Bargain or don't bother?

[Adam Gough]

So in my quest to own a camper I have been saving my wages into my fund and looking online this morning I have just found this....

http://www.grenbartley.co.uk/pages/camper

"1979 VW Camper 2 litre

1979 2 Litre VW Camper for sale. Pictures available at http://www.grenbartley.co.uk/pages/camper . Needs work to body and needs new alternator. Other than that, engine will run forever. Comes with basic internal conversion with bed, CD player, double gas hob and fridge. Also has a large awning and two new bumpers to be fitted. Needs a good home and a little tlc. Can be easily made ready for the coming Summer. Accepting offers in the region of £1500. Currently in Nottingham."

It looks OK, but I wouldn't want to waste my time chasing a possible early purchase is its going to cause more aggravation than use. The main issues I can see are...

1) Are alternators costly to purchase/install?
2) Does the rust look repairable, I assume it may be quite bad underneath too.
3)How much, roughly, is it to move a camper from Nottingham to Bristol?

I also know a paint respray is going to cost a lot, and there will be other things to change.

Any thoughts and advice is greatly appreciated. Cheers, Adam.

 

[slammedresto]

alternator is £100-150

paint whatever u want to pay from 1k to 8k dependent on the job

no idea on transport, how many miles is it??

for a £100 mile round trip its cost me about £70 with mates rates

 

[baybus70]

Looks like sills, front and rear arches will need doin.Rear corners dont look too clever! Front doors will need repair at some stage and thats the stuff i can see!
Having owned over 20 classic vw's, for £1500 walk away! The van looks a little neglected and the belly pans could be hiding a multitude of sins! I would safely say your looking at £2-£3000 to get this van looking half deccent and thats without any surprises! If you can do welding and fabrication yourself it may be an ok buy but you'd be better spending a little more and getting somethin decent to start with,
Steve :lol:

 

[rob-stone]

I got my type4 alternator refurbished for £80, however. This bus looks like it has bigger problems than that.
I feel Its better to spend more money on a better bus. It will cost less in the long run. This one looks like a big project.

 

[Adam Gough]

Thanks for the advice everyone, looks like I'll just keep on saving for now.

 

[Rusty Lee]

Hold out for a low lighter dude

 

[Araon]

looking a little untidy, would deffinately need to poke around under the belly pans.....

Its a late bay fella, :lol: , the 2 ltr lumps are a good motor but getting parts etc for them can be a royal pain / expensive.

I would look at what money I have, what skills I have and what skills I intend to develope then make my decission........

Remember these busses can be money pits, if you rush in it will inevitably cost in the long run and really drain you mentally.......

 

[jenna_uk22]

you've got to decide if you'd like to do up a cheaper one and make it into your dream bus (if you have a dream bus in mind that is) or spend a bit more and get something with less work that may not be exactly how you would have done it.

but good luck and happy hunting!

 

[Grazy]

Adam , if you are really serious about having an Early Bay then keep savin mate . :wink: It`s worth the extra money to get low lights . It will also at the moment , be an investment as EB prices seem to be at a high , unfortunatly for you mate it means you will have to save a bit harder :roll:
Decide what you want Panel van , double Cab , Westfalia , and stick to it narrow your search and only but what you REALLY want . I did , I knew i wanted a standard ( ish ) Early Bay panel van with OG paint , Searched high and low , and after LOTS of looking found my PV and I am pleased as a pig in poo now :lol:

Tell us what you want and what you wanna spend and we will try and help

 

[Adam Gough]

Tell us what you want and what you wanna spend and we will try and help

Thanks so much for the offer, after some slight thought I'm going to keep saving and look at all the buses at VWorld show 2008. Me and the girlfriend got our tickets coming . From there I'll try and find exactly what I want and how much I can afford later next year and I'm sure you will be hearing again from me then. Cheers. Adam.

 

[Guest]

The best bargains are usually found in mags like autotrader where the vendor doesnt know the true value of what they have. i regularly see them advertised over here at way under market value and they get snapped up in 2-3 days average so you have to be quick.

For example saw one in aurotrader on friday, went up to view it the same day and it was gone, it was sold at £1000 and was probably worth 4 times that.

Buying at shows you will pay premium but you can normally be sure what your getting is good as its hard to false advertise with so many critical experts roaming around at shows.