Brian's 1972 Dorper Camper

[Volktales]

Does it look familiar?  It should, because many of you have seen it on occasion at the shows...





Yes, it is the rare Canadian made Dorper Touring Camper that myself and my Dad restored close to 14 years ago.  Except we did not do all of the work on it.  My good friend Brian did a whole bunch of work to the interior to bring it up to a much nicer standard then it was originally, yet maintaining the original design. Later still, Don contributed his upholstery expertise, and recovered the front seats to like new.  Anyway I have been mulling over the idea of selling this bus for sometime, as I really have not been using it that much.  That and the fact I wanted to make some room available for a potential purchase of a nice Corvair...  As it happened, Brian decided it was time to finally get his hands on a VW bus again (he owned many in the past), and he happened to want to pay exactly what I wanted him to pay for the bus ( "friends rate") of course.  Anyway today was the big day...



 

Yup, big smiles!  Brian will make a few minor changes to better accommodate their idea of camping, because a cross-Canada trip is in the future!  They will finally install some curtains that I never got around to doing...



 

And there it is, cozy in its new home.  Cuddling up to Brian's other 1972 VW, his yellow Ghia.  As much as I hate to sell my beloved VWs, I am happy this has gone to a good home and it will have many more adventures in its future...

[PICTUP]

I forgot I did those front seats! Anyhow, I applaud your decision to sell your Dorper Russ! I know it is tough, but couldn't have gone to a better person! It is now going to get that love that was tying itself up in knots in the back of your brain Russ, and Brian finally has a camper that he can relive some of his hippie days in. Win-win as far as I can see all-round. And re:the Corvair thing...don't lose hope, now that you have cash, you will be ready to strike when the time is right.

[busaddict]

This is what the club is all about, sharing, nice to see it staying on the Island as well. Congratulations Brian!

[Volktales]

Sooo, Brian has been very busy doing things to his bus to make it better suit his needs.  He has done MANY modifications to the interior, some obvious, some very subtle.  Let's have a look...





The cabinets initially look the same with new material in the countertops.  The drop down table on the side of the cabinet is a new addition as well.  Less obvious at first, was the addition of a narrow rear cabinet to house lawn chairs.  Pretty sweet modification...





The newly re-faced table on the left is obvious, but Brian also raised the entire sink cabinet.  This has allowed a custom made cutlery drawer to the left that is pretty neat...





He also added a "head-banger" cabinet for blankets and sheets in the back.  The headliner has been changed as well.  This is because he used the old material to make the new cabinet facings.  The storage area below the back seat has been extensively modified as well.  The original Dorper design in this area was kind of dumb, and Brian did a great job of making it much better.





And the bus finally received some nice curtains, courtesy of Suzanne, Brian's wife.  She did a really nice job and they really finished off the inside of the bus.  Brian brought the bus to the Qualicum car show, and he was blown away by the interest shown in the bus.  His new interior was definitely a hit!  Now he is going to think about building up a 2 litre injected engine for the bus, and a six rib transmission to go with it.  This was something I always wished for the bus when I owned it, and I hope it gets down eventually...

[Volktales]

So Brian has been busy...





Looky what he has been up too.  Some time ago he acquired a rough '79 panel bus with a seized up engine for free.  The bus was not something he really wanted, but he was convinced to pull the complete drive train out of it and see if it could be resurrected...  And he did!  The Dorper will be getting that 2 litre EFI conversion and six rib trans that it always wanted.  And today he fired it up sitting on that pallet.  Note the raised fuel tank to allow gravity feed to the Bosch pump.  My bench starter was put to good use once again as well.





He mounted the fuel tank behind that firewall, with the bench starter on top.





And look at that shiny motor!  Sounded sweet with the Vintage Speed exhaust too.  Brian salvaged every part related to the EFI from that bus and the rest was passed on to Reagh and Rob.  They fixed it up too and made it roadworthy as well!  So next up will be Brian finding the time to pull the original drivetrain out, and complete the conversion and then do some serious travelling.  Sweet!