Not sure if this is normal?

Hi noticed this today on the inside of the sliding door and not sure if this is normal on these type of vans. It looks very untidy and certainly not a smooth finish at all. Would appreciate thoughts on if this would be a normal part of the build process.

I noticed similar in the same place (albeit left hand side sliding door) on a VW Crafter based conversion at a campervan show last January (when such events were possible!) and it looked to be factory paint over the top, as per your example. I thought it looked rough. Given your photo, I now presume that’s how Crafters, and so also Grand Calis, are finished.

There’s nothing like that on the Transporter/ California.

I did take a photo at the time, but must have deleted it unfortunately. Hopefully other GC owners can provide comparative photos

Certainly looks very poor to say the least. It will be interesting to hear if other GC's are the same.

Hi Mark, just went out to check ours. Not quite as rough as yours but still pretty poor. Looks almost like a resin finish over the welded joints.

Hi Mark,

is it a normal part of the manufacturing process? Yes, it is seam sealer, made to cover and seal areas where panels have been welded or overlapped, the purpose is to prevent moisture getting in between panels and prevent rusting.

seam sealer should last the lifetime of the vehicle.

That is not to say the application could be a lot better, but that is slightly subjective, although given the the context of a high cost Camper I think there is massive room for improvement and finesse.

Unfortunately there is little you can do by way of remedial work to practically and effectively improve the exiting look and finish without major remedial works which would involve full removal of the painted sealer and surrounding area back to bare metal (albeit galvanised) them re prep and reapply sealer, re- paint all affected areas, which would be the whole side of the van, obviously this would not be practical, and could be counter productive due to being extremely labour intensive, invasive and potential extensive Repaint

Hi both thankyou for your picture and explanation,

finished Working through the set up of the van today everything working well. Now just need to get that weekend away..