My very original 1970 Dormobile 68000 miles

[Deano]

I thought that the toilet would create interest!!!!!!.........i have never seen one before.

Thanks for everyones interest and comments.

 

[Deano]

Finally taken off the cross ply's and fitted some wheels i had.........i will refurb the wheels i removed and put back later!!!!!!!!
This is what it looked like before!!

And now with White bands!!!!!

 

[Camperdan]

Hi Deano,

Looks cool with the white bands and should be a little safer too with the radials!

Dan

 

[Deano]

I have done a little work on my1970 bay although i have only replaced the outer pop top edge seal,both the air vent seals and both fixed window seals and insert,all parts from http://www.dormobile.co.uk and the all appear ok.

 

[Loxy]

Need to replace some of my roof seals. esp. the poptop edge seal as mine was painted with dulux by prev. owner, How much were they? Is the fit good?

 

[Soup]

is the grey van 'chinchilla grey'?

Looking good like the blue danbury also!

 

[Deano]

The seals that i have replaced on the pop top have been purchased from http://www.dormobile.co.uk telephone number 01794 830831 they are very helpfull,all the parts i have got have fitted ok.
The roof vent seals were £11.00(per pair i think)
The fixed seals and insert were £18.00 (per pair again but you do need a tool to fit the insert)
Roof edge trim was £14.00, the good thing with this company is their parts they supply are very similar to the original dormobile spec and the quailty and price seems very good and the guy that you speak to on the phone is very helpful

 

[Rusty Lee]

Cool Van mate like it alot

 

[Deano]

Before the repair

I am still trying to keep things original and replace like for like where possible.........I got a replacement interior light cover from http://www.dormobile.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; .....once again a big thank you, fits perfectly and looks original

Great original look!

 

[dancingbay]

nice van and posh and chuff, glad to hear you're trying to keep it original...
enjoy the shopping

 

[Deano]

Finally I have tracked down both the front bunk 'b' post brackets, fitted them and tried out the bunk.

The good thing with the bunk is that it matches the other 2 bunks and it only requires 2 hole in each 'b' post.

 

[Camperdan]

Nice Deano!

Been so long since you last posted about your van I thought maybe you had done-a-bunk....... turns out you had.... a cab bunk :lol: :lol: :lol:

Dan

 

[andyandvic]

Finally I have tracked down both the front bunk 'b' post brackets, fitted them and tried out the bunk.

Where did you get your hands on the brackets for the 'b' posts.
I managed to get a cab bunk off ebay for last week for £21.02 but I need the brackets.

 

[Deano]

lol.........i know it was me who sold it to you!!!!!

 

[mattyd72]

Finally I have tracked down both the front bunk 'b' post brackets, fitted them and tried out the bunk.

Have you got a close up of the brackets ?

I have just pulled a complete dormobile out of a shed and its FULL of stuff, and I don't want to chuck these away

 

[Deano]

I can't believe it's a year since I last updated my post, that doesn't mean I have not been working on the van in fact I have but I have also been driving it and enjoying it very much.

So I thought I would just update my post with what I have been doing.

Over the last year there has been no major changes or renovations but I have been redoing the touching-up that has previously been done to the bodywork but I have been using the correct paint colour not the 'Ford grey' that the previous owner used.

I think the front doors look much better now!

In April and after spending The whole weekend cleaning the van she starred in a fellow EB's wedding (camperdan) and looked the best I have ever seen the van look.

Whilst using the camper over the May bank holiday and on our way down to North Devon, we had just left the M3 and were travelling down the A303 when ...........Disaster struck.........the engine cut out, the warning lights come up on the dash, we luckily managed to limp into a layby, after carrying out a few checks I discovered that the engine would not turn over more than 90 degrees........there was no answer but call the AA!

Not good!

On arriving home we repacked, went in my car and still had our holiday but stayed in a hotel!!!!!thank god that the surf was good or it could have been a complete disaster!


On returning home i removed the engine and started stripping it down to discover what had gone wrong.
I knew it was not going to be good when I removed the rocker shaft to numbers 1&2 cylinders and the exhaust valve on cylinder number 2 came out..........without the head!!!!!!!

Removing the head I discovered.........

and the head did not survive very well either.......although the cylinder wall survived

The plan is to overhaul the original engine and put it back in as if it had never happened, i will be cleaning up the engine,tin wear etc but I will not be painting anything as I want to keep that original look! I did discover that the original clutch was worn down to the rivets meaning I would have to remove the engine fairly soon anyway!

You can see the 'vw' stamp on the clutch in the photo.

I have since fitted my spare 1776 that was removed from my other van that I scraped a while ago, although this engine was fitted with twin webers I had to remove them as I did not think they would fit in the engine bay because one of the manifolds would foul the oil bath support on the left hand side.I fitted a new standard 34 pict 3 carb that did not work well with my 1776, so I took the bus to http://www.southerncarbs.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; who retuned and rejetted the carb and boy it drives great now, I would recommend them and it was well worth the £150..........she drives so sweat now!!!! They fitted;
55 slow running jet
135 main jet (redrilled)
and advanced the timing.

I am gutted that I have had to remove the engine on such a standard unmolested bus but I am sure I can refit the original engine be it overhauled internally without spoiling it, in the mean time i will enjoy the extra horses and the fun of a big engine.

I will update my post when i rebuild the engine but for now i am enjoying the extra power!

 

[Camperdan]

Woo Hoo..... Deano's thread has been resurrected!!!!!

Bout time you updated these good EB folk with your V-Dubbing shenanigans.

Thanks again for getting me to the church on time... and as saddened as I am that your engine let go on your hols... boy am I glad that didn't happen on our way to the Church!

Glad to hear that you got the 1776 all in and tuned ok.... as you don't want to cook that one too!
And also pleased to learn that you are gonna recon the stock motor and stick that back in, as.... now don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of lowered busses with alloys and large motors... just look at my own for example... but when a bus is as original and un-molested as yours is it just seems to be the right thing to leave it well alone and just as VW intended.

Let me know if you need any help!

Cheers

Dan

 

[gninnam]

Sad about the engine, but not the end of the world and at least with the other engine you can keep on motoring

 

[moonbus]

I am led to believe that both of these curtains are original does any one know if thats true.

I have a full set of these and was told by the owner they are the original.

I also have a set of these minus the front curtains....once again does anyone know if these are original?........does anyone have a front set for sale.

hi Deano, i know this was such an old post but i can confirm that the first curtains pictured are definately originals.
we have an original dormy with the same original curtains, and i have also seen this patterned curtain in a bedford and landy dorm conversion .
if anyone has a curtain or fabric like this for sale , ( any reasonable condition considered) i would be interested . I need to replace the tailgate curtain

 

[moonbus]

I am led to believe that both of these curtains are original does any one know if thats true.

I have a full set of these and was told by the owner they are the original.

I also have a set of these minus the front curtains....once again does anyone know if these are original?........does anyone have a front set for sale.

hi Deano, i know this was such an old post but i can confirm that the first curtains pictured are definately originals.
we have an original dormy with the same original curtains, and i have also seen this patterned curtain in a bedford and landy dorm conversion .
if anyone has a curtain or fabric like this for sale , ( any reasonable condition considered) i would be interested . I need to replace the tailgate curtain