"Bumpy"
as David's daughter likes to call the Dormobile, came to Anne's family
in the early 70's when her brother (then six) spotted the truck for
sale and told his dad. Bumpy has been a trusty companion on many a family
camping trip but in the early 90's it became the receipient of a donated
military chassis when rust overcame the existing frame.
During this time
Bumpy was repainted to the color now seen and the engine was replaced
with a 6 cylinder, 250c.i. Chevrolet motor that ran on propane. This
turned out to be not quite the best idea as the propane powered engine
was rather finicky so the experiment continued.
A Mercedes 5 cylinder
diesel engine was fitted and although it ran quite well, it was rather
slow but David later discovered that Mercedes parts were not particularily
cheap as he had to replace the aluminum oil sump ($900 Ouch!) when it
was cracked as a result of hitting a large bump in the road (the sump
sits directly above the front differential). Apparently this happened
some two weeks after taking ownership of the truck so needless to say
David was rather distressed considering this truck had been in the family
for some 30 years!
Again David, welcome
to the family...and hand me that wrench!
