Walter the Dormobile

Lots of small jobs done over the weekend.

Jerry can holders stripped of white paint and locking mechanisms made so the Jerry cans can't be stolen.

Conveyor belt mudflaps made, the original white painted ones put in the bin !

Drivers side wing re-assembled. I can't find the bolts and bonnet stay bracket, must have put them somewhere very safe !

Paint ordered to tidy up some interior panels. Acrylic paint now nearly $100 per litre. I also ordered a rattle can of satin, the hope is that I can touch up a few areas on the outside without them standing out too much.

I need to get the main Masonite roof panel bent, next problem is some sort of covering for the Masonite. I decided to buy some paint that is for wet areas and hope to be able to apply with a textured finish which will be easier than trying to cover with vinyl.
Edging moulding sourced from a customer that makes extruded profiles for the caravan industry.

Ordered some parts from the UK, freight is becoming expensive.

This weekend I'll get onto finishing the brakes, fitting the drivers side wing (when I find the bolts) and straightening out the rear corner.


Colin

After helping out at the local Scout Hall, gardening & washing cars I found some time to work on Walter.

Decided I need to get moving with the headlining.
Wet it down with a watering can several times then the fun started.....Trying to get the formers into place & clamped with the Masonite in the correct position took a lot of attempts.
I'll leave it clamped up for a few days to dry out.
There is a degree of 'spring back' so I may have to wet it down & re-clamp again.

I need to think about any wiring that needs to go behind the headlining before I install it. Maybe I should add a light over the front seats and run some power cables down to the kitchen.

I fitted the 'Four Wheel Drive Station Wagon' badge after removing & re-fitting the Land Rover badge to get it level. Touched up where the badge fits with the satin spray paint and it doesn't look too bad.



Colin

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gromit

After helping out at the local Scout Hall, gardening & washing cars I found some time to work on Walter.

Decided I need to get moving with the headlining.
Wet it down with a watering can several times then the fun started.....Trying to get the formers into place & clamped with the Masonite in the correct position took a lot of attempts.
I'll leave it clamped up for a few days to dry out.
There is a degree of 'spring back' so I may have to wet it down & re-clamp again.

I need to think about any wiring that needs to go behind the headlining before I install it. Maybe I should add a light over the front seats and run some power cables down to the kitchen.

I fitted the 'Four Wheel Drive Station Wagon' badge after removing & re-fitting the Land Rover badge to get it level. Touched up where the badge fits with the satin spray paint and it doesn't look too bad.



Colin

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All good fun Colin [wink11] I'm now bolting things back on too.

Drivers side wing re-fitted, I still have some filling to do but the worst of the dent was removed.

Re-instated the bonnet lock, this is a hasp from a Land Rover toolbox lid.

Did some more work inside getting ready for the headlining. Timber battens screwed in place, the headlining is attached to the batten by screws through the Silent Gliss curtain rails.


Colin

As Cooma gets closer I'm thinking I should service the Tanami in case the Dormobile isn't ready.

I have to do a head gasket on one of the boys cars tomorrow, Toyota Corona with a Starfire motor, lost compression on No 2. Hopefully it's just the gasket and not something more serious !
Then I have to go to a Scout event, SWMBO is a Cub Scout leader and I get roped in to make things (I really don't have time at the moment but.....). Just finished a stand to hold 6 flagpoles and have to finish off a storage box and mount some shelves at the new Scout Hall.

Fitted a new brake light switch today. Trying to undo it was worrying as the brass connection block is only held to the chassis with one bolt. I ended up putting a big G-clamp over the chassis rail to clamp the connection block while I struggled to undo the switch.

I purchased some parts from Paddocks that arrived earlier in the week, one item was a new rubber for the rear step. Got the opportunity to use my rivet squeezer setting the semi-tubular rivets (not supplied with the rubber, I had them in stock). It made the job very easy once the tools had been packed to get the correct 'squeeze'.
I need another step for the drivers side (there is one on the passenger side). When I say 'need' I mean I'd like to fit one.
I have one from a Series III and it's different to the one fitted on the passenger side, I guess this is due to the sill depth changing from Series II to III.

Installed some new spring bolts, I'd fitted new bushes in all the springs some time back but hadn't got round to replacing all the bolts.

Made some plates to go inside & outside the damaged corner. I'll attach it to another car with a hand winch and apply some tension while I panel beat the corner. I need to get it straight enough to fit a replacement corner capping. The capping came from a Series III I parted out years ago, the rivet holes are in slightly different positions to the one that was removed which means opening out some holes.
Then the wardrobe needs to come out while I set the rivets.
Once that's done the lights can go back in and I can bolt the wardrobe back in place.

The list is still getting longer rather than shorter........

Colin

Well I lost most of Sunday but I now know a lot more about the Starfire motor. The Corona is back on the road.
Later this week I have to go to the top of VIC on business. Either a very long day or a stopover, either way another evening gone.

I tried pulling the damage at the rear out but most of the spot welds had been broken for years so it just pulled apart. I've put some M5 screws through the rivet holes to tie the corner together while I beat it back to something close to the original shape so I can fit the corner capping.

Collected a 1 kg fire extinguisher today (on special @ Bunnings), just need to work out the best place to fit it. Also got a caramel wheel to try & remove Sikaflex that's been used to hold door seals in place.

The opening windows on the rear doors have insect screens fitted. Stainless steel strip surrounds with flywire glued in place. Holes in the st/st strips fit over screws in the door and plastic latches swivel to hold it in place.
UV has wrecked all the clips..... They are held in place by tubular brass rivets, managed to order some from China. A mate at work is looking at 3D printing the clips for me.

Interior light arrived, much bigger that I expected (mental note....check the dimensions next time) need to fit it to the headlining. Also got a couple of LED strip lights for the rear section.



Colin

The weekend went fast. Working at the Scout Hall, cleaning cars, gardening.............

The mudshield in the passenger side wing had rusted badly where water & debris had been trapped.
The footwell is OK so need to de-rust it but the mudshield needed a section cut out & a patch welded in.

I'll strip then rust treat and paint before re-fitting.

The heat shield for the exhaust manifold was loose & rattling around behind the engine, lucky it hadn't been lost.

The bracket at the back that bolts to the manifold had fractured so I made a replacement, the other bolts were missing. The holes in the inlet manifold needed a tap run through to clean them out then I had to find a couple of bolts.

Later I found another heat shield in amongst my spares so I could have pinched the bracket from that one !


Colin

Sorted out some of the wiring at the rear drivers side.
Removed insulation tape, packing tape plus several dodgy connections and soldered on new bullet connectors.
Removed the trailer plug wiring as it was made up of two twin core cables and one separate cable. I have some 7-core so I'll make up a new cable with bullet connectors to join into the harness, better than the cutting/splicing/soldering that I removed.

The tail light lenses have been damaged by sunlight. Sort of a matt surface with the red colour bleached a bit.
I found a couple of replacements but.....I need one with a transparent lower section to illuminate the rego plate and the ones I found were from a Series III that had a separate light for the rego plate !
Spoke to one of my boys as he's polished some headlamps on a car he was selling, I thought he'd purchased a polishing kit. Turns out he'd use a few fine grades of wet & dry and then some cut & polish.
I sanded in a bowl of water, flushing the area sanded. I had 800, 1500 & 2000 grades to hand so I used those and then a cut & polish. Looks OK but still a bit faded.
Found some red lens dye on Ebay, I might have to get some to deal with the bleaching.


Colin

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gromit

Sorted out some of the wiring at the rear drivers side.
Removed insulation tape, packing tape plus several dodgy connections and soldered on new bullet connectors.
Removed the trailer plug wiring as it was made up of two twin core cables and one separate cable. I have some 7-core so I'll make up a new cable with bullet connectors to join into the harness, better than the cutting/splicing/soldering that I removed.

The tail light lenses have been damaged by sunlight. Sort of a matt surface with the red colour bleached a bit.
I found a couple of replacements but.....I need one with a transparent lower section to illuminate the rego plate and the ones I found were from a Series III that had a separate light for the rego plate !
Spoke to one of my boys as he's polished some headlamps on a car he was selling, I thought he'd purchased a polishing kit. Turns out he'd use a few fine grades of wet & dry and then some cut & polish.
I sanded in a bowl of water, flushing the area sanded. I had 800, 1500 & 2000 grades to hand so I used those and then a cut & polish. Looks OK but still a bit faded.
Found some red lens dye on Ebay, I might have to get some to deal with the bleaching.


Colin

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I tried to send you a PM but don't think it sent. I may have some new lenses will check my stock later today & let you know, will also try to send another PM when I have checked. I do know the ones I have suit UK built/ sold vehicles which I assume the Dormobiles were & not AU built.
Wayne.

OK, have checked I have the Wipac S170 (14096) Lents but they are indicator (orange) I did have the Red but they are all gone. I also have Lucas L761 Red. Sorry for getting your hopes up. If you need any of the indicator Lentes let me know. Will send you a PM if it works, having major issues with my internet connection so may not work.
Wayne