damaged chassis,what to do?

[madman lawrence]

i have a 90 that i put in a huge ditch.i were going to put a vitara body on because its bent the bulkhead,wings,bumper,bonnet and grille but to my horror iv discovered a small crease either side of the chassis where the rear arms attatch to hold the axle on.il probly break it and get a newer tdi model but a few people have said to cut a piece out of the chassis and drop the vit body on,which would be a better fit due to my 90 wheel base losing a couple of inches.im quite tempted as i like to be different.
does any body think im being stupid and should just get a tdi??

[extreme90]

do it !
there a guy around by me with a vit body on a lanny chassis

approach angle is awesome and so is the departure angle
its megger light
megger nippy
and it does what a 90 cant do ... even tho its virtualy a 90  :shock:

alot of work, but dooooo it  :shock:
dan

[Ben]

Are you intending this to be a road vehicle after the "chop" :?:

I think (Although I could be wrong - have been plenty of times before!) you have to re-register as a Q-plate (see here) if you change the wheelbase, as this is considered a major change to the chassis.

You might like to factor this in. If you don't modify the wheelbase, then you should be okay as far as VOSA goes.

Of course if it's going to be a pay and play vehicle only, and never go on the road, then just ignore me :lol:

Cheers

Ben

[Nobber]

check with your insurance also.

[clbarclay]

Q plate is not neccserry as long as enough of the rest of the vehicles major components (steering, suspension, transmission engine etc.) stay the same.

This is most obvius from kit cars where if enough of these parts from a single donor car are used tha the car can be regisdared with an age related plate, despite needing an SVA test.

Significantly modifiying the chassis will likely result in  needing an SVA test, but just changing the body and using the standard chassis should be OK without any testing or reregistering.


If in dought phone the DVLA about any modifications your planning, they should give you a definitive answer.

[madman lawrence]

thanks for your replies ppl.i were going to keep it as a road vehicle but with shortening the chassis where the crease is will definatley be alot more work as its so close to the trailing arm brackets and the obvious q plate senario.so id decided im going to invest in a galv chassis at the end of next month and get started on my summer project,the vit90.il retain the landies running gear,suspension and engine etc,i believe that the narrower,shorter and not as high body of the vitara will reduce the chance of smashing the body to pieces,be better through the narrow wooded areas and have a better approach and departure angle.possibly less chance of tipping over sideways to??