spongebobs well deserved makeover

[spongebob1]

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Hi All,
I know there are numerous threads on here about people's vans getting restored or pimped up and such like. There have been some fabulous jobs done on them. So much so, that we decided to give 'Spongebob' some much deserved love and care - just like he has done for us over the years and we wanted to share this with everyone. So, here is our story....

The strip down looking for rust and making a list of parts needed

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no doubt there will be more rust as the strip down goes.

[spongebob1]

more rust !! dam rust lets hope its just surface,fingers crossed.

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matching the near side typical.

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[spongebob1]

any ideas what to do here please ?? do we weld it up and put the ariel on the front panael under the windscreen ??

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someones previous repair.

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not to sure about this bit.

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[spongebob1]

Hopefully it just seams to be the usual places where the rust is getting to,will see when stripping interior if its bad.

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Well thats the bad bits on the outside,along with the usual dint in the side door where i have pushed to help shut the slide door and also the supermarket scarrs,wont be doing the shopping in spongebob again why cant people respect there cars like we repsect and love our vans ??,
Now for the inside.

[Woodyyellow]

Doesn't look too bad at the moment! Gook luck with the rest of the work. How far are you stripping it down? I thought mine was just the heater blower motor needing replacing!

[Dazco]

Looks like you're gonna have fun there , ill
Be following and get stuck in

[spongebob1]

Thanks woody yellow,no thankfully he's not in too bad condition just the usual seam rot and stuff,he's had some repairs to the bodywork by its former keeper,but not to a good standard,bad seams not filled properly,different colour paint not the L90D Pastal White that VW put on him in fact there are 3 different shades of white at the moment.lol
As for how far im going with it.Body work wise all the way windows out the lot

[spongebob1]

Thanks for following Dazco,i think there will be some fun times ahead with it and i hope not so many bad ones

[spongebob1]

Day two interior lets see whats hiden !!

lifted cab carpet and rubber mat,what a lovely suprise solid metal was not expecting that especially the dreaded steps

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Thankfully caught in time just surface rust !!

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lets hope the rest is as good as this now for the back carpet and interior panels will be good to see the panels from the inside,fingers crossed

[spongebob1]

interior strip continued

nothing nasty on the inside of the panels,can anyone tell me what the brown gunge is on the inside of the panels please is it to prevent rust ??

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tailgate looking good

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thats all the strip down for me,now time to hand her other to Adam and Jake of Prestige Panel Repairs for her shinney new top coat.So its time for me to recover the interior panels,time to get me thinking cap on i reckon

[Plasticman]

have you repaired the lower front panel and the rear 1/4's etc,
mm

[spongebob1]

Hi mm, rear quarters sorted

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just strugling with front panel,could do with a repair panel !! but dont know where to get one,can you help please ??

[Plasticman]

aye that will do for a repaint and as you dont look to have damaged the seam then easy enough to do again later when the rot spreads.
mm

[spongebob1]

I hope the rot will not be back for sometime MM,with a good etch primer and quality paint job a good waxoiling from behind, i hope to combat it for quite sometime !!!!
Can you recommend something to spray on the inside of the panels to help combat rust

[Plasticman]

ah sorry i didnt mean to criticize, but you have rubbed them down and that is all,have you blasted and welded up the holes in the bodywork around windows and aerial etc? there is rot in both lower rear corner panels and the inner floor there and bottom of rear 1/4's also the B post to fr arch seams are rotten,sorry i mean rusty inside and this will come back as you have not got to the bottom of it as you havent removed the panel/seam.
the rust starts forming when van is built and whilst you can get to it partly from both sides,thats all you can do.
with regards to paint, well it makes no real difference, i could give it a near 10K paintjob and it would still come through as fast as if you rollered it, the paint is mainly the shiny surface of what you have under it,
so again , its a nice looking van its had a lot of work before you and what your doing will be fine and it will look good
mm