I feel for you Bern, my Doka was the same, it came with an MOT and in fairness you could see some of the bad bits but when @zed started poking it got bad.
I think it had been 'restored' pretty well - just not using metal I don't think anyone thought it was that bad. The guy doing the work starts most posts with 'Bern - you need more pills mate.....'
i've just looked from post 1 and clearly at the start you and zed seemed to think it wasn't too bad - unless he was being nice, guess the seller had good filler skills.
One thing, John at 81A will do a superb restoration & he'll leave you knowing it will be absolutely solid when its done - especially with the hoops and canvass fitted..it will be worth it!
Mine has lots of horror stories like that, at least I now know where I stand with it, I've still got the pick up floor to do yet and the joint behind the cab is almost entirely rust.
I have been watching the progress on fb and felt bad for you. I thought it was just a bit of overkill on your part having the side panel done. I was shocked to see how bad it was. Gutted for you mate.
Just goes to show doesn't it? Great that you're continuing on and properly restoring a great vehicle Can't wait to see it at Tatton or somewhere...
I did see one for £25k on ebay a few month's back - rhd, tidy looking etc. I looked properly and actually it was nowhere near as good as yours will be. it had a plate across the bed like ours has and that told me there was trouble below!
'tis the issue with old buses.....there's plenty of filler on my bus, but it's just that...filler....on top of sound panels, cosmetics....who can afford to have a proper metal bumping job done, these days?....(Bentley owners perhaps)......if someone went round my bus with a magnet, they'd assume it was a wagged up POS.....you wouldn't know unless you dug it out, or had the pics to show the quality of the underlying metalwork.... I think you've done right by your pick-up....it'll be solid when it's done, plus you'll have a good photo resto, if and when you come to part with it....whether you get your money back is another thing, but I guess you didn't buy it as a money spinner (unless you count the Rag and Bone business op)
I agree better sooner or later but I would have never of guessed looking at the van at 81a Bern ,it looked absolutley fine to me ,I could'nt understand why it was there.
We certainly didn't set off to replace so much but there comes a time when you might just as well shrug and get on with it. I still think it's cool
It had been filled with some skill I guess - the finish was generally pretty good. It really looked like rust bubbles - not filler breakdown
