new forum member, new dormobile!
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Hi, I recently bought a grey 1972 land rover 109 dormobile that had been lying in a field for a very VERY long time – apart from birds nests and ivy it is in remarkable condition. The tyres were ruined, but a new battery and fuel and it started first time!! (ok there was quite a bit more work than that but you get the drift)
New set of temporary wheels and it ran under its own steam, a quick service and a new rear crossmember and it (seems) solid as a rock. Just a little more work and it will be time for an MOT.
The body of the landy has T-cut back nicely and is looking almost like new, but the dormobile top after being power washed and attempted patch T-Cutting is still looking rough as a badger.
How do I go about restoring the roof without having to repaint? I see that theres a product for restoring Gel-coat in the Frost catalogue – will that do the trick? Also has anyone got a spare vent cover? (cracked) or two windows?(one missing and replaced with plywood, one cracked) Or the rear gutter? (smashed)
The tartan beds are in place and after some penatrating oil, work a treat, but what looks like hardboard trim from around the sides of the hole in the roof is rotten and crumbled away – is this easy to replace?
Finally, and this is the biggie – someone has removed the kitchen and replaced it with bench seats – does anyone have a photo of how a kitchen would look in a 3-door so I can make a new one? I’ve looked at possible replacements and 2 IKEA PS metal cabinets and a SMEV combination sink and hob will fit perfectly along one side – is this a cardinal sin?!
Anyway, hope to have it on the road soon and will get some photos up soon.
Cheers, Alan and Wilfred The Landy
Welcome Alan and Wilfred of course
For the kitchen have you try to look on TeriAnn website?here’s some photos – after 3 solid days of washing, t-cutting and polishing!
and I shall head off and look at that link thanks!
Hi Alan,
Congratulations on the Dormobile!
I recently finished Gelcoating my roof. It was covered with small, flaking blisters, though the fiberglass was waterproof. I wanted to prevent further deterioration.
Normally Gelcoat need not be painted. It can be polished. There are many sources of information turning up on “google”, now, including video on youtube on how to do it.
The reason I had to paint it was that the Gelcoat patch material wasn’t the same color as the roof. It was much “whiter”. The Gelcoat of the roof could have yellowed with age or it could have been originally a bit yellow as a matter of taste, I don’t know. You can mix pigments into the Gelcoat to avoid painting, but this is a black art.
I found my Gelcoat (comes in a tube) at a local yachting store (I live on Lake Zurich in Switzerland) for 25 Swiss Franks (ca. £12) per 250g and I used 500 g . The pigments were available at the hardware store but cost another 10 Franks per color and I didn’t have any idea whether I needed red, orange, yellow, or what.
I painted the roof with urethane which was incredibly difficult to work with, and expensive, another 100 Fr in paint, thinner, brushes and rollers!!
I forgot to mention the pain of removing two layers of paint that previous owners had put on the fiberglass roof (you can’t use heat to remove it so it is either nasty chemicals or scrape, sand, scrape, sand).
I don’t have the finished result yet on my website but here are the in-progress photos (note the color mismatch on the Gelcoat):
http://n.ethz.ch/~jhackney/lifting%20roof.html
Good luck, the rest of the car looks great!
JeremyThanks for that Jeremy – good link and advice! I think I can probably live with a slightly discoloured roof for a while as mine doesn’t seem to have the same craters as yours although the land rover roof over the cab does strangely. Looked great on the red series 3 by the way.
I’m having to concentrate on the landy itself now as the long range auxiliary tank has sprung a leak, as have all the seals in the switchover, and the steering box is goosed. And the brakes.
still, really loving having one and can’t wait to get out and about in him MOT in hand.
Also trying to research his history and why he had two (original) fuel tanks – must have been on some exciting expedition!
Congrats!
3 door dormobile is a very rare beast indeed, I beieve 5 of them ever built by Martin Walter…
Wht engine do you have on it?
Kind regards
marcHi Alan,
I agree you can wait to paint, or not paint at all. But if you have to, it is easier to do if the thing’s taken apart, which I only wanted to do one time.You’ve got problems like mine, though my “MOT” (German TÜV) is still valid (albeit it counts for nothing in Switzerland). Fuel tank leaking, bad brakes, … rust … I began with my roof because I underestimated the poor condition underneath, and I actually thought I’d be camping in this vehicle once I got the roof watertight. Well, now that I’ve looked closer, I see it’ll be a long time before I’ve fixed my Land Rover problems to the point I can pass a Swiss MOT.
Anyway, I updated my roof site:
http://n.ethz.ch/student/jhackney/DormobileRoof3.html
Have fun with Gelcoat, it smells nice 😉
JeremyJeremy that looks fantastic finished! Maybe I will do mine too , but like your rust and brakes being common problems, we too are having a baby in August and I’ve been told ALL DORMOBILE WORK MUST STOP and NURSERY GET FINISHED!
Marc, it had a 2.25 diesel but it blew up and the previous owner replaced it with a 2.25 petrol, which I think is better on power anyway.
John at the dormobile club told me it might be quite rare too – I’d just assumed it was a simple more downmarket dormobile! It has twin land rover tanks and a military changeover switch so it must have seen some travels – I’ve also maybe tracked down it’s original kitchen units from 2 owners ago, so quite excited! I’m going to ask at dormobile if they have any records of it.
Hi Alan, the photos look great, it’s difficult to tell if it’s a genuine 3 door or not. Sadly no records of number built exist, these were lost when Dormobile went bust in the early ’90’s. Dormobile Ltd, who trade now is a company set up by enthusiasts.
If you look on TeriAnn’s pages there is more information about the 3 door.
http://www.expeditionlandrover.info/Dormobile/DMfeatures.html
Hi Jonny – another good link thanks! I had hoped that dormobile might have had lever arch files full of details going back to the middle ages – oh well. Also it explains why I can’t find a conversion plate if it was just a sticker on series 3’s.
I’ve been over Wilfred with a fine tooth comb and theres nothing to suggest he’s been mucked about with, so I think my next line will be finding out his full history with the DVLA and getting a heritage certificate. Would his first owner have been Martin Walter if he’s a genuine dormobile, or did customers bring their own vehicles in?
Sorry about all these questions!
bonjour 🙂
je suis nouveau sur ce forum, j’ai une serieIIA depuis 1an
j’habite au nord de Paris et je suis un ami de Marc78, voici ques photos de BRF apres une annee de
remise en etat 😉
si vous ne pouvez pas me lire 😕 j’essaierai d’utiliser un traducteur 😉Une Dormobile Francais! Elle est tres belle. Et paris pendant le springtemps.. ah je voudrais visiter votre campange dans ma dormobile.
Es quil ya une autre land rover dans la fenetre dans le dernier photo? Quest que cest?
Je comprends just un petite peu de francais, mais j’ai essayer tres bien n’est ces pas?
Linus Tremaine
USALinus, ton français est 😆 super, la dor qui est derriere est celle de Marc 78
elle est restee quelques temps à la maison pour lui refaire les freins et d’autres
details(marc a passé des photos de sa dor dans mon jardin,mais je ne les trouve plus)
bien sûr, si l’idee te venait d’un sejour en France n’hesite pas à venir nous voir,
avec ou sans dormobile 😀
en france nous avons un club de series et (il y a 4 dormobiles)voici la mienne lors d’un salon de vieilles automobiles
à Reims
à plus tard
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