Rolling Restoration a panel at a time

[JJJackson]

Hi All,

Well got my bus back in May and it requires abit of bodywork, got some ideas of cost and they were more than I hoped/was prepared to pay. I do appreciate a specilaist skill requires a decent rate of pay, its just the money I would need to spend would end up with 10k invested (i use the term loosely) that I would be unlikley to recoup.

I have previously posted about buying a better bus, but though mine is tatty I have as people on here seem to grown attached to it. My father is pretty handy with a welder and an excellent mechanic and has volunteered to tidy my bus up,the first thing this week end is to cut the rust out around filler cap and the inner panel after grit blasting. Once finished the panel will be seam sealed, etch primed and have a couple of coats of a colour matched rattle can to make it look semi-presentable. I even purchased him a new joggler for his birthday to get him underway.

Has anyone else done a panel at a time resto? The ultimate aim is to get all the rust cut out and then have it sprayed as it will cost significantly less if its all metal, anyone else done it ?

Regards James

[Plasticman]

cut out rot then blast, no point doing it the other way round.
be it metal or metal filler, painting will be the same and a lot of places dont like paintstrippered vans unless they have been done in shall we say a ceertain way.so do as your doing and when all done then consider how it will be pasinted
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[JJJackson]

Hi Mick, thanks for the advice, Ive been looking at the extent of the work on the "Sunni" van and thankfully my van doesn't look anywhere near as bad as that its actually very good underneath which is pleasing. Watching your resto unfold really made me want the same, but like you previously advised I would need to keep the van after spending a good sum of money, my dad though not to your level of experience has built me a Mg Midget for my 17th birthday from a £150 shell and box of bits (alright a good few yrs back now) so I am confident he will do a good job, albeit not to a professional standard, but atleast the van will be solid.
The strange thing we found yesterday around the rear arches they are very solid though have surface rust, it is as if the paint hasn't had a decent primer as rather than rustiing through the paint has lifted in sections and could be peeled off, having limited knowledge wrong primer ?

Regards James

[Plasticman]

post detail picks of it, but often its down to lazy slack preparation especially in the crevices and such
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