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Twist or bust... 80 series body refurb

Dave_S

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Aug 8, 2012
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1,657
Sooooo... after a bit of soul searching we committed to getting the body on Jan's 80 series sorted out. Rot to be cut out, plus colour change. A few early pics of the tear down...

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im going down exactly the same road next year.
it looks in pretty damn good condition. much better than mine.
you mention colour change. this is something ive struggled with. original colour, that I do like. or a complete change. I keep telling myself ive made my mind up and im sticking with the original colour. I can foresee a last minute knee jerk reaction being made on the day...
 
Aye CG - TBH if it was me, I would stick with the original, but Jan wants to go solid grey with a bespoke striping (watch this space). Doing the wheels and re-making the steps at the same time, plus a few other little jobs whilst its in bits. And, yes - it was in better condition than I feared! Underside is pretty much rock solid.
 
the bespoke striping sounds interesting...
 
Nice to see someone else taking the plunge.. I was going to get mine to MOT level then have it as a rolling Resto/project, But the more I get into it the more im thinking , This is gonna end up a major strip down.. Which would be nice but I don't really want to go down that route.. Rolling project is what im hoping for... Good luck with it Dave...Crack on!:thumbup:
 
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Trouble with a colour change, done properly, is that one has to clean and prepare all the rebates which entails taking the doors, boot lids and bonnet off. In my experience it doubles the amount of work. Those rebates are a nightmare to prepare even on a new panel.
 
Aye, agree with you Frank - the body guys are intending to do the insides of the doors and the shut lines etc. Fortunately as Jan is looking at a colour not too dissimilar to the lower section of the truck as it is, it'll look tidy enough. Ultimately we have no plans on selling it any time soon, so impact of any paint change on resale value is not an issue.
 
A subtle change is not too bad but I could not live with red to green lol.
 
Well.. .the colour change ultimately was a bit more than a tweak. All the rot was cut out and repaired, the bump strips deleted and a few other small mods... and then the 70s Day Van stripes. The doors insides and the shut areas all done in the new colour incidentally. Be interested to hear your reactions - Jan loves it, though I guess purists may not ;-) but frankly I don't think she cares. LOL!

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Nice job, in a "retro" kind of way.
No bad thing though, extending the life of a classic icon.
 
Yeh! Looks the Biz mate, Quick turn around Too, you've cracked on,Nice job...:thumbup:
 
I think its pretty cool. Well done Jan for being brave enough to go for it on this one.
 
The striping isn’t to my taste, but as said, it’s none of my business :lol:

I like the color though, and it’s always a pleasure to see a refurbed 80, and an owner that cares for her “pride and joy”.

Lovely looking job :thumbup:

I’m considering facelift #2 on mine this year, entailing removing the protective film “wrap” put on after the re-spray 3 years ago, touching up the paintwork where necessary, and repairs to 3 rust areas that have appeared at the top of the windscreen and one blister at the bottom of the drivers’ side rear passenger door.

The wrap has suffered loads of scratches which is good, ‘cos it shows that it’s done it’s job of protecting the paint. It’s just got to the stage where the truck looks quite shabby now, and it deserves to shine (when it’s clean).

The biggest job is to get the rusted ARB front and rear bumpers back to black... :icon-rolleyes:
 
Cheers all. For my part I really like the base colour and think we might use that again on some future projects. The stripes are 70s/80s day van inspired - all sprayed, no decals involved. And now its a good solid base to keep working on the oily bits as and when required.
 
im not over keen on the stripes tbh but love the base colour and rest of the truck.
well done, I think more and more 80 owners will be looking at doing this. these trucks are worth it.
whats with the 12 valve bumper?
 
I thought that about the bumper, looks slightly out of place. I'd have filled the holes and it would have looked "correct" then.
 
LOL - no idea on the bumpers - they were what was on it when we got it 6 years ago - always thought they were the right ones TBH. Which bumper and what holes? What am I missing...?
 
Also the 24v sticks out further.

I like it dave. base colours mint. stripes peesonal preference but it makes it a one off. as long as Jans a happy bunny ;)

Glad you devided to stick with it mate.
 
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