Restoration costs..

£15000 to £20000
Your £2000 will not even cover the painting

 

Mine is over £15000 already and that's before I buy the interior and roof bellows


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I've read through your other thread where you describe a bit of the history of the Bus.
Reading it objectively I would be concerned by the fact that it has sat for 15 years outside!
If you were given it for free, fair enough to ask the question of restoration costs before you put any money into it. If however you paid money for it, at the risk of sounding harsh, you should of asked the question before parting with your hard earned.

 

I've not added, how much in total, Glenda has cost, but do agree the little things add up. My biggest purchase was the welder and having and engine rebuilt. Painted my whole bus for £70 using rustoleum, interior was reclaimed wood. Bear in mind Glenda is not a show winner, but gets used a lot. Agree with @lost-en-france rolling resto they way forward.

 

the overall cost is important as we know its easy to keep throwing money into a restoration far in excess of what the van ends up being worth.

in my opinion its better to buy an already restored van and use it, than spend the money doing up an old van which is off the road for months or even years.

10 years ago when I retired I had a 72 mgb that I had as a rolling restoration, but the cost of restoring it to concours condition would be around 14k and I wouldn't be driving it.

So I sold the 72 car for someone else to restore and bought a newly restored 66 car for 10k which I have driven and enjoyed ever since.

 

We estimated doubling the purchase price of £6250 in a restoration, and we spent that easily with 'professionals' , without fixing all the rusty bits. Now I am DIY ing it all and I still expect to have to spend £500-£1000 just on metal panels.
My engine blow up cost over £1000 but that included a family trip to Cardiff and a hotel and a restaurant visit to collect a £51 engine from Dean in Barry...

 

Some of us actually enjoy the restoration process though and the satisfaction of doing the job yourself.
I like the fact that I know every nut and bolt on my vehicles, cost doesn't always have to be the deciding factor!

 

From this


To this

cost my lovely wife & I over £12k!
The paintwork labour was FREE as restoman had the bus for so long, I did most of the welding & all of the filler work & now I WORK there. This week alone £3k has bought just a poptop canvas, seals all round & timber for a basic interior of a T25 we have in. Good luck!

 

lovely job

 

Iv recently started restoring my 1978 bay, and have spent around £600 just on the rear end alone, I would guess I will need to spend at least 3x that again just on panels, luckily I can do the welding work myself along with engine work and I'm hoping a bloke from work will give me a hand with painting (fingers crossed)
If your doing it yourself see if any mates want to help?

 

This, I'm afraid, if it was standing outside for that length of time. You'd need to start with the "bottom six inches", as it will be likely that chassis rails and other essential bits are rotten.

Anything can fixed, given time and money, but does beg the question whether it would be better to aquire a better starting point.

 

Interested reading this. I have been a little lucky with mine.

Now, I am good mates with the chap who runs the body shop I use, so I am under no illusions that my deal is a very good one.

I bought the van for £18o0.

I have spent £2200 on parts

I have sold £500 worth of parts and have £300 ish still to sell.

I sold my car to a welder who did the majority of what was needed instead of paying me £1200 for my car.

The body shop are charging me £2500 to tin the roof, paint inside and out, and rebuild the van.

Interior coach work and seating/door cards will cost £2800.

So the finished product will stand me at around the £10k mark

I do already know the standard of the body shop, as they built my Herbie for me.

 

£2500 to tin the roof, paint in and out and stick it all back together!!!

Call my a cynic... but that will be an utter gash job!

 

Just buy mine................. the most Beautiful bus you will find it's on offer today and today only you can have it for only£24999 bargain of the year
and its only January..........just think of all them shows you can go to now! buy it.

 

Sounds like you have been lucky

 

No it won't.

I know the shop, i know the owner, he has restored two vehicles for me previously, and I have full trust in him.

Thanks for your concern.

And yes, you ARE a cynic.

 

in fact, here's a pic of the finished product

 

Love the cardboard box effect interior , cool

 

comfy as hell