Make Autosleeper Great Again

For documenting and technical details of T25 restorations and major repairs
This section is for major restorations only.where to buy a panel or where to buy window rubbers belong in the bodywork seats and glass section.
Also please note,we need pictures of the restorations,without them posts are pretty useless.[\b]
Picture heavy and detailed threads , not for general banter or advertising
Traders welcome to post but not to advertise blatently
Threads will be cleaned of chit chat.

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Fugeh
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Make Autosleeper Great Again

Post by Fugeh »

First of all I'm not sure if this should be in Bodywork or Restoration :shock: .

A little bit of background: I bought my van last June, an Autosleeper Trident 1988 high top. I made the mistake of buying a freshly painted/repaired 'solid van'. There appear to be some very poor quality 'repairs' and a blow over the rest of the rust. Not going to cast any shade at the seller, I should have done further research before buying. I paid 7k for the van. It has 152k miles on the clock and according to my mechanic - Volksfarmers in Kent (amazing) the engine 'isn't awful'' - which to me sounds like fantastic praise. I had a little bit of work done last year which made her run pretty smooth but she is smoking a bit from being overwintered in a barn. I wanted to protect my lovely paint job from the elements.

I had the roof resealed and it appears that the front rivets had perished and started to rot the front roof which I wanted to explore further.
I've got the van back, stripped the fuel tank and have a replacement including all lines, etc from Brickwerks. Last week I removed the interior to tart up the units and replace the disintegrating carpet. I've found quite a lot of rust in various places and some evidence of poor repairs (choosing my words carefully here).

I've started uncovering the rust that I can see. There's quite a bit and I'm not really sure where to start as it's a little overwhelming. At the moment I'm going to start on the smaller repairs internally just to get a feel for it and perhaps bouy my confidence prior to tackling the larger repairs, at the moment everything I do feels like I'm rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic. I'm going to upload various pictures, I've got my own welder (R-tech 180 MIG) and have done a little welding previous but no bodywork. I've been reading the amazing resources here and can't be more thankful that such a brilliant resource exists.

Any advice as to the best place to begin or places that require further investigation would be much appreciated. I'll upload the photographs in a separate posts (can't seem to upload more than one photo per post on Tapatalk)

Thanks.
Last edited by Fugeh on 08 Apr 2020, 11:13, edited 2 times in total.
88 Autosleeper Trident 1.9
Hythe, Kent.

Fugeh
Registered user
Posts: 193
Joined: 27 Jun 2019, 12:37
80-90 Mem No: 0

Re: Make My Van Great Again

Post by Fugeh »

Image
Left B post and Cill


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88 Autosleeper Trident 1.9
Hythe, Kent.

Fugeh
Registered user
Posts: 193
Joined: 27 Jun 2019, 12:37
80-90 Mem No: 0

Re: Make My Van Great Again

Post by Fugeh »

Image
Rear drivers panel non sliding panel


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88 Autosleeper Trident 1.9
Hythe, Kent.

Fugeh
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Posts: 193
Joined: 27 Jun 2019, 12:37
80-90 Mem No: 0

Re: Make My Van Great Again

Post by Fugeh »

Image
Mid panel previous repair


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88 Autosleeper Trident 1.9
Hythe, Kent.

Fugeh
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Posts: 193
Joined: 27 Jun 2019, 12:37
80-90 Mem No: 0

Re: Make My Van Great Again

Post by Fugeh »

Image
Nightmare fuel


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88 Autosleeper Trident 1.9
Hythe, Kent.

Fugeh
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Posts: 193
Joined: 27 Jun 2019, 12:37
80-90 Mem No: 0

Re: Make My Van Great Again

Post by Fugeh »

Image
Various small holes in bed


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88 Autosleeper Trident 1.9
Hythe, Kent.

Fugeh
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Posts: 193
Joined: 27 Jun 2019, 12:37
80-90 Mem No: 0

Re: Make My Van Great Again

Post by Fugeh »

Image
Wonky cill drivers side


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88 Autosleeper Trident 1.9
Hythe, Kent.

Fugeh
Registered user
Posts: 193
Joined: 27 Jun 2019, 12:37
80-90 Mem No: 0

Re: Make My Van Great Again

Post by Fugeh »

Image
Various holes


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88 Autosleeper Trident 1.9
Hythe, Kent.

Fugeh
Registered user
Posts: 193
Joined: 27 Jun 2019, 12:37
80-90 Mem No: 0

Re: Make My Van Great Again

Post by Fugeh »

Image


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88 Autosleeper Trident 1.9
Hythe, Kent.

Fugeh
Registered user
Posts: 193
Joined: 27 Jun 2019, 12:37
80-90 Mem No: 0

Re: Make My Van Great Again

Post by Fugeh »

Image
Previous repair. Plus seatbelt mount repair.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
88 Autosleeper Trident 1.9
Hythe, Kent.

Fugeh
Registered user
Posts: 193
Joined: 27 Jun 2019, 12:37
80-90 Mem No: 0

Re: Make My Van Great Again

Post by Fugeh »

Image
Top of breather tank. Lovey repair, OEM finish


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88 Autosleeper Trident 1.9
Hythe, Kent.

Fugeh
Registered user
Posts: 193
Joined: 27 Jun 2019, 12:37
80-90 Mem No: 0

Re: Make My Van Great Again

Post by Fugeh »

Image
Out with the old.


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88 Autosleeper Trident 1.9
Hythe, Kent.

Fugeh
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Posts: 193
Joined: 27 Jun 2019, 12:37
80-90 Mem No: 0

Re: Make My Van Great Again

Post by Fugeh »

Image
Battery box


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88 Autosleeper Trident 1.9
Hythe, Kent.

Fugeh
Registered user
Posts: 193
Joined: 27 Jun 2019, 12:37
80-90 Mem No: 0

Re: Make My Van Great Again

Post by Fugeh »

Image
Cab floor holes


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88 Autosleeper Trident 1.9
Hythe, Kent.

Fugeh
Registered user
Posts: 193
Joined: 27 Jun 2019, 12:37
80-90 Mem No: 0

Re: Make My Van Great Again

Post by Fugeh »

Image
Needs replacing, have uncovered and was completely rotten. Was supposed to have had two new steps in June


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88 Autosleeper Trident 1.9
Hythe, Kent.

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