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mblotz
Samba Member
Joined: February 25, 2004
Posts: 296
Location: D-town, at base of the rocky's
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 Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 11:27 am Post subject: syncro westfalia weekender build in 3 phases |
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Since i sold my last syncro a while ago, ive been missing them and the community. i figured if one came my way id build another one, and low and behold, one did. 87 syncro tin top that ran--needs some work though. the deal came with a westy top ready to graft on. got my wheels really turning
phase 1.
was converting a tin top to westy, using the original westy roof. i can post pics and a write up if people want for phase 1, pretty much followed FNGRUVN and syncrogregs write up on that. came out VERY well and really happy i did it. jury is still out if its easier to swap a westy roof to a syncro, or swap syncro drivetrain to a westy (one of the main reasons i wanted to try since i watched farfrumwork do the mechanical swap last winter)
phase 2.
I have worked in the technical sports apparel industry for the last 15 years, which has given me great insite into sewing and patterns. about a year or so ago when i was trying to decide what was next for me in my life, which leaned a lot towards getting back to my wrenching roots on motor bikes, i learned about an upholstery class being offered, figured it was a good way for me to tie 2 of my passions together. vintage motorbike ALWAYS need a new seat after all. long story short, ive invested in some upholstery sewing machines, which got added to my wifes already existing apparel machines (we met at work--tisk tisk), and now we have a regular sweat shop out there.
when i purchased this van, i was actually kind of glad the interior was shotty, give me a cold weather project. since we dont see write ups on this very often, thought some people would take some interest in it.
van as i bought it, obviously some dirty hippies owned it before (there were beads everywhere--ha)
bench seat/mattress was not terrible, but what happened in the van doesnt need to stay with the van-ha
i choose to mix up the colors, chocolate vinyl to match the dash and other small interior bits, with a chocolate tweed for the bolsters and a gold center with chocolate highlights. i love working with the tweed BTW
glued to foam and the edges serged. i got really lucky to find this walking foot serger at a friends when we went to buy a single needle apparel machine off her. it came home to, very rare machine here, apparently 1 of 2 in the state. we love it
coming together
here is my real work horse, fine german made machine here (last year made in germany)
finished seat bottom. i tied back into the gold interior color with the piping
finished passenger seat, the 87+ armrest are not nearly as much of a PITA as the <86 (done those before as well) |
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mblotz
Samba Member
Joined: February 25, 2004
Posts: 296
Location: D-town, at base of the rocky's
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| Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 11:32 am Post subject: phase 2 part 2 |
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then onto the bench seat and mattress. alot more fabric to wrestle around
ready to stretch on the foam and hog ring into place. i did do the mattress in the lighter center tweed
finished and reinstalled
couple small lil details to do yet, then finish off the rear shelf where the AC was, but the interior is 97% done. thought you would get a kick out of seeing something different done on our beloved vans
now onto phase 3, subaru 2.5 install and suspension work, which we have also all seen. |
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Blueconundrum
Samba Member
Joined: September 07, 2010
Posts: 148
Location: Bozeman, MT
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| Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 12:26 pm Post subject: |
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Wooooooooow, I hate brown color schemes generally but that looks SO NICE. Wowee wowzers. Love it!
_________________
1988 Vanagon Syncro EJ22 |
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sandoz
Samba Member
Joined: November 17, 2007
Posts: 86
Location: Denver, CO
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| Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 12:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Nicely Done! Wish I had the skills to do that kind of work, since I have some metal poking me from the drivers seat.... |
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djkeev
Samba Moderator
Joined: September 30, 2007
Posts: 32987
Location: Reading Pennsylvania
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mblotz
Samba Member
Joined: February 25, 2004
Posts: 296
Location: D-town, at base of the rocky's
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| Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 1:15 pm Post subject: |
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| sandoz wrote: |
| Nicely Done! Wish I had the skills to do that kind of work, since I have some metal poking me from the drivers seat.... |
hit me up, i did pattern everything out so i could do it easily in the future, and you are local to me
as for the door panels, i dont know yet, now that i got a motor sitting here my attention might go there for now. perhaps though since the slider panel has seen better days |
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DAV!D
Samba Member
Joined: September 10, 2013
Posts: 980
Location: EL CAMINO
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| Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 1:44 pm Post subject: |
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The seats look very nice.
_________________
86 Syncro Build - Ecotec Motor Swap - Pop Top Conversion - Camper Build & Syncro Conversion |
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tam_shops
Samba Member
Joined: November 15, 2012
Posts: 1531
Location: Vancouver BC
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| Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 1:59 pm Post subject: |
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Your Industrial Juki Serger has a walking foot? Cool! I have a crappie old Kenmore Serger, still does the trick and I have a nicer one to use at school so never really thought about replacing it...
How did you get the lines on the back/bottom of the seats? Are those seams or is the fabric just like that? REALLY adds to the final professional appearance of everything! Nice job! Enjoy!
tam
_________________
1987 Vanagon Westfalia GL Automatic
Making it special:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=545885 |
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Sir Sam
Samba Member
Joined: July 19, 2009
Posts: 1724
Location: Fort Collins Colorado!
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| Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 3:24 pm Post subject: |
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I also have a Pfaff and I also redid my seats in my weekender......I think yours look nicer!
Any case you still have passenger side seat fabric? My drivers side is fairly tatty and I your old passenger side was/is probably better. Looking at your photos it looks like it might have been sacrificial for making the new patterns.
Mine:
_________________
'91 Carat Westy
87' Syncro + '87 Westy conversion coming soon |
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sandoz
Samba Member
Joined: November 17, 2007
Posts: 86
Location: Denver, CO
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| Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 3:29 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
hit me up, i did pattern everything out so i could do it easily in the future, and you are local to me
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I will most definitely be in touch about your expertise, thanks for the offer! |
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mblotz
Samba Member
Joined: February 25, 2004
Posts: 296
Location: D-town, at base of the rocky's
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| Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 4:13 pm Post subject: |
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| tam_shops wrote: |
Your Industrial Juki Serger has a walking foot? Cool! I have a crappie old Kenmore Serger, still does the trick and I have a nicer one to use at school so never really thought about replacing it...
How did you get the lines on the back/bottom of the seats? Are those seams or is the fabric just like that? REALLY adds to the final professional appearance of everything! Nice job! Enjoy!
tam |
my JUKI serger is a walking foot, very rare, and awesome for the thick heavy fabrics, and for when its on foam. we actually have another JUKI serger here that is not a walking foot for knits and stretch fabrics. my wife and i are kind of spaz's when it comes to buying tools, we have 5 industrials.
are you talking about the gold colored piping? those are added seperately for appearance purposes. |
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mblotz
Samba Member
Joined: February 25, 2004
Posts: 296
Location: D-town, at base of the rocky's
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| Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 4:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Sir Sam wrote: |
I also have a Pfaff and I also redid my seats in my weekender......I think yours look nicer!
Any case you still have passenger side seat fabric? My drivers side is fairly tatty and I your old passenger side was/is probably better. Looking at your photos it looks like it might have been sacrificial for making the new patterns.
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nice Sir Sam
i do still have all my fabric that i took off my seats, just couldnt bring myself to throw it away yet. i did use the passenger side to make my patterns, so its all ripped apart and marked, but i have it. i also made paper patterns to hopefully help people out in the future. let me know if you wanna get together and trace em |
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Zeitgeist 13
Samba Member
Joined: March 05, 2009
Posts: 12161
Location: Port Manteau
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| Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 4:22 pm Post subject: |
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Exceptional work. Can those machines handle leather material?
_________________
Casey--
'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik? |
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canasync
Samba Member
Joined: June 28, 2010
Posts: 657
Location: BC
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| Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 4:30 pm Post subject: |
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Haven't seen a set of brown seats that I liked the look of...... Until now, great job, nice choice of pattern too.
_________________
1987 Syncro
3 knobs
PumpeDüse TDI (17mm Garret Turbo, bigger injectors, stage 4 malone tune, intercooled)
Cruise Control
Planar Coolant Heater
Remote Start/locks
Custom Lift
Custom Bumpers with receivers
Coast Mountain Hightop - Comming Soon
1985 2wd Vanagon Pre-runner in the making
soon to be powered by 2.5L Subaru
Custom Lift |
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mblotz
Samba Member
Joined: February 25, 2004
Posts: 296
Location: D-town, at base of the rocky's
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| Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 4:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Zeitgeist 13 wrote: |
| Exceptional work. Can those machines handle leather material? |
yes they can, will go through your finger lickity split to--ha |
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furrylittleotter
Samba Member
Joined: May 19, 2008
Posts: 1506
Location: West Seattle
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| Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 4:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Gorgeous upholstery job! |
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tam_shops
Samba Member
Joined: November 15, 2012
Posts: 1531
Location: Vancouver BC
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| Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 4:46 pm Post subject: |
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I was pretty proud of my Pfaff 7570, embroidery machine, until I saw those industrial babies. Good thing the focus of obsession, eerrr, I mean fun is my Vanagon and I don't need a new machine for the small jobs I have planned. I wanted an 87+ b/c I liked the grey interior better, but the brown re-done, really looks great!
| mblotz wrote: |
| tam_shops wrote: |
Your Industrial Juki Serger has a walking foot? Cool! I have a crappie old Kenmore Serger, still does the trick and I have a nicer one to use at school so never really thought about replacing it...
How did you get the lines on the back/bottom of the seats? Are those seams or is the fabric just like that? REALLY adds to the final professional appearance of everything! Nice job! Enjoy!
tam |
my JUKI serger is a walking foot, very rare, and awesome for the thick heavy fabrics, and for when its on foam. we actually have another JUKI serger here that is not a walking foot for knits and stretch fabrics. my wife and i are kind of spaz's when it comes to buying tools, we have 5 industrials.
are you talking about the gold colored piping? those are added seperately for appearance purposes. |
No, I don't mean the piping. I mean the 3 lines, in each light brown panel (3 lines and 3 panels in the picture below, so a total of 9 lines). Are those natural lines in the fabric OR is that 4 pieces of fabric sewn together, leaving a sewing line on each. It sure adds to the commercial appeal of the cover. I like it.
_________________
1987 Vanagon Westfalia GL Automatic
Making it special:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=545885 |
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mblotz
Samba Member
Joined: February 25, 2004
Posts: 296
Location: D-town, at base of the rocky's
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| Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 4:51 pm Post subject: |
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| ahh, got ya, its a top stitch i added, and was in the original seats as well. not 100% necessary other than maybe keeping the fabric and foam a little tighter together, but most just for looks. on the front seats there is a piece of listing sewn in on the back one to hog ring it down to the foam and make it tight, so it is necessary there |
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mblotz
Samba Member
Joined: February 25, 2004
Posts: 296
Location: D-town, at base of the rocky's
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| Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 5:18 pm Post subject: |
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i shoe horned her back into the shop this weekend, which was no easy task, to start on phase 3, motor swap and mechanical update. last time she will run that wbxer, which doesnt run terrible, just been there done that
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sandoz
Samba Member
Joined: November 17, 2007
Posts: 86
Location: Denver, CO
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| Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 6:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Perfect timing with the weather! Good to see your making progress.... |
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