My 1970 Dormobile story so far

[VWAIRCOOLED]

Thanks for the comments guys,it has been a hard slog to get it to where it is.I wanted to get it to the stage where I could drive it around a bit,get some use from it.Then take it off the road again and finish it.I don't think I'd want to do another one this far gone again though.

I had to repair the N/S/F seat base/wheel tub as I couldn't get one any where.I will replace it soon though.I seam welded it to the connecting bit and have tacked onto the wheel arch so I can remove it easier when it comes to replacing it properly.

I was quite happy with how the cab floor section went on.

I also repaired the lower section of wheel tub,which will come with the new part when I replace it later on.

 

[goose]

My God what are they going to do to our van GOOSE. Good luck in your project

 

[VWAIRCOOLED]

My God what are they going to do to our van GOOSE. Good luck in your project

Looking at the pictures of yours,it doesn't look so bad,I hope someone hasn't filled it up with expanding foam,fibreglass, news paper,filler and seam sealant though.Good luck with it,I hope it all goes well for you.

 

[dubberdaz]

You are doing an amazing job there! So you have a US westy too?

 

[VWAIRCOOLED]

Yes I couldn't help it,I'll start another resto thread when work commences on it,I've had a quick look and it needs one front outrigger/jacking point on N/S and one jacking point on rear.Also one O/S/F chassis outer spur replacement.Firstly sort the engine on it.

 

[Justin & Muttley]

Lookin' good fella... 8)

 

[tintintin]

Great work,

I can't help feeling a bit of a light weight when I look at your project..

 

[VWAIRCOOLED]

Cheers People.Next up was to sort out the drivers side front area,not much pictures though,This was going on a couple of weeks before Vanfest 2007.I removed and replaced the Wheel arch with step,front cab floor half,wheel tub/seat base outrigger,jacking point and repaired the inner wheel arch and bulk head.Then painted in Zinc primer,undersealing the underside and a bit of paint on the arch and cab floor.

Then I had a good going over it,replaced the all 4 tyres with commercial rated Firestones of standard size and it passed the MOT a few days before Vanfest with a bit of headlight adjustment.I was going to replace the rear lights as some weirdo put these on, but ran out of time.What are they from?

We made it to Vanfest,I decided to replace the plugs,points condensor and distributor cap when I got there as I ran out of time before.I put a brand new battery on before I left,I also carried a spare new battery and a jump pack just incase as it would be a long way to Vanfest! It made it there but I discovererd a hot start problem which I solved by replacing the battery earth lead.I may add a starter solonoid relay too soon.

This was the earlybay line up on Sunday.We got there late Saturday evening so missed the Saturday one.

 

[VWAIRCOOLED]

I done a little more to it before Brighton Breeze,putting some standard rear lamps on,I found the sides and tops where uncut,someone had just cut all the corners out to fit those ugly lights on.I just had to make a cardboard template and cut out some corner pieces from sheet metal and weld them on,primer and paint them.I also got some new lenses from Brighton Breeze and fitted them there.Rear end looks much better now
8)

Then trouble struck on the way to the Northampton early bay meet when the engine gave up,the exhaust valve on number 3 snapped and embedded in the piston.
So when I got it recovered back,I rebuilt an engine using a 1.3 single port beetle bottom end from my mums old '69 bug (the engine is older than that even) Which was a good one with no play or end float.I converted it to a 1.6 twinport using decent second hand barrels and heads,new stainless exhaust valves and gaskets etc.Also fitting a Weber 32/36 and Scat manifold I got from Ebay.And sourcing all the correct tinware etc,much of the old tinware was rusting away.Picked up a Kadron back box from Slough meet (from a bug) Which didn't fit the header I had.So I cut the flange off and welded it in the right place,now I'm happy with it.

From this junk heap

To this

I've since got a chrome dynamo pulley to put on too.It runs really nicely now compared to the unbalanced heap that was fitted before with upside down pistons and different bore sizes on each bank.I've just got to sort out the throttle linkage now to get full throttle.Also I will probably repaint the tinware etc when I pull the engine out next time to paint the engine bay.Go with a more classical look I think.

 

[Haveacamper]

amazing work dude! really appreciate the efforts you are going to to get it back on the road. makes mine look like a lame effort.

you got a pm

NaFe

 

[Thirteenwindows]

I did originally put a thread up on JK last year which has now gone with the fairies,that was before I found earlyay.Anyway I thought I'd start the story again here of what has happened to my Dormy since buying it on 06/06/06,yeah I know I didn't realise at the time,still easy to remember the date.I'll add to it as I go along.

Anyway this is how it looked when I bought it (I cut the lower front panel off before doing the pictures)

Heres whats left of the front chassis sections

Front windscreen surround and the last tax disc (confirmed with DVLA)

As you can see this was no 5 minute weekend job.Things always look much better on Ebay!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dude where did u pick up ur bus? in the bottom of the ocean?? I have serious respect for the
work ure doing there my fellow English brother.! Good lord.!!!

 

[VWAIRCOOLED]

It's been a while since I updated this,but work has continued,although a little slower than I hoped.The last time I posted was Jan 2008.
I bought a few panels in the early part of 2008 a lovely RHD slider from nellybus which was south african,a pair of rust free cab doors and an engine lid from mark wilson who carole put me in touch with.

Not too much happened to it until around June time,when my mate who is a bodywork man started doing a day a week getting the panels back to metal,any rust found was repaired with new metal.And getting all the removable panels ready for paintwork.

 

[71Dormobile]

Nice red & white bus :mrgreen: keep up the good work...

 

[VWAIRCOOLED]

Thanks 71, but it won't be staying red and white,although that would be my second colour combo choice.I actually bought the paint early last year for the main colour because there was all this panic about 2 pack paint was going to be replaced with water based.Anyway I chose LH5K guinea blue and bought probably enough to do 2 vans at well over £200.
I also fully rebuilt the engine last year,TES align bored the case and reground the crank,supplied all the bearings and cam bearings.I then rebuilt the bottom end and replaced the barrells and pistons for 1641cc ones.Rebuilt the heads with crack free twinport ones and fitted all tinware and weber progressive on there.
On the body front there was more welding to do on the roof and guttering,the lower front valance needed repairing and generally bare metalling and primering the bodywork.

There was rust around all the dormobile roof hinges,the front one being the worst.
Before

After

Someone has replaced this tailgate by the looks of it,very solid and rust free.

I'm pleased with how the drivers front corner of the roof turned out,I had to cut out a big window in the metal to repair the box section running along the roof,then repair the outer skin.

I also bought a rot free 1970 beam earlier this year,because I'm thinking of a little project to do on that,but not sure if I'm staying stock or not yet?

 

[VWAIRCOOLED]

Although I put a good donor front clip on it,the lower valance had a few thin areas with some pitting so that need sections of new skin let in
New section fabricated

And flushed

More sections going to bare metal

I was quite surprised by how good the window frames where considering how bad the rubbers where.The only bit that needed welding was the passenger side rear lower bit

And last week I finally got a bit of fresh paint on my Dormy after stripping the elevating roof,Sanding it back and 2 pack primering it,it got a coat of L90H Cream white, the roof on the actual bus was painted the next day.Getting excited now with all the shiny new paint.

Over the last few days the body has been 2 pack primered and blocked down ready for its final coat of LH5K Guinea blue.Today it has hopefully been painted and I'll see it in the morning now

 

[Bessie]

What a massive project to take on...another early bay saved.
Great work mate.

 

[VWAIRCOOLED]

Thanks for the kind words.It has indeed been a big project,on and off for over 3 years now!

The bodywork was painted the other day.I forgot to say the inside bits where painted a couple of days before with all the panels off and the insides of the panels painted then refitted.I'm very happy with the paintjob,there where no reactions or runs.It wasn't painted where it is,I moved it to the unit next door as they always get good paint results there,mines too oily :roll: Just need to flat and polish it now,then start putting it back together Also I'm very happy with the colour combination of LH5K guinea blue and L90H Cream white,looks better than it does in the pictures in my opinion anyway.

 

[VWAIRCOOLED]

Oh yeah,thats not the engine staying in there,although it is a good single port engine which I stripped ,checked and replaced some bits etc,I've fully rebuilt another engine to go in there,nothing too exciting though just a 1641 twinport with a progressive weber.

 

[Clem]

Good work Jase

My last van was Guinea Blue .... I never tired of the colour all the time I had it. When I went to choose a respray colour it was the first to choose itself for me ... so I like it!

 

[ground hugger]

I like that shade of blue,looks very clean and you don't see many bays painted in it "I haven't seen many anyway"Looking good