Club 80-90 Forums

I have had my camper for 17 months now and after the initial love affair, the finding the annoying little faults and rectifying them followed by the wonderful trips last summer I have finally got around to "Improving" the look of her.

I had been turning a blind eye to the bubbling paintwork on the rear wheel arch, the strange staining appearing on the panel below the side plank and totally ignoring the "swimming pool full of rust behind the front bumper. Not to mention the rusty looking holes appearing on both the cab doors and the corner of the tailgate!!!

I tentatively picked at the Bubbling wheel arch...then a few light taps with a small panel beaters hammer and the paint was off with a few flaky bits...I feared the worst but....it was only surface rust...
I quickly sanded it down, applied Vactan filled with filler and painted...it now looks much neater. The rest of the problem areas were now attacked too....a couple of small holes behind the side plank and the doors were a little holey too but I applied the same procedure to each and am now very pleased with my first foray into using filler and paint.

The biggest problem was the panel behind the bumper, I couldn't get my sander in the gap so it was all done by hand and the finish isn't the best but it is much neater looking now and will do until I can afford the full strip down and respray (hopefully within in a couple of years).

My skill with the filler has improved so next winter I may go back over the bits I have done this year and make a better job of them and possibly apply a complete coat of Rustoleum
(If the wife will ever make a decision about which colour she wants!! )

I would love to be able to weld and if funds allow I would love to add that skill to my "locker" too.

The moral of this short tale is....Do not be afraid of what's behind the bubbling paint, I am so pleased I did this, so go on tap the bubbles and see what happens...surface rust is easy to sort don't let it get too late and you then need a complete panel fitting.

Nev

pictures?

Front panel before



After



I didn't get any photos of the other bits before and haven't taken any after as yet except the front cab doors

Before



After



More pictures to follow later.

I have sprayed my bumpers and grills with satin black though

You may well find this last for a year but will return, particularly bit behind bumper which has to be attacked from both sides to actually cure it. That said, I have managed to put a stop to surface rust in some areas. Really its a case of attacking a few times until you nail it. If it doesn't work, new metal is the only solution. If nothing else, you're severely slowing it down.

Just to slow it down is enough until we can afford the full strip down and respray, We used some of our savings last year to buy it and so as long as we get a couple of years use before any major re-investment is needed we will be happy. The surface rust on the wheel arch looked very superficial so I am confident that that is sorted for now. The bit under the side plank an the sliding door side looked like a new panel will be needed as it had rusted through where the track for the door goes. The doors can have new skins if needed at the same time as I get the front welded for the respray.

Who knows maybe by then I will have acquired a welder and feel confident enough to do it myself!!

As ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ says, it will slow it a bittttttttt, but at least it makes it more repectable and you get to use it for the summer which is what its about
mike