Looking underneath - a cautionary tale

Discussion in 'Buying a VW Camper' started by Zed, Feb 21, 2014.

  1. Why not take a look at a few that are listed for sale on here by people who have really done a lovely job of restoration and aren’t asking stupid money either.

    As I mentioned johnlukes bus is a pearler and the same money as that red one you’ve seen.
    Lord congis Devon is a lovely little time warp and he wants a lot less than 19k. You might need to use the sas or Interpol to track him down though as he seems to be permanently on holiday.

    Good luck.
     
  2. I highly doubt you’ll be overtaking much so I wouldn’t worry about that. You’ll be doing well to find a solid uk rhd. 40 years of road salt and rain has seen to that.
     
    art b likes this.
  3. thanks guys, really appreciate the replies, help & advice.

    If anyone knows of a decent van for <19K not a tin top, as I'm 6ft 2in, just for 2 people, I'd be very interested.
     
  4. and that’s from a man that really knows.
     
    davidoft likes this.
  5. What’s left out of the huge private collection? Anything fit plumbobs requirements.?
     
    davidoft likes this.
  6. when some one says ive done a full resto , FINE ask for the link to the rebuild with all the details and pics . this lets ye see the level of skill AND work done , some of the best work ive seendone over thet years have been on forums like this , people that never done a van turn out works of art , some of the pro s don t , but like to think they have , lol i ve quite a few , this went for sale over here for 23k full nut bolt resto rhd panel van , not my cup oftea but shows thers bargains to be had , as stated beforew thers [plenty of cracking vans for sale on here and plenty of people to keep ye right
     

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    Flakey and PlumBob like this.
  7. davidoft

    davidoft Sponsor


    http://thelatebay.com/index.php?threads/huge-private-collection-of-campers.71184/

    Well worth giving my friend Barry a call , he’s got quite a good selection and isn’t to far from you ( near Portsmouth) all right hand drive, tell him I sent you :)
     
    paulcalf, Flakey and PlumBob like this.
  8. there ue go happy days david
     
    davidoft likes this.
  9. paulcalf and davidoft like this.
  10. davidoft

    davidoft Sponsor

    Plenty to choose from :)
     
    PlumBob likes this.
  11. This happened to me.....
    Lucky I'm able to (or have learned to) fix it myself.

    I've restored a FIAT from a bare shell before and looked at the bus twice before buying. Someone spent weeks and weeks welding plate onto the swampdonkey to make it look solid. B'stards. Complete waste of time and pointless.

    I'm just getting to the point where the chassis is solid again, and all the rot has been cut out. New sills, jacking points, front beam.... rear wheel arches, complete rear panels to front wheel arches, cargo bay floor sections, cross members and box sections front and rear.... I could go on. It looked like it needed work when I bought it, and it was a bare shell - the problem is one bit of rot is normally connected to another bit and so on. So a little job becomes massive resto.

    Hopefully he (Ernie the Swampdonkey) will hopefully be back on his wheels in a couple of weeks. (if I don't lose my rag and set the bloody thing on fire..)

    Lesson learned.


    I'll post some pictures when I've stopped crying :)

    Edit -
    Added photos after wiping away the tears. Ernie is back on his wheels now after 3 months on a jig on the drive. He’s structurally sound now, and just needs the floor and front of the rear arches welding in before I can lob the engine back in and get it all moving.

    Including the front beam and drums from the rear there was just shy of 100kg of metal/rust that came off. Most was sheet metal welded over rust
     

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    Last edited: Aug 6, 2019
    paradox, Lasty, Kruger and 1 other person like this.
  12. Mine isn't quite that bad but I have a similar story, done classic cars before back to bare shell and I fell into the trap, I definitely overpaid for it but tbf I think the previous owners paid someone to fix it for them (badly). Some of the repairs and rot that's been sprayed over is bloody criminal. Luckily I can weld and fabricate bits myself but I wasn't planning on doing as much work as I have, I'm as annoyed at myself more than anything else. Hopefully my tears won't cause too much rust on the new parts I'm welding in. Oh and I here you on putting a match to the bloody thing (a joke your honour).
     
    PanZer, Podrr and Lasty like this.
  13. Rust is the enemy. A cautionary tale, indeed!
     

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  14. As an Australian, it amazes me what the Northern Hemisphere VW fraternity does for rust repairs.
    The beetles I have had carted off to the scrap yard because “they weren’t worth it” would make you guys cry.
    I was lucky that my Late Bay found me and not the other way around.
    It’s and original paint ratter that will stay that way. I can see what has been done.
    It is basically rust free.

    The price of Kombis, tin tops and campers, hare skyrocketed here since the pandemic hit.

    Biggest problem we have here with rust is in the aftermarket campers where the original converters took to the roof with an angle grinder then glued a fibreglass pop top base to it.
    Water would deep under and would slowly rot away to the gutters.
    The VW sanctioned Sopru is one of the worst offenders. Didn’t even treat the raw edge after cutting.
    Lots of shiny campers here that need major roof repairs.
     
    rob.e likes this.

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