removing rusted metal on a cutaway

Hey guys. I've been looking high and low for a cutaway with an Aerocell body, aka "bubble van".

I found one I can get for cheap. Only problem is the floor and the rocker panels are rusted through and will have to be replaced.

I don't have any experience with body work, so I need to know how much work is involved in replacing all the rusted metal with new pieces. I'd probably remove the seats and everything myself, and find a guy who knows how to do the work come to the house and do it. Everything behind the cab is fibreglass so nothing needs to be done there.

The motor's got a lot of miles on it too. Is it possible to pull it with a cherry picker.

The rest of the truck is solid steel and fibreglass.

Option B is to find another cutaway and swap the shell onto that. But then I'm just going to have too many trucks parked in my yard again and my wife's already asked me not to do that.

you can try to find someone knowageable in the work you need for a price, it's hard to hire someone to come to your house to do the work,,you can't just haul everything from your shop and go back and forth. ,maybe keep looking for a better project to start with.

Dix your so right ! pay more up front less work later

Has either of you replaced the floor in one of these vans?

Can you post a pic...I'm not sure what it is your trying to fix. Thanks

It's a Ford Cutaway with a fibreglass shell, similar to this one. The rocker panel is rusted through. I couldn't see the floor because the front of the van is buried under a lot of snow. But I'm going to see it again on Monday and owner will bring the keys and start it up for me.

The box on this van sells for over $8000. And a used van in good condition goes for $10-15,000. I can get this one for under $1000. But I need to know what it's going to cost to do the body work. Behind the cab is all fibreglass. It's just the cab that needs a lot of work.

For something this new, I would contact some body shops in your area and see what they would charge you to replace rockers and floor pans and go from there. Even if you spend 3 grand on getting those parts (which should be over the counter parts on something this new) you could still resell later for quite a profit, or keep it and use it after. But my only thoughts about the rust issues are....on something this new, I would check to see what the under side looks like. I have trucks from the 70's out here and with all the snow and salt, still have great floors and nominal rust on the rockers and cab corners. Is this a coastal van by any chance. If so get a good look underneath.

Eitherway you look at it if you can get this van for a "G" note, i would grab it regardless of rust. If you say the box alone is worth 8 grand that's a healthy profit even if you don't want to keep it and fix it. Now if you could spend a lttle to fix it and get almost double for it...I'd say go for it.