1972 Danbury interior help

[Rosko]

Hello, new member here

I've got a mostly original 1972 danbury tintop but the interior cushions in the back have been redone in nasty cloth (see pics if it works!). Are there any Danbury experts out there who can give me an idea what the original was like? I either want to go back to that or get them done in anything better than whats on now!

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Shaggy]

Hello Newbee, I have a crossover as well although I can't give you advice on your bus here is some other advice

Never leave hold of what you've got until you've got hold of something else

Always handy when climbing up a vertical cliff

 

[Rosko]

Good advice- I'll hang on to the current covers until I get hold of some more. Just foam would look terrible :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

we have a few Danbury 'experts' on here I believe - will wait for them to turn up ...

 

[Rosko]

I was hoping that might be the case but I don't like the look of those inverted commas. I'd hate to go for an original pink fun fur retrim only to find out that the expert was bogus....

 

[Anonymous]

sorry that was probably mis-leading - we really do have experts for most of the main conversions on here ... in fact one of the Danbury guys is going to do a write-up for the History section on Danbury ... (halfpint_fighter - he has a 72 Danbury ..)

 

[Araon]

And what may I ask is wrong with the 72 only pink fur trimmed Danbury....
The guy I got it off swears blind its a Ltd run.....
:lol: :lol:

 

[Danbury Doug]

Hello Rosko. You've got a lovely original van indeed! 8)
My parents also had a '72 crossover tin-top which they bought new. It had the Type 4 1700 engine.

Very early Danburys had a pale blue/grey colour upholstery, but by 1970/1971 the choice was either red or blue. Most that I've seen had the red. Ours did and it looked great.

Click the link below to see (if the link works!) the Danbury owned by 'Wannabay' which has the original seat covers. 8)

http://forum.earlybay.com/viewtopic.php?t=1369&highlight=danbury

Doug

 

[Rosko]

Thanks for that Doug
They do look very nice indeed don't they? Might go for the red but in leather, I'm not sure the kids would appreciate the type of material and being able to wipe clean comes in handy too!

 

[Danbury Doug]

You're welcome, Rosko.

I agree, a wipe-clean surface is more practical! The seat covers on ours were in shreds by the time we sold it, after 16 years and us 4 kids, aswell as all the wear and tear of being used as a daily builders truck etc!

It's so nice to see these very original Danburys turn up. I've owned two late bays so far. My next one will be an early, possibly a Danbury if a good one turns up. 8)

Keep us informed of progress on yours.

 

[Rosko]

Certainly will keep you informed Doug, I'm loving at everybody else's vans so it would be morally wrong to hide mine.
Be a shame to take it too far from original as it even came with the delivery note detailing extras, the typed up instructions for sorting out the beds and the complete toolkit.

One interesting change so far is the two solar panels on the roofrack- no help getting up hills but they constantly charge the leisure battery so theres an inverter that runs two 3 pin plugs up to 800watts. Nice for halogen heating when needed (50 weeks of the year).

 

[halfpint_fighter]

Those red covers on wannabays are defo original. Mine has covers over the top of them.

I am trying to remember who on VZi had a blue danbury so i can find his website pics!

 

[Danbury Doug]

Those red covers on wannabays are defo original. Mine has covers over the top of them.

Indeed they are. I have photos of ours before we sold it... but there was more foam visible than fabric, they were that worn!:lol:
Rich Oakley over on the Just kampers forum has a good website of original Danbury photos... but the whole forum 'crashed' recently, so the archive can't be accessed at the moment.

The solar panels sound like a good idea, Rosko. 8)

 

[halfpint_fighter]

Rich Oakley is the guy i was trying to remember! I found the link for his site

http://home.btconnect.com/oakley/option.htm

2 nice danbury's on there.

 

[Rosko]

Thanks for that Olly, that man Oakley has some very nice vans doesn't he? I was well pleased with finding mine, compared to the 79 Devon I had before its immaculate, but the bodywork on his 72 puts mine to shame. I'm more and more convinced that back to the red is the only way to go.

 

[halfpint_fighter]

Rich Oakley has a habit of finding very original 1 owner low mileage stuff.

Red interior would defo look nice, I like the TMI dual tone covers.

mmmmm red and cream and wipe clean!

 

[Danbury Doug]

I've seen a couple of Danbury 'minters' for sale during the past year or so.
One was a 68/69 and the other a '72 crossover. Both were 'feature-worthy' vans, and had I not had my firebus at the time, I would have been very tempted! 8)

 

[halfpint_fighter]

I really like the Danbury interior. I know it isn't as full on as a westy but i can use the van for so many different things.

Obviously we use it as a camper and i like the fact that the luggage can stay on the back when the bed is made.
A couple of weeks ago i picked up a cement mixer for my bro and we got that in the back without taking out the buddy seats. On the same day we had 750 kg's of sand and ballast in the back.
We have had 6 of us in there going to a concert.
We picked up a sofa from ikea.

Whatever the occasion...get the campervan out!

 

[Justin & Muttley]

...Whatever the occasion...get the campervan out!

Too true! 8)

 

[Rosko]

Have to agree with you halfpint fighter. I haven't had a westy but the Danbury is way more flexible and practical for just about everything compared to my old Devon. If I ever moved anything big in it I always caused some damage and regretted the whole thing. So far so good with this van (runs off to touch lots of wood...)