1968 Dormobile on the road again.

[gninnam]

Looking niiiccceee wid da bling man 8)

^^^LWHS - colour :?:

 

[Loxy]

I have the same problem too with door locks. Passenger one has fallen apart beyond repair.

Custom & Commercial do lock rebuilding which may be the route I take eventually, or a new pair of handles could be on the cards. (they do the push button ones too).

My bus used to have one key per lock until I removed all the barrels (inc sliding door & engline lid & rear hatch)and rebuilt them myself, I now have one key to fit all doors 8)
Its not too difficult but you are likely to need some spare bits from other locks (I have some spare tumblers but they are from beetle/72 bus handles and I think will be different to yours).
The procedure is covered here:
http://home.clara.net/hallvw/lockpart.htm



EDIT:
Best to build the locks based on your ignition key as I believe the ignition barrel is difficult/impossible to change.

 

[Guest]

nice link :wink:

 

[our bus 68]

Thanks for link.... Very useful. Another job for the winter !!

Bus will be in Lotus White as it was originally. As it's such an early and original Dormobile want it to be as it was.

Does anyone know when the first bay Dormobile came out ? This was built 26/4/68 and is still the oldest that I know of. :? :?

 

[boatbuilder]

:lol: Nice one, haven't seen that before

I think I might have thrown away the tumblers that fell out of my lock cos I thought they were useless! :roll:

 

[spikehouseofdub]

hi
there looks like you have been busy . nice van look forward to seeing it with shiny paint .
i have just bought a 68 bay dormobile project . i dont know when she was first registered . the shell was built on 17th january 68 but i don't know when it was converted to dormobile and registered . my van too was lotus white and will be again .

 

[our bus 68]

Great to hear about another 68 Dormobile. sounds like you have got the earliest one !! .....so far

Looking forward to seeing some pics at some point.
Have you got the original interior ? would be gtreat to get these two vans together some day.

 

[our bus 68]

It's been a while since the last update.

I decided to get the old girl sorted out back in January with the bodywork and a respray at last. I was given a target date of June as she was going to be used at my brothers wedding.

First task was to sand off all the many different layers of paint down to a solid layer of yellow that was put on well back in the 80's. That was going to be my base coat to work from. All this was new to me as I had never done body repairs let alone a respray before.

I started spending most evenings and most of the weekends out in the garage, but things were progressing well.

Fortunately there wasn't in the way of too many horrors under all the paint. The worst areas were in fact under the side cover panels on the rear wings.

Once everything was down to the base coat. Work on the prepping and dent repairs started.
and all bare metal was etch primed before the first primer coats went on.

As the grey primer was going on, the first chance to see my van in all one colour appeared. Multicoloured was now a distant memory !! :lol: :lol:

With the final coats of primer applied. It was then time to transport her down to a large tractor garage at work where I started the final prepping for the top coats of Lotus White.
The garage was ideal. only 10 minutes away from home and equipped with heat lamps and extractor fans ! 8)

The top coats were started with only two weeks left before the wedding date. I knew it was going to be tight but I had to do it !

Final assembly took place with the roof going back on with the help from several neighbours with only four days to go.

With a full on push to finish everything was completed the night before we had to set off. Just as I thought I had done it it decided to run very roughly and for some reason she had ended with a failed spark plug. A quick swap and we were off ..... Mission accomplished

All ribboned up and ready for the open road at last.

All that I need to do is work on the interior next and get the top pop and bunks restored.

Rob

 

[bottom rung]

Its turning into a sweet bus! My dormy was registered on 8 July 68 but went thru the vw factory a couple of thousand ahead of your chassis number. No doubt they would have been at the Dormobile factory at the same time. Mine was also white, but is a long way from being back on the road. Its good to see buses like yours for a bit of inspiration and encouragement. My thread is under 68 Dormobile barn find; the van has progressed a bit since the last entry!

 

[gninnam]

One of the quickest turnarounds I've seen

Nice colour chosen - take it the chassis was OK.

Looking forward to the planned interior re-work - are you going for a new adventure or the original look :?:

 

[our bus 68]

One of the quickest turnarounds I've seen

Nice colour chosen - take it the chassis was OK.

Looking forward to the planned interior re-work - are you going for a new adventure or the original look :?:

Thanks I found having a target date really helped and made sure I carried on even when I was totally knackered. I wanted to put her back to Lotus White as she was when she came out of the factory.

Yes the chassis was almost perfect when I got her. The Mot tester said it was one of the soundest unwelded type 2's he had seen for a long time.

The interior will be all original as I have got 95% of the original interior in good condtion still and as she is so early she deserves to be put back to how she should be.

really got the restoration bug now which is great as I have another two cars waiting for the same treatment ! :roll: :shock:

 

[gninnam]

Top result and glad the original interior will be going in :mrgreen:

 

[71dormy]

real real nice bus dude.loving the colour choice! about the first bay dormobile my mate had a 1967 registered dormobile about ten years ago i will try and get reg no but that is earliest i have ever seen

 

[our bus 68]

Top result and glad the original interior will be going in :mrgreen:

Thanks, looking forward to getting the interior sorted. Not sure if it had tiles or a carpeted floor originally but will try t find out. However I like the look of the beige and white tiled flooring fitted to the van in this months camper and bus how to section. 8)

 

[our bus 68]

real real nice bus dude.loving the colour choice! about the first bay dormobile my mate had a 1967 registered dormobile about ten years ago i will try and get reg no but that is earliest i have ever seen

Thanks mate. Really apprieciate the comments. As I said this is the first time I have ever tried doing anything like this. It's not perfect but I'm happy with it as my first attempt.

Loved to know if your mates old dormy is still around. The first thing the previous owner told me was that she was possibly the oldest one on the road, but I think maybe one of the oldest left.

Rob

 

[windsurfer]

Wow, that's a transformation :mrgreen:

 

[our bus 68]

Wow, that's a transformation :mrgreen:

Thanks. A long way to go yet.