TheSamba.com :: View topic - SO-42 Camper curtain and bungee patterns/sizes/info

Tue Sep 21, 2004 8:58 am

Thanks to Tim and others, I have the sizes for all the curtains in an SO-42 camper (may be correct for others, I don't know).

Here they are:

Curtains:

Construction: The top seam is 2 1/2" wide with a 1 3/4" opening at the ends. The edges are hemmed on both sides--just a simple hem. It is hemmed at the top about 1/2" down and at the bottom forming a "tube" for the rod to slip through. The rear, or course, has two of these channels because it has two rods. The curtains are unlined.

2 fronts: 17h X 57w ea. Little nylon runners made by "Silent Gliss" are sewn to the outside of the curtains and ride in the track. The runners are available from VWCurtains.com and from PLF.

2 Rear: 14-7/8h X28w ea

12 for the side windows: 17-3/8 h X 14-1/4w ea

Curtains should not have fabric tie backs. There were white plastic tiebacks with snaps attached to the wall behind each of the cab doors. Otherwise you use bungees. The curtain sets offered by VWCurtains.com do not appear to be correct. They are the wrong height, the wrong width, and there are not enough of them to do the interior correctly.

The only known source of the correct material to duplicate the gold and brown plaid curtains is PLF. A set made of this material is $700.

Bungees are made of light gray elastic shock cord with a crimp on the end made of light guage brass. The crimp has eight little impressions on it, four on each side where the shock cord passes through. An oval head screw with a finishing washer goes through the loop to affix it to the door. There should be four bungees: one long one for the long wall and three short ones for the cargo door side wall. If you choose not to make your own, they are available here for $55 shipped http://so23westfalia.com/. Here is a photo of his nice reproduction set .

Thanks again Tim!

Tue Sep 21, 2004 9:34 am

Thanks so much, Chris and Tim!
I'm not quite at the curtain making stage, still peeved at linkage issues, but as it's getting colder.... :(
Cheers
Graham

Tue Sep 21, 2004 9:45 am

My orignal bungees were white with red stripes.

Looking at literature it looks to me as if there were different patterns of material used for westys. My '65 had the original curtains in it that are very similar to the '66 Westy brochure (there's one here in the archives) that is not plaid. That may have just been for euro buses or even UT code buses but I thought I'd throw it out there.

Tue Sep 21, 2004 11:02 am

Sean, do you have a closeup of your curtains? I looked at this picture but I can't make out what pattern you have.

This is the first I have heard of a pattern other than the yellow/brown/white plaid, which my wife hates.

Also are your front curtain sliders also sewn directly to the back of your curtains? How many sliders do you have on your bus?

Thanks!

Tue Sep 21, 2004 12:15 pm

Those aren't my original curtains, those I made. The old ones did have the sliders sewn directly on to the curtains.

Sliders? Just the two fronts have the plastic pegs that fit in the rail. Check this out for curtains-

It seems to me those are two different buses but both SO42's. One has the floor less tent and the other appears to have the yellow/grey striped tent.
However, neither have the plaid material. One original SO44 I saw had solid curtains though that may be a euro thing or even model specific. It may be a '65 only thing as well as it was the first year of the 42/44 model but I don't have any real proof, just the buses I've seen over the years. I still don't think that was the only pattern available. Those photos are from a '66 brochure.

Tue Sep 21, 2004 12:25 pm

Damn, those colors are even more foul than the tan/yellow/white plaid.

What I meant is, how many of the little pegs are sewn onto each curtain panel? My track is there, but but the little peg things are all MIA and I don't know how many to buy.

Tue Sep 21, 2004 12:35 pm

Off hand I'd say 8-10 per side would do it. Bay window Westys used the same runners on their sliding door curtain.

Tue Sep 21, 2004 2:02 pm

Crofty, your bus is sweeeet. :D Cool dog too.

Tue Sep 21, 2004 2:40 pm

Ian wrote: Crofty, your bus is sweeeet. :D Cool dog too.

Thanks. I wish that Ben was still around, he was great!

Tue Sep 21, 2004 8:07 pm

In case someone was looking for a set of sliders....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=2490655199&category=6755

Wed Sep 22, 2004 7:45 am

Ragman wrote: In case someone was looking for a set of sliders....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=2490655199&category=6755

Depending on how anal retentive you want to be, those sliders would work fine but the are not an exact match to the originals.

Wed Sep 22, 2004 8:28 am

Thanks Crofty. I would rather have originals but I certainly would not pay more for originals than Dawn wants for these new ones.

Sometime if you get a chance, would you [or anyone] please snap a photo of what an original one looks like and add it to this thread? I think everyone would benefit. Thanks.

Wed Sep 22, 2004 5:07 pm

From the department of minutia, an image of one the original curtain sliders out of my 67

Thu Sep 23, 2004 8:32 am

Tim, you kick ass. Thanks

Mon May 22, 2006 3:17 pm

Digging up this old thread to add one more question.
When I got my '67, the bungees were gone. All that was left was the remains of one of the ends where they go under the finishing washer and are crimped.

The pieces I removed appeared to be sort of a medium gray. I finally ound a source for 1/8" gray bungee material but I am holding off buying it until I find out if it really was gray or if Westfalia just used whatever the hell they wanted. I really don't care for the striped bungee material and would like to use what was original.

Mon May 22, 2006 6:04 pm

Hi Woody. Mine has one original one left in the closet and it is indeed grey.

If you purchase the bungee cord, and would multiply by two I would split it with you, plus pay for postage to me. If it is an online source wouldyou share it? I would like to do the two cargo doors and long wall in my camper. regards Ron

Mon May 22, 2006 6:25 pm

Mine are gray in the '67.

Mon May 22, 2006 6:38 pm

Tim wrote: From the department of minutia, an image of one the original curtain sliders out of my 67

you can rob these out of the baywindows, they are the same.

Mon May 22, 2006 7:39 pm

If you cannot find a baywindow camper that has them you can get the pieces from

http://www.vwcurtains.com/silent.htm

To do the curtains for the front of an SO42 like it was when it was new you need item 5 and 6 down on the above page. I ordered 50 slides(you need more than 25 but less than 50, sold per 25) and 4 meters of slide tape. All of this original equipment came to 16$USD paypal (if my memory is correct) That was mailed from overseas!!! cam in about 10 days. Mad props to the service at vwcurtains.com

Mon May 22, 2006 7:47 pm

8)