VW Type 2 Van Questions

[Burdekin]

A mate has offered me a type 2 VW van, the owner is selling due to rust underneath and not wanting to spend the money. I can have it for £4k. Waiting for pics. Anyone know where they mainly rust, are they hard to repair and anything else to check? Mechanically sound so how bad would the rust need to be for it to not be worth £4k?

 

[Cobbler]

I did one years ago, the chassis outriggers rust out, I repaired them making new sections, if I had realised how much they were going up in price I would have bought new chassis sections & done a better job. The door shuts & steps go on them, I replaced both sides, I used South American imports as replacements, which didn't fit very well, at that time genuine VW replacements were available for not a lot more & I'd have been better off buying them. The battery carrier rots out & the lower rear corner with it, all available, or were at that time. Just about anything you want is available as repair panels. Have a look at Just Campers web site for bits, they are on the dear side but it will show you what available, the other company is or was Schofields but there are loads of others.

I sold mine for 2 grand about 13 years ago, but I bumped into the lady that bought it a few years ago & they had just sold it, so being nosy I asked how much? 5 grand unseen on eBay & really needing a sort out again. The purchaser had it booked straight in to a restorer for the work to be done. My regret was not doing a better job & rustproofing it as I went, but I never though I would keep it as long as I did & enjoy it as much.

I hope this gives you some idea of the value, ours was a Devon Sundowner camper, I would think if yours is a van it would be worth less, but still very sought after

 

[mm289]

By T2 I presume you mean a Bay Window? They come in late bay and early bay variants, good place to go for info is http://thelatebay.com/index.php

As cobbler says, chassis wise outriggers, and front/rear legs. the main chassis is very heavy box rails so if that has gone it is in a bad way. Body wise floor near the sides, cills, front arches and steps, front panel, bumper. Not many panels left after that

Repairs are relatively easy if you are handy with the mig but are time consuming if you want it nice as to get at stuff you really need to strip back the interior.

Mechanically, its an aircooled VDub, lots of spares, easy to work on slow as molasses on a cold day unless you want to breath on it.

I bought my basket case 3 years ago for £1200 now (getting) stripped to bare metal so can resto. For £4k I would want it to be better than a basket case so more in the "repair" bracket than "restore" bracket.

Good ones go for about £10k, minters for £15k-£20k and prices are only going up. Not as crazy as Splitty's but heading that way - I tell the wife it's an investment

Couple of pics so you can see what to look for....


Have fun

Cheers,

MM

 

[Cobbler]

Hate to rub it in ....... But I paid £350 for mine. This was 20 years ago before the prices went daft. This is why I made bits where ever possible as it wasn't worth much.

The seats were awful, my wife complained about them, I was looking for some more, when a colleague who had a top of the range Rover SD1 came into work one morning complaining "some swine wrote my Rover off when I was parked last night, complete write off, the only part left any good is the front seats" "I'll have them," I gave him a tenner each & fitted them. It was like a motorised armchair after that. In an antiquated way, I found it lovely to drive

 

[Burdekin]

I bought a immaculate 1971 Type 1 for $50 Aus when I was 15. However I ripped it apart and built a beach buggy with my dad. Did have a awesome time thrashing it.

 

[Burdekin]

 

[mm289]

is that the van in question?

MM

 

[armalites]

I'm guessing probably not at £4k

 

[Cobbler]

That looks pretty smart.

 

[Burdekin]

Yep that's the van. Needs welding underneath apparently.

 

[armalites]

I would say that's a £4k van any day of the week, I'm surprised wheel arches etc look good if it needs welding underneath. The issue will be how much other stuff needs to be disturbed to weld the bits that need doing.

 

[Burdekin]

Will have a gander at it. My thinking is the nice paint job might be hiding a load of filler and bodges, but hoping that might not be the case.

 

[armalites]

That's entirely possible, many of these vans are on their 2nd-3rd round of repairs.

 

[garethp]

I agree with MM, they do rust everywhere so It'll need well looked at, has it previously been 'fixed'? Mine has twice which means large patches over small patches leaving a huge hole when I cut all the rust out.

Roof gutters are another rust trap and can be a sod to sort properly

Some parts are expensive or suddenly not available, they've stopped making them in Brazil which I think may be affecting supply of some parts - front wheel tubs were £99 each, then £199 each and now not available. Front arches are around £250 each. Have a look at http://www.alanhschofield.com/ or www.justkampers.com

Some parts can be sourced from dry climates, I've got a couple of front arches from an american van and apart from a dodgy purple paint job they're mint.

What engine is in it? 1600 is common, bigger is less common but parts cost a lot more, I've got a totally knackered 1800 and bits are twice the price of the 1600, but it has more power / torque and is apparently a generally stronger engine. Other engine options exist, subaru swaps being a common one

 

[Burdekin]

Yep. When they weren't worth much like a lot of classics they were cheaply bodged

 

[garethp]

Will have a gander at it. My thinking is the nice paint job might be hiding a load of filler and bodges, but hoping that might not be the case.

Exactly what we bought but paid more, I should have known better and still kick myself regularly for being so stupid, however the wife loves it and we had some fun using it but it'll be a long road to restoring it.

 

[garethp]

Yep. When they weren't worth much like a lot of classics they were cheaply bodged

At least it kept them on the road, the alternative was the scrap yard

 

[Burdekin]

I agree with MM, they do rust everywhere so It'll need well looked at, has it previously been 'fixed'? Mine has twice which means large patches over small patches leaving a huge hole when I cut all the rust out.

Roof gutters are another rust trap and can be a sod to sort properly

Some parts are expensive or suddenly not available, they've stopped making them in Brazil which I think may be affecting supply of some parts - front wheel tubs were £99 each, then £199 each and now not available. Front arches are around £250 each. Have a look at http://www.alanhschofield.com/ or www.justkampers.com

Some parts can be sourced from dry climates, I've got a couple of front arches from an american van and apart from a dodgy purple paint job they're mint.

What engine is in it? 1600 is common, bigger is less common but parts cost a lot more, I've got a totally knackered 1800 and bits are twice the price of the 1600, but it has more power / torque and is apparently a generally stronger engine. Other engine options exist, subaru swaps being a common one

Not sure what engine is in it. Engines and spares use to be very common in Oz also but so many beetles were bought for buggies they're actually quite rare now.

 

[dannyp]

Yep. When they weren't worth much like a lot of classics they were cheaply bodged

but you have to forvive the bodger as that bodge is proably the reason it's still about and not a fridge

 

[Burdekin]

Exactly what we bought but paid more, I should have known better and still kick myself regularly for being so stupid, however the wife loves it and we had some fun using it but it'll be a long road to restoring it.

Been there as well, wiser now so this will be a no unless it doesn't need too much work. It will only be getting fixed and sold on if I buy it. I have my Volvo Amazon estate which is a miles better vehicle (in my opinion). Then my P1800 to do as well.