CROSSROADS

Hi, all. Good to check back in on the forum. I miss hanging out on a regular basis.

I am at a Crossroads of sorts with my van. It's really made no progress in two years and while it gets me down the road, it needs lots of little things. It has never run well, and I believe I can get that corrected. It has a rear main seal leak which came with it that I would also like addressed because it leaks a good bit. Wheels need refinishing/replacement, etc, doors aren't working properly, doors need to be perfectly aligned, etc, etc, etc...

My main concern now is the exterior. We live on the marsh and I am starting to see some rust bubbles on my driver's side, lower panel. I suspected that area might have some bondo or something when I received the van. I have always wanted this painted a different color and done better than the single stage poly urethane job the previous owner did under his shade tree. While not bad, it's not a show stopper.

The cost of paint is so pricey, I'm not sure what to do. I love the van, but paint isn't the only thing it needs. I am curious what kind of money I might save on a paint job if I was able to take it down to bare metal on my own. I am NOT a DIY guy, but I would think I could handle a grinder or whatever it takes to strip the paint. No clue how long it would take. I might not mess with the roof as it seems solid and I could paint over the existing area. I was going to originally wrap the van to advertise our business and that is a cheaper way, but leaving rust in place is not going to preserve the van.)

Or, do I only address possible "problem" areas and paint over the existing work? Everyone that looks at it says how straight it is in general. I will need seals, etc to do this right.

Thoughts on stripping this down to bare metal and then having it painted (and how much I can save?)

well it depends on whats under paint. stripper will attack old bondo, then that will have to be done over. paint, look at smart shopper .com, they have some good prices on paint systems. if the rest of the paint job is good, fix ,bad areas, sand down, primer seal over old paint and re squirt

We all have hit the same brick wall you have. If you really love the van I say keep it and work on it as you can. If you strip it who know what you'll find. The old owner sounds like he half ass alot of stuff so striping it maybe a super surprize.

For the main rear seal leak, try one of the several new stop leak products available at any auto parts store.  These new ones work well in many cases, I put some in mine it has stopped most of the leak but I haven't driven a lot.  The more miles you go, the better it gets. Plus get under there and hand tighten all the oil pan bolts, including the two hidden by the starter, use a 1/4" drive socket, no bigger or you might strip one. I found that most of the rear leaking was due to loose oil pan bolts and not the rear seal.

Knowing a little of the history, I'd do a bit of look and see like Don is saying. Make sure there is nothing behind it that would ruin any efforts. Single stage enamel is good paint btw. If you are pretty sure it's ok behind you can attack with some surface repair with better results. Any body work is eventually going to show back up, especially if it is a driver and in a climate like yours and mine. Don't toss in the towel Laz, just look at it in smaller bites.

Address the body problems and wrap it. That will give you more time to get to the rest of the things wrong with the van. If you strip the van it will be a nightmare. Wrap it and get on enjoying your life and your van.

Yep, "How do you eat an elephant?"
One bite at a time.

My first van is taken down for paint.
I've pimped another one and started another body/paint van project. The first one is still sitting.
Tackle the running.driving stuff first. Then get the doors and other issues fixed. Then start saving for paint. Even if you do it yourself, it's going to take some money.

Thanks for the suggestions. No plans at all to bag the van. My "crossroads" is just trying to figure out what to do next/now, and I figured rust needed immediate attention, especially since I live on a salt marsh.

I have the disk brake conversion kit and really want that done for reasons I do not need to explain to anyone who owns a VV.

As far as drilling a test hole and filling with water, am I looking just to see if water comes out of the drain hole or am I looking for pieces of rust that might flow out? Am I also looking for signs of bondo inside?

Laz, you say your not a DIY guy....hmmmm.. Im just gonna jump in here. I just spent two years sanding down and painting Magic.. It  was overwhelming and I never made it to bare metal for the most part...There is alot of unknown under that paint.  I bit off ALOT more than I wanted to chew but I didn't want to be that guy that gave up on the project so I trudged on, sweating my brains out with a D/A sander, learning as I went..

I also checked into wrapping...the problem with that is you have to have a pretty good surface to put that on and then it was like 5K for the wrap?

You might consider a scuff and shoot for a quicker job  if its pretty straight already.

There are a lot of options for paint, but the fact is none of it is cheap. You'll have primer, maybe primer sealer, paint, clear coat, and hours of masking and resanding and maybe buffing....I told the guy that shot the paint on mine now I understand why they charge so much for body and paint work!

There is no easy answer, these vans are old and unless its been babied and garaged they all need alot of work, every system on my van was shot requiring extensive rebuilding to get it working again and Im still trying to get it back together!

Good luck on your journey

 -From an old guy thats done it all= strip it if you want to know whats under everything!! Ive done that 2 times - never again-& if i did =only for something very valuable!!Lots of work & costly too. then you get to cherry out every hole wave & panel it has!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Wrap it -HaHa- NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wrap bday & xmas gifts.!! a scuff & shoot is ok if you dont want a keeper vehicle-always after doing that - you wish you hadnt = unless its a sell quickly =?? Then a buyer gets mad @ that later in life. Yes -it all costs bucks now -yet there are ways to get that painted & cut your costs- just depends on you, time & paint job you want to drive!! Happy Vannin!!

I took my van into the body shop last week, I have it running and drivable thanks to many here, I finally decided to have the bodywork done and painted keep drivable and attack smaller projects. Although there are many, many small projects and the entire interior it will be easier for me to micro manage smaller projects while trying to keep the van drivable most of the time a quick run through town and the thumbs up keep me motivated. I guestioned body guy about stripping savings, decided to pass based on several factors from mess around a house I am trying to sell to wear and tear on old body, mine. I think wrap may be a good idea for design after paint on mine as well. good luck!

Update:  I feel like a new man as far as the van is concerned.  I found someone that I knew previously who just moved back to town.  He needs money and knows how to work on most anything, so he is motivated and affordable.

He immediately spotted my new spark plug wires having been melted due to the previous mechanic leaving them on top of the manifold and engine.  New wires, trained away from the manifold, and I am back running solidly.

We had great weather after crazy cold for us Southerners over the past week and it got me motivated to get more done.  We finished removing the old "insulation" that the P.O. had installed.  The cargo area consisted of shag carpet over plywood over what appeared to be some type of bubble wrap.  Here is a photo:  


Yes, the plywood was getting wet.  The floor is pretty solid as I expected.  Other than one area that needs minor addressing, I believe it is ready to go for my custom insulation kit that I bought a year or more ago from Roman.  My walls are solid as well and I will likely put some type of rust proofer/coverter on them before installing the kit.  The floor already has a grey paint that may be inhibitor.  I will take a photo next time around.

I can say that my van now really sounds like a loud tin can.  That carpet and wood floor made a huge difference!

I am definitely going to document the progress on this kit as one can order it from the company since they have the template in place.  Hoping this will spur on the next phase of checking off the list of big and little things that she needs..