Shane Graham’s rare 1946 Chevy Panel Van holds an important place in his family history.
Passed down from his grandfather, Shane dreamt of restoring the Chev and getting it back on the road to take his grandparents for a drive down memory lane.
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So, in 1998, he got to work — but tragedy struck not long after, when Shane was involved in a serious accident.
A load fell on him while he was working as a truckie, breaking his back in two places.
From then on, life turned down a different road, and the resto job was put on hold.
“It was four years before I could properly walk again,” he says. “There was an awful lot of rehab and painkillers involved.
“I lost friends because I fell out of touch with them, or when friends would come to visit, I was on such strong painkillers I couldn’t hold a conversation.
“Life changes all the time. You don’t get to choose how, you just have to learn to deal with it.”
Before he got a chance to restore the Chevy, both of Shane’s grandparents sadly passed away, and he had to find a new purpose to restore the old rig.
Shane says his granddad used to drive his mum to the Gold Coast for a surf in the Chev, so it became a big part of her life as well.
So that’s where his focus shifted: to his mum, and to driving her around in a truck that meant a lot to her.
Then, without warning in 2021, Shane’s mum passed away from a heart attack, leaving him devastated once again.
“I really wanted to restore it, but didn’t have the ability to do so,” he says.
“After mum died, I had to make the decision to make the time. So, I did.”
In 2022, between Covid outbreaks, Shane travelled back to Queensland and brought the Chevy home with him.
It had been outside and exposed to the elements, so he knew this restoration project was going to be a big one.
Now with a family of his own, Shane hopes to pass on a piece of history from his family to his own children.
“I just want to drive it, because that’s what my grandparents and my mum drove, and I want to be able to pass that on to my kids. To me, it’s a big part of our family’s history.”
And so, the resto began, to transform this memory from another time back to its original form.
Once the Chev was in Shane’s hands, it was stripped back to a bare chassis. Even the spring hangers had to be taken off, as they were damaged, and it was then sandblasted and coated.
“We basically started with air,” he says. “I wanted to get the chassis on wheels first. So, I did the diff, then all the spring hangers and bolts.
“Grandad was really good with his maintenance, so as I’m pulling these bolts out, they still have GMH stamped on them – General Motors Holden.”
“GMH were building Chevys before 1948, when they started building the FX and then subsequently the FJ Holden. So, to find the original pieces with GMH stamped on it, I think that was a brilliant part of history.”
Even the rubber bump stops on the diff have the Chevy symbol stamped under the rubber.
Shane says the shock absorbers and steering were all buggered and had to come apart, be cleaned and then rebuilt, but once he got the chassis rolling, the timber frame soon followed, and the project started to take shape.
“A lot of guys say, ‘Oh, I would have done the steel work first and then put the frame inside it,’ but unfortunately, because this one was coach built, the metal just nails to the outside,” he says.
“So, I did the timber frame first which was really rickety and had a fair bit of rot in the timber. Where I could, I repaired. I cut pieces out and fitted pieces in.
“There were a couple of pieces I had to remanufacture because they were rotten beyond use.”
All the timbers are hardwood, which Shane explained is quite hard to get nowadays, but he managed to track some down.
Currently, the cab is sandblasted, and Shane is ready to start on the metal work.
However the resto is on hold so he can attend the Old Gippstown Car Show, due to people showing interest in his work.
“It’s a bit strange that people want to see the Chev as it’s only a chassis and a wooden frame, and I’m not sure people are going to know what it is!
“So, I’ve sat the cab on, and nailed on some of the old, rusty metal work on just one side of the car, from the back doors up to the mud guard.
“That way people will see what it was and the work that’s involved.”
Shane wants the Chev to remain as original as possible, which means the resto will take even longer to complete.
“Pretty much every nut and bolt in it is original, as I had a few parts from granddad and other people that I’ve been in touch with,” he adds.
“I could have finished it quicker, but it wouldn’t be a proper job. It’s not going to be a $100,000 show car, because I want to drive it. I don’t want it to break down on me in the middle of nowhere.”
Now working full-time as a bus driver and with a family to take care of, work on the Chevy must be done during Shane’s lunch breaks and when he can find the time during the weekend.
“Sometimes I look at it and think ‘This is taking forever,’ but then on Facebook a memory will pop up of where it was 12 months ago, and I look at that and think, ‘You know what, I’m actually doing okay,’” he says.
“I really thought it was never going to happen, which was quite sad for me to think about. But now, to see the progress I’ve made and to realise that I’ll actually get to drive this one day, that’s what keeps the motivation going.”
Shane says that for a lot of people, the process of the build is what a resto project is all about.
But if he had the money, he would happily take the Chev to a reputable rebuilder, to be able drive the vehicle his mum and grandparents drove.
When his grandad first gave him the Chevy, as a young fella, Shane wanted to make it his own — lowering it, chucking on some big wheels and turning it into a hot rod.
As he got older, he gained more respect for the history of the rig and learned how rare they were, having only ever come across one other guy with a PMG Chevy with side windows like his one.
“It’s a rare vehicle to begin with, but it’s even more rare to have these side windows in the back,” he says.
Having the respect and love that he has for his family’s history is what has driven Shane to begin and one day finish this huge project.
“A lot of people would have looked at the condition of it and not done it, it was quite far gone,” he says.
“It’s only a labour of love because it’s such a massive job.”
When asked if he would consider doing another resto after he finishes the Chev, Shane hesitates.
“That depends on whether my wife wants her Combi van or not,” he chuckles.
“She’s always wanted one, but I’d rather win the lotto and buy one for her, but if not, I’m happy to hang up my resto gloves.
“With the spare time I’ll have, I’ll probably go drive the Chev.”
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