Club 80-90 Forums

Afternoon all, we've decided our van needs a little TLC in the bodywork department; there is no major rust and everything (except one of the rear wheel arches) is solid, it's just starting to look it's age with rust bubbles popping up here and there, the lip under the front bumper and rust streaks under some of the windows as well as the aforementioned wheel arch.

I'd like to have the old girls stripped right down and resprayed, white as she is now - maybe a more modern white? - and any problem areas dealt with. We spent a small fortune upgrading the engine to an Impreza engine 18 months ago so it looks like she is here to stay and it would be nice to have the outside looking as good as the engine goes.

So any recommendations for body shops? We're based in Hertfordshire but happy to travel pretty much anywhere in the country for the right job.

vaguelyfamiliar wrote:So any recommendations for body shops? We're based in Hertfordshire but happy to travel pretty much anywhere in the country for the right job.

Graham at Mk1 Motors in Seer Green, near Beaconsfield, just over the border into Bucks. He did all the bodywork for a mate who ran a garage until a few years back, and did an utterly undetectable job when my Saab was reversed into. 01494 678936

I'd keep to a VW colour.

AdrianC wrote:Graham at Mk1 Motors in Seer Green, near Beaconsfield, just over the border into Bucks. He did all the bodywork for a mate who ran a garage until a few years back, and did an utterly undetectable job when my Saab was reversed into. 01494 678936

Thank you will give them a call

kevtherev wrote:I'd keep to a VW colour.

Interesting, any particular reason?

For me...
VW colours suit VW's
VW colours go way back, and are easy to match,there are a lot of complementary combinations.

Ok. First it's the van cover police, now we're onto paint colour.

B&T Coachworks, near Tring, Hertfordshire did mine and did a great job two and a half years ago. They took all the windows out, doors, bumpers and lights off etc. They shot blasted the seams and other rusty bits, replaced a few panels too, before they re-sprayed it and then put it all back together. Not cheap but a quality job. I took it in after Summer hols as mine took a couple of months to do it.

Ralf85 wrote:B&T Coachworks, near Tring, Hertfordshire did mine and did a great job two and a half years ago. They took all the windows out, doors, bumpers and lights off etc. They shot blasted the seams and other rusty bits, replaced a few panels too, before they re-sprayed it and then put it all back together. Not cheap but a quality job. I took it in after Summer hols as mine took a couple of months to do it.

Thank you, will give them a call in the morning, what is your definition of not cheap < 5k, > 5k >, 10k (pm if you prefer)

Over 5k for that would be a rip off unless extensive welding.

Try Bill at Westgate motors in hackney.

bit of a nightmare int it
pickies would help
mm

You will need to arrange a visit to B&T so that they can check your van over to be able to give an estimate. It could cost £3K it could cost more. It depends what you have done. You can discuss options when you meet up.

Get a written estimate both of costs and time scales. Visit often during the work. Get lots of pics of before, during and after. Ask me why I am recommending this

Re: What did you do to your T25 today? Postby ghost123uk » Thu May 01, 2014 7:49 am
[Re a 12 week resto that took 2 and a half years]
I started the "snagging" jobs on my £4,500 resto/re-spray. This included actually painting some paint on the gutter top lip edge and underneath the gutters were it had started to rust already. Next will be to get all the metal fillings (from a nearby grinding job) off the roof (I had already done this to body, but only noticed the hundreds of black/orange dots on the roof when doing the gutters. Next will be T cutting all the grey primer over-spray off the nearside front area of the van. (tried the clay bar but it ain't going to work, needs T cut or G3 compound).

How anyone could do a £4,500 resto/re-spray and then leave the van exposed to grinding filings and primer over-spray (both from another vehicle) is beyond belief !!

Hope it goes better for you