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Timwhy Samba Member
Joined: January 01, 2009 Posts: 4002 Location: Maine
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Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2017 3:05 am Post subject: Wood floor in a Tin Top |
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Looked at all the wood floor threads and couldn't find what I needed for "How To" in a Tin Top.
So, I decided to start a thread for Tin Top flooring and what I came up with.
I started with gathering the supplies that I would need. I bought two pieces of plywood. One 4' X 4', and the other 2' X 4'.
Both are 5,5mm thick.
To give the floor a bit more stability I ripped some Cedar boards to 1.75" wide and planned them down to 3/8" thick. Then cut them to length.
My Tin Top is a Seven seater and I removed the middle row. I had thought about removing the seat rail bolts and
screwing them uo from the bottom to keep the holes filled. That seemed like a lot of work, so I drilled out holes
with a Forstner bit and left the bolts in tack.
Not all of the Cedar boards are screwed in to the floor and I only screwed them in to just the outer sides.
I laid the plywood on the floor and secured it to the Cedar strips with wood screws. In all I ended up with four pieces of
plywood to cover all the floor in the passenger area. The floor goes under the rear bench to the front of the rear heater.
To secure the Laminate, I trimmed the rear bench kick panel on the bottom. Depending upon the thickness of the
plywood and laminate combined, was my measurement to trim the panel.
For the sides of the floor I used angle Aluminium. The Drivers side is 1/2" X 1/4" X 4'. The Passengers side was a 1" X 1" X 51".
I had to notch this piece to get around the B column. Both sides are screwed in with SS sheet metal screws of which I
broke the heads off of three screws.
_________________ '15 Audi A3 Quattro
'09 VW Tiguan (dead)
'87 VW Westy
'91 Tin Top
'90 Cabby
What the Westy wants the Westy GETS
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_search.php?search_author=Timwhy&show_results=summary
http://www.youtube.com/user/TIMWHY2?feature=mhee |
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dhaavers Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2010 Posts: 7754 Location: NE MN (tinyurl.com/dhaaverslocation)
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Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2017 4:18 am Post subject: Re: Wood floor in a Tin Top |
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Looks VERY nice!
- Dave _________________ 86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS> |
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dougass Samba Member
Joined: December 13, 2016 Posts: 300 Location: NJ
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Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2017 5:42 am Post subject: Re: Wood floor in a Tin Top |
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Hey I have a tin top and I put one in too!
I used DuraRock instead of plywood in case moisture gets down there; thin insulation below and underlayment on top and THEN "wood" vinyl floor planks. I took the rear bench out and extended it all the way back, too.
_________________ '91 GL - 2.1 automatic named Klaus for weekend adventures.
#klausvan & @thisisklausvan |
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erste Samba Member
Joined: March 29, 2013 Posts: 1110 Location: San Francisco
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Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2017 1:55 pm Post subject: Re: Wood floor in a Tin Top |
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Nice work in here! Way more pro than what I did.
I bought the flattest 4x8 sheet of the 5.5mm thick (birch?) ply from one of the big box hardware stores.
I kept the cork pad and filled the gaps with some rubber.
Since the plan was to build a cabinet, I hid the seam there. The only thing holding it down is the weight of the cabinet and the 4 bolts that anchor the cabinet to the seat rails.
It was such a tight fit that it slides under the heater cover and butts right up against the carpet in the front. It sits mostly flat.
I was really happy to cut this panel that hides the mess of wires and makes that space usable for storage again.
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BUGSLEE Samba Member
Joined: July 15, 2012 Posts: 48 Location: Winnipeg, Canada
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Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2017 8:09 am Post subject: Re: Wood floor in a Tin Top |
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This is what I came up with in my tin top.
I started by pulling out the bench and all the sub flooring, and removing the seat rails.
I added some strips of foil wrapped bubble wrap I found at home depot,
then cut 5/8 plywood down to size, glued that down to the peaks of the floor.
topped with a underlay material then installed some cheap laminate I found second hand.
I used an aluminum molding for the sliding door trim.
I made a new matching kick panel for under the bench, then added a westy Kitchen cabinet. I'm still working on some final touches but it worked for this summers camping. _________________ 68 Beetle - 1776
89 Vanagon TinTop Syncro - Subi 2.5 |
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childofthewind Samba Member
Joined: October 19, 2010 Posts: 763 Location: Eastern Sierra
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Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 7:08 am Post subject: Re: Wood floor in a Tin Top |
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New van, Tim?? (or second project van?)
_________________ 1987.5 wolfsburg hardtop; 2.1
“As for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote." - Melville |
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9.5isCanadian Samba Member
Joined: September 16, 2017 Posts: 465 Location: In your blind spot.
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Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 8:52 am Post subject: Re: Wood floor in a Tin Top |
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Thank you guys for the great info.
This is exactly what my plan is.
Love the clean look of the wood flooring.
If I can find the boards I really want to use "cottage grade" pine plank for mine.
Some years ago I did an apartment floor in this stuff and found the color and knots made it so unique.
Anyone ever consider tile on top of cement backer board?
Wonder if it would be noisy.
Owen _________________ 9 1/2 - missing a few pieces.
1987 Getaway Hightop
1980 Sunroof Vanagon
2018 BMW R Nine T
2012 Golf tdi |
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Slimvest Samba Member
Joined: March 20, 2014 Posts: 431 Location: Portland, OR
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Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 7:59 am Post subject: Re: Wood floor in a Tin Top |
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I'm considering some sort of flooring myself, but I'm wondering one thing:
Do most run the flooring underneath any cabinet you have in place and create holes that align with the seat rails, etc. to mount to? Or do you bolt your cabinet base direct to the van metal flooring and run your subfloor & laminate or carpet alternative up to the cabinet's edge? _________________ '87 GL w/ Reimo top |
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dougass Samba Member
Joined: December 13, 2016 Posts: 300 Location: NJ
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Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 8:32 am Post subject: Re: Wood floor in a Tin Top |
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9.5isCanadian wrote: |
Anyone ever consider tile on top of cement backer board? |
I have backer board under my wood floor and I like it. I think most people stay away from tile due to weight; I wouldn't like the cold floor feel.
Slimvest wrote: |
Do most run the flooring underneath any cabinet you have in place and create holes that align with the seat rails, etc. to mount to? Or do you bolt your cabinet base direct to the van metal flooring and run your subfloor & laminate or carpet alternative up to the cabinet's edge? |
Dealer's choice - I pulled the rear seat and covered my entire floor in my tintop and I think many who do it in their campers consider it the "right way to do it". _________________ '91 GL - 2.1 automatic named Klaus for weekend adventures.
#klausvan & @thisisklausvan |
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Timwhy Samba Member
Joined: January 01, 2009 Posts: 4002 Location: Maine
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9.5isCanadian Samba Member
Joined: September 16, 2017 Posts: 465 Location: In your blind spot.
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Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2017 8:31 am Post subject: Re: Wood floor in a Tin Top |
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dougass wrote: |
9.5isCanadian wrote: |
Anyone ever consider tile on top of cement backer board? |
>snip< I think most people stay away from tile due to weight; I wouldn't like the cold floor feel. |
Yeah good point, I'd not considered both of these issues.
Thanks.
Owen _________________ 9 1/2 - missing a few pieces.
1987 Getaway Hightop
1980 Sunroof Vanagon
2018 BMW R Nine T
2012 Golf tdi |
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