Home Renovations...to my Westy!

[shorepig]

Well, after owning the van for about 4 years, and having spent oodles of coin on a new motor, tranny, and pretty much everything else, I was starting to dream of the day the van would shine again! When I bought van for $3000 it was a mess.....green roof, cracks in the roof, dented panels followed by very poor bodywork. It was a damn ugly van....but had only 60 000 miles on the odometer, and a mint interior.

Its been an expensive 3 years since then, with many repairs, and I think the van is pretty much all sorted out now mechanically, so now its time to do the exterior. About 2 months ago, the van was involved in a hit and run to the left rear corner. The repair was estimated to cost about $4000, and would be paid for by my insurance company. This is what prompted me to redo the rest of the van at the same time.

I thought it would be great to get some feedback on the progress of the work from the clever minds on the Samba. Thankfully, I have a friend AKA the bodyworker who has been doing most of the work. Please feel free to pick apart our work, as I am looking to gather as much knowledge as possible before we tackle the rest of the van.
1
Here is the van after the hit and run:

Here is the Cancer, and it doesn't look too bad does it?

Well guess what, it's REEEEEEEEAL BAD!:

So the rust was bad, but not as bad as MONTREAL Ben! but bad enough to wonder if I was wasting my time and money. I decided to move forward and have the corner panel replaced with a clean corner off of a donor van, and then to weld 2 new metal skins into the hook ups area. The one hook up was so badly corroded that we had to tack in some new metal.

These pics are poor quality, but you get an idea of what had to be done. A lot of metal was removed, and replaced.

Then a bit of bondo and lots of primer was sprayed:

Next step is to weld in a new sliding door lower skin, then prime and paint the rest of the van. Unfortunately it wasn't in the budget to remove the windows for the paint, and we have ensured there is no rust around or near the seals. Hopefully there is no rust UNDER the seals!

The current roof on my van (an 85') has many cracks right through the fibre glass, so I've decided to pull a roof off a 1980, paint it, and put it on my 85'. It has proved to be a pain in the ass to refinish this roof from the donor van. The gel coat was bubbling in many areas and even cracking open. To eliminate this, I've had to sand down to bare fibre glass in some areas. This has left little "pits" all over the roof, and I've been attempting to fill them with bondo, and a high solids content spray filler. Tomorrow I will be priming the roof with a product by Interlux (recommended by the Samba) called "Pre Coat". Following the priming, I will be finishing the roof in the Interlux "Bright Sides" paint. Wish me luck, I'll need it!

Has anyone used this product in 50 degree temps? Has anyone added a product to this paint to dull it, or flatten its appearance? I do like the "Bright sides" paint, but I find it a bit too glossy.

[cannedveggiessuck]

you come along way baby !!!! Looks Good
_________________
Time Travel Enthusiast..

[Alaric.H]

IT will take a long time to dry maybe days more chance for bugs dust or what ever is hanging around see if there is a accelerator for the paint.

[shorepig]

I have found a garage to paint my roof in. Thank goodness. Rain in the forecast for the next week! I would still like to use some accelerator with this primer and paint if it is available. The paint shop is closed today so I can't call them to find out. Does anyone out there know if the INTERLUX BRIGHTSIDE paint can be flattened or accelerated???? I may start painting it tonight.

[iiigoiii]

yes, interlux sells a flattener. the one used with the brightside is the "Flattening Agent for 1-Part Finishes". i found it at west marine, but it cost again as much as the paint did. it does increase the volume of your paint, but it also reduces the opacity, meaning you may need more coats.

so i opted to use the paint straight, as gloss, figuring it would degloss with time (it hasn't) or if i really hated it i'd consider taking some very light grit sandpaper to it (i haven't yet).

remember also the off-white still looks very white. to me.
_________________
1984 Westfalia Wolfsburg Ed. w/ Subaru EJ22 power

[shorepig]

Paint is on the van! Well...1/2 the van I should say. 3 welded panels, primed and painted up to the front drivers door. It turned out pretty good, and I can't wait to get the rest of the van painted. I can't believe how glossy the paint is on the new section compared to the old paint. I guess that's the difference between the original single stage paint and the newer 2 stage (paint plus clear coat). It's almost too shiney, and shows the imperfections in the bodywork.

Here's the new paint:

Unfortunately, the roof had blisters in the paint which cracked open, and became the home for what appeared to be moss! This was a pain in the butt to fix. Had to grind out these spots, then build them back up to make them flush with the rest of the roof. Unfortunately my roof will no longer have that special texture. Now it will be super smooth. I'm really hoping that the Interlux primer and paint will cover my pathetic patch job up!

The roof:

Will be starting the rest of the body work soon, and the roof should be done this week! A little closer every day!

[cannedveggiessuck]

I really want to see the pictures. Gettin 404's on the links
_________________
Time Travel Enthusiast..

[blakeck2]

So are you painting it yourself?

[shorepig]

Yes and no. The roof has been worked on by myself and will be primed and painted by me in a garage this weekend. Until now, the van body has been worked on in an autobody shop by a friend. I pulled the interior. Unfortunately we could only complete the insurance claim repair part of the van body, and have had to pull the van out of the shop. Therefore we will have to prime and paint the rest of the van later.