What to expect for £10-12k

The thing is though that there are some places where rust is going to be serious and others where it is less serious - and in general, the harder it is to inspect by standing beside the bus, the more it costs to fix.

Back in the day (2010), when I bought my bus, I spent £6k on the bus.
I bought it blind off eBay, didnt even really look at it until I owned it.

I was lucky in that the rusty bits at that time were all limited to easy to get at places or where (like new front doors were still available from JK at £295 each !! ) you could replace the doors with new.

But we immediately put at least another £7k into rust repairs and replacement parts. Our approach on buying secondhand things like bus or an old yacht was to buy it but have cash equal to the purchase price available for fixing it up.

Since then I think there has been about another £10k spent on bodywork - sills replaced, random welds around front valance, then I replaced the lower part of the front of the bus for my time plus £500 parts this spring.

And thats not counting the engines..

Still to deal with - tailgate, sliding door , round engine hatch is ropey.

I think it has cost less than a new T5 but thats about all.

 

@cwatson90 if you don't mind LHD you could do a LOT worse than this for the money .... Only four hours away!

 

As has been said, "better the devil you know" as far as what work initially needs doing ...
The other key thing though is, if you're not handy with a welder and/or spray gun and/or spanners ... choose your restorer/mechanic VERY carefully.

 

This is a good point, as they are out there, with a good chassis not disguised, clearly well maintained mechanically, and not a dead loss inside either ... they're not being offered at around £12,000 though.
I would have two actual budgets, one of which allows you something left over to tackle "the first year of ownership", the other being higher, reserved for happening to find a decent ready-to-go bus like @MorkC68 s.
(I take PayPal Mark )

 

Beware the Tetra seal boys and the the clever dust to age it .

 

At £10k they probably are though. I knew someone in Ely when I first got mine who's bus turned almost literally into dust in less than a year.

 

@cwatson90 if you haven’t already found it there is a full resto thread on this bus on here. Mark is a well respected and knowledgeable forum member. If I was in the market for a bus this would be a no brainer.

 

Mine must have come from a really bad area cos it hat a pair of underpants packing out a hole in the cill!

 

I must have looked at 5 T2 s before I found a decent one and I spent 2 hours and numerous cups of tea from the patient owner checking all over and under the bus !! If you don't know what to look for take someone who does I took a piece of cardboard to lie on a head torch a magnet and a mirror !! I asked for the engine to be cold/unstarted when I got there checked endfloat , gearbox oil leaks, battery tray for rust, underside for excessive underseal! sponge like chassis parts front window seal , gear linkage , front steps and floor under the mats for rot , test drive and also check m.o.t history on DVLA website if you know the reg number it can tell you a lot ... Hope this helps

 

Have you managed to purchase one yet? I’ve just been reading through the thread and there is some really good advice. It is a minefield out there though and someone with knowledge of old T2’s is the best person to have with you when looking. They can be something of a money pit particularly if you finish up with a bad one.
I know you’re budget is 10-12K but for another 1k I would go for MorkC68 s Gusbus. It’s been properly restored & you can read all about it on here.