Club 80-90 Forums

Hi, I've seen a t25 for sale; all seems good except this...local vw mechanic says even if it IS cosmetic as owner telling me, will be huge job/hours of work to fix and could easily end up having to put new lid on...I'm happy to take his word for it but thought I'd just pop an image on here for some expert input! Shame as rest of camper looks lovely with golf 1.9 engine and new panels, respray ect....

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Hi, this looks like crazing of the gelcoat on the roof. although it seems like a bad case it is very common on old fiberglass and there are alot of gelcoat repair products available these days. I wouldn't be massively put off by this, a quick Google of gelcoat crazing and repair should give you some idea of what it might take to put right.
Hope this helps.

Have you viewed it? That looks more like it has been painted with the incorrect type of paint. I have seen bad gelcoat crazing on boats but never any like that. Gelcoat cracks tend to be a lot finer in appearance - those cracks appear to be very wide.

Had arranged to view this weekend (rest of van sounds well worth a visit) but it's a 2 hour drive and after speaking to a local vw van mechanic who said he'd never seen anything that bad that 'was only cosmetic' (as owner says) and thought it could turn out to be a long expensive job and ultimately involve a new roof! The owner seems transparent and kosher and assures me it's just the paintwork which is why I was asking. However I get the impression she is as much of a novice as me....which is worrying!

Not sure how to check without looking under paint which she might not like...

Oldiebut goodie wrote:That looks more like it has been painted with the incorrect type of paint.

I'd second that. It looks very white for an old gelcoat so my guess is its been painted and its the paint that has flexed and cracked.

And....... the cracking is?

Well...to be honest it probably was superficial but the cracks were deep and without treatment the fibreglass wouldn't have lasted long. I didn't buy that van in the end as it had quite a few issues that needed fixing before it would have been ready to use and I specifically wanted a van to enjoy this summer before tackling any big jobs and maintenance over the winter.

I picked up my new Van this weekend which I bought from a member on this site. It's tidy in and out and ready to use straightaway. Over the winter there are jobs to do and if I can afford it, and find an engine, a 1.9 upgrade. I'm super thrilled to have a van again and my kids love it. Job today is to buy a plywood sheet and construct a buddy box for the porta pottI as per the 'Devon box' plans on wiki!