineered in Victoria and has full Victorian registration.

Awards

All Grant’s hard work has certainly paid off and Wags has won some great awards. Top 10 Show Cars of Melbourne Acland street, multi time winner at Wandin, Best paint and exterior at Monbulk show as well as countless people choice, promotors choice, best engine bay and car of the show at many other places around Victoria.

Events and the Victorian classic car scene

Grant enjoys going out and cruising with his mates, meeting up with others and talking cars. He says “I get out with Wags at least once per weekend and also midweek shows. Wags was not built to be a show pony. It is driven everywhere but I do try and avoid the rain as it takes hours and hours to clean. Wags is coming up to nearly 10,000 km now, so this build is definitely driven not hidden.

The classic car scene is very active and it is not unusual to get over 200 cars to a midweek show. There is always something different to see and new people to meet.”

“The best thing about Wags is the way it drives. It is a real pleasure to cruise. I think this is my ultimate ride. I have touched, cleaned, assembled or made every part and it drives and goes so well.”

Grant would like to thank the support given by his wife Sue and Brad from Fireball Wax and detailing products that keep Wags looking like new.