So perhaps I am lucky. I have no welding stuff or talent but did all the panel research myself, spent about 2 months on here and other sites. I then had someone cut the panels out, replace the sills and we worked out which sections to do at a a time and then have him weld and prime. Painting requires less equipment so I did all of this myself and was something I felt I could tackle This way I did O/S front arch, pillar, bottom of middle panel, sills, jacking points and rear wheel arch in one go. About 4 days work. Then a couple of months later I did the front panel, front valance etc again in one go. Again this was a bit longer but did it to primer/ seal etc Then I did the rubbing down, prep and paintwork. This is the bit I guess which takes the major time and effort. Now gonna have a year off and then do N/S arches, bottom of side door and sills on the other side. Broken down into segments like this it see,s more affordable. I.e 1.5 / 2k at a time. Clearly it will cost me 6-8k in the end but over 2-3 years it seems easier to swallow. At least this way if you plan to keep it you know it’s been done to your standard. Just my personal experience from starting as a complete novice.
I’ve had 2 more quotes. £12k & £13k inc. vat. That’s without panels and materials. From earlier replies I’m not that surprised. I’ve also taken a few photos of the underside structural stuff. I think it looks pretty good. Needs some love obvs. From these photos do you think I can get away without a full bare metal job at the mo? I’m hoping there is a middle way. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The underside looks really clean. Fine with a wirebrushing and some underseal. I wouldn't bare metal the body.
Agreed, it's really not falling to pieces but needs dealing with . Whether you decide to tackle it yourself or give it to a 'restorer' is entirely up to you but you'll need to have a dig around first to determine how bad it really is and go from there . Mine was bad and although I planned to tackle it myself the further I got into it the more I realised it was way beyond my capabilities so luckily a fabricator 2 units up agreed to take it on . A year later and it's back on the road but without the help I got it'd still be In pieces !! If you plan to keep the van have a dig , if you want to sell it be prepared to sell as a rolling resto ... Just my tuppence-worth ...
I think it looks pretty good. You could scrape off and wire brush the surface rust and brush Vactan on the rusty areas. Then brush paint with Rustoleum Combicolour Metal Paint which has a rust inhibitor. Its excellent paint and popular on the forum. Vactan and the paint from Avenue Coatings in Slough, Tools-Paint on ebay shop, is cheap. You could do the whole underbody including wheel arches for less than £100. I did mine a while ago and it still looks like new and paint is easy to wipe clean.
Thanks guys. I've put it up on axle stands in my cramped garage and taken off the detachable middle belly pan. I'll post some more photos. I think I've found both those products on ebay. I've also seen them in threads here. I'm pretty sure the right thing to do is to do all the work on the underneath myself and get all those panels repaired individually and then get it painted. I'm new to this so am not sure what to do. Can/should I use a grinder with a steel brush and/or brush down the surface rust manually? Also presumably I'll have to clean it all before I vatcan and paint it, is there any particular thing to use to clean it? There's waxoyl ever a lot of it. I must have done that twice in the last 6 years.
i would do an mot very hot under body power wash , that will shift all the crud then wire brush and red lead then stone chip them prices are mad
Last 3 are in the side belly pans taken through the 10mm holes with my phone Having finally had a good look at it rather than worrying from above and with advice on here I’m not even sure it needs the full restoration they quoted me for yet Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
that van does not need full resto its a minter power wash red spray stonechip , outer panels canbe done 1 at a time
Your van is in good condition underneath the cavity wax has done it’s job It doesent need a full resto
Hi new to the site wanted a bay for a few years and found 1 doing bits that need it then finding more have a welder but fix little bits on the panels and call a friend to do major bits spraying the bits of the van with aerosols when sorted will do the wholelot
