I better start learning how to weld..

Meatball

Meatball

Meatball

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Joined
12 Jun 2005
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Location
St Albans
because I've just put a deposit down on a 1984 VW T25 camper called "Flo" :cool:. I've never owned a VW or a camper before so I'm super excited to pick her up next week. Overall she's in ok condition however there are some body panels needing attention sooner rather than later, notably the footwells. We've got a long list of things we would like to do:
  • Give the inside and outside a good clean
  • Replace rusted panels (footwells, some window surrounds)
  • Full service of the 1.9l petrol engine
  • Service habitual parts (water tank, gas, electrics)
  • Freshen up the camper interior (re-upholster the rock 'n' roll bed, curtains etc)
  • Re-spray with two tone paint
I'll update the thread with any progress but in the meantime here are some pictures of her from the viewing:





 
If you're replacing the footwells and window surrounds etc i'd guess you'll be stripping most of the interior out anyway so probably be easier to clean it all when it's out.

Plus the rust will always be worse than what you can see once you get the grinder out so be prepared for that!

Do you have a decent MIG welder already? if not make sure you get a bit of practice in on some scrap panels first as welding rusty thin metal is quite a challenge until you get used to it, especially if you've learnt on nice shiny new metal.
 
Yup mines a T5.
the T4s seem to suffer from a bit of a "scene tax" but that looks like it's ready to go!
if it's got gas/electrics get them checked over and prob replace the leisure battery with something that's AGM (or lithium if you're made of money).
all in, looks tidy. check underneath for rust or a thick undercoat. they tend to rust..........everywhere!

those front seats are CLASSIC, maybe get the rear done similar?
Check for your local VW owners club. they will be able to get you the right people to help with anything you need.
 
VeNT said:
the T4s seem to suffer from a bit of a "scene tax" but that looks like it's ready to go!
Click to expand...

My grandparents used to have a a couple of T2s and I think a T4 - all got sold for like £500 back around 2000 or so IIRC - one of those T2s goes for like 50K these days.

I'm not entirely sure on the details - but I know family were kicking themselves for not sticking em in a garage for awhile LOL.
 
Rroff said:
My grandparents used to have a a couple of T2s and I think a T4 - all got sold for like £500 back around 2000 or so IIRC - one of those T2s goes for like 50K these days.
Click to expand...
yup, that's a T3 which seem to be less in demand?
I paid 5k for a solid T5 (with what I found out to be over a grands worth of alloys on it) while I'd be looking at at least double that for a similar T4 down here.
 
Wish I'd been a bit older at the time I'd have bought one of them - my grandad owned a garage and did all the work on them himself so they were in perfect condition - I hope whoever bought them held onto them.
 
A friend of mine bought one of those a few months back - he plans to drive it to Canada and is currently installing a Volvo engine for more power.
His one spent most of its life in Texas so I assumed it would be relatively solid, but it’s quite badly rotten, particularly around the windows. Yours looks a lot better than his, and I’m sure values will stay strong for the decent examples.
 
Here's a few pictures of the visible patches where rust is coming through, let's hope there's not too many hidden gremlins. This will be our priority for obvious reasons:




 
Hopefully that won't be too bad if its caught now, just fingers crossed when you take the grinder to it you don't find more but it's always the lottery you play with stuff like this.

But yeah don't delay in getting at it, the sooner the better!
 
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