Step by step with 1983 VW Vanagon

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KristianS

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Hi guys!

Just joined the forum today after some lurking.
I'm a active member over on Audizine and have the pleasure of looking after two brilliant black Audi's beside my newly acquired VW Vanagon.

The Vanagon needs a bit of help and that's why I'm here.
As you can tell there some rust spots but overall in very good condition.
I just yesterday scooped a Griots Garage 6' DA and was hoping to use it sometime soon.

So how should I approach this project? I've added a few pictures but it's hard really to tell but I think you get the picture.

Thanks in advance,

Kristian

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If I were to detail this- these would be the steps I do.
1) test to see if this paint is single stage or not
2) wash van using 2 bucket method
3) clay entire vehicle (wheels- paint- glass)
4) iron x entire vehicle
5) knowing whether paint is one stage or not will determine paint correction method: if one stage- I would use some megs #7 and then HD Speed. Clear coated paint- I've been loving the Boss creams
6) for long lasting protection I've been using PBL
7) tires and wheels- look into McKee's 37 products

I'm sure others will chime in. If you have any questions feel free to ask.
 
Looks like ss.Take a cloth with some polish on it and see if you get paint transfer,or rub your fingers over the hood and see if color is on your fingers.Then go from there as far as a process.
 
Thanks guys! The paint is transferring off when I rub my fingers over the paint.
 
Yep, pick your poison as far as name brand of product but Jay's process is the same as I would do.
 
KristianS said:
Clay before Iron X? Not the other way around?
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Iron x first.I would use 151 by meguairs on that.using any compound on that old finish will thin it even more.your goal here is to make it shine.I would top that with hi temp wax very durable stuff.
 
Should any special precautions be taken with Iron X around the rusty chips in the first photo?

Kristian, I don't know your plans for the van, but being white paint, you might be able to have that repainted with good results, especially if it's a smaller panel.
 
Actually the ironx x will make that rust bleed out then you can touch it up.
 
Thanks again guys

I wasn't planning on doing much with the rust for now. Its minimal and only a couple of spots. Maybe a touch up would be a good idea.

For now the main focus is on getting all the contaminants off and make it shine again
 
People have their ways of using Iron X. For myself, I clay first then Iron X. My reasoning is that there can be all sorts of contamination that interfere with Iron X. So if I clay first, the Iron X goes onto just the surface. Less product used as well.
 
Thanks! Yes I will for sure. It will be a slow process for me. I try and collect all the products and pads first
 
L90D Pastel White is indeed a single stage paint. It's also THIN! Much thinner than other colors applied to Vanagons. The T25 was primarily a delivery/utility van in Europe and as such VW churned out basic panel vans in droves...all painted white. They slapped the white paint on thin and fast and sent 'em down the road knowing the owners (mostly fleets and businesses) wouldn't care about a perfect, long lasting finish. All the other colors, however, were typically applied with much more care as they were going to private owners.

The upshot: it's very easy to burn through the paint, even with a DA machine. I've worked on more Vanagons than I care to admit and it's rare to see one without burnt paint on the tricky seams. As others have suggested, avoid aggressive compounding. I'm currently helping a friend restore his '89 Whitestar for sale and like Jim's suggested I plan on hitting it with HD Speed after IronX/Clay/Wash.
 
markiteight said:
L90D Pastel White is indeed a single stage paint. It's also THIN! Much thinner than other colors applied to Vanagons. The T25 was primarily a delivery/utility van in Europe and as such VW churned out basic panel vans in droves...all painted white. They slapped the white paint on thin and fast and sent 'em down the road knowing the owners (mostly fleets and businesses) wouldn't care about a perfect, long lasting finish. All the other colors, however, were typically applied with much more care as they were going to private owners.

The upshot: it's very easy to burn through the paint, even with a DA machine. I've worked on more Vanagons than I care to admit and it's rare to see one without burnt paint on the tricky seams. As others have suggested, avoid aggressive compounding. I'm currently helping a friend restore his '89 Whitestar for sale and like Jim's suggested I plan on hitting it with HD Speed after IronX/Clay/Wash.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for the detailed answer! Really appreciate it
 
Shipment was just dropped off by UPS. Almost ready to attack the project.

Only thing left is the pads for the griots DA.

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Okay time for a update. Wife and son out of town so I had some time to put some effort into making the bus look decent again.

Keep in mind this is the first time ever for me working with these products and also the griots da.

I'm happy with the result but learned some valuable lessons down the road - one of the is patience.

My goal was to get a bit of shine back to the paint and also protect it from further damaging from the California sun.

I started out with a two bucket wash and followed up with clay bar - contaminated like crazy.
Followed up with Iron x, which is absolutely amazing, cleaned out most of the smaller rust spots and cleaned up the rest of contamination.

Two layers of Megs # 7 - I found this product to be very hard to get off again with a microfiber cloth? Is this common? Used my hands for this job.

HD speed, amazing!! Two layers and wipe down. Really brought back the shine.

And finished up with a thin layer of the high temp wax.

Again, I'm not super comfortable with all the products and the machine but it came pretty natural to me and I had a lot of fun with it - except for the clay bar part.

And, getting good pictures is kinda hard with a iPhone.

A few pictures.

Before

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After

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