I send 9/10 potential customers away with the diagnosis that they could end up with a much better van for less money if they push the one they bought for £4-9K off a cliff and start again. In my view thay are NOT all worth saving. If you are to spend £3-4K on paint alone, that should be on something that will last and is the right shape, with perfect door shuts etc etc. The cost of resto far exceeds the cost of purchase so you want to be restoring something that has potential, not one with 100 patches on the chassis. Leave the mingers to the dub-fanatics who think every single one should be saved. Your picture above is tiny, it's smaller than my avatar. Come on, lets see everything!
You could try and cut your losses or even get you money back, sell it and buy a better one and take someone with you that knows about them !!
It's so good to get such good advice ... I think what is the main issue ... When we bought Vera it was between her and a Viking roof 1976 and she had all the history had photos of welding work tat had been done etc and was the same price but In vanity I preferred the roof on ours .. Wasn't ever sure about the Viking look... Now I keep thinking we bought the wrong one! I've even messaged the guy to see if he still has it as he was going to put it into storage until spring Our other issue is last year we had a t4 converted by a company who basically shafted us ! The van was fecked (we bought that from them too) they converted and out a screw through the roof ...and that's just the start, we lost £4k on that one, but basically I grew up with a bay in the family and wanted one ....
We thought she looks nice anyway... Going to take her for a 2nd opinion not that I think border aren't accurate at all.. But just want another viewpoint ...
Not wishing to rub salt in but Vikings are quite sought after, I wouldn't get a second opinion from another restorer, as said before bring it down to Dubfreeze at Stafford in a couple of weeks and let some of us have a look with no agenda. Think you said you're in Shropshire so not too far.
I'm sure their appraisal is accurate if you want a mint bus. Personally I now wouldn't use them as they charged you to rectify their mistake! It looks good. I'd just get breakdown cover and drive it.
The the Viking had quite a few of rust bubbles around windows and windscreen ... That put us off but like I said the sills had all been welded ... I'm guessing just to make me feel worse rust bubbles and rust around windscreen isn't a massive deal! :-/
It's looks alright in your pictures but pictures always do make them look better. Did your latest place take pictures of the windscreen surround while the screen was out? If not that's poor I'd say.
Honest opinion and I know it's 'how long is a piece of string' but if we throw £4-£5k is it worth doing it?!
Non of us can answer that hun without actually seeing the bus We cant advise much at all from the pictures so far as they are not very good pics Can you take a lot more pics yourself of all over and under the bus and post them up?