Thread: Walter the Dormobile

Originally Posted by Dorian

If you can make a steel plug for the bearing seat it will help keep the heat around the rim even and minimize distortion. At will also hold the argon on the back of the weld.

Have you had a chat to roamer drive about welding, if the housing has been hardened you may need to get it re-hardened


Cheers Glen

Global Roamer suggested TIG as an alternative to shipping a secondhand casing.
I don't know the cost but I guess it isn't cheap from Canada.

Change of plan !
Looked at the rear of the casing and it looks possible to machine it flat and screw on a cover.
The cover will need cutouts to get to the screws that hold the synchro in place (although there should never be a need to remove them once re-installed) and a recess to clear the spacer behind the bearing.

I'll set up the rotary table on the mill tonight.....


Colin

I machined off the boss at the rear of the overdrive casing and turned up a cover plate.
Rather than using a gasket I added an O-ring groove then the plate was anodised (we get a lot of parts anodised at work ).

Fitted a new rear bearing and ready to re-assemble, I might not re-fit it until the Dormobile is ready for the road. Still need to sort the brakes, headlining, door seals........


Colin

A couple of years has gone by without much being done on the Dormy.

I've got January off work so the aim is to remove & re-paint the roof, install the headlining, do any work needed on the kitchen, fit a few new door seals and get some test drives completed.

I have all the door seal material, truss head semi-tubular rivets & galvanised steel strips as I intend to fit the correct style seal.
Two-pack paint was purchased ages ago for the roof and I made frames to lift the roof off.

So time, and recently weather, have been the main holdups as I have to work outside.

Hopefully Walter will be at Cooma in 2028.


Colin

If you add new door seals, how will the water get out?????
With Roamer Drive now Australian owned, parts postage should be cheaper.

whitehillbilly

Originally Posted by whitehillbilly64

With Roamer Drive now Australian owned, parts postage should be cheaper.

It will be whether they are as helpful when it comes to supporting old units as Ray was.

There is one bush I need to replace otherwise everything is ready to re-fit the Rocky Mountain unit.

Colin

What year is your Panther?

Originally Posted by whitehillbilly64

What year is your Panther?

The Panther is 1957.
It was my 'winter bike' in the UK, being fitted with a Watsonian Palma sidecar you didn't tend to fall off in the ice & snow.

Many miles covered over the years plus a few laps of Brands Hatch short circuit.
There was an event every year 'The Festival of 1,000 bikes' and you got the opportunity for a 'display' run around the circuit.
One time I held off a Cooper 4-wheeler (Vincent Comet motor) until the start/finish straight ! To be fair I was probably using most of the track width on the corners and his vehicle was worth many times what mine was.
A girlfriend was in the sidecar taking pictures, I'm sure I still have them somewhere.


Colin

Originally Posted by whitehillbilly64

What year is your Panther?

Hello Colin and Whitehillbilly,

Following on from WHB asking about one of your motorbikes - I went on a search for the Vincent Rapide... I found this link - accessed 7th December 2025 from - Vincent H.R.D. Series A Rapide – Built in The Basement - Old Bike Australasia ... Wow what a great looking bike! All that chrome too! What an excellent looking bit of kit!

Kind regards
Lionel