Opinions please

[SLR_dave]

Well said SLRdave, there must be allot said about standing back and admiring what you have restored. Not everyone is fortunate enough to find rust free Vans or Utes but Im sure no matter how much it costs to restore one, to the person who did it, priceless!

Yep, agreed, and, it saves another irreplaceable van, its part of our national Heritage. Holden is closing, no doubt bout it atm. One day there will be no more.

If you want the Sandman as it is one, and are intending to spend $ on it (which is the sensible thing to do ie restore something with desirability) then don't contemplate a body swap as you just about need another HX Sandman shell to do it and it needs to be from the same body plant as yours ie Elizabeth or Acacia Ridge. A HX Kingswood van from the same body will just about do the same job but you'll always be able to find the welded up holes in the quarters.

Best bet is sell it and buy a better one. $20k will evaporate fast on body and panel, you'll buy a pretty good HX or HZ Sandman for that.

I dunno bout that, quite so straight up, I'd be looking for just a little bit more precision before I acted on that call. Best advice intended though I'm sure.

I think that the start of the answers on this thread begin with the assumption that the WB shell was to be used as donor shell, (perhaps the consideration was actually just that it be cut up for panels? I don't know, and note - no pics yet!!

Anyway as I mentioned in my post, the description of the rust is not necessarily a 20K repair at all (as I hear it) - sounds more like 6-8 k to me. (depends how you go about it), you get a better job doing it stages, micromanaging it yourself, even if you cant do the panel work.

But sure, I agree that if you just handed the thing over to a shop and say "fix it" you may easy get a bill for 20k +, and you'll never know what really happened at the shop.

But also, what you get buying an original sandman for 20 k will need work anyway, and again, you'll never know whats underneath the paint.

Politely, I'd just add that for those who own a really good Sandman, it must be pretty easy to forget how hard they are to come by, and just as easy to suggest that one that has panel repairs will never be equivalent, and that the repairs will always be evident (perhaps they will or wont,....) - It depends who's looking, sometimes you'd have to look pretty hard. The car however would still be a genuine restored item.

There's original Mustangs and restored Mustangs, and completely original Mustangs in equivalent condition will always be worth more than a restored Mustang... but who has one of those?

As long as the history of the repair recorded, or evident, it's still an evident Sandman at least. And, also, you'd know what you have, (which you might not, buying one off ebay).

C'mon guys, I reckon its pretty hefty advice to suggest scrapping/selling without first seeing even pics of the car! The rust might not even be that bad!

So, I'm gonna question that 20k would necessarily evaporate... (Scuse me Byron, but I just felt I should question that).