Don Madge Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Our Fiat Ducato 2003 Timberland Freedom 11 panel van conversion has gone into the Timberland works for a complete respray. The exterior is in a poor condition, the roof is rusty in places and a lot of the paint has flaked away. The decals have faded and the silver paintwork is very blotchy in many places. This is a common fault with some 2002 to 2006 Fiat Ducato’s. These pics are two of the rust spots on the roof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Hi Don, Have they a proper respray/bake booth? Personally I would have taken it to a body shop who specialise in vehicle bodywork and do nohing else.. Did you get different quotes, as I am sure it was not cheap..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Madge Posted June 23, 2011 Author Share Posted June 23, 2011 JudgeMental - 2011-06-23 7:53 PM Hi Don, Have they a proper respray/bake booth? Personally I would have taken it to a body shop who specialise in vehicle bodywork and do nohing else.. Did you get different quotes, as I am sure it was not cheap..... Hi Eddie, The problem I had was the average body shop did not have the expertise to remove and put back the two roof vents, double glazed side and rear windows, solar panel and TV aerial. I saw a van that Timberland had just resprayed and they had done an excellent job. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 But was it done correctly, with corrosion protection/rectification?. Or just a good cosmetic finish. It's no good putting a great coat of paint on top of established rust, unless it's been neutralised and properly primed first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
art338 Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 As a long time metalworker, that's serious and, as Peter says its now unknown what its like under the paint. If it were me I would be frequently monitoring the insiide. Watch for any lifting (bubbling) of the paint around the outside suspect areas. art Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesFrance Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Nick posted about these body shells being fully galvanized, so it is surprising that you are seeing rust breaking out under the paint. Maybe this galvanizing is not sufficient after a few years and proper preparation and paint scheme would be better? http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=23076&posts=3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crinklystarfish Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 I guess part of the problem is that commercial vehicles generally aren't factory painted up to the standard of modern cars. Witness the countless 5 year old (or younger) 3.5 tonne delivery vans that are already rot-boxes. Timberland seem to have decent standards and good workmanship and I'd suspect they'll do a better job than Fiat. They'll also be in a better position to repair any damage caused removing windows, and know how to re-bed them on non-setting mastic etc. A Seitz window to a standard bodyshop would lead to much head-scratching. I'd be confident that once painted at Timberland the van will be good for a decade or more. Even if some of the rust persists it could be treated early and locally over the coming years. It'll be right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starvin marvin Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 We had the same problem with a 2003 IH van, when we asked IH to sell it for us about 2 years ago the first thing they looked at was the roof! So this issue has been around for some time. We were unaware of it until I went up the ladder to have a look myself In my experience commercial vans have a superior paint finish due to white van mans lack of care. However when you remember that this is Fiat its not surprising. I wouldn't trust them to get anything right, but still a huge disappointement. IH couldn't sell our van at the right price so we traded it in as it was. Buyer beware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crawf Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 Hello Don This matter keeps coming up. I had the same problem with an 05 Trigano. The paint started to peel on the roof last year when it almost five years old. The peeling was extensive and the Fiat dealership paintshop said it was an acknowledged fault and due to the timing between applying the base coat and the metallic paint finish. It seems that metallic grey/silver, particularly, does not bond well if this timing is not right. If you look at your paint ID plate under the bonnet you will see the name of the paint manufactuer. Their website is very helpful at detailing all the problems that are associated with the paint not being applied properly eg peeling,blistering,etc. Also, just as an aside, some van converters are known to paint white vans different colours. If you have white paintwork under the bonnet then it's nothing to do with Fiat. The solution is costly as the finish coat has to be taken back and the base coat keyed. There was dubiety about the work being done outwith warranty but further discussion between the dealership and Fiat UK eventually paid off and the outcome was that I didn't pay for the work. It may be relevant that the camper was acknowledged as having been well looked after and regularly serviced. After the work was done there was a noticable difference in the look of the roof to the rest of the van which although washed and polished regularly was dull in comparison. This was also put down to sub-standard paintwork by the factory. The message here is that if you don't live next to a chemical plant and you keep your van clean and free from other corrosive matter and the paint starts to peel off - then it's not your fault. It's the manufacturers fault and this shouldn't happen during the reasonable life of the vehicle. It is surely of concern to all who have Sevel van conversions that this problem has been recorded on forums spanning 03 to 07 vans. One would have thought that the quality control or lack of it would have been addressed by Fiat. I decided to trade in my camper (my third Fiat) a year later and have bought a similar new camper van but this time it's white and it's a Ford. I hope I'm not out of the frying pan and into the fire but I thought a break from Sevel Sud was long overdue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Collings Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 I just happen to have the 1994 onwards Ducato workshop manual with a diagram showing the panels that were either single or double galvanised. Most vertical panels were double but the roof was single. I do not recall hearing of this problem prior to the 2003 model year and I just wonder if there was a drop in the level of zinc protection after that date. I have had a look at Dons van and the corrosion has really bitten deeply in a manner that was common back inthe1960s before galvanising became the norm on auto bodies. Galvanising is highly effective in stopping or restricting the spread of rust . I accidentally scratched the rear wing on my Ford Focus almost six years ago and despite standing out in all weathers it took three years for rust to appear and this has still not spread out of the bottom of the scratch. All thats needed is to get Fiat to acknowledge there is manufacturing defect ,,,,,, simples,,, not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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