1974 Bay ,full resto / 5 year plan "lol"

As mention above schofields MAKE the best panels but also sell igp and klokkerholm, shop about as panel prices vary, don't forget gsf, use a veewee code on gsf and somtimes you can get a bigger discount, schofield postage us quite expensive on black panels, heritage and just kampers often free postage

Just my experience and I know that every £ saved allows you to spend it on another bit

Good luck

 

Do it, Do it , Do it!!

 

il take some pictures at the week end ,but here is an appetizer

 

Pfft. it'll be fine, I've taxed worse than that.

At least you are realistic and say 5 years, that suggests a level of acceptance/understanding.................bring on the pictures.

Oh and welcome BTW.

 

Might be better getting a complete roof chop rather than trying to repair that.

 

That is...bad. I hope you're good at this.

 

On a brighter note - the gutter itself looks ok......

 

I’d go down this route. I saw a roof on FBIVWs Instagram page this week that might be suitable. Not sure what the hole cut in yours is like though.


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At this point surely it's your last chance to back out, get one that's...better...and use that one for spares/sell off what you don't need. What's a roof cut? £1k?? Madness!

 

This!!
That's an awful lot of work and expense, especially for a van someone's put a boat on top of

 

Clearly your van is going to be a difficult long term project and as said, could cost a lot of money and time to restore. Money and time which could never be recovered.

That said, I assume it was purchased as a hobby and an opportunity to learn new skills and have fun working on it. I wonder if the van has engine and gearbox? If not that would be expensive, if it has then likely need to rebuild both, not easy and quite costly.

Some on here have bought a shell to restore and you can learn from the Restorations posts and pictures etc. Some are still doing it, some have finished and now enjoy using them, but also some have given up and sold their part restored vans after spending a lot of time and money getting so far before giving up the fight or running out of cash.

At this point in time you have no idea how much time and money would be needed to restore the van, so I would take your time and lots of pictures of the whole van and identify the good points and the bad points and draw up a list of panels, parts and so on get some costings and ask on here for help and advice. Good luck.

 

Seeing that, I wonder which shape the overall structure of your van is.
Rotten windows frames may have allowed water to run in the pillars and rotten from the inside.
Even if you change the whole roof, starting 20cm behind the gutters , which looks to be best option, you may still find too much rust for a good repair.
And the bottom of the pillars should still be very crusty.

 

Be honest with yourself about the cost and time to restore this bus.

Add up the true price of panels, welding materials, filler, paint, engine, gearbox etc etc. It will definitely cost more than that.

Say for example that comes to 15k, then ask yourself are you happy paying 15k plus 1000s of hours of your own time to restore the bus?

If you are happy with that then crack on and do the work.

If not you could think what alternative options do I have. Eg take that amount of money and spend it on a bus in better condition, that you can use straight away.

As long as you approach it with your eyes wide open you will be fine.

Pick up a calculator before the welder and work out how much it will actually cost to restore (without factoring in your time).

My 15k figure was just an example, more knowledgeable people may be able to help you work out a more accurate guess at restoration cost.


In 2002 I spent far more restoring a bus than I could have bought a done one for. However I had owned the bus for years already, knew it was a good one, plus I had lots of emotional connections with the bus. I did it with my eyes wide open knowing I'd keep it for ever.

Nearly 20 years later I'm still happy with my decision and the cost per year (or cost per nights camping) is now much lower.

Ask yourself: in 10 years time am I likely to be happy having spent all this time and cash or would I be happier just buying one need far less work but enjoying it from day one.

 

"The sentries report rust holes to the roof - thousands of them"

 

Anything is repairable it just takes time !!

 

And cash.