1980 Austin Princess mild custom - 1951 Lanchester LD10

[darrenh]

those spot welded stand-offs are the real anti-hero for stagnant water and rust, sealing around them and the roof skin with a bit of seam sealer would future proof it.

if you ever get to see under the trims on your corsa roof you will see what i mean. they just use plastic clips on a horizontal blade like rail which runs the whole length. no nooks and crannies for water to get stuck

[vulgalour]

Idea of turning the Renault into a micro-van was suggested by a friend and it's a good idea.  I can't see myself needing to use the Renault as a hatchback but I can see it being very useful as a little van, especially if I want to keep the Xantia clean.  The Renault is a nice basic little thing, I'd be far happier putting engines and oily/rusty things in it than I ever am with the Xantia with all its fabrics and carpets that need protecting.

Strip out the innards of the doors, remove the locks and handles and weld them up.  Then panel in the windows to bring them flush and even use the original trim to keep it nice and tidy from the outside.  Inside I can easily line the new bits of metal with sound deadening and vinyl to keep the boom to a minimum and fit new rubber matting front to back to keep with the utilitarian vibe.  I could go further and detrim and debumper it so I have even less things to worry about keeping clean.

I like little vans like this, they're really appealing and this could be a really good base for it.


EDIT: I just realised what it reminds me of, the Simca 1100 van.

[varelse]

That would look really cool, but would be better in my eyes if the window panel wasn't flush.
If you can manage to run a nice recessed channel around the perimeter using an English wheel or something it will reduce the booming heaps, and make it look more like a factory option.
Not sure how much space you'll have in the back when its on bags, though.

[vulgalour]

They're quite easy to lower without any technical gubbins so I'd be going for a static drop, perhaps not as low as in the picture but I'd certainly like to drop it a little bit.

[Knugcab]

Renault Van = win!

[georgeb]

Looks like the door needs extending to get the proportions right. Guess you don't want to go down that route though?

[Knugcab]

It may look better with longer doors, but it is actually not uncommon that factory built panel vans are using 4-door front doors.

[georgeb]

May 2, 2015 7:54:21 GMT Knugcab said:

It may look better with longer doors, but it is actually not uncommon that factory built panel vans are using 4-door front doors.

True.

[vulgalour]

@elwoody: I know the PT of which you speak, he's done an excellent job of that.

I don't want to go into the hassle of extending the doors, it wouldn't give any real advantage and if you look at the 70s micro-vans that were factory built they were often 4 door estates without the rear doors and windows cut out, essentially. I also think the Simca would look better with shorter front doors. Perhaps this is a personal preference thing?

[vulgalour]

I've been reading up on what little I can find on van conversions from cars, my first stumbling block is definitely using a four door as a base, that does give me more work. However, it's not insurmountable levels of it. Purchase enough green paint last night to do the car twice, as much as I love the patina it definitely can't stay now I'm converting the van as I can't see any way I could realistically blend it all in.

I'm going to turn my attention to sorting out the bodywork ahead of the mechanical work on the car. We're getting the better weather and it makes sense to make use of that for paint and welding and when the weather closes in I can be fettling with mechanical stuff at my leisure. I can also spend time making the scruffy mechanical bits and pieces look good before reassembly.

There haven't been many build threads I've been able to find on van conversions, the norm is to take a 2 door base because it's a lot easier to convert. Four door base vehicles aren't unheard of and the end results can be rather excellent, you just end up with a bit more work to get it all sorted out.

I'm still frustrated at the lack of welding gas and I've not yet saved up enough to buy a bottle out of my own funds, got plenty of things to save up for lately with the need for a new PC. The guy in charge of the cash at the garage won't fund the new gas bottle either, I don't really understand his reasoning, especially since I'm supposed to be welding a customer car and a shop car and need the gas for that. I've back right off with tryign to get them to release the funds for it now because I'm getting nowhere putting the pressure on.

To keep things simplest I'm going to panel the rear quarter windows first, then strip one door down, panel the window hole and weld the door up before doing the other side. I'll need to make a closing panel from the rear door leading edge to the B pillar. I can use a donor section from the bad spare door I've got to blank off both rear handle recesses.

It will end up with a full flush panel on the side rather than an inset one, this is a work saving thing. To put a recessed panel in means chopping and modifying the C pillar on the car and rear door to accommodate it and I don't want to do that.

Once I've done that I'll decide on things like ride height and whether or not I'm keeping the bumpers. I'm torn between a customised van and a factory-looking conversion, both are appealing and both will generate interest.

Finally, a picture of another small Renault van.

[vulgalour]

Went to the unit today briefly to have a look at the Renault and see more realistically what's likely to be involved in this van conversion I want to undertake. It did highlight another option for it which is to just panel over the rear side windows and door handles but leave the doors fully functional thus giving the appearance of a van with the a little more functionality of side loading ability. It would also mean the rear seat could be used for passengers if they really had to travel with me, thought experience tells me that it's not the nicest way to travel.

Either way, I did decide a smooth side panel is better than a recessed one on account of the rear door design. You can see the window reveal is stepped, it might be enough for laying the fresh steel on top of and welding to, making life far easier than butt welding and minimising the need for filling. I have two spare doors so I can use segments from those to patch in the big door handle recesses so that I don't have to try and make the piece needed to match.


To weld the door up there's a couple of areas that need more than just tacks putting in. The top of the door has quite a large gap between it and the gutter and this would need to have a thin strip let in to bridge the gap, as shown here in blue.


For the leading edge it's a little more complicated. I'm considering removing the hinges completely and letting in a filler panel though I don't know whether it should be perpendicular to the door or curved, the former is definitely the easier option. If I leave the rear hinges attached it makes lining the door up easier but you will get two squares sticking out which will likely detract from a tidy finish on this section. Again, the blue points out roughly what I'd need to fill with fresh metal.




There are other considerations too. The rear arches both sides aren't brilliant looking, I suspect I'll have to clean these up and possibly let in some patches before welding the doors shut. You can also see that the rear wing has flash rusted through the paint. Since I've got some paint on its way to me I'll get this sorted when that arrives.


The inside of the doors is easy to resolve if I leave them functional, I'd remove the window winder mechanism and the door card and replace it with plain vinyl covered ply or hardboard. If I weld the doors shut the same would apply but I'd also remove the latch and the rubber seal which is just glued to the door, a strange solution compared to other cars I've worked on but one that looks like it was Renault's way of doing things. I would also need to cut a small section out of the bottom of the door to allow access to the bolt that attaches the body to the chassis should it ever need to come off in the future.


The recess for the window on the inside of the door is quite deep, plenty of depth to apply sound deadening material and trim fixings for a vinyl covered panel.


Inside I'll likely remove the parcel shelf brackets but keep the trims as they are. I'm not sure what to do about the small section of headlining that goes into the rear quarter window surround, it depends what happens to the fabric tension when that section is unglued. I do plan to leave the full length headlining in, I see no point destroying or cutting it down to suit the van at this stage.


If it were a better vehicle to start with I'd restore it nut and bolt. It's a rare car but it's not valuable without me sinking a lot of money into it that I don't realistically have. As a van, I can get it back to being a useful, solid little vehicle for much less money and not much more effort. For what I need in my collection, it will be a more sensible use of this little car.

My final consideration on van options is to weld up only the driver's side rear door, panel all the windows and keep the passenger side door as a functional side loading portal. We shall see.

[blackpopracing]

If I were you I'd spend my time and money finishing the princess before embarking on this one.
If you really want a van just buy a van and save all the hassle, this one looks bit too far gone to bother with to be honest. Sorry to be harsh but it needs to be said.

[vulgalour]

I've had people tell me the Renault looks too far gone, then they've had a look at it in person and seen that really it's not. The Renault looks much worse than it is. I've done as much as I can on the Princess without getting more welding gas, something I'm still saving up for after being repeatedly let down by the person that said they're supplying the gas. Once I have that sorted it's game on with both cars.

[Deleted]

Don't chop up the R6. There aren't that many left, and there are plenty of cool vans to be found (or conceived, why not a Xantia van?) - it looks entirely saveable and you have much of the trim to keep it intact. If you'd lost door inner frames or glass, it would make more sense.

[norniron]

May 3, 2015 18:31:01 GMT @richardkc6 said:

Don't chop up the R6. There aren't that many left, and there are plenty of cool vans to be found (or conceived, why not a Xantia van?) - it looks entirely saveable and you have much of the trim to keep it intact. If you'd lost door inner frames or glass, it would make more sense.

Seconded...

[vulgalour]

Who said anything about me chopping it up?

[blackpopracing]

May 3, 2015 17:33:46 GMT vulgalour said:

I've had people tell me the Renault looks too far gone, then they've had a look at it in person and seen that really it's not. The Renault looks much worse than it is. I've done as much as I can on the Princess without getting more welding gas, something I'm still saving up for after being repeatedly let down by the person that said they're supplying the gas. Once I have that sorted it's game on with both cars.

This is my point, if you need to save up for something as cheap as welding gas then you don't have enough money to build 2 cars.
Build one first, then start on another - otherwise all you end up with is 2 half built cars.

[Deleted]

May 3, 2015 19:34:58 GMT vulgalour said:

Who said anything about me chopping it up?

You're going to make a van out of it whilst retaining all of the pillars, hinges, locks and structure of the doors? That seems a bit silly when all that would be is making it so you can't see through the windows, when you have perfectly good windows on it...

[Deleted]

May 2, 2015 11:24:54 GMT @automatik said:

I once had made up my mind turning a passat b2 estate into a 3dr estate or van (I really love 3dr estates, but vw never did some, apart form the breadvan polo).

VW Fox etc...

[vulgalour]

blackpopracing: by 'saving up for welding gas' I don't mean the little £25 bottles, if I were allowed to use one of those by getting the relevant fittings as well for the welder I'm allowed to use I already would have. No, I'm told I'm only allowed to buy the big £160 bottles, that's why I have to save up for it. That and just having spent a chunk on needed computer parts and big spends on other stuff including some car bits over the last few months. We all have times of plenty, I've just ended one and need to save up for the next one. The welding gas thing is a a bit of a fiasco. I have been continually promised for quite a long time that a bottle is coming, saved up to buy it out of my own money and then told "no, it's fine, it's arriving soon so buy that other thing you need", which I then have only to find the gas isn't arriving at all. More fool me for continuing to believe the lies I suppose.


Perhaps I do try to do too much on too little, I'm not alone in that. The thing is, normally I achieve the things I set out to do on very little.


I begin to wish I'd never mentioned the Renault van idea.