Hi from new member

[Garyukuk]

Hi,
After wanting one for a long time I finally took the plunge and have bought a 1972 camper , but although I’ve always tinkered with cars from learning to drive in the early 80s I’ve never had an air cooled vehicle before and know it’s going to be a bit of a learning curve. with that in mind I thought I would join you’re forum , many thanks for the add.

Gary

 

[mike202]

Welcome to the forum!

If you are not familiar with air-cooled engines I suggest you buy a Haynes guide, or a Bentley guide or both. You will find them to be invaluable.

You could start a thread about your bus and add a few more pictures. What sort of engine have you got?

 

[Journey]

Welcome to the forum Gary. That's a nice looking van. Congrats!

 

[sparkywig]

Hello Gary, welcome to the forum.

 

[fallingoffalot]

Welcome Gary, looks great, which red is that (mine's "chianti")? Yes, more pics needed, inside and out

 

[ozziedog]

Great looking Dormobile, arguably the best of the crossovers with still the lowlight front and brakes, the earlier ones only dream about brakes Reckon you’re gonna love this. Check your oil every single time you jump in and drive anywhere, check your oil every time you’ve driven for more than a half hour until you become clear in your head exactly how much oil your van is using / dripping / burning/ wasting etc etc etc A new and just run in motor won’t use much oil at all whereas a motor with lots of miles on will use a tad more, the calmer you drive the less oil you use and the harder you drive the more oil you’ll use, cruising at 50 will use less oil than cruising flat out etc etc. Once you’ve got familiar with your own engine, you’ll know how often to check it. I check mine before every longish journey now or if I haven’t driven him for a while. I prefer to check my oil before I even start him up and make sure the oil is up to the top mark when cold and if I check after getting somewhere and it’s still warm, I’d expect it to be just under the top mark as the oil will still be all around the inside of the motor. The oil is quite important because it is a massive part of the cooling on these and overheating is generally gonna be costly.
Thats enough about oil and boring you to tears
As said above, big old welcome to the Earlybay site and enjoy

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,and as mentioned before, don’t be shy with the pictures

 

[redgaz54]

Welcome to the 'Dark Side', nice van/bus

 

[fatgaz]

Welcome, whereabouts are you on the UK as there may be others around that could help locally.

 

[Donegal72]

Welcome to the joy of owning a crossover, I've a 72 Dormobile too. As someone said above get yourself a Bentley manual, you can even find digital versions of it online, I found it much better than the Haynes, also there's bound to be some knowledgeable vw people near you, make friends with them as quickly as possible, they'll save you hours, maybe weeks of head scratching and wrong diagnosis, and probably only cost you some tea and biscuits or the occasional round in the pub. One of the things you'll quickly find out is that with a crossover there are two possible versions of every part you go to buy, I found that out when trying to fit new brake discs, an expensive way to find out ! A mate of mine also has a crossover and we have different brake discs, different indicator stalk, different engines (although I reckon his was changed at some stage), etc. What engine have you? If it's the type 4 the first thing I'd do is check that all the tinwear is on it as it is critical for maintaining the right operating temperature for the engine. Also a good thing to know is that you can still get Dormobile parts from Dormobile UK, they're not the cheapest but at least you know they'll fit.

 

[Garyukuk]

HI, Thank you for all the repliesmandnadvice , especially about gauging oil use/ loss Ozziedog. I will definitely try to get the Bentley manual because although the Haynes manual is ok some of the illustrations are a little basic

Welcome to the forum!

If you are not familiar with air-cooled engines I suggest you buy a Haynes guide, or a Bentley guide or both. You will find them to be invaluable.

You could start a thread about your bus and add a few more pictures. What sort of engine have you got?

Hi, Ive bought a Haynes but a will definitely look to buy the Bentley manual, thanks.

 

[Garyukuk]

Welcome Gary, looks great, which red is that (mine's "chianti")? Yes, more pics needed, inside and out

Hi, The restoration was done by the previous owner and am not sure what the red colour name is yet. I have a folder full of pics of the work he had done and a full folder of receipts from other jobs/annual services but didnt notice the colour ident when I looked through it. I’ll,have to have a better study of it when I get home but that will be in a month or so time.
Gary

 

[Garyukuk]

Great looking Dormobile, arguably the best of the crossovers with still the lowlight front and brakes, the earlier ones only dream about brakes Reckon you’re gonna love this. Check your oil every single time you jump in and drive anywhere, check your oil every time you’ve driven for more than a half hour until you become clear in your head exactly how much oil your van is using / dripping / burning/ wasting etc etc etc A new and just run in motor won’t use much oil at all whereas a motor with lots of miles on will use a tad more, the calmer you drive the less oil you use and the harder you drive the more oil you’ll use, cruising at 50 will use less oil than cruising flat out etc etc. Once you’ve got familiar with your own engine, you’ll know how often to check it. I check mine before every longish journey now or if I haven’t driven him for a while. I prefer to check my oil before I even start him up and make sure the oil is up to the top mark when cold and if I check after getting somewhere and it’s still warm, I’d expect it to be just under the top mark as the oil will still be all around the inside of the motor. The oil is quite important because it is a massive part of the cooling on these and overheating is generally gonna be costly.
Thats enough about oil and boring you to tears
As said above, big old welcome to the Earlybay site and enjoy

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,and as mentioned before, don’t be shy with the pictures

Hi Ozziedog, this is just the type of advice I need at the moment , I certainly will keep an eye on the oil , I said before I’ve never had an air cooled but that’s not strictly true as I own a 09 1200gs but that with being a modern bike needs no extra checking than any other motor. I know what you mean by the brakes , and the Steering takes a some getting used to but after the 1hr drive home i loved the the way it drives , especially the suspension ( like I flying carpet). I only have a few issues concerning the bus but will post them in the appropriate section soon.
once again thanks

 

[Garyukuk]

Welcome to the 'Dark Side', nice van/bus

Many thanks.

 

[Garyukuk]

Welcome, whereabouts are you on the UK as there may be others around that could help locally.

Hi Gaz, I’m in nr StHelens And thanks for the reply.

 

[Garyukuk]

Welcome to the joy of owning a crossover, I've a 72 Dormobile too. As someone said above get yourself a Bentley manual, you can even find digital versions of it online, I found it much better than the Haynes, also there's bound to be some knowledgeable vw people near you, make friends with them as quickly as possible, they'll save you hours, maybe weeks of head scratching and wrong diagnosis, and probably only cost you some tea and biscuits or the occasional round in the pub. One of the things you'll quickly find out is that with a crossover there are two possible versions of every part you go to buy, I found that out when trying to fit new brake discs, an expensive way to find out ! A mate of mine also has a crossover and we have different brake discs, different indicator stalk, different engines (although I reckon his was changed at some stage), etc. What engine have you? If it's the type 4 the first thing I'd do is check that all the tinwear is on it as it is critical for maintaining the right operating temperature for the engine. Also a good thing to know is that you can still get Dormobile parts from Dormobile UK, they're not the cheapest but at least you know they'll fit.

Hi Donegal72, I will certainly look get the Bentley manual I’m finding the Haynes ok but when I’ve bought them for other cars in the distant past they had better illustrations. I have noticed when looking at the specialist suppliers out there I might have a job on as to which side of the 1972 manufacture run I’m on and so will may have to have to remove the old parts(brakes etc as you mentioned ) to measure and confirm before ordering new. To my shame I’m not sure what type of engine it is and to my greater shame I’m not even sure what types there are. Even though it only has 62000 miles it was rebuilt by a specialist , has the 1641 big bore mod together with twin Webber carbs and electronic distributor it does sound glorious though and runs well although it can have a very minor hesitation when picking up the throttle.

 

[ozziedog]

If you have a 1641, that’ll be a type 1 motor with a tiny bit more displacement and twin Webbers will most likely be 34 ict s . That is the same as I have exactly, and I have the stainless vintage speed zoorst which is great mainly because it’s stainless and I think it sounds great. For an almost stock motor it’s just what you need for a reliable runabout.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,don’t have no fancy dissy though

 

[J4yman]

Hi,
After wanting one for a long time I finally took the plunge and have bought a 1972 camper , but although I’ve always tinkered with cars from learning to drive in the early 80s I’ve never had an air cooled vehicle before and know it’s going to be a bit of a learning curve. with that in mind I thought I would join you’re forum , many thanks for the add.

Gary

Lovely looking van. I have pretty much the same except mine is in resto mode at the minute although it's completely drivable. I think I want the same front seats as yours. Do you have a fridge in it or is it the old cool box? If you have a fridge can you let me know what it is. I am onto the interior once I have sorted my gear change out and some electrical gremlins.