Advice before van purchase please

Post by **clartsonly** » 23 Jul 2007, 08:26

I too will chuck in a congrats and condolences to you, I went for a slightly cheaper option too which soon becomes more expensive, new clutch slave, new clutch, new clutch pipes, leaking petrol tank, exhaust rotten and rusted/seized onto engine, rubbish handbrake, ill fitting / shrunk awning, needed new curtains, cushions.. although the cooker works like a charm, the electrics inside are good and the roof doesn't leak.

also check the upholstery carpet the rubber goes rotten and all the rubber goes into your eyes when you are sleeping, I changed all mine (badly

)

a good cure for rust is simply paint another flower on it

Post by **Loopy** » 23 Jul 2007, 15:06

clartsonly wrote: a good cure for rust is simply paint another flower on it

That's my sort of thinking, along with turning the radio up to drown out strange noises

Well I started to clean her up but rain stopped play, so the worst of the green mold and rust runs are cleaned off, but still needs a couple of hours work

She is obviously a converted panel van, but not very well hence the rust around the windows.

[IMG:640:480]http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n186 ... CF0021.jpg[/img]

[IMG:640:480]http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n186 ... CF0022.jpg[/img]

She looks pretty solid otherwise and a genuine 82,000 miles she seemed like a good buy for £250.00

We will probably put some filler around the windows and try to get her through an MOT for the remainer of the summer, then our friends/family canuse when we all go away together.

That is if we can sort out the clutch:roll:

Karen

Post by **clartsonly** » 23 Jul 2007, 16:00

that looks excellent, does it have a working cooker and sink? it looks quite good condition, expecially compared to mine.

Post by **R0B** » 23 Jul 2007, 16:20

i'll say...

she seemed like a good buy for £250.00

Post by **lloyd** » 23 Jul 2007, 17:53

You didn't buy it.. Not a good deal,.. You stole it!! And it is a steel that will never be reported

Even if you had to replace everything connected to the clutch ... and a complete tranny rebuild. Body looks good except for side windows.

Post by **Loopy** » 23 Jul 2007, 18:16

clartsonly wrote:that looks excellent, does it have a working cooker and sink? it looks quite good condition, expecially compared to mine.

To be honest I haven't checked it over properly, It is a home made interior with a flavel grill/hob a porta potti and a back seat that makes into a bed somehow. We have a couple of baywindow R & R beds in the shed, one is a westy. Has anyone tried to convert one of these to a T25.

We found her on the local gumtree. The owners said that they has had it checked out by a vw mechanic who told them it was worth more, but they only wanted £250 for it.

We have promised to send them pics of her travels and restoration, but not to hold their breath because our 69 dormie took 3 years.

Post by **clartsonly** » 24 Jul 2007, 12:48

we paid nearly £3K for ours and I assumed that was cheap. are you going to try and put a pop top in it? even if you dont sleep up there it makes it much easier to cook / move around when it is raining of course.

Post by **lloyd** » 24 Jul 2007, 14:38

I think you can put a bay R&R in, but bed heigth is like 4"higher so you will need to make a raised platform. You can use it for storage... works good. the westy R&R is probably made to go on right side and I don't think it will work on left side... rear tire well and all. I'm looking for a 3/4 myself.

Post by **Loopy** » 24 Jul 2007, 19:35

clartsonly wrote:we paid nearly £3K for ours and I assumed that was cheap. are you going to try and put a pop top in it? even if you dont sleep up there it makes it much easier to cook / move around when it is raining of course.

We are not sure what we are doing yet, I like the look of the tin tops but the practicality of the pop tops.

The plan is to get it MOTed for Vanfest so that our friends can use it instead of a tent and then sort out around the windows and look to put a new interior in over winter.

lloyd we also have another r & r bed from a devon I think, so maybe this will fit better?

I think the best bargains are not on specialist forums, but in free ads and gumtree.

So far this week - free ads R & r bed complete with foam - £50 , Gumtree - T25 - £250 and a guy just got back to me who advertised 4 steel wheels with good tyres for a T25 for free as he had just changed his

Post by **lloyd** » 24 Jul 2007, 23:06

the devon is a rhd bed. Is it out of a bay or a t25?

Sounds like you are the Bargain Hunter Master.

Post by **HarryMann** » 25 Jul 2007, 00:41

Don't fill around the windows, total waste of time I reckon, just wirebrush and paint to stop it getting worse.. if they actually leak, put some RTV or similar flexible sealant over the paint for now, but paint them best you can to start with, get them dry first of course..

Then, when you come to do them, at least they'll be stabilised and no worse than now

http://wiki.80-90.co.uk/index.php/Body_ ... ass_-_Rust

Post by **Loopy** » 25 Jul 2007, 11:55

It doesn't look like the windows are leaking at the moment, so I think we will go down the sealant route for now.Helpful information on the link by the way.

lloyd - the r & r is from a burnt out bay apparently.

Post by **HarryMann** » 25 Jul 2007, 22:25

A tin of Rust Encapsulator and a few decent wire brushes (those thin curved plastic handled ones are good)

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp? ... e=1&jump=0

[img:240:240]http://www.axminster.co.uk/images/products/WBS_l.jpg[/img]

will keep rust at bay for a couple of years. Always force it into gaps between seams and where you can't see, that's where the rust will be, and as the link says,gently ease overlapped layers apart and get wire bristles between, leave to air or use hot air gun, then paint and fold seam back down.

Post by **clartsonly** » 26 Jul 2007, 07:34

lloyd - the r & r is from a burnt out bay apparently.

haunted then?

Post by **kyleewyleecoyote** » 26 Jul 2007, 12:50

Check brake lines if it has been stood for quite a while, deteriated(?) hoses will bulge under braking pressure. Also check fuel hoses.
Happy camping!