I got mine for just a bit more than that and it's no Marmiteter ,just a case of being at the right place at the right time ,they are out there ,still feel very chuffed about mine.
When i was a kid (early 90s) my parents had a bay that they bought on a whim for £400, and after a year or 2 it needed £2k welding for the MoT so mum let somebody tow it away for spares. Singularly the most stupid thing she has never done and she's Irish lol. There is something pretty cool about making good something that others think is too far gone. The crash damage thing was based on not having jigs/pullers etc at my disposal. My youth was misspent fooling around with minis and metros so rust holds no fear - nothing a bit of chicken wire, newspaper and filler can't sort!
Don't get me wrong; everything is of course saveable for a price. It's not financially viable to save a complete Marmiteter though imho. £600 for cab doors £400 for a slider Hundreds of hours of "free" labour Etc etc
That kind of assumes EVERYTHING has to be brand spanking. Plenty of good second hand bits around and tbh finding them and rummaging scrap yard/auto jumbles is all part of the fun!
Mine cost about a grand. So far it's cost me 3k including the van cost and it's been About 7 years in resto. Definitely worth spending a bit more. Maybe just aim for one with an mot so it's at least sort of roadworthy in the first place.
Have you looked at second hand parts prices recently? They ain't cheap by any means. If a sub £1k bus is what you want go for it; I was just trying to be the voice of reason!
I was watching a second hand RHD slider that went for £510. Another went for £480...both would need paint if the wrong colour. Westie roof canvas is £350...it's just cost me around £400 in parts alone to rebuilt the rotating parts at the back of mine. Unless its a labour of love I'd spend a few quid more on a better bus...it's not like its a rare vehicle and a Marmiteter is all that's available...
I wonder how much this will go for. I've seen worse... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-Volksw...3343508?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item4ae4088514
And you are correct of course. Even restoring yourself has got stupidly expensive. What do you want to do, spend £15K over 5 years restoring one or get a bank loan for a finished one and spend 5 years camping.
I know there is alot of overpriced Marmitee out there like the first ebay link. In all honesty the entire point is to keep it 'affordable' - rather than simply cheap, however long it takes. I have roughly £1k to put something on the drive, but after that who knows. If I was going to take out credit to buy a van I would just go straight to Danbury for a Brazilian kombi and not mess around at all. Camping would not be suitable just yet as my other half has just been diagnosed with fibromyalgia so I have a couple of years on that front. I'm in no rush! You can't eat an elephant whole - you have to cut it into slices!
Have you considered importing one from the U.S, will be a little more than a grand but for 2 or 3 you would get something solid. I've imported quite a few buses, I could put you I Contact with some people with good buses
Not something I've considered to be honest. I'd have to do my homework. Is that 2-3k all in or just the bus then costs on top? And LHD I presume?
Good luck , Planty sounds like your reasonably switched on and used to using forums anyway , looking on with interest
That's pretty rough,problem with early bays is the panels aren't available like they are for late bays, it's all a coble together, the rear corners are goosed and the long side is held together by a coat of paint, bet it goes £2-3k
If you have the time everything is fixable on the cheap ,I am confident on getting another resto for well under a grand... http://www.artofknitting.co.uk/ hurry issue one is at the shops..