Advice before buying a van

[Gurnett]

Hi. I have been offered a 1972 Morris minor van with an asking price of £5600.00. The MOT,s indicates that he mileage is 22.000 and from a distance the paintwork looks ok. it has been resprayed but not that well. On closer inspection though whilst the chassis looks in good order, i.e. no major rust there are signs of rust around the roof guttering, rear wheel arches and at the base of the door pillars. It runs nicely but the engine is a bit oily and it has a current MOT.

Questions,
1 how can I determine how much rust there is to deal with and if it's worth the money?
2 what are the worst areas for rust and when should I just walk away?
3 any idea on the likely cost of a full body refurb, or is that like asking how long is a piece of string?

I want to use it for promotional purposes so would buy it and finance the restauration through my business but would prefer not to waste my money if the asking price is too high.

Thank you.

[ManyMinors]

Vans fetch relatively high prices now and £5000 doesn't seem to buy a really good one anymore. I was looking for one a year or two ago and had a budget of around £4000 hoping for a sound one in need of cosmetic work and a respray but gave up looking in the end. I've seen several very nice vans on the market for over £10,000 but that is far too much for me to spend. I don't doubt that restoration costs could reach this and more.

Supply and demand dictates values. Vans are in great demand and the supply is limited. They had hard working lives so most have had expensive restorations or need one now. Have a look on here and on sales sites such as ebay and carandclassic to get an idea of prices, then go and look at a few. They can rust almost everywhere but severe rust around the roof guttering is going to be tricky and expensive to get fixed.

Take no notice of the mileage. Do you REALLY think it is likely that a commercial vehicle did 500miles each year of its life??
Most Minors have been around the clock at least once by now whatever the adverts say

[les]

A lot of money for a van with rust in the guttering and b posts, the rear arches are not too much of a issue though. Guttering is an involved job, therefore expensive and the b posts probably have further rust behind. Recheck the chassis as its unusual to find no rust, all repairable but adds to the cost. Problems are often discovered underneath the obvious areas. If you're going to do all this work on a van this price, you'd probably be better to get a cheaper one maybe about 3k and do the same work.

[Neil MG]

I apologise in advance as I am going to be very blunt!

Without any doubt the best financial strategy is to buy the very best you can afford. In your case, probably the very best you can find. If you are paying for the restoration, you should be budgeting between £10K and £25k (just for the restoration costs) if you want a totally rust free and reliable, cosmetically excellent van. If it is badly corroded or needing total mechanical repair just start adding the thousands.

Note that this is not worst case or inflated. This is what it will cost. I assume as it is for your business then you are a businessman and as such you have a good head for finance. You should see straight away that the purchase plus restoration costs are much higher than even the most expensive vans! This is more often than not a total surprise and yet well understood by everyone who has financed a restoration. Real life is not "Wheeler Dealers" or any other done in a few weeks for a few grand situation.

If you have a lot of time (think 500 to 2,00 hours!) and space and patience and confidence (and some competence) and tools and the ability to find cheap parts bargains - then you can do it yourself for a few grand - as many guys on here have.

So my advice is walk away from this one and start looking for one that someone else has invested all the time and money in and buy it for a fraction of what it cost them! Then just have it checked over and refinished in your chosen livery.

It will save you big time in the long run.

[diggerjones]

Neil is totally right. I bought mine in 1999, it went on the road 3 or 4 years ago. I didn't know how good my van was until I had had it 10 to 15 years. Mine hasn't yet done 50k, and the chassis hasn't seen a welder or paint or underseal
.

[aupickup]

yes second the above comments

[diggerjones]

This summer[frame][/frame]

[aupickup]

very nice

[diggerjones]

very nice

Thanks, shame I don't have time to use it much, the caravan I mean.

[sid]

This summer[frame][/frame]

love the colour there used to be one like that in my local area.

[diggerjones]

This summer[frame][/frame]

love the colour there used to be one like that in my local area.

It's the original colour. Where abouts are you. Mine is from Monmouthshire

[irmscher]

Don't buy one with serious rot in the roof gutters and check the vehicle numbers

[Neil MG]

What happened to the OP?