Triumph
Samba Member
Joined: May 25, 2005
Posts: 8
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 Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2023 12:05 pm Post subject: 2001 EVC Interior Work |
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This started as a rather simple project: re-spray all the vinyl panels in my camper, yellowed through years of exposure, to their original gray (see pics 1 & 2).
And like all good deeds, this one did not go unpunished. That said, I am happy with the result. And I remind myself that these vehicles are 20+ years old and need some TLC from time to time. This is a long post as it describes the following:
Removal & painting of the interior plastic panels
Replacement of the main floor and a portion of the floor under the cabinet
Sound proofing of the main van area
Replacement of the fresh water pump, faucet, plumbing lines and rear sprayer
Miscellaneous mods: fridge venting, bench seat slider, rear headliner
Re-installation of the painted panels.
Enjoy!
Removal & painting of the interior plastic panels
Removing the panels is fairly straightforward with these notes:
The panels overlap. Begin with the panel covering the pop-top latch mechanism and work to the rear.
The screws and little plastic cups vary in length & thickness. Note this during removal as you’ll want the longer screws & deeper cups in the right places.
The panel behind the sink / range cannot be removed without removing the cabinetry on the driver’s side. In my case, I masked off surrounding areas so it could be prepped and sprayed in place.
The blind surround on the passenger side has a long Velcro strip securing the bottom horizontal section where the seat belt passes through to the window frame (see pic 18).
The left rear panel housing the shower spray, water fill and electrical panels contains a Velcro strip to keep a section snug. It also has four clips on the cabinet (see pic 19)
and the panel’s leading “T” trim pops into these clips. Work from the lower edge up using a plastic panel removal tool to pop the edge towards the center of the van (see pic 20).
Once those are done, rotate the bottom of the panel away from the back of the van a few inches. Then disconnect the power and water connections. I also found it easier to remove the wire from the 110v outlet than feed the outlet back through the panel.
Painting the Panels
Prepping the panels for painting consisted of a TSP wash & rinse followed by an alcohol wipe. The blind surround on the passenger side has rubber trim which was removed along with glue residue. New trim would be installed after painting.
The panels were painted with two coats of Behr Lunar Surface paint+primer spray enamel in a flat finish. A gloss finish is available but I didn’t want a lot of sheen. To provide scuff resistance, I applied two top coats of Behr Clear Coat paint+primer.
Floor Replacement
As I began reinstalling the panels around the driver’s door and kitchen, I noticed a sponginess in the floor behind the driver’s seat where the tray tables are stored (see pic 3a).
Long story short, there was evidence of water damage extending into the main cabin so the decision was made to remove the floor to determine the extent of the damage. While the rot & mildew was somewhat confined, I decided to replace the main floor and a portion of the under-cabinet floor.
Layout of Floor and Removal
The main floor section is roughly a 4’x9’x 5/8” OSB sheet. It tucks in under the edge of the cabinet. To remove this section, you’ll remove the panels, 3rd seat anchor tubes, main bench seat attachment, battery box, seat belt anchor and the “L” brackets anchoring the cabinet to the main floor section. Notes for the 3rd seat anchor tubes:
When removing the anchor tubes, you’ll want to get a couple of 5/8” nuts and assemble them with the 3rd seat post in a jam nut fitting (see pic 14).
This allows a person on top to keep the anchor tube from turning while you undo the bolt from below.
For the two tubes closest to the cabinet, break the bolt loose from underneath then unscrew it from the top using the jam nut. The underneath bolts will rest on top of the gray water tank until re-installation.
Radim, our Czech exchange student, was on hand to help me with removal; he did the wrenching up top and I from underneath. The main bench seat attachment has quite a bit of sealant and required the use of a crowbar to break it loose. That’s Radim holding his “prize” in pic 3b.
The under-cabinet floor section is ~1 ½’ wide and runs from behind the driver’s seat to the fresh water tank. Removing this piece requires removal of the main cabinet structure and requires cutting the vent pipe to the gray water tank, disconnecting the gas lines and removing the LP tank, regulator and mounting bracket. I spent a lot of time thinking about this and determined I could cut out the rotted portion of the under-cabinet floor and leave the cabinet in place (see pic 3c).
Van Decking – Treatment & Prep
With the old floor removed and the debris & sealant cleaned from the van deck, I needed to treat some rust in the area of the 3rd seat posts. I used EvapoRust, creating a bandage of sorts: layers of paper towels which would be soaked with EvapoRust then covered with plastic sheeting and taped to seal out air. The bandage stayed on for 24 hours and totally removed the rust. The van deck was then prepped and received two coats of white Rustoleum (see pics 4 & 5 for before & after).
I also used EvapoRust on the 3rd seat posts as well as the four metal plates used with them. They received two coats of black Rustoleum.
New Floor Construction
I went with marine plywood for the new floor. The closest you can get to the original 5/8” OSB is 15mm. This thickness is a little harder to find but I located it at The Hardwood Store in Gibsonville, NC. Got two 4’x8’x15mm sheets of Okoume, a 9 ply plywood. Depending on where you live, e.g., Noah’s Marine in Depew NY; you may be able to obtain 5’x10’ size plywood which would allow you to cut the entire floor from a single sheet.
Using the old floor as a template (as much as it could be) I cut the front 8’ section then the rear ~1’ section (see pic 6).
Test fitting allowed me to determine the proper relief around the door and fender areas (see pic 7).
For reference, the 3rd seat holes are 1 ¾”, battery hole is 2 ½” & ¾” holes for the seat belt and battery anchor bolts. I used a router to bevel the 3rd seat holes, battery hole and sliding door edge.
After final fitting, I primed the wood with oil based Kilz on top, bottom and edges.
For the floor underlayment, I used 1/4” thickness 4lb density polyethylene foam from the Foam Factory. This particular foam is 60” wide and priced per lineal foot. It does not absorb water nor does water penetrate it (thicker versions of the foam are used in flotation devices). Foam Factory recommends the 3M Super 77 spray adhesive to glue it to the bottom of the wood. After applying it, I flipped the board, weighted it and let it sit the night before final trimming. You will cut away a 6” square of this foam for each of the 3rd seat anchor plates (see pic 12).
In retrospective, I should have used the 2lb density or 3/16” thick foam as it would have allowed for more compression during floor installation. Oh well, save that for next time!
Floor covering
After looking at a number of options, including the attractive wood look vinyl option that Road Trip Oregon offers, I decided I wanted to stay with the original look so I ordered the floor vinyl from GoWesty. This is Storm Gray Nautolex Boat Flooring which they source from Keyston Bros. The material is 76” wide and while I ordered the recommended 4 yds, if you’re not doing the under-cabinet area or don’t have the luxury of finding a 10’ panel, you only need 3 yds. (see pic 8).
I spent a lot of time researching and agonizing over the adhesive/cement! Being my first attempt at “floor upholstery”, I was worried that a) solvent-based cements would be too tricky to work with and b) Nautolex recommends a water-based adhesive. I also wanted to avoid having to trowel adhesive and all the smoothing that would take. In the end, I used the Henry 647 PlumPro. It’s water-based, designed to be applied to the floor side with a brush or roller, dries to a tacky state before application and has a long working time (pic 9).
To help with alignment, I traced the outline of the board on the back of the vinyl. This allowed me to pre-cut the large roll into a more manageable sheet, roll it tightly on a cylinder and lay it down end to end on the tacky adhesive. My wife Jane helped roll it out and the technique worked so well that in pic 10, you can see the heater box cutout aligning perfectly.
Once down, I rolled the vinyl to smooth and press it into the adhesive. After a few hours, we flipped the board vinyl side down and weighted it to sit overnight.
Jane did the intricate work of cutting the darts and wrapping the vinyl over the edges. It helps to have a sewing background! We used a heat gun on low setting to make the vinyl pliable for the stretching & wrapping. In other areas of the floor, the vinyl was trimmed flush with the edge. Be sure to use stainless staples!
Picture 11 shows the floor composition of a finished section: foam, primed plywood, vinyl covering.
Picture 12 is the bottom view of how the vinyl was cut and wrapped .
Installing the New Floor
The section behind the driver’s seat went in first. I left it floating in case we needed to adjust it once the main floor went in.
Prior to the main floor section going back in, the metal plates for the 3rd seat need to be sealed to the floor. This is a little tricky because instead of drilling nice neat holes for the bolt tubes in the van deck, Winnebago appeared to use an acetylene torch to hog out the holes. To get things aligned, I put the anchor tubes through the plates, positioned them in the holes so that I could put the under-chassis bolt in the tube. Using a marker, I traced the metal plate outline on the van deck. Removing the plate & tube, I filled in the outlined area with silicone caulk about ½” higher than the van deck then pressed the metal plate, with the anchor tube still in, fully down so the caulking squeezed out (see pic 13).
Note: having the anchor tube in place keeps the caulk from fouling the hole. Smooth the caulk around the plate perimeter and withdraw the anchor tube. Let this setup for a day to set.
My son Jack helped me get the floor back in. Before installing the floor, lay down heavy beads of caulk on the van deck around the rear bench seat holes, battery hole, battery hold down and seat belt anchor bolt holes. As I alluded to earlier, a thinner or less dense foam would have made fitting floor a little easier. We ended up removing about 2” of foam along the straight edge that slides under the cabinet frame. We then installed the seat anchor tubes. To tighten the under-chassis bolt, we used the same jam nut setup as on removal (see pic 14).
Note: you can hand tighten the anchor tube from the top but the final tightening must be done using the under-chassis bolt. This avoids twisting the vinyl when the anchor tube turns.
Install the frame for the rear bench seat. A floor section fits within this frame. As we had wrapped the vinyl over the fore & aft edges of the floor section, it fit snugly into the frame and stayed in place during installation.
Install the battery box. Be sure to thread the hold down webbing before you tighten the bolts. Lastly, install the left seat belt hold down bolt and be sure to use the steel plate that was taken off earlier. I went under the van with the caulk gun to be sure everything was properly sealed.
The rear section of the floor was last and went without any drama.
Securing the Floor to the Deck
The seat attachments are the primary means for securing the floor. In addition, there are several places where a self-tapping screw holds the floor to the van deck: a) the rear section within the battery box and heater areas, b) under the fridge and c) table tray racks. I used stainless steel hardware at these places and also replaced the existing screws with the stainless ones as well. I also used #8 ¾” stainless pan head screws screwed from underneath and sealed with silicone, to secure the floor across the front & rear. I pre-drilled 1/8” holes in the upward curves of the corrugated van deck. This gives the screws sufficient bite without danger of going through the vinyl. If you’ve ever heard your floor slap a little when you step in the floor behind the passenger seat, this is the cure.
Soundproofing
I had enough foam material left to sound proof the exterior walls of the van (see pic 7a).
It was easy to cut strips & panels of foam and use the spray adhesive to hold in place.
Plumbing
The old water pump had slowed to a trickle so I decided to replace the old 3/8” ID hose, water pump, faucet, rear sprayer and add a strainer. The design of the ShurFlo faucet is such that rotating the valve turns on the pump and controls the water flow. The ShurFlo pump is an “on-demand” pump. Thus, setting the faucet to the lowest flow allows you to pressure test the system as the pump will pulse on and off to maintain pressure. I place newspaper under each connection as it’s very easy to see the smallest drop of water; don’t forget the rear sprayer connections. Run the pressure test for 10 – 15 minutes to check for leaks. Also run full flow through the sink faucet and rear sprayer. You don’t want to get it all back together and then discover a leak. Final installation is pic 21.
Pressure testing uncovered an internal leak in the new pump. A quick call to GoWesty had a replacement on the way and a prepaid return label for the bad one. The new rear shower sprayer has a super flexible, no-kink hose. For those of you who struggle to get that sprayer out and back in, this is the ticket… just pull and push!
Fridge Venting
A couple years back, I replaced the 3-way Norcold with a TruckFridge unit (see https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9138361&highlight=#9138361 ). Last year I added an additional cooling fan that cycles on and off with the main fan to evacuate air from the cabinet enclosure. That gave me a consistent 3 degree drop in internal fridge temp. During this project, I installed a bulkhead on the lower external vent and attached a 1 ½” ID hose to duct outside air to the compressor fan. This should help on hot days when the bus is closed up (see pics 15 & 16).
Bench Seat Slider Modification
I am regularly removing the bench seat to haul mulch, drywall, 2x4s and such so. And nearly every time I put the seat back in, the sliding strips catch on the frame sides and peel away. Repeated attempts with glues, adhesives and cements got me nowhere and I was determined to remedy the situation.
I removed all four strips, cleaned off all the residual goo and cemented them. I then drilled and counter sunk three holes on each strip and riveted the strips to the frame. The last step was to beveled the leading edges to smooth the transition into the seat frame (see pic 17). Works like a charm!
Tip: Check/adjust the height of the two front rollers. These support the seat when extending it and while in the sleeping position. When in the traveling position, they should barely contact the floor. Too much contact and the seat will bind when extending or retracting. I adjust them so that I can feel friction yet still turn them with my fingers. Use an Allen and box wrench to loosen the bolt then slide the wheel up or down. If after tightening, you can’t turn the wheel at all, the washer between the wheel and the bracket has likely gotten a kilter and is binding it up.
Rear Headliner Modification
The middle portion of the rear headliner used self-stick Velcro strips to keep it attached to the cross braces. These had failed due to age and I didn’t want to use self-stick again. I made up some gray finishing screws and used them to attach the headliner to the upper bunk cross braces. Before screwing them in, I put ¼” weather stripping foam between the wood and metal brace to eliminate vibration.
Re-Installing the Panels
Re-installing the panels is pretty much the reverse of removing them except that you re-install from back to front. Here are my additional installation notes:
Passenger rear panel:
On my bus, the passenger panel doesn’t quite fit around the bench seat belt anchor; the hole is off center from the anchor point. Take a Dremel tool and remove the excess plastic, say ~1/4” in the 4 -5 o’clock position of the hole, so that the panel clears the anchor & seat belt end.
As with the removal of the passenger window blind surround, you’ll thread the belt’s end, latch and ceiling attachment through the slot in the window surround. Insert a couple screws in the surround to hold it in place while you complete the belt installation (see next tip). Remember to align and press the Velcro in place when done.
Insert the seat belt bolt through the belt end, anchor and retractor mechanism (which is inside the panel). Note: the retractor mechanism has an alignment pin to properly position it on the anchor. Attach the nut and tighten to spec. The seat belt end does not swivel on the anchor so orient the slot with the belt at the 10 – 11 o’clock position (see pic 18)
before final torque. Space is tight behind there but I found a curved stubby box end did the trick.
Install the fender / battery box cover.
Rear Panel on Driver’s Side
This panel contains the power & water connections. The side of the panel at the top is curved to fit around the headliner hump and the forward edge has an aluminum “T” trim that pops into black panel clips on the closet side (see pics 19 & 20).
Insert the top first at a 45-degree angle and about 2” to the right of it’s final position. Rotate it downward but not all the way in. This sets the curved piece in the headliner hump.
Feed the electrical panel through the opening but don’t secure it yet.
Connect the shower switch and 12v socket and secure them with screws.
Feed the 110v wiring out the opening but don’t connect it.
Connect the water fill and overflow tubes to the water panel but don’t secure it yet.
Now rotate the bottom of the panel into position. Use the 110v outlet opening to make sure the hoses and wires are fitting as they should. If anything is binding reach through either the power or water panel opening to sort it out.
Facing the closet, align the “T” trim with the panel clips and slide/push the panel into its final position so that the “T” trim is pinched by the panel clips.
Align the area with the Velcro strip and press it home.
Install the two bottom screws in the panel then secure the power & water panels.
Connect the 110v wires to the socket. Feed the completed 110v outlet back into the hole and secure it.
Some pics of the completed work:
Systems Check
Once everything was back together, I did full systems tests to make sure everything worked.
Run the LP heater to verify thermostat, blower and gas heating functionality.
Run both burners on the range top.
CO/LP detector test.
Full fresh water and gray water tank capacity test.
Interior lighting test.
Annunciator test.
Refrigerator test.
Solar panel connection to coach battery test.
Shore power test of all outlets and fridge.
Run the rear heater that runs off the engine coolant.
Check tension of the blinds.
Check operation of the kitchen rollout window and rear slide window.
Lower bunk operation.
Upper bunk operation.
Leak test on new bulkhead.
Learnings, Musings and ShouldaWouldaCoulda
Working through this project was a fun experience that included my sons Jack & Will, our exchange student Radim, aka our 3rd son, and my patient wife Jane. This is what these vehicles are all about! None of what I did was rocket science and with the exception of a jigsaw & router, don’t require any special tools. Take your time to learn how your bus is put together. Most importantly, take a systematic approach to removing and labeling all the parts; Ziploc bags and Sharpie markers are your friends. You won’t believe how much space all this stuff takes once it’s out of the bus so plan for that. If you aren’t handy with wood, find a friend who is and ply them with beer. In addition to cutting with a jig saw, you’ll need a router to finish the top edges and relieve the bottom edges. YouTube videos are great for learning things like how to wrap the vinyl around a corner or curve. Practice with a few scraps to get the feel of it. The floor is heavy and unwieldy and you’ll need help getting it in and out.
I will likely regret not replacing all the OSB under the cabinet. To be sure, it would have been a royal pain. I’m also completely satisfied that all the rot has been removed. Still in all, it would have been nice to say all the OSB is gone.
Material Specs and Sourcing
Adhesive: 1 gal Henry 647 PlumPro from Home Depot or Lowe’s (you’ll only need a quart!)
Black rubber trim on Passenger side window surround: part# 115870-01-000 Trim Edge Rubber x 5' from Winnebago
Bulkhead: Seachoice 90-Degree Thru-Hull Connector 1 ½” OD from Amazon
Fasteners & sealants: assorted stainless steel self-tapping and pan head screws. Stainless staples for securing the vinyl flooring. White & clear silicone caulk.
Foam underlayment: Polyethylene foam 4lb density ¼” thick with 3M Super 77 spray adhesive from The Foam Factory
Fresh water hose: 3/8” ID food grade braided hose in 20’ length from Home Depot or Lowe’s
Fresh water pump: ShurFlo from GoWesty
Paint: Behr Lunar Surface (part# N460-3) and Behr Clear Coat from Home Depot six cans each
Plywood: 2 4’x8’x15mm 9 ply Okoume marine grade from The Hardwood Store in Gibsonville, NC
Pump Strainer: AIEX 3/8 Inch Water Pump Strainer (part# B06277) from Amazon
Rust Treatment: Evapo-Rust from Harbor Freight and most hardware stores. I now swear by this stuff!
Sink faucet: ShurFlo from GoWesty
Vent pipe: 1 ½” ID pool hose for the ducting from Lowes
Vinyl floor: 4yds Nautolex Storm Gray Boat Flooring from GoWesty or Keyston Bros.
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Last edited by Triumph on Mon Feb 06, 2023 12:07 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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