the life and times of Doris the Dormobile!

[Benyon]

Is that a new motor?? Going rocket power?? :mrgreen:

 

[Doris]

Is that a new motor?? Going rocket power?? :mrgreen:

ha ha - I wish the restorer was rocket powered!!

 

[Doris]

Some more pics from my visit today.front upper panel in place,raised badge pressing removed - urggghh! front inner valance in place.cab floors in place,dog legs in situ,a few plates yet to do on the roof where the pop top has rubbed,then go round filling in the welds & grinding back....

 

[Ands1]

Good work Rob, you'll soon be back on the road..

 

[Doris]

Cleaning up the near side inner sill today, prior to outer sill replacement. The sill cavities (as with the rest of the bus) will be wax injected once completed...

 

[gninnam]

Slowly but surely

 

[kevinhall]

Its coming along well

 

[Doris]

new sill panel welded on under the sliding door,very happy with the finish.Seems a shame to grind it back....

 

[gninnam]

Looks very good and if you are that happy, then don't grind it back

 

[Doris]

update time had a couple of days on Doris this week so thought I'd share the results.

Time to clean up the paint on the roof ready for an initial coat of Davids zinc 182 primer.

Stripping back the paint on the roof.I'm really pleased with the gutters considering its a UK bus.They are 100% solid - very lucky. The bus spent its parked up
time under a big tree so I'm sure that had something to do with the
preservation of the gutters....

This is the damage around the hinge for the pop top.
This is to be cut out shortly and replaced with a OG cut
from as rust free bus......

Me with the sander - very dusty in there.......

Lee (who runs VW Kraftwerk) uses the slide hammer to
pull a few dents that had been filled in a previous life......

Lee tidying up the welds around the windscreen apature
prior to windscreen trial fit....

I'm so pleased I bought best quality seals (gen VW from Status)
as windscreen went straight in.This is also Testament to Lee's
skills as well, as the front panel,inner & outer are bob on.
There is a small modification to be done in the RHS corner but this
is due to the poor IGP pressing on the front panel........

Tidying the welds from the window cut.......

Last job of the day,trial fit the front bumper & steps.
This is the bumper inplace for the first time.The work was
completed (inner front panel,lower valance & front panel) without
the bumper present - Once again Lee's work proved to be spot on......

 

[gninnam]

Great job well done by Lee 8)

Bet your well excited

 

[Doris]

Great job well done by Lee 8)

Bet your well excited

thanks for your support mate - yeah very !! you seem to be having a lot of the same jobs done as me.Yours can't be far off now ?

ps - where did you get the website from - looks great.

a few other pics.....

repair to where the pop top has rubbed through to bare metal allowing rust to eat away..

stripping back the engine lid to metal....

repair to middle RHS window frame........

 

[gninnam]

Great job well done by Lee 8)

Bet your well excited

thanks for your support mate - yeah very !! you seem to be having a lot of the same jobs done as me.Yours can't be far off now ?

ps - where did you get the website from - looks great.

Cheers for the compliment on the website - all my own work (been in IT for over 30 years)
Like you, I have someone else doing most of the work for me and his pace is slower than a slow thing
But, he is very good so that is that - I was hoping to go in before Christmas and start to install the floor at the back but he reckons he isn't ready for that as yet - so close but so far

 

[Doris]

managed to trial fit the sliding door today - not bad for the first fit.still a bit of adjustment to go though! also stripped to bare metal,the rest of the roof,the cab doors,the engine lid & the tail gate.the fresh bare metal bits should be in zinc primer by the end of the week

 

[Doris]

an update on progress.........

at the filler stage now.All the welding,metal work & panel beating finally done

this is where you see things taking shape.So prior to paint,a lot of elbow grease.So far,a thin skim of filler to take out any minor undulations,sand-fill-guide coat,sand-fill-guide coat etc.

Lee is also using something called 'dolphin glaze' on the large body panels.It gives a super smooth & level surface - can't wait to see the results!

Lee's arms are killing!!!

I also had an assistant with me today,just to make sure everything was OK....

 

[gninnam]

Looking good dude 8)

Must be a great feeling seeing the light at the end of the tunnel now :mrgreen:

Your helper looks like he has everything in hand

 

[retro]

your little assistant is very cute :mrgreen:
making good progress on doris. wish i had somewhere indoors to work on ret, he`s still standing still covered up til sunshine comes

 

[Doris]

Thanks ginnam,very excited!

your little assistant is very cute :mrgreen:
making good progress on doris. wish i had somewhere indoors to work on ret, he`s still standing still covered up til sunshine comes

Thanks Gail,he is a real petrol head as well & Daddy's best mate! The Sun will soon be here!

 

[Doris]

this is the final push now before Doris's paint so I thought I'd catalogue some of the work thats been done over the past couple of years while the bodywork has been taking place.

Also I know how much you all like pictures, so here's a selection :mrgreen: .........

OG steel wheels powder coated in brilliant white,now shod with AVON AV4 185/14 C tyres..

a few other bits powder coated...

Dormobile bunk bed mechanisms. before & after.....

buddy seat frames....

refurbished the steering wheel (see my How 2 sticky)...

Had to repair the dash top after a long standing windscreen leak rotted the edges away.....

 

[Doris]

Had all the chrome re plated in triple chrome by Niphos in Crewe, Cheshire.......

A few before & after shots.......

interior pulls & I thought I'd throw the engine lid catch in as well 8)

external door handles

sliding door handle collar

freshened up the sun visors with vinyl paint.....