Got wood (interior panels)?

[HeftySmurf]

Wow, That looks hella sharp..... I've been waiting for a long time to see somen one put up a post like this. I have a Passenger Syncro I am am pitting West interior in and I'm struggling on what to do for the headliner(leave it or do this)
I was unsure how it would look thats the only reason I havent tried this yet. Entire inside is stripped minus the head liner.

QUESTION:
In the front of the vn that appears to be curved at the top.... Is pressure the only thing holding up the middle?
I do a bit of carpentry so I got all the tools to do this real sharp... I may paint them instead of staining them and cover them with the
POR-15 product PELUCID that is designed specifically for wood and is hard as POR-15 and flexible.

How long did it take?
So did you simply trace out the old paneals and jigsaw them out?

Also I was wondering to you look into adding additional storage inside the panels? Ther are a few nice open pockets that could be done with perhaps.....
_________________
-Lorenzo
90 GL w/ Bostig

[SockMonkey]

[Saguache]

We're planning on doing just this in our 1983 Diesel. I pulled the headliner recently it was toast to begin with so no tears shed there, but now I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to tack 1/8 plywood in its place.

Anyone have suggestions or dimensions I can work from?
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Matt Thyer
http://zenoswagen.wordpress.com/

[MootPoint]

[ZimZam]

Moot: Now that's what I'm talking about. I'm doing mine in Koa, and the cabinets in a Koa veneer. Hope to have them finished in next couple weeks. Once Heidi's painted then the cabinets can go back in.
_________________
'85 Cabriolet (Margo)
'87 Westy (Heidi)
'75 Porsche 911S Targa

"Nobody trusts anyone, or why did they put tilt on a pinball machine.”
- Steve McQueen
"It's just metal, when rusted and dented , anything you will do will be better. Stop being afraid. What they (VW) did many year ago is not better then what you will do now." -Ben

[Saguache]

[invisible]

anybody do this to a non-westy? i started but the very back is a compound curve and i'm wondering if anyone has gotten the right shape for it.

that old bus looks great with the curved roof pieces and the rails in between, i wish the vanagons had those...

[Saguache]

[TroySmith80]

I was in home depot the other day and saw some very cheap veneer panels that i thought actually looked quite good. Has anyone tried using those? Any reason they'd be worse/better than real wood panels? (other than not as 'cool')
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1984 Westfalia Wolfsburg - 2.5L Subaru - Sold - Preparing to move to the dark side (4x4 Ford van)

[crusssmith]

I'm glad this thread is still around! I've finally gotten around to replacing my '82 Westy side door panel after a manging to get at the door lock assmbly. My local H.D. has 4x8 sheets of 1/8 ok looking plywood. I bought a special tool to pop off the plastic rivets, however, none survived due to everything being dried out, and now I've got plastic bits down in my door panel! Glad I had my saftey glasses on, too. I traced the panel onto the ply sheet. Cut/drilled/sanded. I had to sand off the top layer at the top half inch or so to get it to fit in the top bracket. Now, it's all ready to insert, but the door is curved and my panel is not. I'm going to spray it wet, bend it, let it dry, stain/seal it. Then, screws or pops?

[BoneMachine]

Hey Moot,
Man, that's a nice piece of fiddleback maple you used there, wide too! Is it sugar, red or western? Also, it looks like you did a two part stain, one to darken/accent the grain and then an amber ground. Am I correct? Also, what did you use for a topcoat?
As soon as I get this broken wrist out of it's cast I'm replacing the table in our 85 Weekender with a flamed maple as well. Don't know if I have anything wide enough for a one piece in the shop. I might have to resaw a bookmatch. Think a sunburst finish would be too over the top? 8^)
Nice job!
_________________
'85 Wolfsburg Edition Westfalia Weekender, Zetec #36, w/ Peloquin TBD
'83.5 Westfalia, full camper (we'll never forget you)

[SpudlyHotPotato]

I wish I could say we did this, but our van came with someone else's nice work. I thought I'd post some pictures since the stain color of the interior wood we have in ours isn't yet represented in this thread - it's a dark color, stained like cherry wood maybe?

The glossy topcoat reflects and is shiny. The PO did the ceiling area over the bed, but not over the front seats.

And they did inside the side walls throughout, including the front door interiors. It makes a nice backdrop throughout. At first I'd thought a lighter color would've made it look more spacious, like house interior colors. But the color is really warm and looks particularly invitingly warm at night with the old stock non-LED light. I think the darker wood tones look really nice on a brown van.

I like how GreenMachineVW's doors don't have those plastic clips all over the door, and I'm jealous of the headliner over the driver and passenger seats.

[TopBud]

Spudly-
Is that a high dollar "Hal" westy from flagstaff?
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86 bostig SYNCRO
66 convertible Karmann Ghia

[SpudlyHotPotato]

Hey TopBud, It IS from Flagstaff originally. We were calling it a "Vincent Van" because the guy who always posted those ads in Flagstaff was named Vincent.

We actually bought it from someone who bought it from him 9 months prior. Ironically there'd been two ads at the same time in the Samba - one was a fresh "Vincent van" ad and the other one had the same stripes down the side, but it was being sold by someone else locally. We recognized it as a "Vincent van" and found out all the Phx seller had done was buy it and drive it on one trip to NorCal. Afterward when a baby was due, they decided to sell it ... to us.

But it was definitely a high dollar van ... way more high dollar now, I keep making it worse.

[focusedcycling]

Here it goes...

Have started making new front door panels for my 87 Westy. I have started with 1/4" birch that I will use my first attempt as a template that is tweaked to make the soon to be done panels just right. I used my original panels as a template, they weren't bad but both had some warping due to previous moisture issues. I have been wanting to do this for a while and decided to jump in while replacing the front door speakers.

This is the first attempt/template:

I have this above piece stained with 2 quick coats of something I had laying around, I like the finish but got to thinking, orig interior is grey, van is grey, I think it would be cool to go with a grey or black/ebony stain on the birch...

(Photoshop)

I will go to the paint store with some of the wood and get their opinion.

Question for those that went with a screw/bolt fastening system, what did you use in the metal holes of the door to thread into?
I want to have a silver metal screw head with a finishing washer like so:

But I got some of these pop style drywall anchors(pictured below) thinking they would work but they don't. They rely on the thickness of drywall which the sheet metal of door is much thinner.

(NOTE: Pictured dry wall fasteners DO NOT work)

Last question is about cutting and drilling the birch plywood...
I am going to get a much finer tooth blade for my jig saw and try taping over all the intended cut/drill areas to prevent splintering and what not. First run produced some of this kind of damage:

I will post more as I figure things out. So far my birch, screws and fasteners have all come from Home Depot from my first run and only run.

[SpudlyHotPotato]

Beautiful project! Whatever you use, I recommend adding extra stain or sealant to the edges particularly around the top. Our wood piece on the drivers side got some rain in through the side window on accident and the top of the wood started curling in a bit from the water.
_________________
Rebuilt 2.1 in a 1985 manual Camper

"Those things are over kill and I want a set" - Jedi

"All my work explores the human desire or obsession for utopias, and the structure of all my works is the search for utopias lost and rediscovered." - Marguerite Young

www.bewilderknits.com

[squeegee_boy]

[GreenMachineVW]

[SpudlyHotPotato]

GreenMachine, that is SLICK!
_________________
Rebuilt 2.1 in a 1985 manual Camper

"Those things are over kill and I want a set" - Jedi

"All my work explores the human desire or obsession for utopias, and the structure of all my works is the search for utopias lost and rediscovered." - Marguerite Young

www.bewilderknits.com

[jerrydog411]