My first project a big old rusty red bus
1997 Toyota Hiace Powervan LWB - Soon to be camper van!
As mentioned this is my first project so be forewarned.
Im just starting up so funds are tight and as a result progress will be slow.......but steady
I thank you all for taking part!
Im planning to strip back under the sills to show what I've to work with, then welding them and epoxy for now.
Eventually carrying out a full underbody restoration and further down the line a respray.
As I'm basically doing this in my driveway, I have a garage/workshop also, the detrimental effect of scottish weather is causing me to rush things a bit quicker than id like.
I don't have access to any air tools unfortunately.
Im having trouble selecting paint brands, my choices are:
Lechlar
Bilt Hamber
Rustbuster
Jotun
The products I'm looking at are:
Phosphoric Acid wash
Rust treatment Primer (only for no other choice scenario)
Epoxy
seam sealer
and also body filler
As ive no compressor I plan on brushes and rollers and a half face mask 3M disposable type, there quite confusing any recommendations?
I should add I require epoxy for both panels and underside suitable to be rollered is this possible?
sorry if its a bit all over the place, I've been reading for ages and now its come time to start its mumble jumble
bilt hamber rust products are very good , a spot weld drill bit will be useful as will a mule (wire brush on a angle grinder)
PU is a good alternative to seam sealer, most seam sealer brands are pretty rubbish, expect the expensive 3m stuff
but speaking from experience think off how many weekends you will spend covered in crap holding a flalling angle grinder near you face, and then think how much you could earn in those weekends and wonder to yourself maybe something with less rust would be a good idea?
if your intent on doing it yourself, i would remove the engine and put the hole lot on a spit so you can work standing up
thanks for the quick response jimmy, i get what your saying about getting something with less rust. I wish i could but just not got the money, for £1300 this van is pretty solid.
The pictures make it look worse than it is TBH a lot of that is peeling paint. I often get a bit down about the work ahead but every time i drive out my street i see a 2007 transit not much better and think well, at least I saved some cash for beer
haha bilt hammer looks good but what about rolling performance? and ISO nasties?
cheers
well, pretty much decided going to go the jotun/rustbuster route although swayed by bilt hambers deox gel and hydrate 80 v phos-kleen & fe-123
any preferences?
Bilt Hamber stuff is good, but I found the Deox C solution to be better than the gel. You make up a bucket and leave rusty bits in it and they come up very well. Electrox is good too, but quite pricey..
I bought a Black and Decker powerfile yesterday, after reading good comments on here, and I am massively impressed with it for paint and rust removal. Bought mine in a shop, but they are about £40 on ebay.
Save money on the Deox-C and get yourself some Citric Acid either from eBay, local health food shop, brewing outlet or garden centre. Far far cheaper than paying for a name, and its EXACTLY the same.
thats the idea kent, cheers!
stevie its not the the deox c I'm after, yes i believe its citric acid for a bath, the gel is phosphoric acid based or similar and clings to the surface, handy for those hard to reach areas.
thanks for the heads up taitsie i shall check them out
thanks everyone for your suggestions!!!
what about hydrate 80 is it worth it?
If you mix the citric acid with wallpaper paste (lap or similar) it will form a mushy acidic paste that clings upside down, wash with water then dry with hairdryer and paint before it goes rusty again, I have not used it on cars but use it on my brass primus stoves all the time.
I have just put some Hydrate 80 on the boot of my car. Cleaned off as much surface rust as I could, but used it where I couldn't get to every little bit. It dries to a hard black coating. I have read mixed reviews on it tbh, and am still pondering whether to try to get some inside the sills where I can't reach the surface rust. I don't think rust converters are a good solution, but Hydrate 80 is probably one of the better ones.