TheSamba.com :: View topic - Donor tin top in NY state needed for body panels...

Sun Sep 22, 2024 2:40 pm

Figured I'd post here and see if anyone had any ideas on the best way to go about finding a donor, if anyone knows of a good candidate with decent body in NY state or has any tips on how to proceed finding one. I'm not even sure what a donor van with decent a decently body goes for. I guess I would take the whole van if I could get it on a flatbed trailer or I would just cut the metal out and take the necessary areas I need.
I don't need any mechanicals from the donor just the sliding door which was creased in by a gas station bollard and hopefully the entire drivers side section of the van. I'm talking about where the kitchen hook ups are, vent and the rusty rocker panels. A shed fell on that side years ago and it put a fair crease/ripple in that area so I was hoping to cut the entire side of a van out and weld in one from a tin top so I delete the hook ups, vent and deal with the rusty rocker issues at the same time I take care of the the large dent. Just need a donor...and what would you pay?

Sun Sep 22, 2024 3:20 pm

Skills (in Connecticut) just posted that he has two Vans being parted out.
Contact him sooner rather than later.

Sun Sep 22, 2024 3:29 pm

djkeev wrote: Skills (in Connecticut) just posted that he has two Vans being parted out.
Contact him sooner rather than later.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10285819#10285819[/b]

Sun Sep 22, 2024 4:19 pm

Wow, thanks! I'm on it! Just PM'd skills@eurocarsplus. The irony is I will be 30 minutes away from him in a week on a short vacation, so thats insane :shock:

Sun Sep 22, 2024 4:44 pm

Looks like the search continues. Skills got back to me lightning fast but the van body areas I need are in rough shape. The roof looks decent hence why he offered it out to the other member.

So I'm still on the hunt...what are people paying nowadays for a donor vehicle?

Mon Sep 23, 2024 8:51 am

hard to find early (80-85) sliding doors in the north east in good shape..
the rocker/body panels can come from any year van..

you can buy repair panels for the sliding door and lower LS (drivers) rocker.
quality is fair/good and tracks with price.

https://www2.cip1.com/vanagon/

Mon Sep 23, 2024 9:17 am

There's a pretty good looking pre'85 sliding door here in Pittsburgh for a really good price ($60!)
https://www.facebook.com/share/fLWtZPXMk4fkPhKU/

And a few of us will be heading to the Catskills from Pittsburgh in a few weeks.

"donor bodies" on the east coast have the weirdest market ever. $400-6000 is what I'd expect to pay, for a passenger van. They usually just rot away when they break down, so the only ones with good bodies are functional but vaguely or recently broken, hence the higher end ($4-60000).
I buy lots of cheap busses, but I'm yet to see any for "cheap" with a "good body", it just doesn't happen.

Mon Sep 23, 2024 11:46 am

Quote: hard to find early (80-85) sliding doors in the north east in good shape..
the rocker/body panels can come from any year van..

I hear ya, been keeping an eye out for about 3 years now for a donor contender but my timing or financial always gets the better of me on the very few occasions I find anything worth while.

Quote: There's a pretty good looking pre'85 sliding door here in Pittsburgh for a really good price ($60!)
https://www.facebook.com/share/fLWtZPXMk4fkPhKU/

And a few of us will be heading to the Catskills from Pittsburgh in a few weeks.

"donor bodies" on the east coast have the weirdest market ever. $400-6000 is what I'd expect to pay, for a passenger van. They usually just rot away when they break down, so the only ones with good bodies are functional but vaguely or recently broken, hence the higher end ($4-60000).
I buy lots of cheap busses, but I'm yet to see any for "cheap" with a "good body", it just doesn't happen.

Thanks for the tip off. I think I'm still 4 hours each way of a drive to the Catskills. Not crazy but the drivers side is probably hire on the list to figure out. I actually just found a contender I've seen in PA, 5+ hours drive from me. It's in a junk yard type lot and the guys willing to sell me the whole van but won't give me a ball park on price. Wants me to come down and check it out to make him an offer. Its had a bad engine fire, salvage title but the body looks pretty awesome from the photos. Crux is I leave for my vacation with my wife on Wednesday and won't be back for 10 more days. God knows if it will still be there with the parts I need after that amount of time. It's a long way to go with a car dolly rental if it's not what I think it is but the van would only be worth the body to me as the rest looks pretty gone with the fire and picked over in the cockpit area. My timing is trash but laughable for sure :roll:

Mon Sep 23, 2024 6:26 pm

Upper Jay? You are in BFE..

Reach out to Andrew Flint In Nassau, down 87 from you, maybe 2 hours?

Tue Sep 24, 2024 10:21 am

Quote: Upper Jay? You are in BFE..

Yea, sometimes it really sucks getting things done but there's always a bright side to things.

[quote]Reach out to Andrew Flint In Nassau, down 87 from you, maybe 2 hours?/quote]

I'm guessing that's Flint European Automotive? Maybe I'll reach out and see what his take is on it. Appreciate the lead.

Tue Sep 24, 2024 11:25 am

[quote="johnnygreenham"] Quote: Upper Jay? You are in BFE..

Yea, sometimes it really sucks getting things done but there's always a bright side to things.

Quote: Reach out to Andrew Flint In Nassau, down 87 from you, maybe 2 hours?/quote]

I'm guessing that's Flint European Automotive? Maybe I'll reach out and see what his take is on it. Appreciate the lead.

Here he is. I do have a pretty good sliding door from a '82. The rockers and camper side panels- you are better off just buying a replacement rocker than trying to cut one off and the camper side panel can easily be made from sheet metal. I do have a few vans if you need a cut-off of some other parts.

Andrew-

Flint European Automotive
[email protected]
518.766.5654

Tue Sep 24, 2024 12:40 pm

Quote: Here he is. I do have a pretty good sliding door from a '82. The rockers and camper side panels- you are better off just buying a replacement rocker than trying to cut one off and the camper side panel can easily be made from sheet metal. I do have a few vans if you need a cut-off of some other parts.

:lol: nice. I'll PM you later tonight Andrew, once this ridiculous work day is over with. Thanks