After finally getting the van sorted with a engine and enjoying the van I decided to get a quote from a bodyshop (very reputable guy who has impressed me with his work) to change color and fix rust.
He's had a look and gave a price of £5000 with no guarantee of rust returning. He said the seals were rusting from inside out (common problem I know). His parting words were to sell on ASAP and add the £5000 to buy a T4.
Problem is I love the van, and DONT want to do it.
Now he's got me worried.
Here are some pics of the current state of play. These are the worst parts. Please re-assure me that a professional is talking sh*$ and its all not doom and gloom
Opinions please.
Last edited by crazyhorse on 03 Oct 2016, 18:34, edited 1 time in total.
Generally, you can slow down rust but rarely stop it. You'd have to start with new metal to have any real chance. His non-guarantee seems fair enough and I sigh when I hear people who've had a new spray job complain the rust is bubbling up again months later. The construction of these vehicles lends itself brilliantly to corrosion. The cost involved of getting to all the rust (inside and out) would be prohibitive unless you do it yourself in your own time and even then, its a massive undertaking. Your best bet is to look for a lower quote, which realistically won't be guaranteed either and do a lot of the rust treatment yourself. Either that or roller it and treat accordingly as and if rust appears.
I'm not into spraying at all but certainly prior to rollering mine In cut out the bad stuff and treated the seam rash with vactan from both sides, leaving it a year to see if it was stable before even touching it with paint. I've had reasonable success with that approach as some rusty bits did indeed remain stable and didn't come back even 8 years later but other areas simply got worse. You have to be really pedantic, if not patient. This is why, with a T25 that has body issues, its probably better to go the roller-route and if you can keep it stable for several years, then consider a spray job.
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We have the same dilemma. A structurally sound van with a few rusty bits in common places. We've had a couple of professional "geustimates" of £5-6000 to repair the rusty bits do an external respray and replace the window seals and are leaning towards getting the welding done by a small local workshop and using covkids rustoleum method to DIY paint it.
Bessie the bus- 1987 Holdswoth Vision 1.9DG auto with VW factory hitop
Having spent years restoring mine the hard way by cutting out and welding in new panels and painting with Rustoleum , I think it's crazy to spend big bucks on a "professional" respray. The rust will be back before you know it. Very few businesses would take the time to cut out rust properly so really you're just paying for something that will look good for a short space of time.
I would make sure your wheel mounting points and lower seatbelt mounts are solid. Almost everything else is cosmetic.
I'd happily spend 5k on my van f I knew the rust wouldn't return , but by the sound of it it's going to be very hard to stop it returning ,,, so what are my people doing to keep there vans looking nice ?? Is it just a case of patch it as you go ?
Clean all the rust back, wire brush, grinder etc. Treat inside and out with vactan and red oxide. Roller paint. Save your dosh for holidays in the van.
Anything structural or seriously rusty, with holes etc. Get sorted, patched up accordingly as and when.
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1982 Diesel hightop. 1Y engine. Still work in progress but running and taking us on holidays.
I'd do the van a bit at a time. Kerbside first normally gets the brunt of it. Buy some Alan Schofield panels and ask metalmickey if he'd do the rear quarter only for example and a lick of paint. When he gets into it, you'll have a good idea of what your facing elsewhere.
The sandblasting route is only 100% effective because unless you get inside those seams you are only treating the result, rather than the cause, of the corrosion. So, unless your bodyshop in some fashion effectively treat the mating flanges before fitting new metal, your rust issues will soon return. And that's the difficult bit and the most labour intensive. And going on from that, these flanges need to be throughly sealed prior to paint so that oxygen cannot get inside. If properly treated and sealed, you stand a good change of seeing the job last for many years to come.
