Plastidip the ugly away

[whafalia]

Our van has been getting crustier and crustier, worse each winter. There's been some repaint that's failed and some damage to the right rear fender lip. Here's some pics of the ugly

Time to do something,
Paint? So expensive to do right and that rust on the kitchen seam is real, with the flanges eaten away real body work will be needed. I did like the job a poster here had done in Tijuana, but it seemed key to that was to have a place in socal to disassemble and reasessemble. Maybe later.

Bedliner? Super tough but limits future choices. Maybe later.

I went with rust converter and aerosol plastidip. I figure it will buy some time and I can peel off the coating later and see what is happening underneath with the rust and decide then how to proceed.

One more pic for now, these are my test patches that were on for a few months. The chunks from the tan patch were intentionally picked at by me.

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84 westie 2.2 w/ digijet, AT

[Fracas]

I am considering dip myself but knowing what I know about Rust I would fix before dipping.

[Zeitgeist 13]

The rust in those seams and window perimeters needs to be dealt with prior to any coating. Period.
_________________
Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[heimlich]

If you dip it with rust you will just be covering the rust. The rust will continue to expand but now with a covering that will trap moisture.
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[jimf909]

Well done.

Don't worry about the rust worriers. They'd have every Vanagon on the planet stripped, cut and welded before applying a $15K paint job and parking it in the garage. These vans are every bit as fun with a bit of rust covered with lipstick (or not) as they are after a $15K restorative paint job.

And the rust advances very slowly on the west coast so the restoration job five years down the road isn't much worse than doing it today. In the meantime you get to sit on a bunch of cash (or time) and use the van for what it's designed to do, play in the hills.

If there's one thing the samba over-worries it's seam rust. It's not hurting anyone (under carriage rust is a different story but it's a different bird and far less of an issue in the west).
_________________
- Jim

[heimlich]

You should be able to get a good paint job for a few K. I found someone to paint my box and fix some spots on it for 1.5k Find someone reputable that works out of his/her garage.
_________________
www.vwnos.com [email protected]
Classic Brands. Classic Quality.
Not all parts are made the same. NOS OE/OEM parts made mainly in West Germany, Early Germany, and Early Brazil are where VW produced the best quality parts and best fitting products.
5% Off your order with coupon code: 5%OFF
Restored Distributors Available (<--Click here)

[whafalia]

Thanks for the responses, I think the range got covered pretty well!

Meet my body workers, 10:30 at night in a gas station in Morgan Hill, used a porta-power and some hammer and dollie and shaped the fender lip for a hundred dollars, as well as pushing and pulling a couple of dents in the door.

So I picked the ugly out of the seams and applied plastidip brand rust converter,

Some seam sealer, reputable brand, single stage,

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84 westie 2.2 w/ digijet, AT

[bokonon42]

Looks good. I need one of my fender lips reshaped as well before I monstaliner mine. If you dig their work, mine sharing their contact info??
thanks
-terry
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Terry
88 Vanagon Wolfsburg Carat - https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=671319

[whafalia]

Wipe down with acetone, mask and start spraying. The weather was marvelous these 2 days I sprayed, 20 minutes between coats was plenty,

The bit under the front door is the 1st coat, recommended to be very thin,

some more coats, I think 5 or 6 in all,

I've always envied the two-tone paint jobs,

Skipping ahead to the other side here's the kitchen seam treated and gooped, sure to elicit some criticism,

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84 westie 2.2 w/ digijet, AT

[whafalia]

[joetiger]

While the full restoration threads are fantastic, I also really enjoy seeing this kind of work! It just goes to show that there's more than one way to skin a cat (or Vanagon, as the case may be.) Can't wait to see how it turns out.
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Joe T.

'86 NAHT Vanagon GL Syncro/ supercharged ABA 2.0 "Pigpen"
'04 GTI 1.8T
'04 Golf R32

"get metaphysical with it. if it's simply a means to get to and from places, it will let you down. if it becomes your zen, it can't fail you." -dabaron

"Still, it's good to be afield."--VWagabond

Available Now! Vanagon to Louisiana--A Two-Lane Reckoning Through Past and Present

www.josephtrussell.com

[whafalia]

So on to the ugly front, Yes the desirable thing would be to remove the windshield, cut out the offended metal and weld in donor lip. If I hold myself to that standard nothing will happen and the van will be even uglier next spring,
maybe a pic repeat,

The rust converter instructions say not to apply to paint but that's not practical across this expanse,

On the paint the converter leaves a little opaque residue that will wipe off with acetone and some rubbing. On the front I left the residue, we'll see,
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84 westie 2.2 w/ digijet, AT

[whafalia]

Looks like I tried to upload too many pics at once and time to get ready for work, one more for now and I'll show the final later,

Overspray removes easily with a little acetone, the trick to getting a clean edge is peeling the tape just after the final spray almost simultaneous as the last coat melts the prior and the tape will lift off while the dip is wet,
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84 westie 2.2 w/ digijet, AT

[shagginwagon83]

[16CVs]

I'm sure the people in the Gas Station really appreciate it as well.

Stacy
_________________
1987 Syncro Westfalia Triple knob (bastard)
1989 Syncro Tristar Triple knob "Swedish"
2013 Jetta Hybrid a true "Zwitter"
Samba member # 14980
Call anytime number 650 722 4914 .
Keep Your van running and upkept tastefully for the love of the hobby.
Don't let your van end up in an "abortions" thread.

[whafalia]

[bobbyblack]

[whafalia]

I thought I had a pic of where I worked rust converter under the windshield gasket but don't see it. It turns into a black oxide that looks and feels stable.
Without further ado,

Kicking the can down the road, I can peel the dip off in a year or 2 and see what's going on. If rust is slowed at all I don't think there will be much more work to repair than if I were to do it right now. I had one can of the camo brown and bought 6 more and ended up with a can left over. 6-pack of cans was about $50, seam sealer about $10. Acetone and masking tape were on hand.

I dinged it up a bit installing a new antennae, I just held a piece of paper up to mask the antennae and spritzed a bit on the repair. It melts into itself and doesn't show at all. Overspray wipes off easily with acetone.

For bonus points I razor bladed peeling clear coat and put in new utility boxes. It's not an embarrassment at this point, we'll see what it looks like next spring and beyond!
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84 westie 2.2 w/ digijet, AT

[Sodo]

Much better!

Now use a "cleaner wax" on the rest of the paint to remove the chalky oxidation layer, it will shine up more. And a cleaner on the white top and I'd say you have another 5 years looking good.
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[jimf909]

This’ll never work.






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- Jim