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Fri Nov 21, 2008 9:47 am

Since it gets down-right cold -20 with windchill in the midwest and I try to drive my kombi regardless (unless the roads have been salted) and the heat cannot keep up in warming the cab and cargo area I have been thinking of installing a cab divider in the cold months.

My concern is- do I want to drill holes in the bulkhead wall and roof strip- or would there be a better way to produce something that is less destructive? I could bend up some brackets for the bulkhead top edge, so the bottom of the panel could be tightened down and thus eliminating the screw holes. I am not sure on the top edge thou? Do I use an "L" bracket and longer roof card screws at those locations?

Fri Nov 21, 2008 9:54 am

If you have a bench seat, just install a curtain like a camper. I have driven my camper in the cold (20-30 degrees, no sloppy salted roads) and stayed warm with the curtain drawn. It was a panel conversion however, which means it does not have the heat log on the rear floor so all the heat from the exchangers comes up front.

Fri Nov 21, 2008 9:57 am

yeah try the curtain thing...there are plenty of options for aesthetically pleasing thick materials with good insulative properties.

or just be awesome and install an ambulance divider.

or use curtains of thick-mil visqueen plastic :shock: then you could still see.

Fri Nov 21, 2008 10:01 am

sled wrote: yeah try the curtain thing of thick-mil visqueen plastic :shock: then you could still see.

I have thought of that.. :? since it would be great to see over my right-side clearly, then thru the 18" x 12" divider widow..

Fri Nov 21, 2008 10:03 am

mynameismud wrote: Since it gets down-right cold -20 with windchill in the midwest

I feel your pain - I actually had to put on a light jacket this morning.

Fri Nov 21, 2008 10:07 am

///Mink wrote:
I feel your pain - I actually had to put on a light jacket this morning.

Funny...

I would think you could build one out of wood that is freestanding off of the floor - not drilled or attached to anything.

Fri Nov 21, 2008 10:12 am

I know this is a little wierd- please bear with me. In my camp trailer, I wanted to do a similar thing to make a "corral" for my infant daughter so she would be more secure/cozy in the slide out bed. We removed screws along a roof strip- slipped plastic cable eylets under the screw and retightened (like your longer headliner screws). We paid a canvas tent and awning co. to make a nylon/zippered/screened "door", with an elastic gaiter. The exposed elastic gaiter hooks onto the eyelets installed earlier (like on a kayak). The result is a very clean, stealth, professional, removable panel- and looks like a Coleman factory option. Long story long, I think Westy material sewn like a tent- attached like your investigating, would be very clean and effective. brad

Fri Nov 21, 2008 10:19 am

How about some hollow core door sheeting, which is very cheap and doesn't look to bad, with some plexiglass? You could hold something that light weight in with some heavy duty magnets.

Fri Nov 21, 2008 10:21 am

In the '56 kombi I had years ago, I'd rigged a canvas curtain for the duel purpose of keeping some heat in, and some privacy while camping. I rigged it with snaps, and it worked pretty well.

The real deal would be an ambulance divider.

Fri Nov 21, 2008 10:27 am

i love my partion divider in my panel. I have driven it in very cold below zero days and stayed quite comfortable. without it i could tell how much it would suck. I hate being all bundled up to drive. i like the canvas divider idea. you clould always install a gas heater i suppose

Fri Nov 21, 2008 10:33 am

I made a panel divider out of 1/8" hardboard, cut a 20" x 10" rectangle in the center, pop riveted on a piece of plexiglass and mounted it using 4 brackets, 2 on each side. Yes, I had to drill four 1/8" holes for the sheet metal screws to hold it in place in the sides of the bus side panel reinforcement beams.

Best thing ever for winter time. It'll smoke you out of the front now.
I put one in both my '65 Non walk thru Westy and one in my '66 13 Window, non walk thru Deluxe.

They are very similar to what Clara has listed in the classifieds. Hard part was just making that first pattern, after that, good to go.

I think the 4 holes more than makes up for the comfort and heat.
Sorry no pics, will have some after this weekend's camping trip though!

Fri Nov 21, 2008 10:34 am

I'm going to noodle on this over the weekend (along with replace my fule pump and my now broken heater cable... :roll: ) never happens when it's warm out.
Another thought would be to use clear vinyl (ie) Jeep softtop side curtains. and install velcro and the velcro hooks. It wouldn't really matter that the strips stuck to the bulkhead wall would need to be replaced yearly, since the divider wouldn't be installed except Nov - March (sometimes May)

Fri Nov 21, 2008 10:40 am

paul....just step up

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=615768

:lol:

Fri Nov 21, 2008 10:59 am

sled wrote: paul....just step up

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=615768

:lol:

f-that..i'd freeze to death or my wife would kill me before that.
:shock:

Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:00 pm

Since it's a seasonal thing, why not attach it with some really strong magnets. Something like these...

http://findingking.net/4-Rare-Earth-Neodymium-NdFe...ce=froogle

You could probably use a clear vinyl shower curtain to make an "eisenglass" enclosure.

Fri Nov 21, 2008 6:57 pm

On my '55 Kombi I stuck a cab divider in there a few times. It worked pretty well but was not perfectly sealed, especially since I had no glass. I used 2 brackets on the bottom edge as you mentioned above.

The top stayed in place by itself, I didn't do anything. I did have the pieces at the top corners so those probably held it with some tension.

Fri Nov 21, 2008 8:40 pm

Maybe consider a set of "winter time" roof cards with brackets attached. These could be made from paneling and painted to look OG. Just switch the originals back in in the spring.