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[Genem]

^^^^ I still think some sort of rising seat might be more easily achievable.

Cut the seatbox off at or about floor level, (Must be roughly equivalent to wheelchair seat height I'd guess ?) Plate across with appropriate boxing around the lifting mechanism poking through from below.  Passenger trundles to side of vehicle, door wide open. Bum shuffle across onto a new (thinner ?) cushion at "floor" level, press a button/lever and air or hydraulics, chain-drive if you like to lift the seat, some pin mechanism to hold it at the required height. You could even stay "old school" and use a 1960s screw-jack clamped to the chassis rail, operated through the cill. Raise the cushion to normal height, bum-shuffle 90 degrees right in order to face front, seatbelt on. Job done, no changes required to engine, gearbox or chassis. Total damage ? 1 seatbox, maybe a hole in the cill. 

Patent applied for...

 
 

[Wittsend]

My uncle had his Vauxhall Astra modified by the disabled driver's people. They removed the front passenger seat and put a swivel seat in place.
It swung out when the door was opened. Aunty could shuffle across from her wheel chair and the seat swung back into the normal position. Uncle Lesley didn't have to pay a penny for the conversion (they collected the car and returned it a week later) and when he moved on, the car was converted back to standard seating. Sadly this was some years ago and both uncle and aunty have passed on so I can't give any specifics.

What Gene is suggesting (I guess) is something similar but with a jack or mini lift to raise the seat up into place.
There are loads of places that convert cars for disabled passengers and drivers.  I bet they would have an acceptable solution.
Your local Social Services should be able to put you on to someone

The other thing you need to think about is being able to exit the vehicle quickly in an emergency without any help from the driver or passer by. You insurers would certainly want to know.

[w3526602]

Hi,

Comments are starting to get constructive. 

I have already written off "MOT Exemption" (engine change). I regard the biggest drawback to be the inability to road-test before presenting for the test. Gone are the days when I would regard brakes as an optional extra .. I never had a problem driving without them.

Heavy duty track-rods? How many hours have our readers spent trying to remove old TREs? Are new track-rods available? I will admit to "not investigating" ... saw the ad for HD rods on Ebay, sent my money (for The Aunt). It would be nice if track-rods were made out of hex-bar, or just had a nut welded on, so we can get a proper grip with the stitsons. 

Little engine (1.3 was "tongue in cheek", but will be investigated), A Marina 1.8 is the current preference (Same engine as MGB, so good spares back-up)

Retaining an S2 engine would have it's advantages, though it would be a "screamer" on little wheels. 3.5 diff?.  You all know my age. My knees are complaining too.  Humping a Landy "lump" in and out, is no longer my idea of fun. But I'd only expect to do it once. I already have a parcel hiding behind the sofa ... containing a new 1-ton chain hoist. (Barbara no longer "goes" behind sofas). We currently have the builders in (double doors between the lounge and hall so Barbara doesn't need to do a "three pointer" (in her over-powered buggy), between lounge and bathroom. The builders next job is to remove the uPVC front door, move it out to the edge of the step, and drop it three inches, so Barbara doesn't have to struggle over the three inch high "threshold" to get out of the house. She has been a prisoner for about three weeks. Our builder has also suggested extending our bathroom out into the alley between the bungalow and garage. The bathroom (actually a shower room) is 5ft x 6ft with a "wheel-in shower". Unfortunately, there is "just not quite  too much room enough" to get a wheel-chair past the WC.  10ft x 6ft, with a bath (and bath hoist on a gantry) would be luxury by comparison.  The builder estimates £15,000 for a proper job ... pitched roof between bungalow and garage roof, somewhat less for a flat roof at gutter level. I just thought you'd like to know that. 

Fuel consumption is not an issue ... Barbara's car has now reached 3000 miles, in a smidgen over 3,000 miles, in about two years from new. Depreciation is the killer ... probably more than £1 per mile.

She still drives a manual, with no difficulty, but IF she ever gets her knees done, DVLA will insist on a manual gearbox ... I can't remember for how long. Two months?

Is the Ford V6 an acceptable alternative engine? I once had a diesel Transit that had been fitted with a V6. Great fun!

Whatever, my brain will remain on gimbals until I have a project in front of me.

602

[Wittsend]

Removing ball joints from the steering rods is not a job that an owner needs to be doing on a regular basis.

There's absolutely no need for extra paraphernalia or heavy duty or custom made steering rods 
The standard rods are perfectly suitable for the job - and cheaper than the HD kit which is 3 times the cost of standard.
The ball joints are the same.

If you are buying new there's no problem.
If you are dealing with old and rusty steering rods, then the ball joints will succumb to heat and Plusgas and a large vice and stilsons.
Just make sure you get the right replacement ball joints re shoulder or no shoulder.


 
After Knee surgery:

Why should the DVLA be involved
The DVLA will insist on nothing. You just have to be fit to drive (again).

When can I drive again?

You can resume driving when you can bend your knee enough to get in and out of a car and control the car properly.

This is usually around 6 to 8 weeks after your surgery, but check with your physiotherapist or doctor whether it's safe for you to drive.

The physiotherapists will give a programme of exercises to strengthen and get the new knees flexing.
Depending on progress they will say, and you will know when you are fit to drive - not the DVLA.

It's no different to anyone breaking a leg, an ankle or recovering from Covid-19.
Knee (or hip) replacement is not a illness, it's a temporary condition that will get better and your medical advisers will say when you can safely go back to driving - no need for an automatic transmission - unless that's what you prefer.
People do fit auto boxes to Series Land Rovers - for just these reasons, to take pressure off the legs - for the loss of 1 DVLA point.

[w3526602]

Hin bAl;an,

Why should DVLA be involved?  Google says ...

When can I drive? If you had surgery on your right knee, you should not drive for at least 4 weeks. After 4 weeks you may return to driving as soon as you feel comfortable. If you had surgery on your left knee, you may return to driving as soon as you feel comfortable if you have an automatic transmission.

OK, I thought it was longer. I assume that somebody will notify DVLA ... who will promply disqualify you on medical grounds. You then appeal, and DVLA will (I think) immediately re-instate your licence, and urgently arrange a disabled driving test, I think at their expense, (by which time your period in "purdah" will have ended anyway).

In my day, if a member of the public "dobbed" on a disabled driver, or an un-taxed vehicle parked on the road, it WOULD be investigated. However, they would not act on anonymous reports.

Barbara had one professional lesson, before taking her driving test in South East London. Her licence restricted her licence to "A Motor Car, and a Motor Tricycle" ... with no Provisional entitlement. Fifty years later, it shows the same groups as my licence B+E. I think she can now ride a moped. She has never ridden a pedal cycle.

My understanding, according to an Appeal Court ruling, is that Medical Disquialification does NOT cancel your insurance. However, if the claim is big enough, the insurers may feel it's worth a fight ... make you prove that you were fit to drive. I believe she is fit to drive anything she can climb into ... she has driven my S1 LWB,  a Ferrari, FAST round Silverstone, and done a three hour pony (15hh?) trek along the sand dunes of Swansea Bay. You've got to admire the girl.

My understanding (again) is that such a driving test is to prove your ability to drive safely, rather than "by the book".

OK ... if it's only a month, we can live with not going auto.

OK (2) ... that obviates the need to find an engine with auto gearbox, which brings a Series power train back onto the agenda, with the added bonus of coming with a hand-brake. We don't do enough miles to make fuel consumption an issue, although individual journeys may make us gulp (50 miles at £1 per mile ... no I haven't done the math),and we will still have  Barbara's Mundane-mobile.

So ... little wheels, and droopy springs? I might as well keep the 4x4 bits  too. If it goes wrong, I'll blame you.

Nothing is "writ in stone" until I have a project in my front garden. Is everybody happy now?

Many yonks ago (60 years?) I read something about the relationship between "gearing" and fuel consumption ... it's not directly proportional ... fitting 750 tyres on a SWB does not give you 15% more miles per gallon. Does anybody have any thoughts?

602

[Wittsend]

I wouldn't worry about the DVLA thing - the rest of the population don't care.

The hospital won't dob you in to the DVLA, they have more important things to do.
The doctors will advise how long you should stay off the road.
Should you go driving before then and have an accident when medically advised not to do so you will get done.

If you are fit to drive then what's the problem

[agg221]

Mum spent 6 months in hospital in 2008, following a head-on collision in which she had a broken ankle and shattered shin on one side, broken knee, thigh and hip on the other, several broken ribs, broken arm and wrist and some head trauma (she was resuscitated three times before the fire crew could cut her out of her car).

By the end of her stay in hospital her left knee would only bend to 120deg at best.

She then went back into hospital a couple of weeks later with a pulmonary embolism so in total she was in there for 8 months and could not drive.

The hospital advised her to inform DVLA, she chose not to since she couldn't drive anyway and at the end of it all she went and had knee surgery which means she could drive again if she wanted to. In practice she has chosen not to, but her insurance (complete with NCB) and licence were completely unaffected.

Common sense says you know when you can drive or not, and if you follow it then DVLA does not need to concern itself with such matters.

Alec

[w3526602]

Hi,

We reckoned that young men with diabetes were the worst offenders ... they seemed to think that life had dealt them a crook hand (which it probably had). Persuading them some not to drive was nigh on impossible ... but no licence means no insurance ... and all that implies.

Whatever, if a quack tells me not to drive for a month ... then I won't.

I think it's Section 143 , or is it 148 (?) of the RTA which covers insurance. It authorises the insurers to reclaim their losses from the Policy Holder, under specified circumstances.  I do not mess with insurance.

602