Converting a WAV back to normal?

[Sol]

Hi guys,

A friend is considering a WAV B9 and wonder if anyone has ever put one back to "normal" with rear seats etc. If so, what was required (I know the floor is lowered, can seats go back in when it's lowered without putting the floor back to normal height)

Cheers.

[Tomcat3]

It depends on the conversion that was done to the car to start with, apart from the lowered floor the fuel tank may have been changed, mounting points for seat belt anchors will have been built into the floor and may need moving or cutting out. The lowered floor is a structural part of the vehicle so you will have to reinstate to at least that strength or above of the lowered floor plus put new seat belt anchor points in.
A wav car usually commands a higher price so if it was me I would sell it and buy a multispace. If you have a wav with a single seat in the back plus wheelchair there were some companies that put an extra seat on the opposite side and still able to get wheelchair in between if that would help carrying one extra person. Check out the WAV conversion company that did the original mods they may info on further seating arrangements or go searching ebay or autotrader and look at models like your friends for different layouts. I have an M59 2008 wav with one seat on the nearside but depending what the customer required there was loads of different seating layouts I even saw one that had a fold up full bench seat when foldered allowed the wheelchair in the back. Or you could have a seat either side and a gap in the middle for the wheelchair. Mine was built by Gowering Mobility one of the bigger convertors but there are quite a few convertors out there.

[Sol]

Yeah thanks TC, he was considering one as they come up with stupidly low mileage. He has a couple of small dogs and would use it only as a commuter and family runabout for him, the wife and the two dogs. I think he only envisaged putting one seat back in the rear for the occasional need. I couldn't tell him if it was possible as I've never seen a WAV close up.

[Tomcat3]

I used mine for carry my father in his wheelchair when needed and I also built a plywood box to fit exactly in the cut out with a door at the tailgate end for carry my Golden Retriever in. I made is so it made the box floor level and about 2 feet tall so he couldnt jump out and sit on my lap. It was big enough for him to turn around in or lay down or just watch the world go by. Also having the ramp the retriever just walked up and no jumping up as he was a big lad and getting older. The box took 30 seconds to remove when switching to wheelchair transport.

[Sol]

That sounds like an excellent idea. I think he would probably be happy with something like that.

[Gryffindor]

I recently had a 62 Ford Transit Connect (not a panel van - a 7 seat mpv version of this crew van) which had been converted by Gowrings. It had a full length ramp cut into the middle of the lowered floor from the rear of the front seats to the back bumper, an electric winch between the front seats, and adjustable rear suspension to make the slope of the ramp shallower.

The 2nd row of seats had been replaced by two single very narrow seats near each side door, leaving just enough space in between for a wheelchair - but the two seats were VERY narrow and since I only bough the thing to put my mum's mobility scooter in, I asked one of the truck mechs at work, who does private work on the side, what it would take to reinstall a standard 2nd row of 3 seats.

Unfortunately he took one look and effectively walked away - it would involve cutting out a section of the new lower floor and replacing it with a section of original floor from a donor car, and that work would involve messing with the car's torsional stability.

So I regretfully sold it and bought my Berlingo.

Very annoyingly, it was only when I was handing over the V5 that it dawned on me that it was still listed as a 7 seat MPV, no mention of conversion! I then realised that it might have been possible to weld a section of floor over or above the lowered one, or maybe box section steel tubes, in such a way as to take a standard 2nd row of seats anyway.

D@@n!

[Sol]

Thanks mate, good reply. Hope yet then!

[cancunia]

I had a B9 WAV that I used for camping, it came with 1 rear seat fitted. The floor had been cut to make a ramp inside & as noted above the fuel tank had been replaced with a specially made one. I didn't need the seat so I took it out and put a large sheet of ply inside to make the whole rear space flat. The ramp space under the ply was big enough for a space saver spare wheel.
I think that converting it back to 3 seats is not a good plan as it would probably need some kind of inspection to make sure it's safe.

[ffrenchie]

I recently had a 62 Ford Transit Connect (not a panel van - a 7 seat mpv version of this crew van) which had been converted by Gowrings.

That is basically the Transit Tourneo Connect.

[Gryffindor]

That's it. Too many words for a model name.