Marine ply bodywork.

[Tajman]

Having removed the poly cab during strip down and restore, I thought I would make a front in the other "option". The theory being, bolt on bolt off. Leaving the poly cab complete with the ability to change cabs without to much effort. There are some issues, like the dash trays and dash board are different but I don't think the problems are insurmountable.
As a boat builder I used material that I am familiar with. 1" marine ply. This has also enabled me to give the front a bit more height so that at 6ft 3" tall, I should be able to see under the top frame of the screen when driving. Driving!?!? well one of these days.
Jeff
Photos attached.

[heinkeljb]

Looks good Jeff,
does it have any reinforcing ribs on the inside? I dare say that 1" marine ply is probably stronger than the original fibreglass panels in a Polycab, but then I haven't hit either with a sledge hammer to find out!
Are you going to put wiring connectors in the main wiring loom on the floor of the footwell? Some thing like these? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgrA_6zFqqY

When I get round to stripping Lurch far enough down to have to do work on the platform, I was planning on putting connectors on the main cables where they leave the front differential "T" support and have a short section wired in the trunking in the footwell, before having another set of connectors so you can take the front cowl off without having to behave like a gynaecologist undoing all the connections behind the dash / lights etc.
I will also run a couple of "Extra" wires to allow for wiring in of things like a phone charger or a Sat Nav.

John

[Tajman]

Thanks John.
I see that you have done well to get the floor pan on Lurch repaired.
The ply front on my rebuild, has a strong central web. All constucted of 25mm marine ply. Its the best you can get and is LLoyds approved , which means it is manufactured and tested to a high standard using only the best glues and timber. The inner corners are epoxy filleted. the outer corners, besides being screwed and glued are taped with glass tape and epoxy resin. The whole structure is then coated with a sealer/waterproofer before the paint system is applied.
On the floor pan there are fixing points where the poly cab was bolted. I was able to use them all to fix the new front. I have made bespoke brackets to bolt the dash/tray pipe work , which helps support the steering column, to the ply front. Not got the windscreen frame back from being welded up yet but I will have to make up some hinges and work out how to fit the catches.
Attached is a picture of the screen I made up in a jig that another kind Haflinger owner lent me. Jeff

[Tajman]

At last a result I am pleased with after a couple of months full on work building the front body work. I will go forward with this format to finish and register the vehicle and refurbish the Poly cab at a later date. So far all parts are interchangable. the poly cab is quite tatty and needs a fair amount of work. The new front presented some challenges. The hinges I made and catches all worked out ok. The original tray and dashboard from the poly cab have fitted in ok. The windscreen wipers are different, but the motor is good so I will adapt the mechanism to suit the new windscreen. Any ideas about wiper arms and blades that are reasonable priced would be appreciated.
I had my first 2CV Citroen some years ago, the wipers ran off a cog on the speedo cable. There was a knob on the dash to engage and disengage and manually operate. It was 1958 model. The first owner in the old brown log book was Sir Robert Mc Alpine . Park lane London. It had been converted to Rt hand drive. Many owners later. On an adventurous trip up to Liverpool to visit my parents, on the M6 , the speedo cable broke. When it started to snow, I picked up a hitch hiker and got him to operate the knob to activate the wipers. My old Ford prefect wipers worked from the vacuum from the manifold as I recall. So both systems had variable speed tendancies.
Today I sat in the Haflinger and with my tall physic-6ft 3.5, I realised that by adding the extra 45 mm height in the front body work had been just right with my vision below the top screen bar and when I get a hood fitted, my head should clear it.
Next , I need to flip the floor pan again to fit wiring loom, throttle rod, cables, check tank, battery box and spare wheel carrier fittings, etc.
Jeff

[AustHaflinger]

That looks as if it is coming really well. As far as wipers go, to make things nice and simple you could go the early Land Rover route which is to have individual motors on either side - each driving a wiper - nice and simple and 12v aftermarket motors are cheap.

Here is a pic of my Series 1 - see the wiper in front of the driver and the holes in front of where the passenger sits to see where the other would go if fitted.

Cheers

Garry

[Tajman]

Thanks for that , Garry. I think its a idea to pursue. Certainly a lot simpler.
I used to have a 1949 series one Landy, quite some time ago. In my mind I thought the motor was mounted on the top of the screen, maybe wrong.
Is there washer pipe I can see there?
Best wishes for now. Jeff.

[AustHaflinger]

hi Jeff - no washer pipe - probably the power cable to the unit.