After all, tintops are just sections of steel panels spot welded together
Hello!
I am looking to do something a bit "one off" I have a few ideas but one idea keeps bugging me and if its feasable;
I have a base car (200sx) thats as I want it but dont like the looks of its and I have found another can that is very similar is wheelbase dimensions
(mk2 golf for this example). would it be safe to cut A,B and C pillars off at the cill level on both cars and then weld car A's chassis to the
body of car B's. The base car also has a full fia spec roll cage incase some extra stiffness/safety is needed.
Is this just plain dangerous or if done well and strengthened around the jointing parts act like the original car?
Nothing wrong with cut and shuts if they are done properly, they fall foul of the law due to dual registration of the different shells used.
After all, tintops are just sections of steel panels spot welded together
sounds like a fun idea
i love mk2 golfs and a rear wheel drive setup would be wicked
I'm sure the welding can be done safely, but the resulting car will need an SVA to be legal and be probably be worth parts value or less at the end of the exercise.
i think, as long as the car won't be cut across the chassis it should be alright. also, it could be argued that the roll cage would be the chassis, so should be fine i'd say
Would it not be easier just to cut and weld a tranny tunnel, fabricate some mounts for the rear axle and drop in the sr20det lump?
There is a guy on the SXOC that has fitted a morris minor shell onto an S13 200sx chassis.. looks great so far and should hopefully handle great when done
quote:
Originally posted by Davey D
There is a guy on the SXOC that has fitted a morris minor shell onto an S13 200sx chassis.. looks great so far and should hopefully handle great when done
Mind seeing this kind of thing in custom car all the time, made a lot of sense when faced with a rusty old car
Just having a second look at the morris, forgot it was similar to what i want to do, although I don't want to go that extreme!
Haveing the car worth parts value at the end isn't a problem for me, its a drift car and they are only worth parts after a few crashes!
The whole car is modified (brakes, subframes, suspension etc) and I was going to SR20 a MX5 or similar, but once the basic brakes, sus etc mods are
done and the engine is installed its going to be alot more work that swapping bodies I think.
So if done to a high standard and then SVA'd it will be safe. Is there any likely areas I will struggle to get it through an SVA? Im thinking
that as my car stands at the moment it wont pass SVA due to sharp edges etc. But any other possible problems?
Bit of a mine field tbh and a lot more than just sharp edges, best to get hold of a SVA manual, there’s links on this site and see just what you need
to do. Everything from the dash switch type to correct E-marked lenses on the lights, not to mention all the fuel and brake system components needing
to conform.
If the car is to me used on the road you’ll really have to jig the car properly before welding the two sections together and the heat distortion could
start twisting the shell. What your proposing isn’t dangerous just a big undertaking, think too about the insurance for this car, it might be rather
pricey. If you will need to brace the shell very well if it’s not going to fold up in a heap as soon as the floors removed, side to side and an
x-brace across the doors, otherwise you’ll never get the doors to shut properly.
I was thinking of welding legs to the floor to hold it flat/square.
I was hopeing insurance would be cheaper than it is now as it will be classed as a kit car.
Thats the thing although the car is road legal at the moment and when it was produced, laws have changed and im guessing alot of the standard parts
are now not going to pass sva?
Hmm how does the floor of a 200sx welded to the top of a golf become a kit car? Unless you completely remove the base cars body numbers and throw away
the log book you would have to declare it as a 200sx, modified rather a lot, definitely not cheaper insurance. If for example it was an old beetle
having a body swap to make it a beach buggy for then yes you can do that since the beetle has a separate chassis (of sorts) and it is still registered
as that beetle, assuming that the chassis is not shortened.
Now what you are proposing is very different, even for the SVA your going to have difficulty since either car has a chassis (no the roll cage doesn’t
count) and the inspector might just turn it down on the spot the same way I could not make a unitary shell and get it on the road without crash
testing it.
If anyone knows I’m wrong here I’d really like to know cos I was wanting to make one
Best thing I think would be to speak to a SVA tester, tell him what you want to do before you spend heaps of money on a car you might not be able to
use on the road.
[Edited on 7/10/08 by Mr Whippy]
hmmm. I Just guessed it would be a kitcar, as its not a 200x anymore!
I have found one person who did this;
its a pulsar with a mini body over the top, im almost certain thats road legal. Also got a few people on another forum saying it has been done quite a
few tims before.
More research for registration then, ill post my results!
Surely the space frame of a Kit Car is a Chassis - Monococ style and we don;t need to CRASH test each one.
I could go and Build a complete chassis in my garage out of box section and SVA that as a "locost" Similar people haev done things like
tube chassis for different vheicles.
So theroretically you could cut up a monococ chassis and weld on you one roof and present to an SVA. - It would have to look significantly different
from the manuf. or you may be subject to legal issues.
IMHO the better route to go would be to modify the Golf monocoque to accept the SX engine and running gear.
Plan to incoporate a de-dion rear subframe set-up into a full roll cage using the SX diff, shafts, brakes etc and modify the tunnel to take the
prop.
You might even get away with using the SX front subframe and uprights etc into the golf body.
I think the end result would be worth more and easier to register/insure as a modified Golf.
quote:
Originally posted by Mr Whippy
...
Now what you are proposing is very different, even for the SVA your going to have difficulty since either car has a chassis (no the roll cage doesn’t count) and the inspector might just turn it down on the spot the same way I could not make a unitary shell and get it on the road without crash testing it.
If anyone knows I’m wrong here I’d really like to know cos I was wanting to make one
...
quote:
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.
great link! thanks,
So looks like it will need an SVA to show strength and at the same time there check everything else too 
and then it will get a Q plate.
There must be a fine line on it.
i really want to put sx running gear into a clio shell. Surely with the rear subframe mounted in the back and a tunnel will do the job. Adrian flux
should insure it (the insured my Clio with a tt lump in it) also there are allot of golfs out there with tt floor pans, hell there is a pug 306 with 2
engines n 4wd 
if modding the chassis means you need an sva. surely MK1 escorts with 5bar link conversions need sva
ps i'd love to see/hear what u have planned