Starting the job....

[blakeys80]

Hi all, I have begun to strip back some of the seam rust and general body rust on the T25, I spent a couple of hours yesterday down the RHS with the grinder+wire brush, as you can see below. I know some of you like a nice photo, so thought id share my wealth.

Here is our T25 Iris, bought her last may, drove around most weekends in the summer around with 0 breakdowns, whohoo!



I picked it up for a cheap-ish price, so obviously knew there was work to be done this year, sorted out a few mech niggles,(changed all the fuel lines & clips btw) but she's been reliable so far, now I want to tidy the body up , and make it something to be proud of, so off I started here....





although the jacking point is ok, I found this



and to be honest I knew this was really bad





and on to this, which I guessed was there due to all the filler on top that was crazed





following the seam over the rear arch to the rear lower quarter where all the panels join



and a view from underneath of the panel at the bottom of the air intake void, both sides have been fibreglassed previously and require replacements now.



So looking at the above, am i right in thinking the very least I'll be buying to start with will be: new inner cill + lower sliding door panel, possibly repair/new petrol filler surround, new panel for bottom of post?

As I cant weld myself so will providing panels for the welder to fit, and would be really grateful for any help/advice on this from an experienced eye!
I've looked around at other repair related posts on here and it seems to be that Schofield's are about the best bet for panels, but again, I'd be grateful for guidance in this.

There's a fair bit of other welding to do in other areas also, so I will be updating as I go, and adding photos of progress. I wont be using the van whilst the repairs are being done, so any tips of things to do while certain areas are exposed would be really appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Ross

[bigbadbob76]

Your's looks like mine did a few months ago, same rot in the same places.
I replaced outer sills and bottoms of B pillars, cut the rotten bit's out of the inner sills and let in new sections of plate. etc ect...
Don't be afraid to cut your new panels, you don't have to use the whole panel.
I'd only ever welded thick stuff before so it's been a steep learning curve but well worth it. I'd reccomend doing it yourself if you are that way inclined.
Mig is not too difficult if you have someone to teach you the tricks and you'll save a fortune. If you have a fortune to spend, learn a new skill and spend the fortune on fuel, calor gas, Pimms and cigars while you're sat outside the van in the sunshine.
Yes, I'd reccomend Schofields after getting panels from a few places. good quality panels at good prices and quick dispatch too.

BTW, when you come to take the filler cap surround off, remove the cap, undo the three screws (they'll probably shear) get your hand round the back and turn the surround a few degrees anticlockwise and it'll pop out. I found this out yesterday after struggling to remove the bugger.
Brickwerks have the replacement metal ring to replace your rotten one with the sheared srews in it.
When you put it back in, screw the surround to the filler pipe and metal ring first, then push the surround in and turn it clockwise. simples

[New Kentish Campers]

Particularly if it's a petrol, drop the fuel tank out. 1 stray spark and boom

Schofields are good for parts plus you get an 80-90 discount

Invest in a decent mig welder and argon Co2 mix gas and an auto dimming headshield.

And with rust like that, accept the fact that there will be quite a lot more than you can actually see so it's not a bad idea to bite the bullet and cut the bad metal out and give that a couple more inches around it too so that you can see just how bad it is.

And don't be tempted to keep cutting bad bits out before you complete one job or you'll end up with a van full of cuts and you'll get despondent and sell it as a 'project'... ebay is full of such things

Do the worst bits first, be methodical, use decent quality materials throughout and it will reward you in having a good, sound job afterward.

[Ant-t]

Welcome to the forum, as above the best route is getting a good mig welder and diy. Getting that rust damage sorted at a body shop would be expensive, you'll also get to know your van and know the quality of the work. It might be a learning curve but it's worth it and it's a good way to go, good luck!

[blakeys80]

Thanks for the detailed and sound advice all, I'm definitely of the methodical approach as I don’t want to bite off more than I can chew and get overrun with too many things to put right. Oh yeah, or waste my cash as I like to be ‘frugal’

I believe the petrol tank has been changed (old repair bill fr around 8 years ago) and it does look in decent shape from underneath, but I will probably be dropping it anyway as the petrol gauge isn’t the best. Having attempted to remove those screws I know what you mean Bob, so cheers for the heads up. On a side note I bought a Peugeot a few years back that had previously been on the Isle of Skye from new, and every time i went near it, I think a pound of rust and sea salt fell off!

Speaking to a mate of mine yesterday who does some welding + fabrication at work, he’s agreed to give me a hand and teach me a bit about welding, so really looking forward to it, just need to get the new panels now.

Whilst I’m ordering the new panels, I was thinking of trying to get hold of some ‘C’ section (don’t think there’s a particular repair part) to repair the weather seal channel around the top and sides of the tailgate which has rotted through, has anyone done this job or that may have any photo’s please?

[blakeys80]

An update to this post, later rather than never though eh?
After replacing the sliding door side sill, front arch,rear quarter, back in the summer, I turned my attention to the LHS issues.
Removed all the interior the underslung water tank, and holy Jesus was it bad!
I was over my head with the size and complexity of the repair, so took it to my local classic VW guy I use for some advice.
We agreed that the centre side panel had to come off as tbh there want much keeping it on anyway
After it cutting off it was clear that the rear chassis cross member was very poorly, especially around the trunnion mounting point area. Having tried in vain to find some good steel to weld to, I obviously had a decision to make, throw an unknown amount of £££ at it, or cut my losses.
While I was deciding what to do, I got a phone call from someone near to where my van was parked up, saying he'd got a van for sale if I was interested. Turns out it was a van that the VW guy I use had owned years ago, and was a very solid bus, whos engine had been transplanted into another T25 a few years back, but had been dry stored since. It was an 84 W/C and mine was A/C but long story short, I bought it, stripped the original of everything and sold the shell.
So I now have a solid blank canvas to work on, with the confidence that the rot isn't going to catch me out again.
It obviously a lot of work to do, but I'm loving the fact that I can renovate it piece by piece and end up with something good,that's done properly, and to my liking.
Sorry it's taken so long for this post to come to a conclusion, (well of sorts, feels like I'm just starting all over again!)

Cheers

PS is there any way of adding any photos please, can't seem to get them to upload?