2004 Audi A3 3dr van conversion

Luke662 · 22-11-2016,12:57 AM

Hello Folks,

I've been umming and arring about doing a van conversion to my audi a3. I hoped to get some feedback and advice on a couple of bits.

The car is an 04 plate, the paint isn't great, the mileage is 140k ish, it's old and fading and it's plagued with annoyances but I love it.
I have no plans to sell it on as frankly it's not really worth selling on and I've done to much to it to want to get rid of it.
It suits me down to the ground, it's reliable, boring and cheap to maintain. so, at the risk of sounding rude, if we can skip the "just get a caddy" or similar that'd be grand.

Anyway,
I rarely have more than just myself in the car and if I do it's only one passenger. The back normally has the seats folded down to accommodate a bike or whatever stuff I'm hauling from A to B.

I've taken the rear seats out and stripped what i can to make it as van like as possible before I commit to anything with cutting or whatever.
I figure if i spend a little while with the back useless for anything other than carrying a bike and what not I'd be able to see if it impacts me in any way in day to day life.

I'm not particularly interested in getting it signed off as a van officially for tax purposes. I'm happy to leave it as a car on paper but by all other standards, it'd be a van.

I have some questions I was hoping some of you may be able to help with though...

Will the car pass an MOT with no rear seats?
Will the car pass an MOT with no rear seat belts?
The bracket the seats attach to in the middle, is that removable without cutting? (I couldn't see any bolts on top and i haven't had a chance to jack it up and rummage underneath just yet.)

I'd like to have a single piece of wood run from the very back to just behind the front seats. There would be a hinged section that would lift to expose the spare wheel.
The wooden floor would slot into the same slots the standard bench seat uses. That way the wood can be removed if i ever need to get at the fuel tank.
I am undecided on the finish of the floor, it would either be a carpet to match the rest of the interior or some sort of wood finish. Laminate or a few strips of hard wood flooring.

I haven't decided if i'd remove the trim from the sides. I think it would look weird if left as standard as it would be obvious the van used to be a car. from the inside.
Has anyone had experience making custom interior panels that good give me a few pointers? perhaps just fill over the standard trim with something?
The rear speakers must stay. I often sit in the boot of my car on lunch breaks odd as that sounds...

I'd welcome any thoughts, ideas or criticism...(constructive)

Many thanks in advance.
Luke