TheSamba.com :: View topic - Do WW gray tar board panels warp even with vapor barier

Mon Nov 17, 2008 11:42 pm

I was pondering getting a set of the Wolfsburg West tar board panels.
I have heard and seen the severe warping that happens when moisture gets to them. Seems to me most folks with this problem forget to install a vapor barier.

So is there anyone out there using the WW gray tar board panels with a good vapor barier and has had good results or did you get warping as well ??

Thanks

Mon Nov 17, 2008 11:58 pm

you need to coat them front and back with two or three thin coats of polyurethane. It will soak in to the hardboard and seal it, protecting it from from warping. I did this on mine four years ago and they are holding up pretty well in damp soggy Washington.

Tue Nov 18, 2008 12:43 am

mike spadafora wrote: you need to coat them front and back with two or three thin coats of polyurethane. It will soak in to the hardboard and seal it, protecting it from from warping. I did this on mine four years ago and they are holding up pretty well in damp soggy Washington.

Hi Mike, This is exactly what I had planned on doing, painting the backs very well.

Did you use a polyurethane for say wood, like minwax or something?
I have some Poly- clear here on hand. Or do you mean automotive paint...I can do that too. Any pics of how your panels are holding up?

Thanks

Tue Nov 18, 2008 3:32 am

mine warped, did nothing to them. :cry:

Tue Nov 18, 2008 5:37 am

I treated the back side, covered the front with pleather two months ago. They are so warped its crazy.

Jm

Tue Nov 18, 2008 6:27 am

krusher wrote: mine warped, did nothing to them. :cry:

Is this the stuff you made into panels for your BD?

Tue Nov 18, 2008 6:41 am

bought mines 6 months ago...and they start to be warped...

Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:27 am

bastardbus wrote: mike spadafora wrote: you need to coat them front and back with two or three thin coats of polyurethane. It will soak in to the hardboard and seal it, protecting it from from warping. I did this on mine four years ago and they are holding up pretty well in damp soggy Washington.

Hi Mike, This is exactly what I had planned on doing, painting the backs very well.

Did you use a polyurethane for say wood, like minwax or something?
I have some Poly- clear here on hand. Or do you mean automotive paint...I can do that too. Any pics of how your panels are holding up?

Thanks

He said to urethane the front and backside. If they are made out of some sort of cardboard product the only way to keep them from warping is to completely seal them like he did. That type of material will absorb moisture from the air on all sides including the ends. I avoided this problem and purchased a set from Clara a few years ago. They haven't warped.

Tue Nov 18, 2008 8:32 am

What is the exact material that the originals were made from? How hard could it be to make decent , correct-looking interior panels - with pockets - that didn't fall to shit at the first sign of moisture?

Tue Nov 18, 2008 8:46 am

TimGud wrote:

He said to urethane the front and backside. If they are made out of some sort of cardboard product the only way to keep them from warping is to completely seal them like he did. That type of material will absorb moisture from the air on all sides including the ends. I avoided this problem and purchased a set from Clara a few years ago. They haven't warped.

Thanks much folks, I think I am going to just avoid the WWest panels.
I think the original VW ones are tar board and actually probably have tar in them which adds to the water resistance. I have a `66 single cab with original beater gray door panels panels I yanked off a `63 panel years back. The bus is a beater and leaks water in badly everywhere and it sits outside 24-7 365 days a year. They do have a vapor barier I installed as well...sure that helps but amazing they have not even moved an inch.

I am guessing the W-West ones are just some sort to paper composite...probably no tar at all and thus why they warp no matter what. It looks like Clara's panels are made from a complete differnet material, correct? They look smooth and seem to be missing that original
pebble grain though. I am going for an original look with this bus so I am gonna pass on that. I have a set of decent og door and kick panels, but I am missing both headliner panels. I think I am gonna stick with the og and search for headliner panels. Anybody have some let me know.

Thanks

Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:06 am

bastardbus wrote: TimGud wrote:

He said to urethane the front and backside. If they are made out of some sort of cardboard product the only way to keep them from warping is to completely seal them like he did. That type of material will absorb moisture from the air on all sides including the ends. I avoided this problem and purchased a set from Clara a few years ago. They haven't warped.

Thanks much folks, I think I am going to just avoid the WWest panels.
I think the original VW ones are tar board and actually probably have tar in them which adds to the water resistance. I have a `66 single cab with original beater gray door panels panels I yanked off a `63 panel years back. The bus is a beater and leaks water in badly everywhere and it sits outside 24-7 365 days a year. They do have a vapor barier I installed as well...sure that helps but amazing they have not even moved an inch.

I am guessing the W-West ones are just some sort to paper composite...probably no tar at all and thus why they warp no matter what. It looks like Clara's panels are made from a complete differnet material, correct? They look smooth and seem to be missing that original
pebble grain though. I am going for an original look with this bus so I am gonna pass on that. I have a set of decent og door and kick panels, but I am missing both headliner panels. I think I am gonna stick with the og and search for headliner panels. Anybody have some let me know.

Thanks

From WW's informative website-

DOOR PANELS, front, grey, original tar impregnated paperboard material and features original texture, set of 2, does not include pockets, fits all buses through 1967.

Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:12 am

crofty wrote:

From WW's informative website-

DOOR PANELS, front, grey, original tar impregnated paperboard material and features original texture, set of 2, does not include pockets, fits all buses through 1967.

So does that mean they are pregnant with tar babies ?

Obviously there is something different between WW and original VW ones, be it varying degrees of quality or composite.

Tue Nov 18, 2008 12:08 pm

You need to seal the "edge"s

Tue Nov 18, 2008 1:03 pm

what you guys use to seal? I will try to make an euro translation of it :wink:

Tue Nov 18, 2008 1:31 pm

obviously

Tue Nov 18, 2008 1:46 pm

por 15 works good as a panel backside sealer as recommended by them. Or any moisture sealer such as thompsons etc will do.

Tue Nov 18, 2008 5:38 pm

I think it's bullshit you have to do anything to them after buying them. They should already be treated to where they won't warp. I bought door panels, kick panels, and ceiling panels from them and they all warped to shit the first time it rained. I figured being made by WW they would be fairly decent. I sent them a pretty long e-mail about it afterwards and never even got a reply

Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:35 pm

I have seen many of the WW panels warp beyond all reason.
One particular set was meticulously waterproofed on the backside with urethane sealer.
I think the only reason some people have had good luck with them is that they live in low humidity regions. All the East Coast ones I've seen are horrible.
Panels I purchased from Sewfine six years ago look as straight today as when installed. No backing treatment, no vapor barrier. The bus has been SOAKED several times, stored in Humid NJ and Florida, and camped out in on numerous occasions.
Nothing soaks the inside of a bus quite like camping out on a cool North East August night. You wake up in the morning with fog on all the interior windows. Those panels are STRAIGHT!
Sewfine rules.

Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:36 pm

I ordered a butt load of stuff from W-West today. I got the one guy that has a short fuse, not Rich the bus guy he is super cool this is the other guy. Anyhow I ordered about $400+ worth of stuff and real nicely brought up the warped panel issue.

Man-o-live did I hit a nerve with this guy! :roll:
He claims the issues with warping is 100% installation error.
Lack of vapor barrier. I mentioned some of the folks on the Samba had indeed painted the backs AND installed a vapor barrier (which is more then what VW did) and he basically just said "IDIOTS". :?

I pondered it and I really need roof panels now. I chatted with Tlaama he said ya know the panels are dirt cheap. I figured I would seal them up tight, install em and see what happens, come back here down the road and let folks know the verdict. He has them on 2 westys without any problems after 1 year. So I decided to buy a set and update the thread as needed.

Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:49 pm

bastardbus wrote: I ordered a butt load of stuff from W-West today. I got the one guy that has a short fuse, not Rich the bus guy he is super cool this is the other guy. Anyhow I ordered about $400+ worth of stuff and real nicely brought up the warped panel issue.

Man-o-live did I hit a nerve with this guy! :roll:
He claims the issues with warping is 100% installation error.
Lack of vapor barrier. I mentioned some of the folks on the Samba had indeed painted the backs AND installed a vapor barrier (which is more then what VW did) and he basically just said "IDIOTS". :?

I pondered it and I really need roof panels now. I chatted with Tlaama he said ya know the panels are dirt cheap. I figured I would seal them up tight, install em and see what happens, come back here down the road and let folks know the verdict. He has them on 2 westys without any problems after 1 year. So I decided to buy a set and update the thread as needed.

I dont know that guys name, but I cant stand him!! Biggest dick ever on the phone. Makes me glad for online ordering so I dont have to speak to him. If I owned a business and one of my employees treated customers like that, his ass would be at the soup kitchen post haste.

It should be pointed out that they are on V2 of the panels and the second round seems to be much improved. I just installed with vapor barrier and Thompsons water seal, 2 coats on the backside. I will wait for the results.

My previous set, the worse ones, have been in for 9 years. I laminated formica to the back of those. Yes, you can see it at the edge of the panel, but they havent warped in 9 years.