I’ve had my camper about 8 and a half years now and the “temporary” paint job, done when I got her, is beginning to look a little worse for wear, with cracks, flaking/bubbling paint and rust spots becoming increasingly noticeable. What I want to do is get the exterior paint stripped back to original, get any bodywork issues fixed and have the van repainted properly. However, I don’t have the skills, tools or free time to do any of this myself. Can anyone on here suggest someone who might be able to do this work?
Good luck! I had quotes a couple of years ago for this. You’d probably be looking at around £12-15k with a wait time of around 12-18 months. I ended up replacing the bus!!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Your bank manager or scratchcard retailer are your new best friends. More helpfully, there are body shops all over the land who would do the work at varying levels of knowledge and cost. Depending where you are, there might be someone local on here who won’t pull your kecks down …
In my rush to post, I completely forgot to mention I’m located in the Birmingham / West Midlands area.
Some of it you probably could have saved if you had fixed paint chips early rather than letting it go over 8 years: Now you have a free choice of Paying somebody the going rate for their skills and time. Learning how to by yourself - plenty of youtube videos and books on VW bus restoration. You can find evening classes at tech colleges (still exist, I have been on an evening welding course in Southampton a couple of years ago) , buying second hand workshop gear, renting a workshop/garage and you may save a lot of money in the end. Or you will end up selling your bus as a restoration project for not much money.
Don’t know Brum personally man but Dunc @SundialCamperSpecialists is just outside Macclesfield which isn’t a million miles away. I’m forever recommending him and I’m not on commission! A couple of years ago I looked high and low for a body shop and ended up buying a rust free shell for the price of new steps / arch welding I was quoted elsewhere - just saying. I’ve only just got it back on the road like but… Edit: put some photos up so we can all tell you it’s ok for another 100,000 miles / sympathise / tell you to sell it / be smug etc
If the underneath is ok ...not a big job ...i would try and do it yourself unless you have not shown us the worst
OK. To clarify a few points. Firstly the underneath is fine, not 100% perfect, but fine. On the mechanical and electrical fronts, everything is also fine. Secondly, I think these are the worst spots - the underside of the roof gutter is like that all the way round - so I think the roof might be the biggest issue. Thirdly, I’ve zero experience in metal working, welding, bodywork, spraying, etc. I’d love to be able to do this all myself, but I haven’t a clue where to start and honestly, with two kids under four, a full time job and several other diy tasks clamouring for my attention, I haven’t got the free time either.
Most of your pictures shows where sanding down and rust treating and repainting would work. If you DIY you do it a section at a time its something you can do it in small sections, so your other DIY tasks can be pushed down the list. It wont be concours standard, but it wont be rusting out to the point where its trash. Dont just leave it expecting to sling cash at it at some point, thats likely to have a sad ending. Most DIY apart from exterior and structural work like on your bus, if you dont do it , you just save money when it isnt done. Reprioritise, reschedule your hectic lifestyle, paying tradesmen on the house may be cheaper than paying for your bus to be fixed. I knew when I bought a T2 back in 2010 it would change my life and need a lot of my time, so other things got pushed way down the priority list.
Thanks @mikedjames. That’s actually really helpful. Last year I was caught out by the rear wheel arches having rusted through and I guess that got me worried about what else might be hiding under the “temporary” paint job. Am I right in thinking that going at it in small sections will allow me to use it in the meantime? Say, sort a section, go camping, sort another section?
I can recommend "A6 body shop" up here in leigh near wigan, they have done many VW campers and other mobile homes. I know its a bit north of Birmingham, but Stuart the owner will do whatever you want and at a price your happy with. I sent him a shell in red oxide primer which he stripped back to basic and filled and painted in 2K. I wasn't looking for a concourse finish just something hard wearing, usable, and would give me many years of protection, and I'm not disappointed. really worth speaking too a chap who really loves his work. I have attached a couple of photo to show before and after. I cant give you an estimate to what yours may cost because all jobs are different but mine cost less than less than 4K. hope this helps
If it lives outside and has only got as bad as your few photos you've done pretty well IMO, but your quote indicates otherwise? Then you say this... So, we have no idea but your quoter obviously thinks it's going to be a big job... or is simply trying to keep the waiting list down but quoting big bucks and taking on the fools that accept them. The under-gutter stuff you show could be tackled carefully with small tools, it doesn't look bad to me. The rear valance is a cheap easy fit panel. The front panel is just the bottom inch. I suspect you're zooming in on the worst bits which is making you ignore a lot of stuff that also needs attention. If there's work on every panel is soon adds up. So yours was "just" prep and paint? Good price but the OP needs a bit more. for the Wigan area price-wise, I doubt there's anywhere else where people work quite as hard for their money, it must be due to all the local customers being skint!
no harm in trying a diy fix - as mike says, rub down, rust treat, mask prime & paint. nothing there looks to need welding? at the very least it'll stop it getting worse while you save up/ wait for your bodyshop slot. everything you need you can pick of from halfords or similar, youtube shows you how. what's the worst that could happen? it looks a bit sht? can't be any worse than it looks now? if you're not happy how it looks, just repeat until you get a better finish.
You could try brookside air cooled in hopwood, they do both mechanical and bodywork. They are based behind fellows speedshop. They maybe able to help you out.
Thanks for all the replies. @Zed a touch more clarification; the van lived outside for between 4 or 5 years, originally parked on bare earth, then on a paved area, and was under a cover for most of that time. Since we moved house, it’s mostly been in a garage, although it did spend a few months on the drive while I worked on my beetle. The quote for £24k came from a company who decided I wanted a full restoration rather than what I asked for, then never responded to further emails. They never saw the van nor any photos. I might have accidentally been misleading when I referred to the wheel arches; it was the flare of the outer skin that had rusted through and those have since been replaced. @Rich83 I’ve already approached Brookside. They’ve done all the work on my van previously, but unfortunately, they’ve said what I’m after is too much for them to do at the moment, which is a shame as I’ve been more than happy with the quality of their work in the past.
Here’s all the photos I sent to the boys at Brookside (minus the ones I already posted). Please let me know if you spot anything that I’ve missed!
…and the rest I know the paintwork around the rear arches isn’t the best; I requested the repairs be merely covered over due to the idea of a proper overall repaint at a later date.
