I've located a van in my price range and plan to go and have a closer look. I'm new to aircooled vw's and would prefer not to be stung with an obvious "i cant believe you didnt look for that" fault. It's a 1974 rhd uk bus, engine is kaput (not a concern as I'll happily rebuild/ source an engine) and it's been off the road for 4 years. Any advice would be welcome. Thank you in advance.
You're in Scotland. Scottish buses all seem to be rust buckets. Rust, rust, rust, rust, rust. Everything is cheaper and quicker to fix than rust repairs and painting. Show us the pics/link - I won't nip out and buy it - I've got 4 already. Could save you a trip...
Heading to see it on Monday so I'll grab loads of pics and post up for an opinion. Not got much to go yet other than emails. Rust was my worry too. Don't want to get stung. Wher is the disaster areas for rust that I should look at first? Ta much. Tony
one foot in and one foot up all the way around... And under the window rubbers - if they are lumpy, specially the rear side ones, there will be rust under that will turn into holes. And I'll get this in early - don't buy a bus with dodgy gutters. Look down the length from the rear. If they dip from rear of cab doors forwards cab doors won't fit well. If the gutters are rusty (not just stain of surface rust) they are difficult and expensive to fix. Save us typing and do a search here and other forums - this has been asked and answered a zillion times before. Good luck - hope it's a peachy one.
All around the bottom 6" and around the gutter, the gutter is probably harder to repair than around the bottom, look for signs of bad filling, check to see if the seams between the panels are still there and that the chassis no. hasn't been tampered with. It largley depends on how realistic the price of the bus your looking at is compared to your budget. Also, have a read of as many of the resto threads on here as you can, you will see where buses tend to rot and it will give you a good idea as to how hard some areas are to repair. Good luck with it, hopefully its a good'n
If its a RHD bus - don't fall into the trap of thinking that bolt on/bolt off stuff such as cab and sliding doors are cheap to simply source and replace, if they are shot. They aren't. Sliding door prices (later ones with the lock hole separate) are so high that you may well spend the rest of your days on dialysis or have to sell one of your children (even if they are unborn) to buy a tidy one. Concur completely with Zed and Para's advice - especially regarding gutters - they are a *rude word* to replace properly.
Check how well the doors sit against the van when they're shut, if the bottom back corner of the door sits proud of the body, there is a good chance of a ropey front arch replacement!!! If there is rot around the corner of the windscreen, look in the cab - under the mat, there's a chance it's leaked and taken out the floor!!! Good luck and as previously said - be prepared to walk away!!!
look at rust on both axles and rear gutters ,the front panel as well... Get caught up in all the things/places you can go and forget the odd patch of rust ,imagine the bus on your drive, up a hill in Scotland ,down a Welsh valley... O0 Get the buzzz... ;D All my buses I decided to buy before I saw them [in the flesh].. :-*
I have been doing research on here and some other forums. ( I really appreciate the time you guys have taken to respond ) Sound advice and good points have been taken from this, and thanks for the offer paradox, but I'll politely pass due to costs of getting you here :0) I'll get some pics posted here for honest opinions on Monday. Thank you. T
Beat me too it. I see too many £4-6K buses that need £10K+ spending on them. Para's profit free offer is most excellent, and if anyone will spot the problems, Para's the man. 8) How I wish I could have had Para with me before I parted with my hard-earned! Double, triple, quadruple check the vin and m-plate!
