Now now everyone! It wasn’t a dodgy place at all and I chose not to drive it back based on not having brake lights/brakes running off one circuit, plus a host of other things. They were incredibly knowledgable guys and I 100% trust their opinion. It was Union Aircooled if anyone is interested or has experience there. I’ve always been more than happy to learn stuff but I don’t have a house with a driveway so it’s always been difficult and for bigger jobs I just don’t have space or know what I’m doing. Always happy to to pay for quality work but it’s just a question of how much is too much ya know? There are so many budged jobs on it from PO maybe it’s time to cut my losses. Regardless, I’m interested in advice with what people would do in this situation.
Slightly off topic , my daughter took her Renault to a Renault dealer for its mot,( i know, she had learnt her lesson ) they failed it and quoted almost £800 in parts and labour to get it through test . I did it in around two hours and spent only £7.50 on parts for a rubber bush on a droplink . My point is that one garages interpretation of a vehicles condition may not be a reflection of reality.
Let’s say is cost 8k to fix a lot of jobs to a reasonable standard. Surely that’s utter madness? I get what people say about doing the work, but there simply is some stuff I cannot do without a lot of help.
The engine has a few oil leaks (I know), and apparently is an engine from a T25 which I wasn’t aware of. It needs to come out at least to replace the crankshaft oil seal (wayoutwesty told me about this last year when he did my carbs), but there’s other bits that need looking at it. When I get the rundown I will share it. He told me the gearbox was the worst he’s ever used! Underneath at the front he recommended most of it needed rebuilding tbh. That’s all before you start to look at the rot, there are panels over the top of old ones, a couple that will need looking at soon, and some repairs that have been made to fit that are just a bit crap. It’s all a bit of a shock to be honest.
Gearbox. That could be as simple as the bushes need replacing, the pull rods need cleaning and regressing with new gators.
I would absolutely LOVE to learn to do some these jobs myself as a project. It would obviously be a lot to learn. I would just need a unit to do the work in and probably a load of tools. When I get the list of jobs, can I share and you lot tell me if I’m absolutely mental?
No need to wait - you're absolutely mental. By the time you've paid rent for 5x as long as you estimated, not had a bus for 2 years and bought a load of tools... It's all about priorities. If you have a life it might be best to just pay the bill.
I think you have to be pretty mental to want to keep one of these thing on the road, tbh. Yes. A large range of varied Tools and a flat service to work on, is a large help. Lots can be done outside, but it’s easier if you are dryer.( 2nd van now, 1st one in 1996 and I’ve only just got me self a big tent to work in). Pretty much most of the mechanics, I did outside…but then I was younger, and could be bothered more…I still do them, but I have lots of other things to consider, too. It’s a time thing.
Or live it, and not spend your days rolling around under a rusty bus, grinding skin off when the grinder bites in, and flips back at you, or just breathing in rust, dust and WD40. Have you got many other activities or hobbies? As this one will drain you, mentally and financially. Imho.
You’re kinda screwed if you have no garage or driveway to work on it . Do the math , if paying to get it fixed to a usable nice standard doesn’t add up sell it and buy a nice one
Sorry to read you’re being backed into a corner and have a tough decision to make. Makes me appreciate having a private driveway to work on. I’ve spent many a happy hour underneath mine knowing I don’t have to finish the job in a single session. Sometimes because it’s a big job and on occasion because I’ve bitten off more than I can chew and have to call in the cavalry. Stirlingmoz
Tough decision. If your van might only fetch a ballpark figure around 8k, to get the decent one that you would want - requiring minimal immediate input either physically or financially - you're going to have to add a reasonable whack of cash to your purchasing budget. Is that an issue? If it's not, then @Faust 's bus would be a good one to be considering: it's a known vehicle being sold by a long serving member of the forum. If you're not looking to invest much more money to replace your current van, then you may end up with something requiring an equal amount of work, or worse. I don't have any answers I'm afraid - I am learning to do the small bits myself, but still do (and probably always will) need the big structural things such as welding doing for me. I save hard knowing that every so often I will give those savings away to someone who can deal with engines, welding, paintwork etc.
The T4 failed the test on a page and a half, before that i gave it a good going over, new tyres, turbo, service etc I just did it, got my head down Now, just doing a airport run, it's fantastic, smooth responsive, a pleasure.. Better the devil you know.. The T25 is ok, but I wished I had the bay.. Sent from my ART-L29 using Tapatalk
I just got the van back and took a load of pics of the underneath and engine bay. Please don’t rip me apart! https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/byythm53mc38mk9w0xq5o/h?rlkey=5uu6cui0brxqj2d57rthu2wk6&dl=0
