It was decided to do a coachbuilt conversion based on a VW LT 35 two days ago now, and i have got nowhere really, been looking quickly for a suitable chassis cab, seems they are all twin rear wheel models, so i'm now wondering if i can bolt the single wheel axle off my current van in place of a twin rear wheel axle, otherwise i'm restricting my van choice dramatically, i may end up buying a low top panel van, and chopping the body off, most people do that it seems,

i've made the drawings of the body i want building, decided to go for about a 6.5 meter long van, giving almost 5 meters of living space, and 2.1 meters wide, (just 3 inches either side wider than the LT cab), but that causes a few problems, the long wheelbase LT is just over 5 meters long, and i hate long rear overhangs, also the layout plan i have in mind requires the entry door to be infront of the rear wheel, with a standard long wheelbase van, this doesn't leave much room for the living area, and I'd not have a very big van as i am not having a 2 meter long overhang to make the space up, so the solution is a chassis stretch, i've worked out very roughly that to get an overhang that i'm happy with, will need the rest of the length making up with a 950mm chassis stretch, i planned on doing this my self, but i'm not sure of the legalities of this, i know you can shorten vehicles for making kit cars with no hassles, but a light truck chassis being extended is a bit different.

So i e-mailed a firm that does truck chassis stretching, and they got back to me very quickly, no problems to do the stretch, but you can't stretch the prop shaft that much, I'll need a second shaft and intermediate bearing, this may be cheaper than extending the prop shaft, as it may be a bolt up job, but i don't know yet, the firm can't give me a price for the work until they see the van, as i don't have it yet, and buying the van in the first place depends on the price of the chassis work, i'm in a catch 22 situation, i've asked for a rough price.. i.e. hundreds or thousands, i'm hoping for about £500 at most, but i'm prepared to be surprised.. the wrong way.

The body, well this is more difficult than i thought, a few years ago i was in the VW LT Motorhome Club, and a few members were talking about having a coachbuilt body built on their van, for a bare body the price would be about 4 to 5 grand, however i can't recall the names of the firms that do this, so i've been searching the net for firms that will build a bare coachbuilt body for me, first i tried O'Leary's, they got back to me fast, and with a quote of 10 to 12 grand!!!!!, that was a big shock, as some people in the LT club had a whole coachbuilt conversion done for 13 grand.. took a panel van in, few weeks later they drove a full coachbuilt motorhome away, i've found a few more companies that advertise full conversions for about 12 grand, so i can only imagine O'Leary's thought i wanted a full conversion, or didn't want the job.

Finding more companies to try has been hard, machzone have a lovely website, showing the bare body conversions they do etc, e-mailed them, and got no reply, tried phoning them, and the numbers been cut off, seems machzone went bust or something last year :(

It's got very hard now, searching on the net brings up a load of crap when you enter 'coachbuilt body makers' seems anyone who builds a kit car calls them self a coachbuilder these days, motorhome coachbuilders bring up a few firms that sell finished vans only, not looking good, last night i found 3 more in MMM magazine, e-mailed them asking for a quote, directing them to the coachbuilt plans page on this site which has all the drawings and lengths on it, so far heard nothing back, except magnum motorhomes who's e-mail address keeps bouncing, as they've exceeded their quota!!,

So i'm not getting very far, i'm about to phone the insurance company up to see how having a coachbuilt made for me, then fitting it out affects the insurance premiums, also how the chassis mod's affect it, but i can't do anything until i find out which firms do bare bodies for about 5 grand, and when they can do one, as the insurance deal is that it's insured as a van for 90 days, in which time you should convert it into a motorhome, after 90 days the insurance becomes a proper motorhome policy, however O'Leary's have a 3 month waiting list before they can even start work (if i had more money than sense that is :), so the 90 day van part of the insurance would be up before the van's even had the body built, the build should take a couple of weeks, but then i have to fit it out, i'm going to have to see what the insurers can suggest, i may have to insure the van as a van with a different company for 3 months, then start the motorhome conversion policy once the body build begins.