Rotton and Rusty Autosleeper
Posted: 02 Nov 2012, 16:07
About 18 months ago we bought 'Addy', a 1984 1.9 watercooled petrol VW T25 - Autosleeper pop-top. At the time, Addy was just showing very slight superficial rust patches. However, recently we have discovered that there are some significant rust issues, which we need to address. There are many other jobs that also need undertaking on Addy but, for the time being we want to stop the rot and stop the leaks!
There are a few areas of concern regarding the dreaded rust. Firstly, the roof is leafing from just inside the tailgate on the offside. It appears as though a loose roof seal has been letting water in for a long, long time. Possibly since the idiots who owned Addy previously rattle-canned him in a disgusting turquoise.
This is the cause of quite a lot of the rust.
Here's a closer look
And a look from the inside, which is where leaking drew our attention to the problem
Here's the first evidence that this problem has been around for a while...badly applied fibreglass!
Then, just below the window there's rust from where the water has been sitting
Which has also started to show on the outside!
The roof seal problem continues at the front...
On both sides.
Other bodywork issues are mainly contained to the nearside windows.
So, as a winter project, we intend to cut out any rot and patch Addy up to a high standard before installing the interior, as we don't want to be pulling it all back out again next year! We're not the most experienced mechanics in the world but we will be giving it our best shot. Therefore, any advice or pointers from members who have undertaken similar work would be gratefully received.
There are a few areas of concern regarding the dreaded rust. Firstly, the roof is leafing from just inside the tailgate on the offside. It appears as though a loose roof seal has been letting water in for a long, long time. Possibly since the idiots who owned Addy previously rattle-canned him in a disgusting turquoise.
This is the cause of quite a lot of the rust.
Here's a closer look
And a look from the inside, which is where leaking drew our attention to the problem
Here's the first evidence that this problem has been around for a while...badly applied fibreglass!
Then, just below the window there's rust from where the water has been sitting
Which has also started to show on the outside!
The roof seal problem continues at the front...
On both sides.
Other bodywork issues are mainly contained to the nearside windows.
So, as a winter project, we intend to cut out any rot and patch Addy up to a high standard before installing the interior, as we don't want to be pulling it all back out again next year! We're not the most experienced mechanics in the world but we will be giving it our best shot. Therefore, any advice or pointers from members who have undertaken similar work would be gratefully received.
