Turning a car into a van

Jason1993

Story lads, im just looking at how difficult it would be to turn a car into a van and put it thru the doe test and get it insured as a van.. I want to do this as im only 18 in 3 or 4 months and insurance is ridiculous while commercial insurance is resaonable:D

I know in theory its simple (take out the back seats, fit a flat floor and cover the back windows) but im wondering do they test the strength of the the floor in the back and things like that!

Also how do you go about telling the insurance company and changing the log book etc... thanks a million:)

example:http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1765221

bmw535d

very easy to do. out with the back seats and seat belts. fill all the bolt holes with weak chemical metal(so you can re drill them if you change your mind) make up a floor from plywoods or something, tint all the back windows. insert plate steel in the inside of the two side windows make a cage thing for between the front seats and rear compartment and your done, just go to the doe center and ask them to inspect the work and test it. take it to tax office and get the tax change to commercial rate.not sure about getting the log book changed you might have to do that before the tax.

Seth Brundle

bmw535d wrote: »

very easy to do. out with the back seats and seat belts. fill all the bolt holes with weak chemical metal(so you can re drill them if you change your mind) make up a floor from plywoods or something, tint all the back windows. insert plate steel in the inside of the two side windows make a cage thing for between the front seats and rear compartment and your done, just go to the doe center and ask them to inspect the work and test it. take it to tax office and get the tax change to commercial rate.not sure about getting the log book changed you might have to do that before the tax.

Would they be satisfied with those measures?
I would have thought that (especially since the recession) they would ensure that any seat brackets would be cut off, etc. to make damn sure that reversal would be either impossible or costly

Gophur

Buy a van, the country is full of them.

Eric Cartman

you need to weld or rivet in a rigid metal floor on a frame (they check now) , tint or remove the rear windows and put metal behind them, then go down the DOE center and have it DOE'd then to the tax office

when you get to the tax office youll need some proof you are self employed or own a company , possibly a VAT return or similar , theyll send you off to get a form stamped by the gards to say youll definitley only use it for business , then youll get your tax and theyll send a new log book out

ohh just as a note , it used to be grand to get away with (had a commercial kia sorento 2.5TD when i was 18) but the gards know its being enforced now, if you buy a scummer car like that ****box you had llinked to there, and when gards pull you over, they can take the car off you if you cant prove its for business use

Id reccomend you buy a commercial jeep - no conversion needed, loads of them about, insurance dont give a sh*t about engine size, gards dont bother stopping you, not some modified heap like that, the gards love any excuse to take poorly modified hatchbacks off the road, commercial tax would give them the reason straight off

bmw535d

+1 buy a jeep, girls have a thing for lads in jeeps! i kid you not!

langdang

bmw535d wrote: »

+1 buy a jeep, girls have a thing for lads in jeeps! i kid you not!

dc5dave

Im nearly certain it has to be steel Iv converted quite a few and all the work you do is allowed to be reverseable as I have also swapped a lot of cars back.
To get away with it now you really need to be self employed Ive seen it done to some nice cars though.
It can be welded or riveted to the car but you should rivet it as its a lot handier to remove.
If you make it from steel use polyurethene between all connections to stop vibrations.
Most of the work Ive done is on jeeps as all brand new jeeps actually arrive here as passanger jeeps.

LCruiser Kid

bmw535d wrote: »

+1 buy a jeep, girls have a thing for lads in jeeps! i kid you not!

Oh how I wish that was true :D
They may like the jeep, but not the lad behind the wheel. And I thought landcruisers where babe magnets :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Jason1993

Eric Cartman wrote: »

you need to weld or rivet in a rigid metal floor on a frame (they check now) , tint or remove the rear windows and put metal behind them, then go down the DOE center and have it DOE'd then to the tax office

when you get to the tax office youll need some proof you are self employed or own a company , possibly a VAT return or similar , theyll send you off to get a form stamped by the gards to say youll definitley only use it for business , then youll get your tax and theyll send a new log book out

ohh just as a note , it used to be grand to get away with (had a commercial kia sorento 2.5TD when i was 18) but the gards know its being enforced now, if you buy a scummer car like that ****box you had llinked to there, and when gards pull you over, they can take the car off you if you cant prove its for business use

Id reccomend you buy a commercial jeep - no conversion needed, loads of them about, insurance dont give a sh*t about engine size, gards dont bother stopping you, not some modified heap like that, the gards love any excuse to take poorly modified hatchbacks off the road, commercial tax would give them the reason straight off

But can i tax it privately and insure it commercialy?