1988 transit dormobile refurb

[cocksocks]

I have ordered some cheaper insulation my budget is only £70 a month. What I have I will do the wings etc with and next month maybe get some dynomat for the engine bay and bonnet. Read another post on hear about dynomat and his good it is so think I won't scrimp for the engine at etc. Hank is booked it at the mechanics in
3 weeks to try and sort out the smoking issue, I would like to try and sort myself but with such a tight budget and so much else to do yo make it useable for me and the kids I don't have the time and money yo be messing round with valve clearances etc. Plus being in Cornwall is a pain in the ass

[coopervan]

yay that's great you have the same van as me!
did you have a raised floor with no wheel arches? I have started striping mine out to get a few extra inches of height just need someone with a gas cutter to remove the boxed beams from the floor, then i will insulate the floor and recover level! mine is a 1989 model x 16 seat minibus with three windows on each side and ambulance type rear doors, used to have a wheelchair lift but has been removed, the only rust is under the drivers seat and a little on the bottom rail of the sliding passenger door, and drivers door column just like yours! very happy with that, will be watching your posts with great interest, until i make my funds to continue the rebuild! and post some pics myself,
i wish you all the best of luck with yours and hope one day we may cross each other on the road! i am based in Gibraltar but will be travelling a lot when she is ready, and a trip to UK is definitely not off the books as my family is over there.
don't know about you but i spent months looking online for vans like ours, there doesn't appear to be many out there online at least. I am planning a rear bathroom toilet and the rest nice and open as there is loads of glass! and i like the feeling of room, so I'm planning on belted seating for 5 including driver and a side to side pull out double bed, and stretcher style bunks over kitchen and seating area to be positioned at front half of van, can't wait to ba able to start again so your posts will inspire me to get off my ass and do something again.
all the best of luck to you.
great looking van!
regards
coopervan

[cocksocks]

cheers mate, i was looking for ages and was going to buy an iveco but was put off by the injector issues and the fact for the money i couldnt find one with under 200,000 miles and lots of body parts missing.
I wanted a dormobil because of the fibre glass and apperently they didnt rust as much
paid a little more then i wanted to but i have seen them sell for utterly stupid money and not even in great condition
went through 6 cans of spray paint on the new metal and still hasnt covered great, im just going to buy some radiator paint as i dont have much time and its taking away from my time inside the van.

[cocksocks]

Decided to apply the one coat of hammerite radiator paint over it,
Doesn't look amazing but I'm satisfied it will keep the rust at bay for the time being so I can move into the van. Went to fit the seats earlier and the bolts I brought are way to long, I was under the assumption that the floor was 2 sheets of 15 MM. Ply with insulation turns out it's just 1 sheet and no insulation.
Leaves me with a dilemma, I have about 1 inch of free headroom in the camper, and I have heard the floor is really important to insulate, I have 3mm floor insulation spare from when I did my laminate I could use, or is there something better?
On the plus side I found a old chocolate bar from 1998,
7p and a slightly decomposed used condom

[cocksocks]

sealed the windscreen and got all the bits for the front panels sorted, hank is now at the mechanics who will sort out the plooms of white smoke following behind, gives me a couple weeks to get the kids bed sorted before it comes back. Photos to follow

[grandads_shed]

did u get the engine sorted m8 ??

[cocksocks]

yeah, when the cover came off the cambelt the belt got wet, slipped and broke a rocker or pushrod, should be picking it up some time this month!

[grandads_shed]

fingers crossed m8

[transitandy]

Not too bad then m8y...

[cocksocks]

Had a few days so managed to do a few things, fitting the seats turned into a bit of a nightmare but I'm satisfied with them, the 50x50 5mm box section is secured either end directly through the cross members by m12 150mm 8.8 tensile bolts and 40x40 plate washers, the seats are then bolted through the cross section and with plate washers secured under the van floor, I wanted them underneath but the position of certain chassis parts meant it was impossible without it being welded! They had to go in that position so I could reuse the existing boxing and pull out bed supports. As the ends of the box section suck out quite a bit I decided to raise that part of the floor, it means I don't have to make a hole in the van floor for the table support! Will also be handy for running cables to the brain which is going to be under the new seats.
It was a cuboard before so loosing the space means it needs to be useful!

Put back on most the trim around the windscreen which has made it leak again, so i scraped out all the seal and filled it with sealant again so fingers crossed

Tomorrow I'm hopefully having a double bed fabricated to fit above drivers cab for my 2
Kids

Iv bought some more insulation band carpet for the dash, hopefully the dash is coming out next week I'm going to test the decibels before and after to see if it makes a difference!
Here's some pics

[cocksocks]

Made the bed today above the drivers cab, cost me £30 in all £20 for the metal and £10 for the slats
The metal is 25x25 box section welded with legs to sit into 40x40 box section bolted to the side of the van, they sit in comfortable but this was to allow for the fact the side pillars are at slight angles and if I got them wrong I would of had to buy the metal again!
The bed is a full size double and the mattress is from a sofa bed I got for free.
I curved the ends up so they but up next to the trim instead of the windscreen.
Everything packs back away into cuboards when dismantled.
There is more than 2 foot of space above the bed when your lying down so it doesn't feel as cramped as normal coach built ones, so plenty of room for the kids

[jonochap]

Neat idea, will the bunk form a shelf somewhere else in the van when you don't need t?

[cocksocks]

cheers mate, at the minute it packs away into various cuboards, however im stealing 12 inches from the back of the bathroom so it can all go in 1 space, bathroom is huge!!

[jonochap]

Turn it round and you could have a towel rail

[cocksocks]

To soon to be thinking about towel rails!!
Got round to starting the bathroom today, as said need to take about 25 cm off the back so there's a space for the cushions, and also so access can be gained to the back light cluster as this is currently impossible. I also have a electric flush thetford cassette toilet to fit in. I soon found the kingspan insulation!!
i can only assume someone had some bits of it left and decided it was cheaper than buying some ply! Also found more evidence of fire damage so when I re wire I will not be using any of the old electrics