Side Steps

Don't bother. Save your money for something genuinely useful.

I'm 5'4" - steps are a way of Life!!!

DB4 uttered summat worrerz funny about:

Forget the steps... you need airbag suspension ;-) Pimp my ride stylie

Lee D

It doesn't *have* to be a pimp mobile to have air ;-)

On or around Thu, 12 Oct 2006 16:51:41 +0100, "Neil Brownlee" enlightened us thusly:

now, air sus which can be lowered would be dead cool on the LR minibus hybrid project.

Spoke to the insurers - the gist is that I won't *really* know 'til I apply, but provided it passes an engineer's inspection and has and MOT and stuff, it should be OK.

whether I can get it covered as a Land Rover Station Wagon, I don't know :-) They may want to class it as a 4x4 transit.

The 110 is still around, not in use, and I should be able to buy it back cheap.

This is starting to sound more likely to happen. Only real bummer is that I can't (easily) build it on a 101 chassis, 'cos that would be the ultimate device for winding up the "original is best" brigade in the 101 club :-)

if you dont mess with the wheelbase/chassis i thought you could change the LR body to whatever you liked and it was still a LR by name? (like the guy on mud club who has the sierra body on a RR chassis which is still legally a range rover! :) )

:)

On or around Fri, 13 Oct 2006 17:40:31 +0100, Tom Woods enlightened us thusly:

Legally, yes. I'm talking about the insurance company, who, as we know, are a law unto themselves.

I'm fairly sure it comes under the "radcially altered vehicle" rules.

------------- "The vehicle must score eight or more points to retain the original registration mark. If less than eight points are scored or a second-hand or modified chassis or altered monocoque bodyshell is used, an enhanced single vehicle approval (ESVA), single vehicle approval (SVA) or motorcycle single vehicle approval (MSVA) certificate will be required to register the vehicle. A 'Q' prefix registration number will be allocated."

The following values will be allocated to the major components used:

• chassis or body shell (body and chassis as one unit ? monocoque ie direct replacement from the manufacturer) (original or new) = 5 points * suspension = 2 points * axles = 2 points * transmission = 2 points * steering assembly = 2 points * engine = 1 point

Where there is evidence that two vehicles have been welded together to form one (ie 'cut and shut') a 'Q' mark will be allocated. ESVA, SVA or MSVA will be required.

------------

and since it'll retain ALL of those bits from the LR, there's no problem about identity.

It might of course count as a "rebuilt or kit car", in which case the same applies, chassis and all major components are still from the LR.

...

An interesting point about their system is that you can make 8 points with the suspension, axles, transmission and steering yet none of these have identification numbers recorded on the V5. So you can retain an identity without any numbered parts, at least that's how I read it. So it would appear that you can buy a nice new galvanised chassis and bolt on a set of these parts that have come off several donor vehicles of any age, so long as they appear to be pre-1973, and thus 'retain' a tax exempt plate that you bought attached to a pile of rust, or am I missing something?.

Greg

On or around Sat, 14 Oct 2006 14:11:29 +0100, "Greg" enlightened us thusly:

I suspect this happens. You need proof that you had a chassis to start with, I think, there's a bit about that in the regs. The chassis has to be either original or a replacement:

"If less than eight points are scored or a second-hand or modified chassis or altered monocoque bodyshell is used, an enhanced single vehicle approval (ESVA), single vehicle approval (SVA) or motorcycle single vehicle approval (MSVA) certificate will be required to register the vehicle. A 'Q' prefix registration number will be allocated."

note the all-important "or" in there. I was thinking much what you thought... I guess you can - they may want to see evidence that you actually had the vehicle which you're "rebuilding"...

The rebuilt-or-kit-car bit says:

"In order to retain the original registration mark:

• cars and car-derived vans must use:

The original unmodified chassis or unaltered bodyshell (i.e. body and chassis as one unit - monocoque); or a new chassis or monocoque bodyshell of the same specification as the original supported by evidence from the dealer or manufacturer (e.g. receipt).

And two other major components from the original vehicle ? ie suspension (front & back); steering assembly; axles (both); transmission or engine.

If a second-hand chassis or monocoque bodyshell is used, the vehicle must pass a an enhanced single vehicle approval (ESVA) or single vehicle approval (SVA) test after which a "Q" prefix registration number will be allocated."

Both the case of "rebuilding" a tax-exempt motor and my proposed project I think come into this category. What isn't clear is whether the project will have to be re-registered. Since it started off as a 12-seat station wagon, it's description isn't going to change. Except that the seating capacity will be 9.

The implication in either case is that it won't need SVA. I really need to find the appropriate bit of DVLA and ask...

Thinking about it a bit further, if you do buy a pile of rust with a V5, build up an identical vehicle on a new chassis from assorted parts, and stamp the chassis number on yourself, what's to stop you just getting it MOT'd and then taxed?. Is the MOT tester going to complain because as far as he can see it's just had a replacement chassis? Greg

AIUI, as long as the chassis is to the original spec, there is no problem. As long as you swap like-for-like, it doesn't get counted in the points system. (A coil-sprung chassis would not be considered a genuine replacement for a Series chassis, for example.) If you then added reconditioned parts from other vehicles, that might cause a problem, but as long as they were identical spec, who would ever know? After all, you haven't gained anything except got a nice roadworthy vehicle instead of a shed, and what's wrong with that? If you were deliberately altering a later vehicle to get tax-exempt status, that would be different.

That's with an aftermarket chassis. ISTR that if you wanted a genuine one from Land Rover, they would need to see the old one in pieces before they would issue a new one.