Ret my 1972 Dormobile project

[retro]

Take a recession, add one fab boyfriend and it equils my life long dream.
for as long as i can remember ive ALWAYS wanted a camper, paticularly a splitty, but knew thats one dream i couldnt afford just yet, ive been dragged up around cars all my life, and never been affraid to get my hands dirty (blame my petrolhead dad) although ive always wanted a camper, ive not known alot about them (still dont, until i started trolling here :lol: then thought i really should register )ive had numerous holidays in devon over the years, and me and the kids are the type of window lickers to play spot the bus and wave like idiots to the driver as they pass..lmao
nearly 3 years after a crappy divorce and having to give a big payout, i decided to take the big step of following my dream. hounding my boyfriend Harry, a fellow petrolhead and car nerd :lol: , seeing if he was up for a challenge.
the search began
did the usual and looked of ebay for a baywindow ,there was a buy it now, but i was dittering on buying something id never seen, slept on it, woke up and though sod it...it had sold, i was so gutted i even had a howl thats when i knew i had to find something, put some bids in on some more campers and losing, we went to van fest, with alot of money in my bag just incase :shock: still nothing in my budget :x
knew i had to bide my time, some more ebay autions coming up there was one bear metal project,1972 crossover dormobile, its been off the road for 8 years, although the seller said he drove it onto the trailer a year ago then he collected it
asking harry if he thought he could do the work on it to the reply of "least can see what youre getting, but dont expect it finished over night" (he knows me all too well lol :mrgreen: )runable by vanfest 2010 would be good, although wont hold my breath.. with 4 seconds to go, i entered my bid, and won :shock:
the seller wasnt convinced i knew what i was letting myself in for (he was selling due to ill health, but had previously removated and sold a few camper, but couldnt finsh this one) he was worried he`d get it towed here from me to not want it :lol:
well 80% of the welding had already been done, it has everything with it, just like i big jigsaw it will need putting back together
..but not before we have totally stripped it, sorted it out. anyways heres the pics or what weve got, and the progress that we make as we go along

ret being delivered

thank gawd for friends being over when he got delivered, as the helped unload him, he was full to the roof with parts just chucked in him spare doors etc

discovered his heart

started looking for the bits of welding that hadnt been done by the seller,
and set the bloke to work

mr health and safety :shock: boy with toy

unable to use boy toys i let loose with a scrubbing brush, for all of 2 mins with washing up liquid to see what would happen

then i got rattle cans out to start to give him a winter coat

 

[bottom rung]

Nice one! Take a look at my "68 dormobile barn find" and you will realise how lucky you are getting such a solid bus! I'll be watching your resto thread with interest; keep the pics coming.

 

[retro]

will go for a troll now my other half said ret is quiet solid.. scares the hell out of me everytime i uncover him :lol:

 

[dubscum]

is that a m3 in the back ground ?

 

[retro]

is that a m3 in the back ground ?

certainly is 8)

 

[flynster]

looks good so far....if ya need any help just ask as i`m only in sunny ipswich so can`t be far away.
keep the pics coming


ste 8)

 

[retro]

cheers ste, im just up the 14 near bury, saw the suffolkbugrs link in your sig, weve popped along to a couple of their shows n bits at stonham barn for a look 8)

 

[aircult]

Loos like it is in good hand!!

Very nice!

 

[gninnam]

Yet another Dormie 8)
Yet another crossdresser 8)
Please don't lower it

Welcome and looks like a nice project bus you have there Looking forward to the updates.

 

[retro]

thanking you lot 8)
it is going to be lowered :msn4: but NOT low enough i can mow the lawn with it, my golf does that

 

[Hilly_70]

Welcome ... Keep the pics coming!

Hilly


... er .. lose the raised bit on the front panel too!

 

[lard]

is that a m3 in the back ground ?

Spotted that - LHD so a genuine one as well 8) - very nice!

Good looking project base you've get by the looks of it and look forward to the resto progress! What are your plans? Back to original spec and colour or something else in mind?

 

[retro]

hilly, yep harry was talking about getting shot of the raised bit

lard, the last thing to be done will be the paint job, ive basically gave ret a rough as funk coat of primer, just to keep the rust off the bear metal as much as possible at mo, want to spend as little as possible on him (guess everyone says that :lol: )
main plans
get him up and running first, after harrys finished welding
spraying the inside white,
dormy roof needs repairing, fibreglass and spraying, replace the glass with persex (its got glass, but would rather kids sleep next to persex, fit new canvas (hoping thats the most expensive part i`ll need)
intend keeping original units, want to retrim the "T" edging, paint the inside of the units, clean up the outside.
give it a go on retriming the rock n roll bed, got bought a buddyseat that needs doing too (found a ebay vinyl seller and my friend used to do retriming for a living, so hope she will guide me on funking it up :lol:
do flooring,
was going to retrim panels, although ive found a site that sells the set for £120 ish so want to look into what they are like, need cab head liner
got all new rubbers for the glass,
got new bunk canvas and covers, but will want everyframe sprayed up first
want cab carpets, and kick panels, ive paid for some orginal seats off ebay although the seller is titting me about :evil:
deffinatly want the whole thing lowered, but usable for school run and speed hump height lol :roll:
as for colour, kept looking at original red...love the oranges and yellows and blues... but my heart keeps screaming
brown :shock: im a 70`s burd and to me the colours of 70`s is orange and brown,there were sooo many brown cars about when i was a kid, nowdays they are far and few between, with the exception to the odd mini or new shape fiesta :shock: im thinking chalk white possibly for the roof down to below the glass and a metallic bronze brown, from below the glass down.
with original wheels in orange. with shiney hubcaps and dice valvecaps in orange (harry makes them :mrgreen: )
harrys just invested in a mahoosive compressor and will be doing the paint.
think will leave the stove behind the passenger seat for the point of leaving it, but im not keen on having it connected, paranoid mother about health and safety.
theres a trillion of other things missing off the to do list i suppose, but you get the gist of if :lol:

 

[cyberdyne systems]

Good to hear from an enthusiastic lady owner! Enjoyed reading what you put and the pics, looking forward to following your progress with this one, looks like a decent van.

Gareth

 

[retro]

cheers gareth, 8) ive always loved cars, usually the faster the better :msn4: ive done the racing round tracks and up the strip, this is going to be the slowest thing ive driven for a lonnnnnnng time, but in the 2 years ive owned my golf, ive had soooo much fun, its not about the speed no more, its about the head turns and the double looks :lol: (and going to some funky dub get togethers)
i just cant wait to pick the kids up from school, and say come on, lets go sleep at the seaside 8) cant wait for the other window lickers to flash and wave at us :lol: retro chic rocks :mrgreen:

incase you missed the other dubs post, this is rolf

 

[dubscum]

just noticed your welding mask 8) don't worry about being too low, mines pretty slammed and its not stopped me getting anywhere, one of the places i camp is farm land and i have to drive though cow fields, gate ways and a furrowed field

 

[retro]

lol its his mask, bought especially for the bus, normally he just gets a suntanned face, i was allowed a play with it though to see how it blacks out when the weld lights up :lol:
rolf grinds out and ive knocked the exhaust off the brackets far too many times thats what worried me about the bus, deffinatly going to get him lower, keep looking at heights on here, fab site for ideas fo sho :mrgreen:

 

[retro]

bit of a update on the progress, its flippin slow going, with the long winter, no shelter, and lack of time but least it warming up and with my sharp poking stick ive set the man to work again :lol:
after i heard some drilling and grinding going on i went to investigate.
ret was always going to be a project, and the chap that owned it before used to buy campers,get his employee to do the work and sell them on, upon looking closely we discovered the usual hidden rust, where metal should of been, and that the battery tray was actually just flapping and not connected to the rear quarter :?
so the drilling and grinding lead to this :shock:

out with old, in with new

can see quiet abit of rot here

after alot of cutting and making new shapes to fit it ended up like this 8)

still quiet abit to go, but least its being done correctly this time 8)

as for me, well not been totally sitting on a arse, ok i have, ive been trolling bits on the net :lol:

made a start of retrimming the interior, need to source so handles for the unit

before

after

found this on ebay, the fella was selling it for his nanna, as she`d had it from new, and used it a couple of times :mrgreen:

also found 11 metres of original 60`s geometric material, so i can eventually start some curtains its really thick weave and double sided, so shouldnt need lining

 

[kevinhall]

Looks like you're making great progress.

Quick question - where did you get your edging trim. Looks like a good match for the original and really lifts the interior

 

[retro]

cheers 8) i was worried the mid grey would look wrong, but it does blend with the wood effect well.

got it off ebay, this seller

http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/salesfromsarah/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

or their website is
http://www.rainbowconversions.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;