Thread: Possible New project vehicle...

Have a vasectomy!!!!! aint 4 enought?

Originally Posted by Jonno_G

Hi all,

I have an idea for a project vehicle, and I wanted to see if anyone on here has either done it before, or seen it done, and if they have any suggestions/warnings etc.

I don't even have the project base yet, but there are two vehicles that are currently advertised on this site that I think could provide a great basis.

Anyway, my problem is this - I currently have four kids, aged 5 and under. I've recently heard that our govt. plans to implement laws that require all children under 7 to be in either baby capsule, child seats or booster seats with harness. This means that even the 7 seat Pajero that I currently have will not be suitable if we have another child, which we would like to. This is because you can't fit three baby seats &/or boosters across the 2nd row seat and the last row are not suited for them at all. Whereas a few accounts on here say that they have put three across the 2nd row of a County or Defender, however I still wouldn't be able to fit another one or two into the last row seats as they can't be used (legally) in fold up seats and there's nowhere to anchor to.

So, my potential solution is this: I buy two 9 seater Counties, cut the body of County one in front of the C pillar, and the body of county two in front of the B pillar, extend the chassis etc. by the required amount and graft the front section of County one to the rear section of County two - thus resulting in a 7 door, twelve seater County!

Of course, I would still face the pre-existing issue of having to add anchor points for the child seats, but I figure that I'm going to have to get it engineered anyway, so they can be incorporated into the overall design. Initial thoughts on that would be to incorporate a full internal roll cage into the project and fix the anchor points into the cage, but other options will certainly be considered.

Any comments or suggestions on the idea will be gladly accepted, but with one caveat - if you're going to howl me down, come prepared with a very convincing argument!

Originally Posted by abaddonxi

...I've had three capsules across 110 and 130 second row seats. 110 currently has two big boosters with harness and baby seat in second row.

Thanks for confirming that for me. I thought I'd read it somewhere on here.

Originally Posted by abaddonxi

I've got a pair of Puma Defender third row seats waiting to go in the back and 110 is engineered for centre seat instead of cubby box. Which'd make eight seats once it's done.

Not 100%, but I'd reckon the third row seats are probably built to take a capsule mount as part of the seat. They appear a lot more sturdy than standard Defender seats.

I'm not 100% sure either, but I think that the ADR's state that the child restraint anchor point must be separate to the seat itself.

Either way, if the law changes the way the pollies want then we'll be required to have all kids in baby seats/boosters up to the age of seven, and also no kid under seven will be allowed to ride in the front of a vehicle. (At least, that's what I read the other day. Doesn't mean that it will definitely pass like that.) Unfortunately, that rules out the extra seat in the middle front.

Also, a part of the wife's preferred requirements for our next vehicle is that we be able to give someone a lift if they need it. Her first suggestion was a bus (Coaster, T3500 etc.) as she knows that I flatly refuse to drive a Tarago/Urvan/Hi-Ace type tin-can-on-wheels. (Nobody will change my mind on that - my brother was killed in one of those vehicles.) I couldn't come at the idea, though, as to get a decent second hand bus I'd be up for at least $15k, plus engineering costs to have anchor points fitted, plus the fact that I'd have to either get a light-rigid license or remove enough seats to bring it back to a 12 seater and then register it as a motor home. (The idea of adding a stack of bunks in the back did have its appeal, though.)

So, I came to the idea that I could buy an Isuzu powered County for about $8-10k (less, if I'm lucky) and then a rolling wreck for another few grand. I can do most, if not all, of the work myself, and hopefully for less than $20k I can have my 12 seat, 140"(ish) County with 12 seats and a full size cargo bay!