1973 Commer Campervan Restoration

[pauloliver]

Hello, along side my T25 project i also have a Commer camper i am restoring. I have owned it nearly a year but unfortunately progress has been slow.

It has 44k on the clock on a 1.8 engine with a 4speed box.

When i got it:

[pauloliver]

It would appear whoever tried to 'fix' her before, was totally not up for the job and should probbaly never fabricate again...what a mess, it was better rusty!

[pauloliver]

Cupboards were soaked at the bottom and rotting, hardboard floor was also soaked, think I'm gonna dig out the saw and make my own units later on

And a few close ups of the main rot on the floor



A quick clean up with a wire brush on an angle grinder, floor doesnt seem too bad[]

[pauloliver]

Back doors are off

Rot lurking beneath the rear corner

old vs new

lots to rebuild!


Nice small hole in the floor, seems to make a change compared to others i have seen

And finally, you can see some of the metal i found for the dolly i am going to make for the commer:

[pauloliver]

Home made inner panel tacked in, yeah its shady looking but its hidden[]


inside of the arch after some quick rust removal with the wire brush


Easy enough hole to patch up on the arch


Yummy yummy yummy rot

[MK2VR6]

Wow, it's still on it's crossplies!! Well worth doing, and cool alternative to a dub. Keep up the good work!

[pauloliver]

Not the worst door ever but bad enough!







I found making the corners a bit of a sod, but these should do the job, nobody really sees them anyway!







Go easy on me about the quality of work, its been a while since i picked up the welding torch let alone cut some metal!

[leigh]

Fair play to you man that's a lot of work but it'll be so worth it. Always preferred Commers to the usual VW campers, so much character to them. You're doing well there too by the looks of things. Oh and welcome to the forum!

[pauloliver]

Cheers dude the traditional bays and splits are cool and all but get a little boring as they are so common. The commers are quite rare in comparision so its pretty cool to have something different to the crowd!

[leigh]

My sentiments exactly, I'm not dissing VW's just nice to see a Commer instead. My GF loves them and has notions that she wants one too! You've plenty to keep you busy there for a while anyway!

[Deleted]

That's a monster project, but one I shall happily follow along with. These little old Commers are in my Do Want list.

[waveman1500]

Great work! So much welding...

[remmoc]

Great project , will be watching with interest , good to see another Commer reborne

[Em]

What a cool little camper that's going to be! Looks like a fair bit of work ahead of you, but a distinctive and different van when it's all done!

Best of luck mate, consider yourself bookmarked!

Oh, and welcome aboard!

[Siert]

Wow that's a lot of work, but Commer's are really cool so it should be all worth it!

[Davenger]

There's some heroic bravery going on there.
Nice one

[fordf350camper]

Cool camper.Great work.Lots to do..But less than when you started.Love it

[petetong]

you got your work cut out there!! but think its going to be worth it all in the long run..

[pauloliver]

Well it has been a while since i posted as its been a while since i actually did anything! Finally found some time in the evenings to get cracking on with the Commer ;D

Front of the van has seen a bit of surgery, far from finished though!

From this:



To this so far:









Hoping to finish the valance tonight, then i am off on holiday for 2 weeks, then more work can be done!

[Alpina99]

This looks like the sort of thread I enjoy,
Please keep the updates coming,
:-)