83 ,high top camper van

[nutbox]

Hi there,
I am new to the t25 scene and club 80-90 and have just purchased a t25 hightop off of richdp ,it need a few job doing but hopefully I can do this as a rolling project.
I know I need to most probably replace all the window seal and treat any rust under them and there is a few rusty places around the body and inner wheel arches.
It has a 2.0 l Aircooled motor in it that seems fine and strong and no signs of any leak or problems .
Got It home today and found that I didn't have any brake lights so got to sort that out,but I think she is just a girl that need a bit of tender love .
Anyway what I was wondering is ,would it be a good idea to get the roof off at some point to see what going on under there and if so how easy is it to do,how is the roof fitted .
Anyway I must say this is a great site,

Ps how doing I find out the model of my camper ie what conversion would it be ,I can put pics up if need be.

All help appreciated dazz

[LittleMissSunshine]

My suggestion - as many pics as you can. Happy camping

[1664]

Doesn't 'richdp' know what conversion it is?

Pictures anyway, we all like a bit of van porn

oh, and welcome to 80-90

[nutbox]

well here are some pics i took today while i tried to sort out the electrical problems ,which i manage to sort out and turned out to be a fuse for the brake lights wasnt in the box also because the hazards werent working noticed the fuse for that was not the either ,but the holder is broken where the hole is on the copper bit.So can i just change the copper bit or will i need to change the whole fuse box,if so is i posible to retro fit a blade type fuse box (is it easy to do?)

Anyway here are some outside pics of the beast.




the inside


here is around the roof i forgot to take some pics of the gutter but i shall do.




As you can see the roof is marked with the letters emc is that the converters?

now here are the rear seams which i think are goin to be bad because they have been fillered up
(sorry there on there side)




Here is some rust that eating the metal away under the n/s/r wheel arch and the rear corner,the battery run out on my camera before i could take a pic of the other side but its pretty much the same.
Wheel arch


anyway thats it,how would i go about sorting out the seams if they need replacing where can i get the panels from.

Thanks for all your help in advance.dazz

[nutbox]

anybody got any suggestions?

[jimpainter]

First thing to do would be to dig the filler out (if you want the job done right) and see what horrors lie beneath, you never know it might be fine
Until the filler is out though you arn't going to know where to go next with it and what panels will be required.
Best place for panels is schofeilds unless you can get some good body cuts (getting very rare), but I hope it turns out ok.

JIm

[nutbox]

Ok cheers ,but I suppose it ain't really the weather for doing that is it? I am going to get the interior out and see if I can see behind the seams.
When I do come to remove the filler I shall have everything crossed in the hope everything is ok.

I have ordered a range of bushes for the front suppension and steering,because they were on the mot adviseries so I shall be doing them this weekend.
Can someone tell me if I will need to get any of them pressed in/out.
Thanks

[Plasticman]

oh heck, from the pickies available
slider btm inner and outer shot
nsf b post and jp unhappy
nsr wing and rear 1/4 in lower bit expect to be shot
nsr inner arch fromnt will be shot
nsr 1/4 inner (the part with the cross) will be shot
os rear will be the same
os middle panal in fact all the os lower is filler so will need the lot out,
no picks of filler cap area?
lower front panal is shot
roof well that coulkd be surface or worse , see kevtherevagon, for worstish case scenario.
gutters need the picks
emc is the maker of the hi top , the van is a home brew coinversion and it has factory glass.
sorry
mm

[nutbox]

Oh that aint what I want to be hearing lol,what he the ball park cost for the work ,I no it's hard to give a price with out seeing it in the flesh,but what could I be looking at?.
Cheers dazz

[LittleMissSunshine]

nutbox - have a look at my van, Sunnivagon. Yours situation looks familiar But worry not, I know know there is nothing that cannot be fixed

Get out and enjoy your camping as much as you can, then decide on what you want to do by when. Hope mm doesn't mind me saying but his visit to give my van the once over was the best move I made.

It left me with decisions to make as to what to do about my van. I decided LPG first, then a spring/summer of fun and camping as much as I could plus saving as much as possible, then getting the body work done.

I won't lie - this van has cost me double what I thought and I probably could have had a decent newer van by the time I've finished... however you need to balance it with camping and enjoying life in it. I love my van, its shape/foibles - even the mad steering wheel that doesn't actually let you get in the seat But sentiments aside, it has wiped out my savings for this year and that has been a sobering realisation.

[nutbox]

Thanks misslittlesunshine for you boost of confidence,I know things can been fixed as you say ,I have been dabbling in the Aircooled vw for a while and have been doing a body off restore on a bug for the last few years,so aint to bad with the spanners but not good at welding yet!
I aint looking to get a fab spray job on it I am going to try the roller paint job but I do want it to be solid.
Thanks again dazz

[nutbox]

hi everybody,
It has been a while since i posted about my high top camper so i thought i'd just give an update on whats gone on so far.
Well since posting this thread after we just got the van and then reading the post by the metal magician metalmickey it hit home that i should ofwal ked away from the beast,because after taking a closser look most of what he said was right.
Anyway after a lot of talking with my wife we have made the dicision to keep the beast and save it from the scrap heap so i started and overhaul on the front suspension and replaced all the bushes and lowered it 50mm,and then i took it to my mate and told him to get rid of all the rust.
Well he has had the van for 2 weeks and is doing it when he can,he has cut out the rear wheel arches panels on both sides and the lower seal panel on the drivers side under the centre window,He has found lots of filler no supprise
Here are some pics enjoy








It make you wondering because the van had been welded before why didnt they do it properly,as you can see the side panel had a plate welded from inside to join the side panel and the rear panel together,and i dont know whether you can see ther thickness of the filler on the rear quater panel its at least 3mm think in some places.

Also does anybody know where i can get just the lower half of the rear quater panel because i can only find the panel from the bottom to the roof if you know what i mean.

Anyway i am going to see it again tomorrow because there is more horrors to see and deside what we are going to do.
Thanks for looking dazz

[Plasticman]

hehe, its been done that way cos thats the easy way folk do , i was going to ask why your mate cut the middle(fridge ) panal away so there is no return lip , you can remove the rear wing and keep this intscvt but maybe it had already been got at...
rear 1/4 . well the lower bit is available and there is a repair part that forms the bottom of the 1/4 panal as well, dont know how good they area i make my own,
keep putting the picks up though as its good to see someone else toiling !
mm

[LittleMissSunshine]

Good luck with your project

[nutbox]

I think there was no return lip there anyway I think the rear quarter needs replacing right from the bottom to the swag line I think,I shall know more tomorrow
Cheers dazz