Making van cab from 4 door saloon

[paulhumphries]

Looking on the Nordisk web site I see an article about the refurbished van cabs from Sri Lanka.
http://www.morrisminor.dk/Sri_lanka/MMVan/van_e.htm
It says they make the cabs out of modifided 4 door saloon bodies.
Anyone ever done that and want to reveal how easy / hard / etc ?
I'm drifting strongly towards a van as a full restoration project so the idea of being able to make a new cab is intriguing.
After all there are going to be far more 4 doors scrapped that can provided the basis for building a new cab than there are good van / pickup cabs still available !

Thanks.

Paul Humphries.

[bigginger]

The floor is different, and you'd need to fabricate the area where the cab joins the back - same kind of arrangement as a Trav. Not impossible, of course, but pretty tricky unless you have a lot of metalwork experience, tools and time. Or cash to pay for it to be done, of course I don't know if the curve of the saloon roof is the same either, but I'd guess "yes"

[aupickup]

to be honest i would have thought not worth the while.

[bigginger]

Have to say I agree

[jonathon]

We had a customer build his pick up from a two door saloon, which I think would be the way to as it gives greater access through the doors.
You will need to lengthen the chassis. Suppose as said before it depends on if its worth doing this.
With the current quality of parts from Sri lanka I'd say the effort is worthwhile, as in my experience the repair panels are extreamly poor and I'd go so far to say are 'not fit for purpose'. Pay for British quality and craftsmanship and have a proper job done.

[paulhumphries]

With the current quality of parts from Sri lanka I'd say the effort is worthwhile, as in my experience the repair panels are extreamly poor and I'd go so far to say are 'not fit for purpose'. Pay for British quality and craftsmanship and have a proper job done.

I must admit I've never even seen a Sri Lanka panel but have read about other peoples experiences of them to make me avoid them.
I therefore wonder about their new chassis and "refurbished" cabs too.
Looking at the photo's the production facilities are very crude and I expect "quality control" isn't a word they use

Paul Humphries

[jonathon]

Quality control
If the shocking shape of the panels is not enough, I'd warn against the quality of the steel, every panel we have had is rusty beneath the thick coating of black primer. When welding the gasses given off are brown or streaky white, which indicates some wierd metal mixes.
Time to pressure both Heritage and LMC to get their act together to provide a viable alternative.

[IaininTenbury]

I would have thought by the time you've acquired a four door for spares, chopped it in half, removed the chassis legs and crossmember, fitted new floors and sills, probably replaced the tie plates as you'd have to remove the chassis legs off them and reshaped the back edge of the cab roof into the flange for bolting the back end to, it would be just as easy (or difficult rather) to have rebuilt the dodgy original cab that you had to start with. Especially as the four door would almost certainly need some repairs itself - if it was bad enough to be used for this purpose....
Just my thoughts. Obviously in Sri Lanka where rust isnt a major issue, there were few or no original commercial Minors out there and four doors plentiful and labour is cheap its a whole different ball game.

Agree totally with Jonathon re the panel situation by the way. Had plenty of experiences myself....

[dean36014]

As I'm about to remove the cab from my chassis, and start the floor/sill and goodness know's whatelse replacement, could someone PM where the best panels are available from. I haven't got much spare time/cash and would like panels that will at least nearly fit.
Dean

[jonathon]

Dean, unfortunately its a choice of generally 'just acceptable' parts quality. Sri Lankan ones are a waste of time unless you have good panel beating skills and no desire for the quality or long term viability of their use(poor steel and rust) Heritage wings are good quality steel and thicker guage but quality control is as bad as the above, mis shaped, under and oversized panels. I'd go for Hadrian ones, they are good grade and guage, as near to the original shape as is possible, but they seem to be reluctant to produce panels. I'm about to send a petition to other traders to encourage Hadrian to produce adequate quantities of panels rather than the random supply we currently experience. Hadrian panels are available from most Minor specialists ,but do shop around to get the best deal.

[dean36014]

Cheers Jonathon.
As you ,at Southam, are just down the road from me, do you supply panels and parts?
How can you tell if a panel is rom Sri Lanka? Is it something obvious as a sticker etc?
Cheers
Dean

[jonathon]

The Sri Lankan panels are finished in a dusty black finish, and look hand beaten, (probably because they are). Only Hadrian and Heritage seem proud enough to label their products. Send me a list of the panels you need and I can let you know what is available and from whom

[IaininTenbury]

Sri Lanken panels I've had have had a little yellow gummed paper sticker on with a picture of an elephant on it and the part number, unless the trader has ripped it off to put their own part number on. most seem to be the dusty black colour, but some have been a sort of semi matt brown. the hand finished effect of them is the easiest way to spot them.
Hadrian supply has been a bit patchy lately, hence having to use other brands, I had somthing through from Hadrian apologising for some shortages the other day, and promising better service in the future.
I'll happily sign the petition though.
cheers
Iain