Buy a Tamiya 1/35 scale model kit and invest in a CADCAM program to convert model parts into full scale dimensions.
Crew compartment is small.......your front mounted V8 will be sitting between the driver and radio operator......... Most of the replicas I've seen in reenacting since 1986, were made from VW buses with the frame cut and rewelded for proper wheelbase. Suspension is still totally wrong, but, unless you are going to build a bolt for bolt replica, there isn't much you can do.
1. LSSAH had one made from plywood that was pretty decent.
A "good enuff" model made in Texas, around 1991-93, was built on VW bus from angle iron with sheetmetal tack welded on. It sounded like a 50 year old car rolling down the road, rattling all the heck, proportions were wrong, they scaled it to fit on the VW bus frame so it just didn't look quite right.
Anything worth doing is worth doing right. You spend thousand of manhours working iron, rebuilding mechanicals and automotive, make it worth your effort.
For a front mounted engine, check into a SdKfz Ausf. B:
SdKfz 247 Ausf. B / 4-Rad
Here's a website in Germany offering a replica 247B
Sdkfz 247 Repro
and CAD files for your 222 Turtle:
Sdkfz 222 Repro
Unless you are intent on trying to play tanker without actually having a tank.
