Zoltan will came in under that price for me.  He's in Lynnwood near Seattle.  If you're close, it is will worth your time to bring it to him.  I just saw mine today.  I'm ecstatic with the work so far.

On Sep 25, 2010, at 1:10 PM, Peter Lapp wrote:

> I've actually been working on my seams the past two weekends and am painting
> them as we speak. I don't have it bad at all, but there were a few seams
> that were beginning to show a little rust, including the infamous driver
> side "kitchen seam". I took the whole interior out and found a little on the
> inside of that seam as well. Not much, but enough.
> I sandblasted the inside seams and put POR-15 on top. I also cut out and
> sandblasted a few problematic seams on the outside. Then I resealed them and
> am in the middle of putting on some zinc chromate, primer, and paint. I
> don't think my paint job is going to be that great, and it may not be
> exactly the same color(I got my original color from paintscratch.com), but
> slightly mismatched paint is better than rusty seams.
> 
> I have no body/paint experience at all. I'd like to take it somewhere, but I
> don't think anyone would do it right for under 5-10k. It is one big PITA to
> do by myself though.
> 
> 
> 
> On Sat, Sep 25, 2010 at 1:35 PM, Tom Hargrave <thargrav@hiwaay.net> wrote:
> 
>> Zolly,
>> 
>> The reason body shops don't do this kind of work is a typical Vanagon or
>> any
>> other vehicle owner won't pay for body PM type maintenance unless it a
>> "apparent" good deal that's shoved down their throats when they bought the
>> car new. Ziebart undercoating is a perfect example. The sales pitch goes
>> something like "if you don't buy this expensive undercoating package your
>> car body will rot away and the doors will fall off in 3 years and it's NOT
>> SAFE FOR THE KIDS!!!". While this may have been the case in rust prone
>> States in the 70s, it's no longer true for any good car made over the past
>> 20 something years.
>> 
>> So it's "drive and forget" until someone is willing to pay a body shop to
>> cut out rot and weld in new steel or worse, cover it up with Bondo!
>> 
>> But you already know this - maybe some Vanagon owners in your area who are
>> in it for the long haul will enlist your services. I've replaced enough
>> rotten steel over the years to know that prevention is always cheaper than
>> replacing.
>> 
>> Thanks, Tom
>> www.stir-plate.com
>> www.towercooler.com
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf Of
>> Zolly
>> Sent: Saturday, September 25, 2010 12:05 PM
>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>> Subject: Seem rust restoration, etc
>> 
>> I have been busy with restoring Vanagons now for years.  Full restorations
>> and partial body repairs, beside the general repairs I do, or the regular
>> fuel line renewals.
>> But some of you only would need seem rust elimination, which I do on all
>> the
>> vans I do and can be done without painting the whole car, saving the van
>> from destruction.
>> The most common rust is long seam under the inlets on the driver side.  It
>> can get out of hand and occasionally would lead to replacement of the
>> rocker
>> panel.  Mostly it is rust coming from the inside from the insulation being
>> soaked with water and keeping the seem wet all year around.  It is not a
>> problem for the non-camper vans though.
>> An other common area is the right rear side seam, just above the wheel
>> arch.
>> Behind the rear wiper bottle.  Although not as bad but the constantly wet
>> insulation does the same from the inside and at times it can be terrible
>> also.
>> The Vanagon has about 43 feet of seam on the outside that by now has
>> hardened and cracked most places.
>> I cut it out as deep as possible, treat it with anti-rust agent, paint the
>> inside with POR15, prime and apply new seam sealer, then paint it with the
>> original color.  Insulation is replaced with non water absorbing kind after
>> the area has been similarly treated.
>> It is a delicate job, requiring steady hands and experience.
>> The removal of the camper's kitchen unit and restoring the area behind it
>> is
>> obviously the most demanding and time consuming work, but it has to be done
>> to save the vehicle from certain destruction by rust.
>> This kind of work is not a standard body shop item and would not be
>> received
>> well.  Very unusual and awkward to them.
>> 
>> I have pestered the List members before with my advocacy of fuel line
>> changes, which I do very often, being also a "Save our Vanagon" item that
>> is
>> urged by the passing of time that makes the rubber hose hard and cracking
>> and being under 36psi pressure, the 25 years old hose will start pissing
>> onto the cables that may jump sparks or the hot exhaust that would start
>> the
>> fire.  Some of you will lose your van to fire this way, others will get the
>> fuel lines changed.
>> 
>> If anyone is interested in the above items, may call me at 425 773 4646.
>> 
>> Zoltan
>>