eche_bus: 1976 Westfalia Deluxe Camper

[eche_bus]

[notchboy]

So if someone had to start from scratch. Maybe this is a better route?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/25-x-Honda-Acura-Retaining...mp;vxp=mtr

I may get some to experiment. But in the end I may go with the screw type 100% over the stock ones.

Im anal - just not that anal
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[eche_bus]

I can't speak to those parts being the right dimensions to work, but if they fit right, I'd sure be inclined to go with those Honda ones before using the screw type that are so noticeably different from original. These don't need to retain with the force of 7 horses, they just need to stay put when doors are shut.

[notchboy]

[NLAVWParts]

[eche_bus]

[NLAVWParts]

Thanks

This is actually Craig, I'm a good friend of Adams and I've taken a bit of the load off his shoulders as he wants to concentrate on ironing out the odd issues people are finding. He does come on to the forums but I am trying to free up some time for him to be a family man as well (what's life without family time?)

Adam has actually bought a later westy which is going to be getting one of our panel kits and plenty more of our bits so we will get to learn first hand about our range, but it's better to hear from other people.

[eche_bus]

Rear Interior Installation
It seemed like the time would never arrive - putting the rear interior back together was finally in the crosshairs. The closet and "headbanger" cabinets had been ready to go for months, but there were many things inside the bus that had to be done first.

The "white-ish" rear headliner had to be scrubbed clean and re-whitened using a "Soft-Scrub with Bleach" cleanser. The upper trim panels were removed and given the same treatment. The long windlace mouldings that cap the upper trim panels were cleaned and re-whitened with the amazing Westley's Bleche-Wite. Then the galvanized stripping that holds the upper trim panels was polished with steel wool and WD-40 followed by a metal polish. Lastly, all the green metal was rubbed down with a good coat of cleaner wax, which did nothing to fix the many paint scars, but at least protected and shined up the good areas. Oh yeah, the stretchy curtain retainer was re-whitened by rubbing it with lacquer thinner.

Still, two things had to be in place before the closet could be installed; the short woodgrain wall panel and the curtain.

To be able to use it, the new woodgrain wall panel ( http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7274474#7274474 ) had to be re-cut to follow the angle at the edge of the hatch opening, then original mounting hole locations transferred, drilled and countersunk. These new wall panels are a lot more rigid than the OG Westfalia ones, so in order to install it, it needed to be steamed for 1/2 hour over a boiling pot of water to allow it to be pressed into the curved corner and screwed in place. Yeah, a heck of a lot of work for something that only sticks out a few inches from back of the closet!

I bought new curtain fabric from BusDepot. It's supposed to be just like original, and of course its not, but its honestly pretty close. Just a bit lighter in color and lighter in weight. Sure beats the heck out of the old ones that were sun-bleached to a light grey on the exterior side.

Bill Webner made the curtains, and I can't say enough good things about both the quality of his work and the amazing turnaround time and communication I've experienced with him! Top notch!

Time to reunite bus with its first cabinet!

Now things start moving quickly. Upper rear "headbanger cabinet bolted in place. Yeah, it's a two person job and a bitch to get the mounting hardware lined up and started.

Still work to do. The long woodgrain wall panel ( http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7274474#7274474 ) on the right side has to bend over both a wheelwell feature and the curve at the rear corner. I mentioned the new panels are a lot more rigid than the OG ones, and here is where that REALLY matters. If you take a new one and just try to slap it on, it will very likely break. After transferring mounting holes from the OG, I steamed it for nearly an hour over boiling water and then pressed and carefully screwed it into place. Even after steaming, it felt like I could easily break it if I wasn't careful. Still, it now sits in place pretty good and sure looks a lot better than the old one!

OOPS! Still one more small piece needs work. The RH hinge cover! Here's the old one:

Not too bad, right? Yeah, here's the backside showing the original color:

Westley's Bleche-Wite didn't work to whiten the front side, so after scuffing with a red Scotch-Brite pad, I used Krylon Fusion2322 Dover White to restore it.

Here's a look from the back. You can just see the hinge cover poking out from the corner. The curtains you see here are still the old ones.

A final look inside. I hadn't yet put the trim in place over the sliding door, so that's windlace you see hanging down. You might notice the duct tape at the bottom, which was a quick cover for the PO's gas tank access hack and will be cleaned up later. Also, you might notice the OG vinyl in the white trim panels is wrinkled around the mounting screws. Executive decision to clean it and leave it alone as it can always be replaced later.

[eche_bus]

Floor and Carpet Installation

When the carpet came out, it looked like this:

The subfloor's pressboard was in pretty good shape, but the Masonite that sat over it had two distinct spots where it had been crunched in and cracked. I went around in circles debating whether to replace or repair it, and finally decided on repair. Turned out Gorilla Glue and clamps is a near-perfect way to repair the stuff.

It was interesting to see just how the damage occurred in the first place. I'll use the photo below, taken well before cleaning http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6875041#6875041 to illustrate. The blue shaded areas are cavities that provide no support for the Masonite. It's like Westfalia didn't think it was worth their while to fill the space with pressboard like they did everywhere else in the traffic area. The broken Masonite spots lined right up with those cavities.

To make sure it didn't happen again, I cut and varnished two wood pieces shaped just like those shaded areas, making sure they sat level with the surrounding pressboard. I then glued the pieces in place with several dots of silicone so they wouldn't go loose. The result is what Westfalia should have done in the first place!

I don't have any photos as frankly they'd be incredibly boring, but before the old pressboard and Masonite were put back in the bus, they were washed down well with a bleach solution and brought out to dry in full sun over the course of several days. No mildews or rodent residue left!

The carpet had been machine shampooed by itself so to be clean all the way down to its rubber backing, then rinsed and given the same sun drying and sterilizing treatment as the subfloor panels.

Subfloor aligned and screwed down, carpet precisely aligned (didn't want the unfaded parts to show) and stapled around the edges with an electric stapler.

Clean, dry, and yes, more than a bit anticlimactic. A lot of work to be left with something that still looks near 40 yrs. old. I said to my wife "here lies a testament to the lousy Westy aftermarket". Inside of 1 1/2 years, I'd never once seen a better used replacement or an accurate repro. Time had run out.

Now moving forward to re-unite the bus with its back seat!

[notchboy]

No Kieft & Klock carpet?
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[eche_bus]

Sorry, its expensive and not an accurate reproduction. My main beef is with the front carpet, but it only comes as a set of everything. If it was cheap and wrong, I might consider it, but its not. It's entirely a judgement call. I'm not trying to put anyone down for deciding otherwise.

If something else better comes along, I know exactly how to remove the cabinets and install it. Meanwhile, we'll enjoy finally getting to use our camper. Trust me, it'll look a lot less crappy once the cabinets are all back on the floor and you can't see the nice unfaded parts any more.

[Tcash]

Hi
You could look into dying it. You have the un-faded section to match it to.
There are companies that specialize in dying carpet.
Good Luck

[Wasted youth]

I am seriously impressed by the amount of care and workmanship you are putting into your bus.

Really looking forward to you showing us your bus on road trips! Hellya!

[notchboy]

Yeah I completely understand about the carpets and accuracy. But it's the closest thing going just like the wall panels. I just can't see putting in worn out faded stained carpet when everything else is immaculate.Ill be using the Kiefer und Klock carpet in my 74 and 77 soon.


keep up the good work I too enjoy your attention to detail.
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[NLAVWParts]

The more I see of your restoration the more proud I become of having our products used! I've seen a few vans done with ridiculous budgets spent on their interiors but I'd have to say yours is one of the best!

[eche_bus]

Thanks to NLAVWParts, notchboy, WastedYouth/Adulthood, and TCash for the ongoing support and encouragement!

After seeing comments, I began looking into dyeing the carpets a couple days ago, and I gotta say, it's a tough thing to nail down. A visit to an upholstery shop, many, many phone calls, long web searches have led only to a single commerical carpet dyer franchise, and ! of course ! none in Minnesota. Mostly I just got told "we don't or can't do that". I'm not willing to do this myself, and so have sent photos of the carpets to the one dyer and now wait to hear back.

I don't like settling for poor results. We'll see what happens next. If this dyer works out, I sure as heck wish that 1 1/2 years of looking for a useable front carpet would have worked out. Darn f'ing shame, that is. I never imagined a carpet would have been so impossible to find.

Meanwhile, painting up the hinges on the rear seat in preparation for reuniting it with the bus. New curtain set has arrived and will be posting photos and details very soon. Things are happening, I tell ya!

[notchboy]

I work in an industry that uses dying as part of the job. When I cleaned carpets for a living I did it quite frequently. A good dye job is very hard to accomplish. Any imperfections are magnified. This is very relavent when the canvas - old stained color faded carpets color is being altered. What happens when you mix blue and yellow paint? You get green. The same happens to a old carpet like ours. The light spots come out different than the dark spots that are different from the stained spots. Then you have to try and change each spot if you can at all. Don't even get me started about dye adhearance and pH levels

So this in part is why most people wont bother learning, applying and make a living out of it. Carpet replacement is a quicker cheaper option so the corrective carpet dying industry is very small specialized and expensive.

What is a great avenue is remanufacture. I haven't looked into it yet. The carpet can be copied and remade. That's what I thought kieft and klock did. If you are going to spend effort researching look into that. If it will take $ down to get a big batch done. Count me in.
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[eche_bus]

notchboy - Thanks, I really appreciate your insights on this. That might explain why I found a few spot dyeing outfits, but only the one full carpet dyeing franchise.

Unlike yourself, I have no background related to carpeting in any sense, and consequently wouldn't even know where to begin looking into having carpet made, especially a two-color speckled one such as what we're dealing with here. The vinyl edge trim (front and walkthrough) and heel pad stuff (front) seem considerably easier by comparison.

It would seem that approaching one of the big automotive carpet outfits like ACC would be a way to jumpstart things, but I am literally no one to them. If one of the major VW aftermarket retailers (like BusDepot or WW) would do this, perhaps they'd have a reputation and some hard financial data to bring to the table. When I recall what's happened trying to get proper repro door panels, I realize this suggestion is just so much fantasy.

I know I'm basically saying "someone else should do this", but the only thing I have to bring to the table is tenacity, attention to detail, and investment money, and not a huge amount of the latter. What's missing (for me) is the industry connections and manufacturing background.

[eche_bus]

New Curtains

Still working towards getting the rear seat ready to install and fabricating a new left side woodgrain panel (story later). Meanwhile, my wife and I took a break to finish off an "easy job"...

Years of exposure to the hot California sun had faded the nice green OG curtains to a dull grey on the outside. There seemed no way to go but to replace them with new ones. From what I'd learned, the closest match to OG fabric was available through Bus Depot. Compared to OG, the fabric feels "cheapy", not as soft and a lighter weight, but the color and texture pattern is pretty close.

To turn the fabric into curtains, a tip from Hoody sent me in the direction of great upholsterer and fellow late sage green Westy owner Bill Webner of "Der Wagonwerks" in Elyria, Ohio. You can reach him at 440-322-9459 or [email protected]. The quality of his work, communication, and service were all exceptional! The new curtain set was identical in size, shape, and feature to my original.

From outside the bus, the view is now a nice solid, unfaded green. Yeah, I know, that hinge thing should be silver. Trust me, it will be.

Inside the bus just keeps on looking better all the time!

The curtain over the sliding door has the correct elastic at the bottom.

... and loop to hook it in place.

A closer look at the fabric and retaining hardware of the sliding door and right rear curtains. (The white bit at the corner is extra elastic that I still need to cut off. Bill made the curtain with plenty of extra so I could adjust the tension just how I wanted.)

If your curtains are old and tired, I'd really recommend talking to Bill about making you some new ones.

[eche_bus]

Rear Seat / Bed (Z-Bed) Refresh Part I: original condition

Since waaaaay back when I cleaned up the grease-and-oil laden rear seat base , the top part of the seat has been waiting patiently inside of a bag. Fortunately, the OG foam was still in good shape, and the OG fabric although a bit faded around the edges had been largely protected for years by a (incredibly cheesy) seat cover. There was plenty else wrong. Time to do something 'bout 'dat!

The back was in tough shape. When you open the rear hatch, this is what you'd be looking at. Click on the photo and see what I mean. This sitting right next to refinished cabinets? Nope.

One of the hinge springs was bent and the mechanism jammed.

Missing hardware, rust, bad hinge paint.

We see more bad hinge paint and tired wood underneath.

I know, it doesn't look too bad. Still, come along for the ride ... it'll be worth it!