im looking at purchasing this camper just wondering what peoples opinions are on the work needed please?

it would have to be real cheap,as that looks like it needs most of the front replacing

About a hundred hours of your time to do the metal work, if you have the tools to do it properly, and it is repairable. Easy job. Maybe $5000 to get a panel shop to do it.

Lower 6 inches all round is usually the doozy with Spits, not sure about bays. That's a pretty rusty front end. It's going to cost you a fortune to fix unless you are good with welding and often dodgy sheet metal parts that don't line up and need refabricating .

sadly i dont have the skills, tools knowhow or anywhere to do this kind of work

thanks for the replys, just waiting on what the restorer says.....if it comes in a bit lower than that i could be tempted.

To give you an idea of what his price comes back at.
Uper and Lower skin, inner valance, side steps inner and outer, and new cab flooring = about $680

Hours of labour required (Check against his labour rate).
Remove panels and unstich all areas, prep up for putting back on. - 10-15hr.
Prep up front skin, line up with door, tack in place, check again, fully weld. - 8-10 hour (plus if it is a lowlight, add 2-3hours)
Work on steps and replace both with new metal (Note, these panels are shit and take time to make work) - 10-15 hr.
Cab floor, remove existing and replace - 8-12hr.

This is VERY rough, but may help if he comes back with a price of 1 or 2 days you will know there will be cost blowouts.

ok as you all know its difficult to judge these things but hes prepared to do the work and potentially do me a package deal as in getting it back on the rd asap and doing the work as and when budgets will allow.

so around 50 hours work and im guessing mechanics/restorers work at around the $100 mark?

which wouldnt be far off what ive been guesstimated at.

Just a reminder that if that's the rust you CAN see, don't be surprised once you start digging to actually uncover more

rust is a must and it will drive you bust.

if you have the time,knack and tools you can fix anything, if not turn around and head for the bar.

looks like normal lowlight rust to me , thats why they make replacement panels , I've had 1 decent lowlight out of 6 that didnt have this area totally rusted out , if its a poptop I'd be looking more around the pillars n gutter sections

This really isn't that bad. You'll be hard pushed to find a lowlight without rust or repairs in these areas. The best things about your pics is it seems it hasn't had repairs done recently which can be allot worse as they're bogged up, painted and you have no idea what you're dealing with. With yours it's what you see is what you get... this is a good thing. Nothing worse than a bogged up, painted car and you don't know where it starts and where it ends.

Mine was the perfect example of bogged up and painted over. I unearthed allot of bog and rust but nothing any other lowlight has including yours. My rear cargo area is perfect as is my gutters and the rest of the car so to me it was a good trade off. You might want to consider this too. If it has good floors, gutters, (sills will always be gone) etc then repairing the front might be worth the effort.

I am fortunate to be able to do all the work myself so you need to weigh someone else doing the work.

Here's some pics of the similar rust areas I cut out: http://s1189.photobucket.com/albums/z426/rossnaumov/  (start at page 1)

Hope this helps.

thanks for all the replies.

ive bitten the bullet and purchased it and its now on the road to the rust merchants for a proper inspection.

the roof and floors seem solid other than the driver and passenger side floor which can apparently be patched,

should arrive up here in nsw next monday so ithen tll be clearer the amount of work and money that needs to be spent.

yes you guessed it..... i did the cardinal sin of buying without seeing

look on just kampers as they have a good selection of lowlight metal at decent $$

been in salt water you will never save it

Its a Bay!

its currently in the operating room.

welded repairs
Front inner lower section, step to step
Front cabin floor areas left and right,
Jacking points all 4 both sides
Right hand battery tray

"bog" repairs
Right hand outer sill,
Left hand outer sill,
Right hand rear corner
Engine cover and left corner
Right outer step
Right hand door at handle
Right hand screen post at turret and lower frame
Left hand frame post at top and round lower window frame

how much should i be looking at paying?

$7000 including paint.

Without being a smart arse - can I ask why??

If you are not going to do it yourself I am a bit surprised at the expense in front of you
There are a a couple of low lights on ebay at the moment that I think are real good value

This one in particular
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Volkswagen-Kombi-1971-Van-/110835176013?pt=AU_Cars...

Its a panel - but you could set it up for camping if thats your thing.
personally i think its better not to cut the roof.
You will spend that much easily and this is a special model to boot

Just asking

I had similar rot apart from the upper A pillars but more structural rot to the front chassis and I had mine lowered and without paint it cost $7,500. He didnt touch the rusty sill on the drivers door either - luckily my passenger door had been replaced and the sliding door was rot free just dented slightly. My tailgate and engine lid were also OK but rsut repairs required around the tailgate at the swage line and in under the tailgate seal. Lots of other fiddly bits too including inside the front fresh air intake.

But now its rot free apart from the original drivers door.

Your van is a rare beast so I would keep it.

i was wondering what people thought the work listed would cost.

i have someone starting on it and am im happy with the price and his standard of work from what ive seen on his website and word of mouth. problem is there is quite a bit of mechanical work and other bits and pieces to purchase before i can get him/her on the rd. coming from interstate i have to re-register in NSW which means a more stringent check.

the item listed on ebay is nice but already at 10k with 6 days to run.....i was also slightly impatient

the bus i have purchased is the same as this 1 but not lowered....more rust....crappier paint etc etc

http://www.lowlight.com.au/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1312847431 

a rare beast in itself....i dont know, i just like it

Basixs,

Don't be put off by the negative comments. There have been many of us that have started this and gotten to the point of giving up, hence why there are so many part done vans for sale.
If you have got the money, great! If not, just take your time.

If the rest of your van has the same amount of rust in the sills and jacking points then 7grand is not that unrealistic. That is not for a bog job though, that is for rust alone. There is a lot of work to get filler on and looking straight that would be above that.
Just see how you go and how well your money is lasting. You get an idea pretty quick.
From there you can decide what you will do yourself.

Best of luck and would be good if you start a resto thread with lots of pictures for the rest of us.

Where are you based by the way?

Cheers,
Brad

There was one 71 lowlight that just finished on ebay (see link: http://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/e11010.m43.l1123/7?euid=04b86f9edc1f4fc386157ba... ).

Which the seller said had only surface rust.

But even though he shows minimal photos and the entire front floor is like swiss cheese plus the back of the front wheel well will be rusty as it is rusty from the inside carco area and the dreaded front valance and sills arent shown nor is the windscreen sill and A pillars and it got up to $3500 + with no interior at all and tyres that are falling off.

You got a bargain my friend!

Surface rust hey???
I reckon I could take to that with a screw driver and fill a Milo Tin!!

should have bought my rust free rego ready 70 micro would have sold it for 5000

well the work has been completed, this is the floor. the drivers side flexes under my foot constantly which is extremely annoying, i was advised to go with the mechanics patch rather than repro floor which i really should have done i think

Wow, if thats how they fix a floor? I would hate to see the rest!!
Obviously not a decent resto place

Baxis,
If the work is done and you are not happy with it, take a few steps to correct / prevent further damage. (As it is you got it cheap so its not the end of the world).

Based on the photos the weld quality and penetration seem like they will be okay, would have to check the underside to be sure. But kombis are funny beasts, unlike beetles that have a chassis that un bolts from the body and provides the car with its strength, the kombi's bodu actually provides much of the cars strength which is why it is welded to the ladder frame. So if you now have a bunch of floppy panels it may eventualy lead to your door closures being out of what and sticking etc...

The floor repair should have had grooves in it as per original for strength, best bet would be to weld (or get them to as it is a defect) some 25x25x1.5-3mm angle on underneath it to strengthen it right up without being visible. Then for all the other repairs, get a bunch of fish oil or penetrol from Suapcheap and flood in behind sills, bottom of doors, lower front clip etc... They may not have used weld through primer in these areas. (And even if they have, if you want the van for more than 3 years it is worth doing).

But ultimately dont despair, just work with what you have to give you a safe and functioning van.

another way to remove the flex is to get a trolly jack and a big lump of timber , jack it up till it touches the underside and using a wide chisel or bricky bolster belt some grooves into the flat flooring