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109 vn back to station wagon conversion


Mr Bean

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Is it possible to convert a Stage 1 V8 109 Van back to a station wagon 5 door body style? or is it simply not worth it?

The mrs wants a Defender i want a series 3 we both want a V8 but we need a second row of seats for the 2 kids to get in and out of.

If it's possible to do what parts are needed and how difficult would it be.

Or what about a conversion to a truck cab? Is that any easier?

Thanks

Trev

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My chassis is a van-back one and my bodywork is CSW, however there are plenty of differences with body mounts, crossmembers etc. so you'll be into cutting, welding and fabrication to mount the body.

You'll need a complete CSW body from the B-pillars / seatbox back, finding one of those that doesn't have rust in the B pillars, sills, and C-pillars (which are all one piece) will be a challenge, as will stopping it from disintegrating when you remove it. The pillar sections are hard to find and cost £250 if you do find them. I repaired my own, which was fiddly but significantly cheaper.

The Stage 1 V8 had things in different places to "normal" Series (and less crossmembers) so I can't tell you the specifics for that.

To be honest you'll probably be better off buying a V8 110 CSW, they're more plentiful, have coils & PAS & disc brakes & 5 speeds, and are cheap as chips. Just check very closely for rust.

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I have had a 110 V8 CSW before but i fancy a series 3 and the stage ticks all the right boxes.

I think that a truck cab conversion will be more likely.

Has anyone done this before?

If so what parts are needed?

Thanks for the info so far guys.

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Is it possible to convert a Stage 1 V8 109 Van back to a station wagon 5 door body style? or is it simply not worth it?

The mrs wants a Defender i want a series 3 we both want a V8 but we need a second row of seats for the 2 kids to get in and out of.

If it's possible to do what parts are needed and how difficult would it be.

Or what about a conversion to a truck cab? Is that any easier?

Thanks

Trev

Conversion to a truck cab is easy because all you need is a truck cab roof and back/corner panels/windows. However since you say you want second row seats and a truck cab only has two seats and a jump seat, I suspect you really mean conversion to a crew cab. This is more work than the Station wagon because the floor still has to be lower for the second row footwell than it is currently, so the body support brackets will have to be changed, the station wagon side frames and doors will still be required and the crew cab roofs and rear panels will be hard to source.

I converted a series 109 truck cab to a station wagon and vice versa and it is straightforward but time consuming and you will need most of the body of a station wagon as suggested by Fridge. I swapped by removing the station wagon body complete from the bulkhead back. ie unbolt the roof at the windscreen, remove the front floors and detach the sills from the bottom of the bulkhead. You can then remove this complete centre to rear body unit and transfer it to your chassis. What you will find is that the van body type chassis has longer, (and different in places) body support mounts on the chassis. Most of these need to be cut off and the Station wagon type mounts/supports recreated.

I agree with Fridge that you will be hard pressed to find a decent series station wagon body to make the swap worthwhile now.

There were a few stage 1 station wagons made so you might get lucky, or as suggested buy a V8 110 station wagon which will probably have have power steering and cloth seats and be slightly more comfortable.

Regards,

Diff

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my dad had a 1964 series IIa that was a station wagon i assume that would of been a 109 im sure i saw a scrapper on a popular auction site up for grabs the other day you may be in luck and get all the bits you need from a really old one this way, other than that i got a 84 one ten that was a v8 now a td and it climbs ford mondeos daily (see pic) ha ha

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I may be confused about your objective so if my response reflects that confusion please utterly disregard it. You have a Stage 1 that you like but that is currently in hard top/van garb? You need the extra row of seats. If so, it strikes me that the easiest way to go about this is:

Remove bulkhead and use that bulkhead replacement kit that I have seen sold by a few outfits.

Install side windows (not very difficult and suggest going the extra few yards for sliding windows) and safari door (if not already fitted)

Install plenty of soundproofing matting

Install two forward facing seatbelt equipped seats behind bulkhead (Exmoor trim, All Wheel trim, other usual suspects) or a bench seat and fit three point belts.

This achieves your objectives and while the inconvenience of not having the rear two station wagon doors remains, access to the rear seats via the safari door shouldn't be particularly difficult for kids. It is a much less expensive and time-consuming process than trying to convert to a station wagon body and with the addition of an aftermarket electric/ceramic heater (ebay) hardwired to the battery or something like the Mojave auxilliary heater that plumbs in (also ebay) and mounted on or about the bulkhead replacement bars, the back should be plenty well heated as well. The bulkhead replacement and installation of side windows opens things up, improves visibility and gets you a good way towards station wagon conditions without all the extra time and expense od a full conversion.

Of course, a 109 SIII Station Wagon with a V8 conversion would also be a good way to go, though the Missus may not agree. If you add power steering and a disc brake conversion, it may bring her around ;)

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Thanks for the reply and RPR would you suggest would be the simplest route to get there however as with all things female my wife is completley unreasonable and as such she is determined that we get a Defender.

So i think that i will have to pass on the stage 1 and buy another 110 CSW V8 Defender, like the one that she made me sell 2yrs ago because it was too big. :angry2:

Thanks for the suggestions from everybody though.

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