Westfalia trim piece available?

[Fairview]

Need some parts help: is the wide white plastic header trim available somewhere? This one has wrinkled quite a bit. Thanks

Forgot to say this is for a 1976 Westfalia

[Slip356]

Bet if you took it off & heated it with a heat gun or equal, pressed it flat with a couple 2X 4S with weight it would be re useable.

[dodger tom]

https://nlavw.com/home/449-westfalia-white-plastic-ceiling-covertrim.html
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1978 Champaign Edition 2 Westfalia
Would never find the time to keep up another classic air-cooled.

[KentABQ]

[Fairview]

[Fairview]

[Fairview]

[Manfred58sc]

Really sweet Bus, heat gun and a wet cloth to "quench" once it gets good and warm helps retain desired shape.
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Fat chick owner/operator

[KentABQ]

[Pango Pango]

Bus Depot too.

https://www.busdepot.com/231070850

[Fairview]

Thanks to all, your help is much appreciated.

[otiswesty]

Mine was also badly warped. Unable to find a replacement, I took mine off and the bare green metal looked nice as well. Recently I did use the NLA VW piece and it is hgh quaity. It is off white in color and a bit stiffer plastic than the original, but is a very accurate replacement piece.
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1978 Sage Green P22 Westfalia
1988 T3 Syncro Single cab

Just a regular guy

[EZ Gruv]

[obieoberstar]

I purchased this from NLA a few years back. Yes it is a bit stiffer. I could not get rear edge wrapped over the sheet metal. Trimmed it to fit and used some Gorilla tape to hold it in place. Looks great still.

[bugfil]

I just purchased one of these trim pieces for my 78' Westy and I am not sure how to install it. It seems very brittle and definitely won't bend without breaking to fit over the metal support it's designed to cover. Has anyone been successful installing one of these ceiling trim pieces yet?
Thanks, Phil

[raymino]

Mine is not only wrinkled but cracked. I got a replacement and it seems to me that the upper bunk (headbanger and closet too) needs to come out to do a proper install.
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'79 Westy Headflow Masters 2.0L FI
'87 GTI 16V Sold!
'06 Jetta 2.5 Package 2
'71 Super Marine Blue

[busdaddy]

I'm not sure about the closet and headbanger, but it would help to loosen the bed board so it can be wedged up 1/4".

Heat is your friend here, warming it up not only makes it bendy, it also expands it so getting that lip over the edge isn't as much of a pucker session. A wide thin putty knife helps too, use it as a ramp to slide the plastic up over the lip, start the rear lip first of course.
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[bugfil]

Here is my update on the install process on the Westy headbanger plastic trim piece. In a quick sentence-it doesn't seem possible to install it without cutting it
or ruining it with heat and bending. I did manage to get it installed but the upper, narrower forward lip is warped and cracked after too much heat and flexing to get it into place. This is noticeable but you would have to look closely as it is partially hidden by the upper bunk fabric where it snaps onto the headbanger. It's also questionable how long the plastic will last in it's weakened condition.
I'm definitely disappointed with my efforts as it's quite a bit of work to get the bunk platform out of the way.
The first thing I did was call the Bus Depot where I purchased the trim and asked if they had any idea how it installs. I spoke to Anthony who did his best to help but no one there knew how to install the piece. He said he would call the supplier, which I believe is NLA VW Parts in the UK, to see what they would recommend for installation. I'm waiting to hear back on that.
Meanwhile, I pulled the bus out and raised the top and started disassembly to have access to the bar. The side trim and has to be pulled loose and the narrow upper side panels need to be removed or pulled away. then you can access the Phillips screws that hold the bed base down along the sides. You do not have to remove any of the cabinets.
Once I had space to work I carefully held the trim piece up the the bar and gently slid it onto the lip of the header bar. It cracked slightly immediately.
At that point I hadn't used any heat but I was very careful and it still split.
Next I laid it on the work bench and carefully heated it with a heat gun, It turned to the consistency of a lasagna noodle almost instantly. Wow, I did not expect this as the plastic is very rigid! I next used a hair dryer to try to heat the part, it didn't get hot enough to do the job.
I thought busdaddy's idea of using heat(carefully) and thin putty knives to gently bend the flange out and upward to clear the lip of the headbanger bar and then gently bend back over the lip of the bar to it's original shape would
work and it did but as you can see in the photos I had to bend so much that the plastic cracked, warped and broke along much of the flange. It's obviously not meant to bend anywhere near that far. It needed to move somewhere around 1/4" to clear the front lip after the rear wider flange is installed on the rear lip. It's very difficult to work with the softened plastic without damaging it.
I will consider redoing the trim in the future if there really is a way to install the part correctly that I haven't figured out yet. Of course I'd have to buy another trim piece then. There is a wide flange and a narrow flange on the part. I installed the wide flange to the back(which is where the screws go that hold the front of the bunk down.and heated and bent the main body of the part slightly and focused on bending the narrow plastic flange to clear the lip of the headbanger bar.
Well, I would say it was a Fail!
This camper came from the original owner and I've worked to keep it as original as possible. I though this part would be the finishing touch to the mostly original interior. The original vinyl headlining material was replaced with a more modern auto headlining fabric in the mid 90's.
I would welcome feedback if you have been successful installing the part properly without cutting it or heating it into a mess.

[bugfil]

I had a chance to look at an original trim piece in a mostly unmolested 76' Westy yesterday. The wide flange is installed on the front side of the headbanger
the opposite of how I installed mine. I'm not sure if that matters or not, it wouldn't change the fit anyway. Here are a few photos.