1972 Crossover Dormobile - Full Restoration Work In Progress

[toffo24]

Loving the colour, very close to Brilliant blue. What sound deadening /insulation are you going to use? As I am also at this point in my refit

 

[Haveacamper]

cheers mate.

the sound proofing/insulation i have opted for is as follows:

silent coat from caraudiodriect - to cover above engine bay, engine bulk head and rear wheel arches as well as the roof!
3mm closed cell self-adhesive foam from ebay - to cover the floor
25mm closed cell self-adhesive foam from ebay - to cover the inside fo the side panels.

i opted for the proper stuff for the roof as i dont want this to come unstuck when the headlining is in place. also I went for the proper stuff for the engine bay area and this will be the bit i believe will transmit the most noise into the bus.

i may need to buy some more, but hopefully this will enough. it will be fitted before the bus goes to the upholsters.

 

[Haveacamper]

Well i go tthe bus back last night, just before we set off it started to rain, but then stopped thank god. managed to get the bus back to the barn safely. also had a couple of engine bits back from the paint shop so i fitted those last night - namely, the rocker covers and the fan shroud

as the engine bay is all neptune blue i have gone for plain black tin apart from the fan which will be done in neptune blue too

let the rebuild begin!

 

[Haveacamper]

ok so i worked on the my custom wiring over the last two sessions down the barn. unfortunately, although i thought that i had done all the automotive wiring, because I have gone from a RHD to LHD (and the fuesbox has remained in the same place) I have to shorten all of the wires to the clocks and switches. anyhow, i have made a good start by routing all of the wires through the floor of the cab and started on the lights and dash

clocks are in - although not all wired in yet

i have managed to get the inlet manifold of the porsche engine shot blasted and then powdercoated in silver
shotblast manifold

powdercoated manifold

all manifolds

i forgot to tell them to mask off specific areas of the manifold so there is a little bit of sanding to remove the powdercoating off areas such as the mating surface to the cylinder head.

 

[Trikky2]

Wow thats looking really impressive.

 

[Haveacamper]

cheers trikky

made a bit of progress this evening on the engine. got the engine pretty much rebuilt with all of the bits

manifold fitted:

and with the tinware and fan mounted. fan is painted in neptune blue:

NaFe

 

[Haveacamper]

not much visible progress this eve but a few bits of hose work and new airbox cover installed:

also started on the reintalling wiring of the dash. all homemade wiring being sleeved and installed:

 

[moler]

I've spent a good few hours looking through your thread from the very start, I have to admit to not reading everything (I missed the decision to ditch the other bus in favour of a rustfree import ) you have the patience of saint sir, all credit to you for keeping at it

Really liking the black roof on blue combo, and the black deluxe trim is a wizard idea...very nice 8)

I've a '72 Dormie to resto for some friends (thread shortly :msn4: ) and I have 12 months to complete all the welding, after reading the first part of this thread I'm beginning to think I'm crazy :?

 

[Doris]

those silver manifolds look sweet! 8)

 

[Haveacamper]

thanks moler, in short, the reason for me changing shells is because it would have cost me the same, if not more, money to get the RHD bus to the same standard as i achieved with the LHD bus than buyin gthe LHD shell and gettting it painted. this was due to the standard i was lookign to achieve. it means a hell of alot when you read that someone has read through your massive thread. i was starting to think that people may have got a bit dis-interested in the thread cos of its length. so thanks for reading.

cheers doris, i really like how the manifolds have turned out - although next time i will make sure i mak off the injector holes and manifold flanges lol.

 

[Benyon]

i was starting to think that people may have got a bit dis-interested in the thread cos of its length. so thanks for reading.

I for one am hooked! After keeping up with this thread for so long, its one of the few I still keep up with, I don't put it down for too long for fear of missing out on all the twists and turns - that and the time it would take to catch up with such a progressive thread!!

Keep it up Nafe!

 

[Trikky2]

i was starting to think that people may have got a bit dis-interested in the thread cos of its length. so thanks for reading.

You have got to be kidding right? Have you seen the number of hits your thread has? :lol:

Clearly theres loads of people following your thread though they may not post very often.

That's going to be one scary bus when its done. :mrgreen:

 

[monkeyvanwestybike]

Well i remember reading somewhere,

Old Chinese proverb

He who moves mountains starts by moving small stones!

and i say man who restores vw has no skin on his fingertips!

 

[Loxy]

Even I read it & I've only got to walk 20 yards from my back door to see it in the flesh! :lol:

 

[moler]

Even I read it & I've only got to walk 20 yards from my back door to see it in the flesh! :lol:

Now that's dedication :mrgreen:

 

[uber cool]

Engine looking good, who did the powder coating, was it local? can you pm me details and costs? ordered all the bits for my engine rebuild and they have arrived in the USA with Ib-bus, just waiting to get shipped to UK :mrgreen:

Once we get both these bad boy porsche engines up and running we should contact Volksworld and tell them we want a feature of Early Bay porsche twins :lol:

Currently my porsche engine is complete stripped and just a crank on the bench

 

[moler]

If I were to be interested in fitting one of those lovely 'bolt straight in' Porsche motors, what should I be looking for?

 

[uber cool]

If I were to be interested in fitting one of those lovely 'bolt straight in' Porsche motors, what should I be looking for?

funny enough they do bolt straight in :shock: that is the 4 bell housing bolts on the gearbox line up with the porsche crank case bolts.
Here after the fun begins :lol: I'd look for a running example, the early one like mine is carbs and points, so no major wiring issues, think Nafe has more plumbling and wiring than mine for the fuel injection.

Ive only altered the rear valance on mine to fit the cam covers and fabricated a rear engine mount, so no body or chassis mods required, even fits in with the air filiter bracket in place.

Mine has a hybrid flywheel, porsche inner and VW outer ring so using standard T25 starter motor. But not sure if that is required, mine just came like that as it had been in a VW before. Also you'll need to cut out one of your battery trays to fit the dry sump tank.

If you need parts you'll also need a big fat wallet and be expected to pay stupid money for porsche badged parts, or do what I do and stalk ebay for bargains.Also in the USA porsche website seems much cheaper.

Cost wise I'm probably still well under the cost of a 1776cc turnkey engine from one of the many VW suppliers

However once you get past all this the sound of a flat 6 running is awesome :mrgreen: Even not running they look mighty impressive. :lol:

 

[moler]

Any recommended suppliers of engines? or is ebay the place?

Thanks for the info btw

 

[rallye dale]

I read it all last night, was fooked just reading it :msn4:

Good on you for the dedication and attention to detail, hope to see the bus in the flesh soon

As uber says cant beat the sound of a flat six