Since my last post in January (10 months ago!!!), we have faced some significant challenges and even questioned the whole project – that was certainly the low point. But I am delighted to say that we have now resolved what we believe to be the two biggest hurdles, namely the large specially formed fibreglass tub and finally the construction of a correctly fitting aluminium space frame – see latest photos. I cannot emphasise enough, that without the successful completion and installation of these items, we could not have proceeded with the project. There is still a lot to do, and some of it semi-structural in particular the tail gate and the completion of the final aluminium body section dealing with the interface between the original outside body of the vehicle and the newly formed load bay area. We are also going further than the original inspiration for this project (the 2005 Audi apprentice constructed one-off A2 Caddy) because for this project, unlike the apprentice Caddy, we are making full use of the space below the load bay for secure storage. This involves moving the location of the battery to below the front passenger seat and creating a large strut-assisted lift-up and lockable hatch in the wooden load bay floor. We are also planning to use a couple of Audi A6 luggage rails either side of the load bay to facilitate various mounting options.
I would finally (for now at least) like to thank Terrywindy1 for his offer of help and Al2coholic for his B pillar transition suggestion which I like, but have decided not to adopt, because a) The cut-off top has already been disposed of and b) we are not keen to add any more complication that involves aluminium welding. We will however be slightly extending the shape of the B pillar, so that should help a little.
the viability of
...lots of skills needed here ..