Freelander 1 to commercial ish.

Does anyone use a 3 door as a commercial but without the genuine land rover parts? I'm considering doing one. If I remove the rear seat bases and headrests will it be a flat floor I could put some hardboard over then a rubber mat? Was considering vinyl over the side windows. I don't want to stop it being a normal car in case a future owner wants to swap back. Pictures of your conversions would be welcome. Thanks. Steve

Freelander commercial had a phenolic ply floor then the rubber mat ontop of that. The plywood floor was bolted to the floor at the points the 3 door has the lashing points, and the front seats. There was also a frame that supported the section of the van floor that was over the rear footwell. This forward van floor support frame was part of the load guard. The top of the loadguard was bolted to the b-pillar above the seatbelt pivots.

So... To emulate that, use plywood not hardboard, make a frame to prop up the van floor over the rear footwell, you could holesaw the headlining on the B-Pillar and plant some rivnuts, or just drill the B-Pillar lower down and insert some rivnuts. Your loadguard would be better in metal, but if you don't have the equipment or skills to work with metal then an acceptable alternative would be a plywood bulkhead. There is an original one en eBay just now:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LAND-ROV...9519173:g:oZsAAOSwaspe8heJ&LH_ItemCondition=4

This shows the floor panel being bolted down:

Don't buy that item, it is wat over priced on eBay, the seller is looking for £150 for that part.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Land-Rov...437131?hash=item56d8f9cd4b:g:Fv8AAOSwS0peg55F
I have one you can have for £40 plus postage.

And this shows the original loadguard - note the lip at the bottom of the mesh for the floor to rest on:


But in real money, you'd be better buying one sheet of 18mm plywood for the floor, maybe another for the load guard if you decide not to get the £25 loadguard I linked to earlier. The plywood is £35 each from B&Q plus 3mx1.5m of rubber matting from eBay for £45 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Checker-...331334?hash=item36232c2bc6:g:DL0AAOSwFYxZ3HP0 plus some bracketry for your load guard, and you've got your van refit for less than the cost of the floor panel in that other persons listing.

Great info thank you. Do you know whether the rear seats fold flat with the seat bases and headrests removed?

I've not folded mine down in a while, as since we got the Citroen C5 Tourer for my wife a couple of years ago, the freelander has been usurped as our "load lugger". The Citroen has a longer boot than the freelander without folding the Citroens seats down, and with its seats up the Citroen has about the same length of boot floor as the freelander does with the freelanders seats folded, but the Citroen has even more floor space when the Citroens seats folded, but the Citroen is a 5.1 metres long vehicle.

So, its been a while since I've had the seats folded down, but as far as I remember, the seats fold flat with the headrests fitted, and by flat I mean the leather for the seatback is in contact with the leather on the seat cushion, but the backs of the seats are still at a slight upwards incline. Then the seat bases fold forwards putting the underside of the seat bases in the vertical position and the seats folded up/forwards go into the back footwell. With the seats forward you might need to move the front seats forward a smidgeon. I genuinely cannae mind if you have to take the headrests out or not, but I'm inclined to say you don't? But try it, slide the front seats forwards, open the boot, operate the black pull handle on the back of the seats, fold the seat back into the base, then the base folds forwards again into the footwell, you'd know in about 30 seconds if the headrests are going to stop the seat folding forward, and it would take you less time to fold the seats than it has taken me to type this message.

Thanks again for the reply. Problem with checking is that I haven't bought one yet so am doing a bit of research to see if it will be suitable.

A'ight.... I'll let you off with that one, mine is at the workshop just now in a million bits and in disgrace so I can't readily take pictures, but have a look at this website which has the owners handbook somewhere in "load carrying" it shows you how the seats fold.
https://www.legionlandrover.com/manuales/owners handbook - freelander (2001).pdf

That's perfect thanks. I'd forgotten the rear seats sit on the floor rather than recessed into it. So I think I would probably unbolt and remove them. Thanks again buddy, great insight.

You're welcome mate. It's 4 bolts per seat, and the seatbelts are built into the back seats so it will be easy to take them out / in, you don't have buckles growing out of your van floor and or shoulder belts to contend with hanging on the C pillar. Keep us posted on how it progresses.