Westy Stove-front Group Refurb ~ Next batch: TBA

[Simplified]

[Simplified]

New Group of Gray Stove Panels - October 30, 2013

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Believe it or not, our gray stove front panels used to be a nice shade of gray that matched the gray trim of our late model Vanagon Wesfalias, but over time, many have yellowed to a icky beige and some have developed rust or other staining. Powder coating and re-lettering is an inexpensive way to give your van an inexpensive facelift!

David, in Oakland, CA has agreed to coordinate this ONE MORE TIME. In the previous batches some people were sending him ALL the parts that they wanted powder coated (table poles, brackets, refrigerator grills, etc) and that turned into a bigger project than he had expected. This time he will only work with the stove front panels which includes the battery/water monitor panel. If you want other parts painted, you'll need to get them powder coated yourself before you send in just your stove panel for silk screening. Of course, if you're doing your own powder coating, you can choose any color you want, but just be aware, the silk screening for this batch will be done in black only.

I have volunteered to pull together a nationwide group of people who want to get their gray stove panels powder coated and silk screened. This is for people with the gray interior only. We will be mailing our stove panels on October 30, 2013. The process should take between 3-4 weeks. Keep in mind, you will still able to use your stove with the face panel removed. We need a minimum of 10 people for both the powder coating and the silk screening in order to get the price break we need to make it worthwhile.

The cost for both powder coating and silk screening is estimated to be $100.. For silk screening alone, the price will be about $60. Both these costs include return shipping. This is real silk screening - not decals and will be done in black only. The lettering includes the stove warning on the left, the battery and water level indicators, and the word WESTFALIA on the right side. The paint code for the powder coating is RAL 7037 which is a stock color that can be matched up in the future with a rattle can in case you want to paint any plastic parts, etc. Here is a link to a color chart if you want to see the color: http://oem.sherwin-williams.com/us/eng/services/color/color-selectors/ral-color/7000-series/

There are excellent instructions earlier in this thread for removing your stove front panel and also information on the proper shipping container to get. Unfortunately you can only order those free USPS shipping containers in batches of ten - so if you know of others in your area who will be participating, maybe you'll be able to coordinate sharing an order of containers.

If you'd be interested in joining this GRAY group, please PM me with your name, email address and whether you want powered coating AND silk-screening, or silk screening ONLY. Again, our ship date is October 30, so I'd like to know by October 1st if you're going to participate. I'll update this thread to keep you informed of how many people are signed up and in early October I'll get back to everyone with a mailing address to ship to. As of today, I have 3 people for powder coating and 4 for silk screening.

Thanks,
Colleen
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Dale and Colleen
Olympia, WA
'89 Syncro Westfalia

[davideric9]

GREAT explanation!!! Just a few notes:
1. You can send me your stove in any color you choose, however this is BLACK INK printing only.

2. The costs quoted above are estimates based on 10 or more stoves being silk screened, fewer than a batch of 10 and the per unit cost goes up. (The printer's setup costs are the same for 1 stove or 100).

3.If you want your stove powder coated here, then it will be GRAY RAL 7037 ONLY.

4. Powder coating includes sand or media blasting but it will not fix pitted badly rusted metal, that would require "body work".

And this may be the LAST batch I do, at least for a few years.
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1987 Syncro Westfalia, stock (bought 1994)
1986 Syncro Westfalia SVX, 3 knob (bought 2008)
1987 Westfalia (bought 2010)
1988 Wolfsburg GL (bought 2012)

[kuleinc]

Just to be clear, I want mine powder coated and silk screened.

I've seen a friends stove that got in on the first run, makes the interior of the van feel new again. Top notch job.
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Check out our Our youtube channel: Https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-EbskIxNm6SYzsq4ugG81A
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=496946 1987 VW Vanagon Westfalia with 1.8T

[tarandusVDub]

Bummer its not available to brown interiors again ~ let us know if somehow you end up with enough people for a brown group!
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1990 Syncro 16" DoppleKabine 2.1 DJ 112i
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Sold: 1972 Bay Campmobile; 1984 Westy, base model, 2WD.

[DeadSetMonkey]

Sign me up.
PM on the way.
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'90 Syncro Westy 2.5Subi Turbo, BFGs 215/75/15 Rheins

[tam_shops]

So the October 2013 will look like this again?

[Simplified]

Powder coating includes sand blasting to get the piece down to bare metal. If there is rust that is actually pitting the metal it won't fix that, but bad previous jobs won't be a problem.
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Dale and Colleen
Olympia, WA
'89 Syncro Westfalia

[Sir Sam]

[Sir Sam]

[davideric9]

Hey Tamshops, can you post a photo of your very bad stove? Here is what mine looked like when I removed it. It looks new now...

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1987 Syncro Westfalia, stock (bought 1994)
1986 Syncro Westfalia SVX, 3 knob (bought 2008)
1987 Westfalia (bought 2010)
1988 Wolfsburg GL (bought 2012)

[tam_shops]

Thanks! I was hoping so, but assume nothing!

[bmdhacks]

I'm in the bay area, mind if I drop it off to you instead of mail it?
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88 Vanagon Westy w/ 2200cc + manual trans

[davideric9]

Sure, drop off is great (as well as pick up) pm me for details...
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1987 Syncro Westfalia, stock (bought 1994)
1986 Syncro Westfalia SVX, 3 knob (bought 2008)
1987 Westfalia (bought 2010)
1988 Wolfsburg GL (bought 2012)

[LandSailor]

Why just gray?

Changing powders is a lot easier than changing liquid paint.

[davideric9]

ok, I'll bite, what color other than gray did you have in mind? and why not just get this done in your favorite color before sending it for screen printing?

But to answer your question, I say just gray to keep this process simple (for me) and quick (for the stove owners). I have used a powder coater that did not stock the RAL 7037, so more expense and time to use a color that was not stocked by this guy.

The major benefit of doing a group stove facelift is spreading the printing setup cost over 10 (or more) stoves. Group powder coating can help as I have heard of some vendors requiring a $150 minimum order. So on the hi end, if you did this one at a time you might be looking at over $350 start to finish, for just one stove....
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1987 Syncro Westfalia, stock (bought 1994)
1986 Syncro Westfalia SVX, 3 knob (bought 2008)
1987 Westfalia (bought 2010)
1988 Wolfsburg GL (bought 2012)

[LandSailor]

I have a brown one from my 84 Westy that is slightly rusted, has been painted black in one section by a PO, has tape around the edges. Just found the thread last night, but I was thinking about calling one of my old vendors to see if he could do it. Will check with him to see if he has any of the colors mentioned in the brown thread.

Does your guy have white ink for the screen? If so, I'll get it coated here and have him screen it. That was the final unanswered question for me! Since I no longer have access to a vinyl printer for making some spray masks, it was a biggie.

[davideric9]

No matter what color stove you have this batch is with BLACK ink only for the printing. Changing to another color ink is about $100, so if we had 4 brown stoves with white ink, their cost would be $25 additional, 1 brown stove will be $100 additional. If the white ink westians are interested in this route, maybe this can happen. Will simplified be interested in coordinating this???
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1987 Syncro Westfalia, stock (bought 1994)
1986 Syncro Westfalia SVX, 3 knob (bought 2008)
1987 Westfalia (bought 2010)
1988 Wolfsburg GL (bought 2012)

[maco70]

i am another brown with white ink who want to join the " brown stove panel group "
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Martin from Montréal

1986 Vanagon GL full camper westfalia
(brown/tan interior)

[jmranger]

Being among those that have much more than the stove panel that need R&R, I'm currently looking for a local powder coating shop.

Anything special I should know and/or ask from the shop ?
- I've seen the color code
- I've seen the info about the extra clear coats to limit the gloss
- Is there any recommended rustproofing recommended? I'd hate to see the bottom fridge grille re-rust and chip the paint the first time I'll kick it and crack the coating.

Thanks,

Jean-Marc