Club 80-90 Forums

Hullo folks, just bought an '83 high top conversion, in pretty solid condition body wise - a few scabs but nothing major.

The worst area is around the fuel cap - it's been filled a bit. Is this an easy repair, or best to leave well alone? I'm of the mind if it ain't broke dont fix it, but if it's fairly straightforward might be worth tackling.

Any advice would be great

It's a common rust area. You can buy a replacement panel from Schofields, etc. If you are a full member of this site then quote your membership number to Schofields for a discount.

I think you might be able to still buy genuine vw ones from Heritage too, but might be wrong. To be honest, much of the repro panels aren't great quality but once in, will last a good while if sealed and painted properly.

I dont know if yours is a petrol or diesel? If petrol, then I'd play safe and drop the fuel tank out rather than weld or grind around the filler cap Your choice

Thanks for the reply

It's a petrol, so I heed your warning about dropping the tank

Is it common for people to fill around cap?

Or you could do it the metalmick8y way:

Metal Mickey does fuel filler repair (starting with Sept 19th post)

I had ours done by "jimpainter" in Crewe ("we" don't know where you are ?) He replaced the panel and did a very good job. Cost around £200 in total but on ours he had to do some other "remedial work" in that area. The van was booked in in advance and was completed in 48 hours. I was pleased with the work and the price was "reasonable" (imho).

Thanks all

ghost123 - I'm just the other side of Chester to you, in Upton. Jimpainter sounds pretty handy to know. I've used SP Automotive in Tattenhall in the past, their work was unreal but you paid a premium for it unfortunately

Is Jimpainter on here? Are there any other T25 friendly garages near us?

oddnumber wrote: I'm just the other side of Chester to you, in Upton.

I have family in Upton

oddnumber wrote: I've used SP Automotive in Tattenhall in the past, their work was unreal but you paid a premium for it unfortunately

I wish I had taken our "other" van (a TinTop Caravelle) there to have it's full body resto, instead of Williams Auto Body in Saltney, who promised 2 months time scale, 2 YEARS AGO (though it is now finally near completion) Mind you, I reckon jimpainter might have taken it on too.

oddnumber wrote:Is Jimpainter on here?

Ang on, I will do a quick search for you - Ah, yes, here you go = https://club8090.co.uk/forum/memberlist. ... le&u=12147" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

oddnumber wrote:Are there any other T25 friendly garages near us?

My favourite for jobs I don't want to do myself is here = http://www.flintshireautogas.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; they are totally comfortable with all mechanical aspects of T25s. The owner (Clint) used to have a nice Syncro Doka and his daughter has a more normal T25 camper

LOL I've used Williams in the past and found them ok myself. Ryan at SP is good though, he did work on my Volvo Amazon and it was awesome - probably a bit too good for the car!

Thanks for the pointers on Painterjim and Flintshire Autogas. I should have just done a search myself, apologies for my laziness!