71 Dormobile Spruce Up........

[wayne]

Hi mike how did you get here on with the cab bunk?

 

[Haveacamper]

Hi mate,

just wondered, do you still have the old Dormobile interior. i was wondering whether i would be able to borrow/loan it off you in the coming months to have my interior made up. the main thing i need is the bed mechanism etc. and the bit it mounts onto

 

[71Dormobile]

It's all in the van as I re-used all the old metal work stuff but just used new vohringer ply and made new panels.
Send me a pm with what your needing and I'll help out with measurements and photos etc if that's any good.

 

[71Dormobile]

Bump more pictures to follow..

 

[jsyboy75]

really interesting to follow your pics, lots of effort gone into the van (and the thread!)

Is that a picture of the front clip you didn't buy? Or did you buy it?

JB

 

[71Dormobile]

JB, sorry has been sometime since I last did any EB posting or Bay work, the front panel was up for grabs but I didn't go for it in the end, mine wasn't at all bad..

So time for action, lighter evenings dry weather etc.

Hit list is

Finnish fitting front bunk, cheers Wayne
Strip and refit roof bunks with new canvass, brackets sanded painted and ready for assembly
Sort out some sort of fridge / cool box set up without butchering the units or side of the van??!!!!
Get interior door cards and roof headlining sorted, hopefully J&S do the honours on the cards to match me seats.
Buy and fit a Smev cooker / sink assembly, if it will fit.
Plus the usual tinkering.

Pics to follow, wish me luck.

 

[71Dormobile]

Progress, sprayed bunk brackets and started to fit the bunk covers, da dah.....

Thought that the canvass seemed a tad short, reliably informed that you need to stretch the canvass once palced on the frames, will give that ago and post the results.

Also just booked a trip to Spain :roll: van booked to go in about three weeks time so best start getting ready / checking rubes over for our first big trip!!

 

[71Dormobile]

Bunks now in and finally fitted the under seat mats.

Before

After

Happy with the quality of these and the fit, although took me longer than I thought!

 

[71Dormobile]

Finally got around to fitting the ambulance fans, drilled a hole in the back of the duct and hid the wiring away neatly. Wired up plugged in and turned on these really kick out some air can't wait to use them on a run out....

 

[71Dormobile]

Bettter weather must be on the way soon, tought I would post a few pics of our trip last summer around Spain having sailed from Portsmouth into Santander and then travelled up through France to St Malo. A few snaps below will dig some more out and post these shortly, van (Ruby) was perfect on the entire trip and never missed a beat.

 

[gninnam]

Nice pics and memories no doubt 8)

Hope we do have a great summer :mrgreen:

 

[71Dormobile]

Great memories, to say the trip didn't go without a hitch would be slightly misleading, the windscreen wipers came loose the one day, used a band aid to secure and was soon on our way :mrgreen: I over did the journey distances between sites somewhat had some very long drives but made each one in a day....

From Santander to Noja was just 28 miles, Sat Nav misbehaved on the first trip and our Spanish was very poor, fab week when we landed at the site.

From Noja we drove across the border into Southern France to Tursac the journey was mostly on old N roads after we had crossed the border into France. This journey was ... and I've just checked it out on bing 379 miles, was pooped after that drive and to be fair the kids did very well to stay with the plot!

Uploaded a map of the route, stayed off most the tolls (blue route on map), don't believe the journey duration either travelling at 60 / 65 at best



Nothing like a bit of pre - planning on the old atlas before the start of the journey eh!!

Fab week in Tursac / surrounds, this was definitely our favourite site, as selected by our daughter. From Tursac we meandered again on a long ish journey to the Vendee, Avrille a jaunt of approx. 281 miles the route we took don't believe the journey time on the map!!, a slightly scenic route off toll!! Great campsite kids loved the water park and beaches were fab just 5 miles from the site.



Our final leg was from Avrille up to a campsite close to St. Malo just 170 ish miles this time so quite a breeze and then the final leg from Portsmouth – S Wales.





Great trip, planning the next trip now…..

Stop 1. Noja, Northern Coast of Spain a short trip from Satandar http://www.playajoyel.com/en/surroundings/joyel-beach.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Stop 2. http://www.levezereperigord.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Stop 3. http://www.campingdomainedesforges.com/accueil-EN.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Stop 4. http://www.ptitbois.com/UK/parc-aquatique/piscine-camping.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[71Dormobile]

Finally treated Ruby to some new cab door cards, thanks to J&S really pleased with the cards and the seat covers supplied
Treated the backs of the cards to a little plastic sheeting to protect from the elements. Very happy with the end result and does wonders for the sound deadening.
May bling the handles up a bit in time although quite like the original style a mix of new and orig much like the rest of the van.

 

[Rippers]

Beautiful restro very nice bus

 

[Dave.P]

enjoyed reading this thread, bus looks really good inside and out

 

[gninnam]

Inspiration 8) :mrgreen:

 

[blogdroed]

Just gone through this thread for the first time. Some cracking pics and looks like a hell of a lot of hard graft but I bet the pictures of the van being used as she should be used make it all worth while!

8)

 

[71Dormobile]

Ah cheers Rippers, squirt72, gninnam, blogdroed it's great to have positive feedback on the graft and van. Certainly been a long haul since starting out on this resto job, the family has grown and job changed so spending money on Ruby has been as an when.

Since last posting we've decided to take Ruby over to France again this year, looking forward to driving and camping with the kids and hopefully getting a good spell of dry weather.

Decided that I'd restore the roof rack, reckon it is an original Dormobile rack which I've dismantled stripped, serformed and sanded all the wood down also stripped the frame down to original metal. Looks like it's been galvanised which explains why it's lasted so well. Slightly worried about strapping it onto the van / gutters and chipping it on the roof rack, must be a way of doing this and minimising damage.

 

[mustard72]

good read, nice pics, nice bus!!!!

jason

 

[71Dormobile]

Cheers Jason. Steady progress on the roof rack now looking good, although not exactly sure how much stuff I'll actually stick up on top.

Just need to sort out the clamps now, spray them up and fit the rack back on Ruby.