Shortening a Hasegawa VW Delivery Van

[PatW]

I need advice because I don't want to get this wrong!

[Plowboy]

Going by the boxart, I'd cut a section out of the middle.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Why do you want to shorten it, and how much?

Might be helpful if we knew what you're hoping to achieve.

Edited November 5, 2022 by Ace-Garageguy

[stitchdup]

do your first cut on the rear edge of the front doors. now you can remove as much or as little as you want as long as its in front of the rear wheels, after the rear arches the body tapers and wont line up without more cutting. you may have to cut the roof further back at the front due to the curves but there should be enough to just step the roof cuts 10mm further back than the door edge. stepping the cuts will add a little more strength too but i'd still glue some reinforcing tabs on the inside of the joins to be safe. as long as your cuts are square to each other it should work pretty well. to help with lining it up for rejoining I'd cut a template of the body line along the bottom of the windows (when looking down) before any cutting, then sue that to line up the body after the cuts. if they're not square you'll know from this before you do any gluing and save some clean up work. if you want to make it even easier on yourself, you could shorten it the length of the side doors, on the but they are only held with 6 tabs and if the van is the same you could use the doors to mark the cuts on the other side if you remove them first

[PatW]

5 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Why do you want to shorten it, and how much?

Might be helpful if we knew what you're hoping to achieve.

As much as possible. I have seen various kits shortened and wanted to trie it myself.

 

[Spottedlaurel]

By coincidence, in the May 1980 copy of Street Machine I happened to have beside me:

Apparently the wheelbase on this one was 50". Didn't seem to survive on the road beyond the end of 1983.....

[PatW]

19 hours ago, stitchdup said:

do your first cut on the rear edge of the front doors. now you can remove as much or as little as you want as long as its in front of the rear wheels, after the rear arches the body tapers and wont line up without more cutting. you may have to cut the roof further back at the front due to the curves but there should be enough to just step the roof cuts 10mm further back than the door edge. stepping the cuts will add a little more strength too but i'd still glue some reinforcing tabs on the inside of the joins to be safe. as long as your cuts are square to each other it should work pretty well. to help with lining it up for rejoining I'd cut a template of the body line along the bottom of the windows (when looking down) before any cutting, then sue that to line up the body after the cuts. if they're not square you'll know from this before you do any gluing and save some clean up work. if you want to make it even easier on yourself, you could shorten it the length of the side doors, on the but they are only held with 6 tabs and if the van is the same you could use the doors to mark the cuts on the other side if you remove them first

Cheers Les. My hands are shaking already!

[PatW]

8 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

By coincidence, in the May 1980 copy of Street Machine I happened to have beside me:

Apparently the wheelbase on this one was 50". Didn't seem to survive on the road beyond the end of 1983.....

Thanks Nigel. We saw various types of these at various visits to the Bug Jam near to us at Santa Pod and at the Volksworld Shows at Sandown Park over the years.

[PatW]

20 hours ago, Plowboy said:

Going by the boxart, I'd cut a section out of the middle.

Thanks Roger.

[stitchdup]

37 minutes ago, PatW said:

Cheers Les. My hands are shaking already!

just another thought, before you decide how much to shorten it, have a look at the chassis. you might find some of the body support ribs line up with the cuts, and if you cut through them it will give you more area to glue it back together which will be stronger than joining 2 end pieces. good luck

[cobraman]

I thing Gas Monkey built one of these. I'm sure you can find it on line if you want another one to look at. Good luck with your project.

[OldTrucker]

Helped build a couple of these in 1:1.

Just took out the side door section.

Boy were they squirrley to drive!

I did one out of the old Revell?? kit.

[jokar124]

On 11/4/2022 at 6:36 PM, PatW said:

I need advice because I don't want to get this wrong!

Start with this kit, it's already shortened:

[PatW]

16 hours ago, stitchdup said:

just another thought, before you decide how much to shorten it, have a look at the chassis. you might find some of the body support ribs line up with the cuts, and if you cut through them it will give you more area to glue it back together which will be stronger than joining 2 end pieces. good luck

Cheers, nice to hear from someone who knows what they are doing!

[PatW]

1 hour ago, jokar124 said:

Start with this kit, it's already shortened:

Already done it!

With 3D roof carrier.

[PatW]

16 hours ago, cobraman said:

I thing Gas Monkey built one of these. I'm sure you can find it on line if you want another one to look at. Good luck with your project.

Yes even I saw that one here in the UK!

[PatW]

Thanks guys for your valuable input!

[Tom Geiger]

Pat, look at the roof to see if there is any taper, front to back. I’ve shortened Dodge vans and although the roof looks flat, once apart I discovered the ends didn’t line up.

Good luck, post pictures!

[OldTrucker]

Here was mine, it was a rescue from the junk pile.

[PatW]

On 11/6/2022 at 3:48 PM, Tom Geiger said:

Pat, look at the roof to see if there is any taper, front to back. I’ve shortened Dodge vans and although the roof looks flat, once apart I discovered the ends didn’t line up.

Good luck, post pictures!

Thanks Tom.

[PatW]

18 hours ago, OldTrucker said:

Here was mine, it was a rescue from the junk pile.

Very neat indeed! I'll be very pleased if mine turns out like this!