Steve's 1971 Dormobile

[bertiethebus]

Just think of all the shows you can get to next year though! Stick with it dude it's a gorgeous bus 8)

 

[gninnam]

:? You are certainly having your fair share of unluckiness

Roof looks very smart and hopefully once the oil issue is resolved, all should be good 8)

 

[VeeDubMan]

There's nothing like a deadline to spur you on in a project and having been ribbed that the van will never be ready for a friends 40th birthday camping trip, I pulled out all the stops leading up to the bank holiday weekend, got an MOT in time, fitted enough of the interior for me, my wife and 2 kids to sleep in and had a generally un-problematic first trip out! First time in 11 years....yeeeeeehaaaaaa!

Still loads of jobs to sort out but so, so happy to have got this far and for the kids to enjoy it so much. Memories are being made

 

[VeeDubMan]

There's nothing like a deadline to spur you on in a project and having been ribbed that the van will never be ready for a friends 40th birthday camping trip, I pulled out all the stops leading up to the bank holiday weekend, got an MOT in time, fitted enough of the interior for me, my wife and 2 kids to sleep in and had a generally un-problematic first trip out! First time in 11 years....yeeeeeehaaaaaa!

Still loads of jobs to sort out but so, so happy to have got this far and for the kids to enjoy it so much. Memories are being made

Had another trip away for half term. This time, a bit more adventurous 165 miles from Reading, Berkshire to Beech Croft Farm in the Peak District. Weather was pretty horrible with gale force winds breaking the Kyham awning on Monday night so we came home early, but pleased with the van's performance, consistently managing 60-65mph on the motorways. Hills in the Peak District were significantly slower though!

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[VeeDubMan]

Well, several months have passed since my last post and they have been the toughest ever. Just after the return from our Peak District trip, my wife told me our marriage was over (which I totally agreed with!) but it's been a difficult few months sorting the divorce and house sale out. That's all coming to a head now but fortunately, I managed to buy her out of the van as that's my holidays with the kids most years from now on [emoji16]

We've just come back from Croyde where we spent 5 nights. Pics below hopefully. Not many early bays around, saw 1 split, a few T25's, a smattering of T4's and a huge abundance of T5/6's!

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[VeeDubMan]

So bloody slow going up the Devon hills though. My 1584cc (twin 34's, Engle 100 cam) just isn't enough so I'm thinking of a sensible upgrade to make cruising easier.

Suggestions? 1776cc would be straightforward and going bigger still into stroker territory is tempting too...or even the Scooby route (the imminent house sale and equity means I'll have some cash floating around before I decide what to do as far as another house is concerned)

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[mike202]

Sorry to hear your news. At least you've still got the van.

Great pics of your holiday with your kids.

I am also thinking about upgrades for the engine, but it all costs so much!

 

[gninnam]

Good pics and soz about your issues.
The 1776 option seems to be the best for old engine but can work out expensive.

 

[VeeDubMan]

Good pics and soz about your issues.
The 1776 option seems to be the best for old engine but can work out expensive.

Just browsing through some of my old posts so thought I'd update this one.

I ended up pulling the old engine and stripping it with the intention of doing a rebuild. The case ended up being scrap though so I had to get a new one and had that bored out to accept 90.5mm barrels and pistons and clearanced for a stroker crank to give me 1955cc. An Engle 110 went in, kept the stock heads for torque, enlarged the twin 34's a little and have new got an engine I feel it should have had all along. Great fun and enough power to keep up with things now. Got a gearbox rebuild done by John Walklett too. Very happy with it all now [emoji4]

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[Bluesnailman]

Looks like you've put a lot of work into the van and glad your using it. Engine upgrade sounds like a good one

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