South African 1971 Dormocamper rebuild

[andy67]

To celebrate our 50th birthday (a couple of months apart), my wife and I decided to buy a campervan to rebuild and use for camping weekends away. A "Dormobile" came up on Gumtree and we bought it sight unseen from Cape Town. We're 1400km's away in Johannesburg. The van arrived on a trailer to great excitement. It looked pretty reasonable, but soon found out it was a bit of a mudguard (shiny on top and cr@p underneath). The van was fitted with a Ford V6 motor which was very, very tired, the suspension was a creaky, the steering vague, a leaky roof and the interior very orange!

 

[gninnam]

Wow - good luck (ain't no Dormobile though - maybe the canvas)

 

[andy67]

It was time to pay some schoolfees!

 

[andy67]

After a call and a couple of mails to Dormobile in the UK we established that it was definitely not a Dormobile, but rather a homemade pop top with one off hardware and hinges. Searched high and low find replacements, but came up empty handed. We silicone sealed the leaking sunroof and proceeded to get the motor and gearbox sorted out first. I liked the thought of a watercooled motor but prefer the original Bay look without the radiator in the front. Air-cooled was definitely an option but we settled on a 2l VW Golf 8V motor. We installed a new radiator under the van. The gearbox was refurbished at the same time.

 

[andy67]

The new radiator.

 

[mike202]

Will you need a fan for the radiator?

Nice work on the front of the van. Great colour [emoji41][emoji106]


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[andy67]

The radiator has twin puller fans on the rear side. We've also installed a coolant sensor cutout switch (the module is mounted on the dash), so should a pipe leak or break, the motor will switch off before any engine damage is done - especially with the radiator being low and underneath the van. We have about 170 - 180mm ground clearance under the radiator.

 

[andy67]

With the new motor in it was time for a new more subtle interior. We chose a light and dark grey combination.

 

[andy67]

We managed to find a superb little business that build small lightweight caravans and the owner kindly undertook to rebuild our pop-top and kit the interior out with some practical camping fittings. We've camped for many years and overlanded extensively through southern Africa with numerous 4X4 trips into Botswana, Namibia and Zambia as well as South Africa. We were now looking for something fun to get away for frquuent weekend camping trips within a couple of hours driving from home. There are 100's of great spots, many quite secluded. There was a couple of months wait to book the van in at the caravan spot, so the family decided to get some graphics and decals done.

 

[andy67]

New roof and interior

 

[andy67]

Finishing up was a suspension refurb kit from Just Kampers. It's changed the drive completely. Some 15" rims from a VW Caddy were purchased and beetle hub cap clips welded on so it could still take the existing hubcaps. Turned out great. Some new Continental AT tyres finished them off nicely.

 

[mike202]

Looking good [emoji41]


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[andy67]

Thanks Mike, appreciated.

 

[Virtualtuner13]

Hi, im from SA and saw this on Gumtree... What a transformation!!

Wanted to find out about the caddy wheels, how did you fit them? I bought a set but the center bore was to small?

Im based in JHB too so hope to see her around.

 

[andy67]

I took the rims to Hi-Tech Mag Repairs in Alberton. Quinton and Janine were superb! The got the bore correct - very important as the wheel must fir the hub correctly, otherwise all the weight sits on the bolts. They sprayed the rims white and I bought some beetle hubcap clips from Volkspares in Jetpark. Hi-Tech welded them on and the finished wheels look superb (imho). Busy getting Alarm, window tint and sound fitted - will post pics soon. Get the van back tomorrow.
Also just finished refurbing a "Tip-tow" trailer. An aluminum trailer built the the 70's and 80's in SA. I think it was under a license from Westfalia.

 

[andy67]

Our "new" Trailer.

 

[gninnam]

Trailer looks mint

 

[mike202]

Nice trailer, are you thinking of painting it ?


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[atafonso]

I took the rims to Hi-Tech Mag Repairs in Alberton. Quinton and Janine were superb! The got the bore correct - very important as the wheel must fir the hub correctly, otherwise all the weight sits on the bolts. They sprayed the rims white and I bought some beetle hubcap clips from Volkspares in Jetpark. Hi-Tech welded them on and the finished wheels look superb (imho). Busy getting Alarm, window tint and sound fitted - will post pics soon. Get the van back tomorrow.
Also just finished refurbing a "Tip-tow" trailer. An aluminum trailer built the the 70's and 80's in SA. I think it was under a license from Westfalia.

Alberton, Jet Park, Cape Town.... all these names, loads of memories, i miss ZA specially a good braai
Well done with the Bus, coming out great!

Abel

 

[andy67]

Nice trailer, are you thinking of painting it ?


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Hi Mike, I've decided to leave it as is for now. The aluminium is in good nick and along with the wooden strips on the lid it has a real vintage look.