68' Bedford Debonair engine/chassis swap!

Quite, thanks for alerting us to this but luckily we insure the vehicles for our customers and my insurance company are happy with what we plan to do. I didn't expect to find a chassis that I could just lift onto, 200 onto a freight for example. With regards to BIVA, I am more than happy to meet specifications to ensure the safety of my vehicles as that is of paramount concern to our business. Q-reg is based on a points system, and if say I bought a Hiace chassis and kept the suspension, axles and engine, then shimmied the Debonair body onto it then I suppose I would have enough points to call it a Hiace and not an incomplete car. I also own a CA Romany Dormobile that has had a 2L Pinto in it and take a look at this debonairteacompany.blogspot.co.uk/ two pioneering people have grafted a Mazda MX5 engine into theirs, with lots of informative pictures.

After much deliberation today however, what I want to do is strengthen the chassis and find an automatic gearbox for a 2.0 pinto. If anyone has done anything similar I would love to hear from you!

I think you'll find that getting a 60's camper body and dash through an BIVA will be a nightmare, try having a look at blackpop racings thread entitled IVA rebuild in the readers rides section to get an idea of what is required. As soon as you cut the hilux chassis (or cut anything off it) to make it fit under the van then you are into BIVA territory.

Why not just educate people they are hiring a 50 year old commercial vehicle and encourage them to drive accordingly, avoiding cruising flat out on motorways etc, make them aware its not going to corner or hold the road like a modern car, that said some vehicles are just prone to drafts and sidewinds. I had a modern (mid 2000's) LWB Hitop Hiace camper literally jump 3ft over the centre line when hit by a sudden gust of wind, luckily it also pushed the log truck coming the other way as well or it would have ended badly.

I got 100 yards driving experience with a column change manual before getting to a mega busy junction onto the motorway at night, that was about enough for me to get the jist of it, if it was properly adjusted and not worn to oblivion it would have been easier...
If its a column change auto then I can't see anybody having a problem, Ford/ Mazda were still doing column shift in the Maverick/ Tribune through till they stopped UK sales in 2006.

The auto gearbox you want is either the ALD4 as fitted in Sierras, transits and Granada - but check on what electronics are fitted to your pinto engine as it may need some to work I don't know for sure, or the earlier C3 as fitted in Cortinas etc which doesn't require any electronics to work. Your pinto will need an unleaded head conversion too unless its one of the very last ones so its suitable run on unleaded without needing additives.

Forgive me if I'm misunderstanding things here but would it be more viable to get a modern camper van and fit the Bedford front bodywork to it? You could modify the back half (three quarters) to look a bit more period, less plastic-y and fit out the interior in retro style and keep all the modern conveniences.