Club 80-90 Forums

Yikes, scary stuff

Although many suggest Autosleeper CONVERSIONS as the pick of the UK crop - it does appear they were not averse to short cuts and poor practive.
Use of Silicone sealant and poor sealing practices round external vents and lack of rust preventative measures with bits of the conversion is something that comes up again and again
- however are we expecting too much. What do you compare against that is at least 20 - probably 25 and many near 30 years old.
There are very few other vehicles out there that would be worth repreparing for a further 10+ years life after already giving so much pleasure and use.

This thread reminds me of a warship going in for "refit" when this actually means rebuilding/re-equipping at huge cost - and typically after only 10 years (although prob uses less metal than on Kevs van!!)

mikey9 wrote:(although prob uses less metal than on Kevs van!!)

Hee hee

yes but the products to say seal panals etc have been in common use since before the t25,so I dont think much of the bunch of folks that started these conversions and didnt or couldnt be ar**d to find the correct sealant/adhesive for the job
mm

mikey9 wrote:Although many suggest Autosleeper CONVERSIONS as the pick of the UK crop - it does appear they were not averse to short cuts and poor practive.

See what you're saying but the vast majority of this is totally non conversion related rust.

I was considering either an AS Trident or an Autohomes Komet when looking for my camper but having seen a few AS's under surgery now I'm glad I stumbled on the Komet first as at least Autohomes rustproofed the holes they cut in; although what I subsequently found under the hightop was a shock.

I think I'd have died if I'd have found similar VW related rust problems on mine when I stripped it out to 'nip in the bud' the slight corrosion that had started on one side of mine, but mine had been factory zebarted (sp?) and I don't know if Kev's had been or indeed quite how much protection that offers? The bottom line is it's almost impossible to keep water out of nooks and crannies and that inevitably means rust...

Fascinating thread though, and I'm confident Carol's going to look like the 80-90 'belle of the ball' after all this

well,indeed, I note they took the trouble to paint the cut edge of the window holes,prior to then using clear bath sealant !!
with regards to pop rivits, well its hard to seal say a hi top as its drilled right through both the f glass and the steel , if you look at the pick of say kevs, the nsr jp area, this is devoid of any rustproofing waxes etc an if done right then it really does work, I often find shiny metal here in these places.
whilst a lot of the general corrosion has nothing to do with the conversion ,who's ever it is, I do note thayt an uninsulated hitop does allow condensation to form (did on mine before I sorted it) and this in turn runs down and into/onto the roof in the places where they appear to rot, so this area at least is down to the conversion,
cutting windows into the vans is another major cause as this allows condensation to run off the glass and down the inside of the panals, something the factory glsass doesnt, also when converters buy the vans do they come without cavity rust treatments and this is left to the individual company.
just a few thoughts
mm

VW did the zebarting though didn't they?

Just out of interest, my rust was caused by rain getting in between the window seal and the glass as the rubber seals had solidified rather than condensation (and only on the driver's side so I suspect it spent several years parked so the one side was sunbaked and the other nice and shady)

well I dont know if vw did the ziebart from new .wether it was an optional extra etc. I do know that in the 70's onwards there were loads of different companies vying sp' for your custom bit like double glazing.solar panals etc etc
rubber perish sounds about right,twas never meant to last forever, which is maybe why I sell a load of it,
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well, a most enjoyable afternoon, no welding but still loads of fun
these picks of the donor rear 1/4 are as much for reference if you want to know what its like in there and the layout of the braces etc
this shows the side that tyhe wing mounts to,

bit like the fridge panal, you have to remove the wing join before getting access to the rear 1/4
this is looking down from above


donor drilled out ready for splitting

and its off, well it took over an hour really but

this is the part I removed and replaced on the rev' ,looking at it,it seems good

but turn it over

exact same rot
now while im doing this I have music playing and just at this moment it was reisse reisse (rammstein) and I turn my back for a moment and Carol goes and does an impromptu strip !

easier to remove it all rather than have it burn in/off.
so load bed, have made a bit to fit in and join up to the inner wing

here held in place

this end will be welded to the bracket I spoke off earlier then a new piece fitted over the join and butt welded to the remnant

other end has a slight curve and will marry up with the new inner arch as I make it

Ive tried to keep it roughly the same shape and size as the original as it may be seen
this is a rear support that will be welded on to carry the new 1/4 panal, I wil leave a very small gap on the mating faces and a skim of lead will see it right

well that was it for the afternoon, really enjoyed it ,but making bits takes time ,that said the better you make them the easier the job will be,
these 2 pickies show some seams, sort of thing that you find advertised as slight seam rust etc etc easy to fix etc,


now Im not saying tyhey are all like this but Ive done and seen enough to have an idea, I wont remove the area till later in the week , but remember it when viewing, and if the vans been painted or worked on then somebody has spent good money so you would think/hope they had pickies taken before ,during as well as after?
mm
mm

I wish I could say yes.. all I can say is, the paint was original before (though after your pictures of the crash repair I wonder) but the rash was similar before it was sprayed... the parts that worsened is the top of the arch

What is the function of the box section inside the section here mike

Noooooooooooooo, the reference to seam rust was not directed at you or anyone else on here , it was an observation, in so far as the picky shows a bit of rust that a newby to our vans could be convinced is only a minor bit of rust
the box, well hears a picky with it highlighted in yellow, its part of the reinforcing box that runs across the rear of the van just under the slam panal and its finnished like this as its done its job so to speak, its also a very handy comduit for talikg services and stuff from one side to the other and protected from the engine bay so to speak

mm

what is it with p buckeet and 99% of computers, if my welder did this it would be in the tip , I E D I T a picky , replace the original with it, I look in your picks on pbucket and there it is , highlighted in yellow , so why not on here
rant over
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Keep the good work up men! In recent years I would have scrapped a van like this and re-built with a more solid shell but they are few and far between these days!! Nice to see another being saved PROPERLY and not bodged to death!!!
Must agree with the earlier statement about the autosleeper conversions and autohomes....although autosleeper seems the best spec (IMO having owned one of each) autohomes tended to use a better base vehicle and thing lasted better on the autohomes conversions although the biggest letdown was the common leaking pop top roof, good idea with solid sides but rubbish design! Autosleeper pop tops were much better but not a great deal of space up there

metalmick8y wrote: the picky shows a bit of rust that a newby to our vans could be convinced is only a minor bit of rust

Indeed it does ..When revealed, it'll be interesting to see how "minor" it is
soz mate I thought you were asking for my old respray pics

Thanks for the explanation of the duct (and the yellow appears to us)

Re Autosleeper, they are what they are. The equipment they came with was the best around in the 80's, that trend continues to present day.
Autosleepers look well finished cosmetically, the comments about how this look is achieved seem rather hollow, as what can't be seen should be well finished, why should it?, when you have a business to run and overheads to keep down, the invisible fixing can be an area of great saving.
Behind any shiny facade therein lie the bones of construction.
Most of the English converters have fallen by the wayside, Autosleeper continue to convert vans, so I guess they got the balance right don't you?

I recently had the pleasure of seeing a T5 High top 'sleeper with the roof trim removed, and it looked as rough as mine does.
No change there then, and why should there be.

Kev, I actually agree (but was just raising the comment due to my findings on our van) - Autosleepers conversions probably were/are very good (esp in comparison with what others offer/offerred.

No one really does reviews of even 5 year old cars (note the demise of "Used Car Magazine" - you may not have even noticed it existed!!) never mind 10, 15 or 20 year old cars - untill you get to the "Classic" status - whenever that is.

As for Vans - if they last the first three years (keeping the £30k+ investor happy) and then the second owner for another 5 years - then no-one is going to spoil their reputation as no-one really reviews such "Ancient" vehicles (except here!). VW Camper and Bus doesn't do real "reviews", Motor Caravan and motorhome Monthy is only really doing new or very nearly new.

Of course we are looking at something more than twice this age and understanding how they decay over what to many nowadays consider is 7 cars lifetimes so we really are in the minority. Classic cars/show queens don't have the same demanding use as our daily or regualr use vehicles - so reviews in the CLassics press don't concentrate on what perhaps matters to van users.

So - Autosleeper do do a worthy job - as ever we (who want to keep the things going forever) want them to last forever - or at least understand where the cancer that kills will get them from - I reckon this "Live Patient Autopsy" is better than anything else I have seen in aiding that understanding. Good on you Metalmickey - and Kev for supplyign the dying patient.