Rust Buying Advice

[hagg1s]

Morning all,

As some of you may know form my previous thread, we are currently on the hunt for a T25 and we have found one we quite like. We are aware that some rust is likely expected, however we still want to try and find something fairly solid. I asked for pictures of any blemishes etc and have been sent through the following details photos: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/b1d8dzo3l9a3 ... OGvWa?dl=0

I was nervous about posting pictures of somebody else's van, but was convinced by another forum member that you guys/gals are almost magical in your ability to spot botched repair jobs and underlying issues. Any advice or comments would be very much appreciated to assist in our decision making (I.e. Is this likely surface rust to keep an eye on or potential signs of something worse. The window is of particular concern?).

As some background it's an early Holdworth Villa 3 conversion and the seller has been pretty open and good to communicate with so far.

Thanks

[tforturton]

Well, that link doesn't work for me. Not sure about anyone else....

[DoubleOSeven]

[DoubleOSeven]

I’ve seen a lot worse, fairly typical I’d say. The area around the window, could be challenging. Mine was like this, you can see what I had to do via this url. You could leave it for a while, don’t have to fix everything, day 1.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3NaO ... VRjUmRLR1U" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ant-t]

As above the window aperture looks crusty.

[LeeME3]

Difficult to tell from those pics but I personally prefer an 'honest looking' van with a few blemishes than a suspiciously clean 'blown over' job with no evidence of the underlying repairs carried out.

And if the price refelcts the condition you can always use it for a while and gently improve the bodywork in slow time. Seams are nightmare on these - they go, you dig them out and fix them, they go again...large panels flexing continuously when moving and the seams channel the water off so it is almost inevitable. I heard tell (but it may be internet folklore) that they were originally protected with lead at the factory but in our modern HSE world that is no longer a possibility (no bad thing from a health point of view!). Regardless, seams will rust but can be maintained, structural rust is a bigger issue (have a good look at the chassis, around the jacking points, on the suspension arms and so on!)

[hagg1s]

Thanks guys. That's a big help. I've heard a few times now that a little bit of rust/blemishes can be a good sign from an honesty point of view!

The seller is asking for ~£8k. The interior etc is tidy and it does seem to be an honest van (well as much as can be deduced from photos, emails and chatting over the phone), however am I right in thinking this is a little steep based on those bodywork quirks?

I don't want to push my luck but we are looking at another van too, a good bit cheaper. It was refurbished ~5 years ago by the previous owner (maybe a red flag as there are no before or during photos), however it looks pretty tidy apart from pimple effect paint being used on the lower say 250mm of the van (is this necessarily bad?) and this:

22243689_10211661126418342_778936760_o_tn.jpg

According to the seller the sealant used was incorrect and has begun to go mouldy. Has anybody seen this before and if so do you reckon it's easy to scrape out and sort?

Thanks again

[multisi]

This van with the orange lower half is a factory window van, this is a big tick on the van to have list. That sealant is a bit strange because there is no need to seal that panel.Should scrape out easy enough.The white van has also been resprayed recently , sounds a bit pricey aswell !

[Oldiebut goodie]

Most probably bathroom sealant ( I have used some round a sink and it has gone mouldy exactly the same) so that the panel can be removed easily when needed. It may well help in keeping the rust at bay under there though as the factory seal seems pretty ineffective at keeping water out.
Pimple effect on the paint in lower regions could be some protection under the paint?

[dbz864]

far to expensive at £8k

[Slider2]

Re the £8k van - that does seem like a lot of rust coming through on what looks like a recently refurb'd van.

That kind of money might be right for a recent we'll restored van, but if that is 12-18 months since paint then I'd say it is just the beginning of the old rust coming back through under fresh paint & filler. Yes good to know what is in store, but don't think it'll end there. iMHO whatever was used to treat that van's rust just didn't work.

Mine had similar 'bubbling rust' when I bought it 2 years ago on a recently and professionally repaired rear quarter. The PO had paid a fairly well known van specialist to repair rust damage. Long story short, still rusting beneath the new filler & paint to the point that eventually big chunks of filler just popped out when the rust just became too much!

You know you can get cheap 'paint thickness meters' on eBay which after 10 mins of practice will instantly identify areas of rust and or filler beneath shiney new paint!

Just go into it with your eyes open! Anything can be repaired but ......

[hagg1s]

I had the gut feeling that the 8k van had a few red flags, so it's good to know that I wasn't too far off the mark. There are some very unloved vans out there, asking for good money, and so it can be pretty hard working out what a good buy is!

Thanks for the advice re: the paint meter! I had known about the magnet trick to check for filler but this sounds like it could be better for getting a feel of overall 'solidness'.

The one on the top of the list at the moment is the orange van. The bathroom sealant issue doesn't sound too scary and their asking around £1500 less than the white van (seems reasonable). History is a little light but 5 years after its last bodywork 'restoration' the paint still seams to be holding up; I think this gives some comfort that the repair wasn't a total trainwreck. Link to some detail photos, an I right that there aren't any real red flags here? https://www.dropbox.com/sh/s8qth98n0ztw ... IJ5za?dl=0

A bit of general advice, what is the expected shelf life of a good seam repair and is there a maintenance schedule that can help to keep them in top shape?

Thanks again, your advice has been invaluable!

[sarahandthebear]

I would be very weary of the orange one aswel. To be honest you would be better off looking for a van that looks a little tatty it sounds crazy but the problem with these vans is that some people just do a quick paint over to spruce them up and sell them on for a couple of thousand extra. It's only.a few moths later the problems start. Our van by no means looked all shiny when we bought it but it was a very solid van the underside had been duped in the factory it's a 1984 westie so it was the last of the weasties to be undercoated and it isn't still held up incredibly well today. If you see a van online that's a couple of thousand cheaper but you can see it has not been painted or hiding anything then you can really see how bad the rust is and get a good feeling for the van. Would love to show you round our van to help

[Paul Southworth]

In my opinion they both look quite typical. i would be more wary of the orange one though because the sealer should not be mouldy. This points to a poor repair using cheap materials so I would be wary as to where else costs have been cut
The white one with rust looks to me as though it has had some repair and paint work but judging by the photos it was a better job. Rust waits for no man though and these areas will need to be addressed in the future. The only way for a long term repair is new metal, it all depends on how long you intend to keep the van.
On balance I'd say the white one is a better bet.

[Oldiebut goodie]

i would be more wary of the orange one though because the sealer should not be mouldy. This points to a poor repair using cheap materials so I would be wary as to where else costs have been cut

It isn't a repair - it is a substitute for the original water trapping plastic strip. It is a removable panel.