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Sun Mar 03, 2013 8:17 pm

Not sure if anyone's done this.... I was running out of things to do when I noticed the plastic protector covering the step from the middle of the Westy cabin to the driver/passenger seats had worn through due to it being a high traffic area. I had been eyeballing it for a while, so when I discovered a spare piece of right-angled aluminum stock, I got a hair and knocked it out in about 45 minutes. I may add a couple screws on the top for extra stability.

Sun Mar 03, 2013 8:28 pm

It kills me, my blindness that is. I have a ratty stock protector and tons of scrap aluminum angle and I didn't make the connection until I saw this.

Good work and thanks!.

alistair

Sun Mar 03, 2013 8:34 pm

Cool, I'll take one! :D

Mon Mar 04, 2013 9:24 am

That serves a purpose, but I see a very sharp hard corner that could take out a knee or crack a little ones head if they fall down against it. Something with a protected edge or rounded corner would be better. You'll notice Wesfalia avoided any sharp edges in their build and have protected all edges with rubber. Just a thought.

Mon Mar 04, 2013 12:17 pm

a wee file job could fix that

Mon Mar 04, 2013 12:37 pm

it would still be hard metal -- also metal is no fun for bare feet; use rubber

Mon Mar 04, 2013 7:59 pm

I'm sure you can fin it in plastic, or glue some thick foam

Mon Mar 04, 2013 8:26 pm

Whirrrrrl whirrrrrllll whrrrrrrrrrlll

wow the safety police strike fast..
better pad that front table mount too for when the wee little ones are drinking in the back.

maybe some of these will be needed to make everyone's environments safe.

Of course I'm not really joking to some here's personal safety and comfort level concerns. you can pad your van anyways you like.

Mon Mar 04, 2013 9:01 pm

I find it kind of humorous. We're all driving around in airbag-less, rear-engine vehicles with our bodies a few inches from the impact zone of a head-on accident. I'm not too concerned about a somewhat sharp edge 3" off the floor.

Mon Mar 04, 2013 9:12 pm

Syncronoid wrote:

What flooring pads are those?
Pretty slick!

Mon Mar 04, 2013 9:46 pm

berkeleyjack wrote: Syncronoid wrote:

What flooring pads are those?
Pretty slick!

GW rubber mat kit. ...or do you mean the cheap dime-store door mat?

Mon Mar 04, 2013 11:00 pm

3M makes a nice 90 degree rubber molding for bathtub edges that would perfectly address the edge. Look for it at big box stores sold in rolls for bathtubs and such. Designed for a humid and wet environment, and you'll have about 10 feet left over.

DougM

Tue Mar 05, 2013 9:18 am

Great ideas! The rubber version would be easier to work with for most people except Alistair.

My Doka already has a metal edge there but had a rounded edge from the factory.

Tue Mar 05, 2013 9:36 am

Syncronoid wrote: berkeleyjack wrote: Syncronoid wrote:

What flooring pads are those?
Pretty slick!

GW rubber mat kit. ...or do you mean the cheap dime-store door mat?

Not GW,
Lloyd Mats

Tue Mar 05, 2013 11:08 am

I dug into my scrap pile and pulled up some candidates

Safety police might like the polyethylene angle, I lean more towards the aluminum - either cutting down the large curved angle piece or rounding over the smaller hard angle examples.

We're a obsessed bunch of folk here on the Samba, eh?

alistair

Tue Mar 05, 2013 11:31 am

Alistair,

Whichever material to chose to use, don't neglect to route some channels to make it the look of a proper threshold. Step the router to about 12mm from each edge to give it that professorial built appearance.

:wink:

Tue Mar 05, 2013 11:41 am

IdahoDoug wrote: 3M makes a nice 90 degree rubber molding for bathtub edges that would perfectly address the edge. Look for it at big box stores sold in rolls for bathtubs and such. Designed for a humid and wet environment, and you'll have about 10 feet left over.

DougM

Great to know and something I can do. Not sure how my threshold one looks, but the strip behind my passenger seat needs something, it's torn and irritates me! LOL

tam

Tue Mar 05, 2013 11:52 am

Hey, what about the same edging on the part of the carpet that folds over the battery box? It's same vinyl cr@p and mine is torn. Obviously, a piece of angled metal won't work since you have to get to your battery under the seat. I can't wait to see someone create something which works like a piano hinge. AB?!

Tue Mar 05, 2013 4:58 pm

insyncro wrote: Syncronoid wrote: GW rubber mat kit. ...or do you mean the cheap dime-store door mat?

Not GW,
Lloyd Mats

I meant the rubber ones.
Sucks that GW only sells them for Westies.
I'd like something like that for my Carat/Weekender, but it won't be big enough for my center space.

Might look into buying rubber garage flooring tiles and seeing if I can do something with those.

Tue Mar 05, 2013 5:17 pm

Good idea!

I did this a few years ago, using something that was little more rounded and less heavy-duty.

I generally agree with PDXWesty. I think I would injure my foot on that sharp 90° edge, as I am often barefoot in the van.

The material I used was some sort of stair tread protector I got from Home Despot. I painted it with some POR 15 and is still looking pretty good.