DJs Sandblasting & Restoration

24/05/2026

1983 Ford Bronco walk around.

24/05/2026

A 1983 Ford Bronco XLT has been through the workshop and has undergone a full off chassis restoration. This was purchased August last year from the original owner that used the Bronco as his main vehicle for his shearing contractor business throughout the Broken Hill to Dubbo station country. He must have treated it well considering the use it got because other than some rust in the tailgate the rest of the body and panels were completely and totally rust free.
Everything was dismantled and taken back to bare metal inside and out. It was decided to paint the body in the classic Bronco colour scheme with Monza Red over Moroccan Beige. An extra pinstripe was added obove the red to add a little more class before it was all sealed under the clear coat. Sheldon did another great job of the paintwork.
The tired old 250 crossflow was replaced with a new 351 Cleveland and mated up to the original 4 speed gearbox.
Other than a set of period correct American Racing rims and 33 inch tyres along with a set of chrome side pipes the rest of the vehicle is pretty much how it left the factory back in 83.
New carpets and headliner were the only thing replaced in the interior other than vinyl spraying the trim panels and dash crash pad. Even the seats as you see them now are 43 years old and have never been reupholstered. A true credit to the original owner.
This Bronco is actually my own and will be staying in my collection. Looking forward to many years of more faithful service out of this classic Ford. Next up is a drive back down to Greenock to show the original owner his old Bronco that I bought from him 9 months ago and take him for a drive, but with a slightly different exhaust note now coming out of those side pipes.

11/05/2026

11/05/2026

A very nice VH Charger left the workshop for the long trip back home with its owner to Mackay in Queensland. It came into our workshop as an ok car for its age with rust in the usual places.
It underwent the normal stages of sandblasting and dipping of panels before replacing rusted metal for new metal. After many hours of prep it was painted in Hemi Orange and then hand masking those eye popping RT blackouts. The blackouts were then sealed under numerous coats of clear before blocking and polishing for a seamless finish.
The Chargers owner has had the car for nearly 30 years and in that time he’s never truely driven it as it’s been in “project stage” all that time. He’s pretty excited to get the worked triple Weber fed 265 Hemi installed along with the rest of the parts required to finally have some fun driving it.
It was amazing to see the owners father see the car at this stage as he was the one who bought the car for a few hundred dollars for his son’s 16th birthday all those years ago.
Enjoy this awesome car Andrew, you deserve it after all those years.
Thanks to my team of guys with this build, we all agreed that it’s been up there with our favourites.

21/03/2026

This time next Saturday the Eudunda Oval will be packed with cool cars bikes and trucks for the annual Eudunda Show and Shine. The forecast is looking fine and sunny. Plenty of of food stalls drinks and bar facilities along with a live band.
Bring your pride and joy along with your mates and help support the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Hope to see you there.

31/12/2025

To finish off a busy year the Hupmobile returned after a great trim job by Light Pass Motor Trimming along with some electrical work. We were then able to fully reassemble the body work and jewellery. Now it’s back to the electrician to wire up all the lights. Then it will be time to start her up and check everything, adjust the brakes and hopefully the owner can start to enjoy his fully restored 29 Hupmobile.
This car has been a very complicated but rewarding job. It has gone well beyond our normal paint and panel scope. Being such a rare car everything had to be rebuilt or made from scratch. We didn’t have the luxury of simply getting something new or better. The re timbering was a job I enjoyed doing but also not in a hurry to do another one again soon.
Sheldon and Tim put in a top effort to achieve the finish this special car now has. It looks awesome and will certainly do well at any concourse car shows in the future.
So that’s pretty much a wrap up of 2025 from DJs Sandblasting and Restorations. I would like to thank my team Sheldon and Tim for their dedication to high quality workmanship. For putting up with me when I tell them the next project won’t be too difficult and then we uncover a heap more extra issues than I hoped.
Thank you to our customers who trust us to restore their car and bring their dream to reality. It’s not always plain sailing especially when it comes to the costs involved.
I hope all of you including our followers had a Blessed Christmas and I wish you all a happy, safe and healthy 26.

27/12/2025

For some of you this HK ute may look familiar. It was a popular contender at the car shows and drag strip back in the 80s and early 90s. It has remained in the same owner’s possession and he feels it’s time to bring his old ute back to show standards again.
A new 4 link rear end was already fitted when we got it in the workshop. I extended the factory rails forward to eliminate where the original leaf springs mounted and tied that area into the sill panels with a super strong torque box arrangement. The outer chassis hoops were removed and a new thicker one welded back in to eliminate the factory style lip that creates tyre clearance issues when 295 tyres running as close as possible to the chassis. Once these structural areas were completed it was on with the sheet metal. The owner wanted a super clean fabricated look so that’s what he got. While everything was opened and exposed we were able to sandblast inside box sections and panel beat the rear quarters etc really well before completing and sealing up with epoxy primer.
New outer sill panels were shaped and folded without the factory bottom lip so that it will all tie in seamlessly into the new fabricated floor later on. Chassis connectors were made and fitted along with a new flat firewall.
It’s now been back at the customers workshop for him to test fit the motor and transmission so that an exhaust system can be built and a fuel tank made. We will then be able to fabricate the new cab floor knowing clearances will be perfect. The rest of the ute panels will then be built around the modified body shell.
I expect the project back in our workshop again during next year to continue with his plans.

27/12/2025

Another car that we completed and has left the workshop some time ago is this Holden Gemini coupe.
I actually was involved with the restoration of this car about 18 years ago. The son of the current owner asked me to start getting his coupe restored. From memory I took it back to bare metal, it had some pockets of body rust which I replaced with new metal. I painted it in Holden Impulse Blue. The body shell was completed with the intention of moving onto the bolt on panels shortly after. The owners priorities changed and the car sat as it was for years until his father decided to buy the and get it finished. We left the engine bay the way I had finished it 18 years ago but redid the body shell as standards and values have increased over the years to justify doing a good job and finish. The shell was rubbed down and refined while the bolt on panels were taken back to bare metal. A new boot lid skin was rolled up and fit before it was all painted, blocked and polished.
After taking the long way around this Gemini coupe will be back on the road soon and attending the odd car show and shine.

20/12/2025

Playing catch up on some of the cars that we have finished but hadn’t posted.
HT GTS Monaro left the workshop a couple ago months now.
Came in with all the usual issues that these 55 year old cars do but after paint stripping and sandblasting it revealed a few nasty surprises in both rear quarters and especially the LH side. A heavy hit behind the the door resulted in another B pillar and front quarter section being grafted in back in the day. They overlapped at the back and welded it in which eventually re rusted out. Someone then in their wisdom welded another patch over the rust and bogged it over again. So now this Monaro had 3 layers of quarter skins in that area. All this welding had distorted the panels considerably. I cut all the offending metal away and replaced it in new metal section from rare spares including having to add more metal to it to extend beyond the damage caused by the last dodgy repair from years ago. The RH side was more of a standard Monaro quarter replacement section. Eventually all the other rusted areas were completed and blocked before laying on the original Sebring Orange that this Monaro left the factory in back in 1969.
It’s been back with the owner who is assembling it back together and is looking forward to driving it again after owning this car since the 1990s