Stage 2 of our VW Crafter campervan conversion was the arduous task, dreaded by all van builders and that was to remove the original floor and (if any) ply lining on the walls of the van, and treat these areas for rust. So in this week’s edition of our Vw Campervan Conversion diaries, we’re going to take a look at what we consider to be the best campervan rust treatment, and our step by step process from start to finish.
I wanted to make sure this job was done early in the build, mainly because we had no idea what state of the body work would be in. Yeah, we had a good look underneath the van and all was in order when we purchased it, but you can never truly see the extent of any rust until the floor is removed…
FORTUNATELY we were extremely lucky and other than the odd speck of rust here and there, there were no holes and nothing a wire brush couldn’t take care of. It’s worth mentioning that our van is fairly new and we live in Portugal. Vehicles in Portugal generally are less affected by rust – unlike the UK! Bloody British weather ey! Here’s a video of what it looked like after a good wash and a repaint:
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Probably the worst affected area on our van were the rear doors, under plastic kick trim. This is common on most vans because it’s a high foot traffic area and the back door area of the van can be prone to water ingress.
So to tackle this rust, I used a wire brush along with a wire brush bit on my drill to sand back the surface rust until bare metal was showing. Once all the visible rust was removed, I wiped the area clean with WD40 degreaser and spray painted 3 coats of gloss white Hammerite (direct to rust) This isn’t the exact colour white as the VW standard white, however we really aren’t bothered for the floor area which will be covered anyway.
It’s not the most enjoyable job but rust treatment is so important for the longevity of your vehicle. If not addressed, it will spread like wildfire and eat through your pride and joy.
A tip for when selecting your van to convert, is to learn what type of life the van had before you bought it. This should be obvious to check for any second hand vehicle, but when it comes to panel vans specifically, check what type of business used it first.
Builders vans are renowned for being abused and often go for cheap, but be aware you might have to spend more on restoration. Things like heavy equipment and wet or abrasive materials can really destroy a van over a relatively short space of time. If you notice ‘brand new’ ply lining in the back of a ten year old van – be aware it may be covering some rusty nightmares! Especially in colder, rainer climate countries.
We chose an ex-parcel courier van which had been leased from new by the company and kitted out with VW factory lining from the beginning so this was actually a selling point for us.
Later on in this build, we plan on using the original floor and lining in certain areas. It also gave us the advantage by having airline rails throughout, also known as “L-track” But first it all needed to be removed.
I removed all the ply lining in the back of the van with a flathead screwdriver and a drill (6mm bit) . The ply was held on with plastic trim clips (pictured below) and some needed to be drilled out because they were already broken. You could use a trim removal tool to remove these but I managed ok with just a screwdriver. Pop the middle part out first and then gently pry up the rest.
Important: If you need to drill the clip out, first check there are no wires behind the panel/area you’re going to drill.
Another commonly rusty area on a panel van is the sliding door step area. This area is a little more tricky but it’s simple enough to remove the plastic step on a VW crafter 2019 with an impact driver with torx bit. First I had to remove the plastic caps with a small flathead screwdriver. TIP – spray these cover caps with WD40 / brake cleaner etc to loosen the grime, making it easier to pry up to access the bolts.
There’s about 6 or 7 bolts that hold the step down if I remember rightly. (sorry for the lack of photos)
Once the step was removed, I could clean and treat any rust underneath. There was actually no rust here on our van, but I gave it a good clean and coat of paint just for extra protection anyway.
One last thing to note on the sliding door step area… On the VW crafter 2019 model like ours, the plastic step is actually quite heavy. I was originally going to remove it all together, however I discovered it actually aids in the closing of the slide door. There’s a bottom rail built into the step for the lower door runners to slide into. I’m not sure if this is also the case for older crafters or similar vans? But either way I decided it was worth keeping in.
All in all, these initial jobs are well worth doing if you want to invest in your campervan conversion. They’re the foundation of a good quality build that will last for years to come. I get that it’s the phase of the build process that feels like you’re going “backwards” and not seeing progress, but I reckon it’s worth it for the peace of mind.
Things To Note During Your Rust Treatement Process
- On the VW crafter 2019 the rear light and reverse camera unit can be an area where water ingress occurs. To prevent this, Me and my dad battled to remove the cluster from unbolting and unclipping from the inside and gently prizing up from the top/outside. Once the unit was lifted, I used sikaflex 522 sealant to waterproof and seal the unit around the edge.
- Another common area for unwanted water ingress that could eventually lead to rusting the body of the van, are the external black trim panels around the van. There are plenty of videos online showing how to remove these without damaging them, especially the clips that hold the trim onto the panels. Older model vans such as the old model crafter and sprinters were renowned for letting water in, through the trim clips. People would remove the trim and add sealant to these clips to make them watertight. Fortunately, the Crafter 2017 onwards has solved this problem with factory fitted rubber grommets on the trim clips, thus preventing the water ingress when the trim panels fill with rain etc.
Best Campervan Rust Treatment, Products & Process. A Quick Overview
- Remove any wall & floor coverings to access the bare metal panels
- Clean the areas of dirt & grime. For this we used WD40 degreaser, a wire brush and elbow grease.
- For us, the best campervan rust treatment was the blue tin of Hammeright rust spray because it’s a direct to paint rust prevention specifically for metal, making it easy to apply with no extra steps needed
- Repaint the treated areas
During this stage of the build process, I have enjoyed going over the whole van, checking for the small details that will ultimately give us a good foundation to the overall conversion. After all, this is an investment to our future van-life and I get a nice sense of fulfilment seeing something being restored, (sad I know haha)
Next post on our VW Crafter conversion series will be “Installing the Mains 240v Hook Up Socket” The first hole cut into the van!
Thanks for reading and if you have any questions or just want to join the discussion about all things travel and van life, head over to our Facebook group or you can contact me directly via dec@officertravels.com
