cheap bambi ebay needs work

[old hippy]

 bambi on ebay ok it need some work could be money spinner get it for right price  /120853222359

[Pirate]

About £500 would be a good buy, but i bet it goes for more 

[slowcoach]

That would need thousands spent on it to be remotely habitable / road worthy, without a doubt. 'Give away would be a good price, as I would be amazed if you could get it sorted by DIY for less than £1800'

Should be stripped, broken and purely sold for spares.

Assume the worst. Always. I saw a terrible Bambi sold on Fleabay the other day that was living on the isle of white or something. Had everything wrong with it if not worse than mine plus a higher milege. One of those ones with terrifying pictures but seller says it's got nothing wrong with it. Poor soul.

[Pirate]

I have done vans worse than that!
My mk1 escort camper was bought for £75, complete with sunshine floor & rotten sills, I did loads of welding & filling & partial respray, total cost? Just over £300 with a new MOT
I reckon I could do that Bambi (if the mechanics are ok) for about £500, It does say the cab & arches are ok?
Even if you bought for £500 & spent the same again on sorting it, you could double your money!

[slowcoach]

The really difficult and expensive bit would be sorting out the Bambi. All the timber frames will be sodden and will need ripping out. List of jobs would be as follows!

Remove all interior.
Remove Poly/Ply skin by frames.
Refit framing
Redo walls
Redo interior.
Repair aluminium corrosion
Redo exterior railings
Relay mastic
Etc etc etc

But obviously the way Tim Thornbury repair the walls and roofs would be more efficient than the way I did it.

You'd be spending a fortune on building materials, plus the time and energy needed to do the job is enormous. People just don't know what they're getting into. I sure didn't! You can't just fix one of these things mechanically for it to be job done. If the bambi stucture / frame is compromised, you've got no structual rigidity. One large gust on a motorway or lorry overtaking too quickly and whole roof could get ripped off, in theory.

[Pirate]

I agree, the rear body would be a major job, It would need gutting inside & a new frame & walls, I have rebuilt a caravan that had major rot to the entire front & right side, it took around 50 hours to repair, and cost me around £270 in materials plus another couple of days to remove, reseal & replace the outer aluminium trims.

If it was closer to me, I would still buy it, as I have a scrap van with good mechanics & plenty of spare time to take on a challenge 

I quite like the idea of starting from scratch, as the interior could be custom built to my own spec, and a really nice modernised interior would result 

I looked at a fair few Bambi's before buying mine, all of which had damp/rot issues, but were well overpriced.

Even after showing the sellers the results of a damp meter, none were prepared to take a fair price, there is always some poor sod who will buy them without a clue to the hidden problems!

I was very lucky with mine, the only bits that needed repair were minor & quickly sorted out, the chassis & cab were as new, even the front arches are original & rust free, as the van was only used in summer & kept under cover during the winter.

[Pirate]

I wasn't far out, it sold for £511.09 
Did one of our members buy it?

[old hippy]

well it back on ebay £795

[Pirate]

So it is, £725?
Wonder if it will sell this time?
A good project, but not one for the faint hearted 

[Rascalvan10]

The problem is that some are still good under all the dirt etc, but some have so much rotten timber as slowcoach says, it is a big job to put right. If you the time and the building to do it in, then it is a job that can be done. I have just fitted a new roof, which we made in house.
I have also fitted new sides etc, but then you have to ensure the rest of the vehicle is ok.
Otherwise it could cost thousands.
Parts are becoming more expensive and more rare all the time.
We can't get fuel pumps at a good price anymore. Last year we could sell them for £54.95+vat. Last week i did a price check and can't find them for less than £70+vat TO ME.
Our importers have stopped buying them, and locally our motor factors have simply doubled the price !!.
Regards Tim

[old hippy]

soory could nt see straight it is 725 got lost in translation

[Pirate]

I agree that even service parts are becoming harder to source now, motorquip are no longer stocking condensers!
Luckily, i recently broke up a van for spares, all mechanicals were good, but the body was more than shot, it looked as if it was used as a taxi in a salt mine
Why do the newer vans rust so much?

[Dell Boy]

The late ones were made in Japan & dont appear to have had the same quality of rust prevention applied as the Luton built vans had.

Derek.

[Pirate]

That must be it, my van is a 92 & is in pretty good nick, the one I broke up was a 97, all wheel arches were shot, cab floor & both sliding doors had more holes than a tea strainer!
The good news, the engine/box/axle have only 39k on them, seats are excellent & front doors are pretty good too, a good buy for £120