71 Dormobile

[Coleman]

This is our 71 Dormobile.

New to VWs, bought it for some adventures away with the family

Its pretty much standard inside and out, original Dormi interior. A previous owner having done a lot of work restoring it.

Would like to do a few bits to it over the next few years, leisure battery, maybe lower it a couple of inches, tweak the engine/exhaust a bit.

Is an alternator/electronic ignition worth doing?

 

[mike202]

Welcome to the forum!

I would say electronic ignition is worth it if you don't want to have to reset point every so often. I have had a Pertronix flamethrower 1 for 6 or 7 years now without problems. If you do it's best to keep a spare set of points to put back in the dissy in case of any suspected problems with the electronic module which can fail, although a lot of people have not reported problems.

 

[Coleman]

Welcome to the forum!

I would say electronic ignition is worth it if you don't want to have to reset point every so often. I have had a Pertronix flamethrower 1 for 6 or 7 years now without problems. If you do it's best to keep a spare set of points to put back in the dissy in case of any suspected problems with the electronic module which can fail, although a lot of people have not reported problems.

Thanks Mike, will look at that over the winter, (1st priority is fitting a new garage door so I can get it out of the weather!

Have read all your Monty thread - nice bus and some great trips you've had!

 

[ozziedog]

That looks great, and for what it’s worth,I’d drive at stock height for a while and see how you get on. Mines lowered about three and a half inches just to get him in the garage. I’m now removing the lintel and raising my garage door in order to raise my bus back to stock height. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be down there .

Ozziedog,,,,,,,welcome and glad you’ve joined us :mrgreen:

 

[mike202]

Welcome to the forum!

I would say electronic ignition is worth it if you don't want to have to reset point every so often. I have had a Pertronix flamethrower 1 for 6 or 7 years now without problems. If you do it's best to keep a spare set of points to put back in the dissy in case of any suspected problems with the electronic module which can fail, although a lot of people have not reported problems.

Thanks Mike, will look at that over the winter, (1st priority is fitting a new garage door so I can get it out of the weather!

Have read all your Monty thread - nice bus and some great trips you've had!

Thanks. One of the first ‘parts’ I bought for Monty was a new roller garage door so he would fit in the garage!

 

[fallingoffalot]

Welcome and yes I agree with the lowering thing. I've had mine up and down recently, it was so low that the exhaust hit speed bumps, now it's up at about 3" from stock. It does look cooler, but it actually doesn't really matter and it's quite expensive. So about £1000 for an adjustable, narrowed beam fitted and £300 for rear adjustable spring plates. Then there's new tyres for the front as stock will probably rub.

IMO the most important thing is to get it mechanically right and driving nicely (taken me about a year to get there!)

Also remember that these things are old and don't drive like modern cars. I think the engines were originally specced when having 40hp was actually compared to having 40 horses towing your carriage!

Looking forward to some more pictures!

Sent from my SM-G9600 using Tapatalk

 

[matty74]

Exciting times ahead ... looking forward to some more pics.

Welcome to the forum [emoji106]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[gas1man]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaha definitely BORIS' twin. Also a J reg and by the looks of things also a Neptune Blue.
Welcome to the forum. Happy travels.




J & P

 

[Coleman]

Probably about time for an update!

I did a bootcamp at T2D and had them check it over. Issues were many and varied, bearings, shocks, steering box, brakes, clutch and to top it off a load of end float and an engine on the way out. Should have been more clued up and not bought the first one I saw. hey ho. If anyone is reading this is thinking of getting their first bus - take someone with you who knows what they are looking at - or it could get very expensive, very quickly!

So in for a penny it got the following; 1641 recon vw engine company, late bay drop spindles and discs, blistien shocks, adjustable rear plates, all new links, king pin, steering box rebuild, clutch. Fuel tank cleaned out with new hoses etc while the engine was out. Its now dropped by a 2.5" or so which is enough for me (and our drive). Bought some 15" smoothies (or so I thought - turned out to be off a Type 3) so spent last year without hub caps which got me a load of grief off the missus.

We went on a fair few trips last summer, local in Suffolk and Norfolk and some longer trips to Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Warwickshire all without any issues.

It always had a bit of a hesitancy which has been cured now with a flamethrower ignition, coil and leads as well as having the original oil bath air filter fitted. While I was at it the vintage speed exhaust went on and a 37mm carb. Got some smoothies in cloud white also.

Really happy with it now - plenty enough go and a nice exhaust note, and it still looks stock in the engine back dept. T2D have been great.

Few pics on its travels, looking forward to this year - thinking of going abroad - maybe France or Holland...

 

[Coleman]

Some pics from today, next jobs are leisure electrics & hook up, maybe one of those diesel heaters. I want to take my time over these as the interior is original and I want to make it 'fit'.

Also at some point the cushions for the seat/bed and buddy seats need to be re-covered and filed with some decent foam.

 

[gninnam]

Very nice van and looks to be in top condition so enjoy while you can

 

[mike202]

Nice pics. I replaced the old foam in our Westy recently and bought a pre cut set from GB foam direct. I was fine apart from the foam in the engine deck cushion which was too firm for us and had to buy a slightly softer foam for that cushion. There’s a difference between sitting and laying down on the foam, then again someone else may not have had a problem with it.

 

[Coleman]

Nice pics. I replaced the old foam in our Westy recently and bought a pre cut set from GB foam direct. I was fine apart from the foam in the engine deck cushion which was too firm for us and had to buy a slightly softer foam for that cushion. There’s a difference between sitting and laying down on the foam, then again someone else may not have had a problem with it.

Thanks Mike.

I see you put a petrol heater in Monty - that makes a lot of sense tapping off the fuel tank. Do you have a link to the one you used?

Will check out GB foam.

 

[mike202]

Air top Heater 2000 STC Petrol Gasoline Kit 12v with Rotary Rheostat - 4114674A

Webasto 2kW 12 Volt Petrol/Gasoline Heater Kit A compact, quiet, and economical heater. The Webasto Air Top 2000 STC offers optimized fuel efficiency, This is the most compact Webasto petrol heater with a heat output of 2 kW. It has an impressively low level of electric power consumption and low...

www.butlertechnik.com

like this one. I had a local autoelectric company install mine in 2013. I'm not sure which supplier they got it from, but I did have to wait a couple of months for it to arrive and then take Monty to them. They had installed a few of them in campervans/mohos.

I think Webasto are the only company that make petrol fired heaters. I like the rotary control. The cheap diesel heaters that look the same weren't around in 2013, but I would still have this one now, as I like the simpler option of being petrol and a T in the fuel line and it's a well known brand.

I have added a silencer on the exhaust and also on the air intake since fitting, which has made it quieter. In fact when its been running for 10 minutes you can hardly hear it outside the van. Definitely one of the best additions I've made, as Monty is used for camping a fair bit.

 

[Coleman]

Air top Heater 2000 STC Petrol Gasoline Kit 12v with Rotary Rheostat - 4114674A

Webasto 2kW 12 Volt Petrol/Gasoline Heater Kit A compact, quiet, and economical heater. The Webasto Air Top 2000 STC offers optimized fuel efficiency, This is the most compact Webasto petrol heater with a heat output of 2 kW. It has an impressively low level of electric power consumption and low...

www.butlertechnik.com

like this one. I had a local autoelectric company install mine in 2013. I'm not sure which supplier they got it from, but I did have to wait a couple of months for it to arrive and then take Monty to them. They had installed a few of them in campervans/mohos.

I think Webasto are the only company that make petrol fired heaters. I like the rotary control. The cheap diesel heaters that look the same weren't around in 2013, but I would still have this one now, as I like the simpler option of being petrol and a T in the fuel line and it's a well known brand.

I have added a silencer on the exhaust and also on the air intake since fitting, which has made it quieter. In fact when its been running for 10 minutes you can hardly hear it outside the van. Definitely one of the best additions I've made, as Monty is used for camping a fair bit.

Thanks Mike - had a look at your thread and that seems just the job, simple - I like that too.