71 Westfalia- Interior remodeling

[Rag00oll]

Well, I figured I might as well start a thread on here about my Westy's interior.

I got this bus back in March and she's an east coast bus that's been all over the country. I bought it with the flames already included hehe. I even happened to meet the guy who painted her 15 year ago at a car show here in Pittsburgh! He gave me his number and told me to call when I was ready to get the some of the faded areas some love.

Her interior wasn't in bad shape per say and I used it for the entire spring/summer/fall last year as a daily driver once the engine was rebuilt. I put 10,000 miles on her from March to October! She took a week long trip in the middle of that out to some races in New Jersey and Philadelphia.

Out in Jersey, spotted another.

That's a 10 thousand dollar racing shell strapped to the top! Try driving with that thing on top, down the PA turnpike and in center city Philadelphia!

That's me thinking, "I pictured this would be a whole let less ridiculous looking in my head."

The generator went kaput on a trip from Columbus Ohio to Pittsburgh in mid October. (some genius thought it was a great idea to run a 30amp gen with a 38 amp vr) I was 4 hours out when the gen light came on! It was getting dark, but wouldn't ya know I made it to within 3 miles of my house by the time the bus gave up . I think I pushed 70 for the last 35 minutes of that drive haha. I was proud to say that I brought this bus back to a new life, and that she had served me so well, as I was waiting for the tow truck to arrive that night.

So winter came around and I bought her a nice WW bus cover so she could sit comfortably in the cold outside. She sat for a month under the cover through the rain, the snow, and then one day I decided to take an offer some folks gave me to reupholster the interior.

I uncovered her, pushed all the snow off. And after some finagling she fired right up. She then started to produce a horrible high pitched noise which I haven't fixed yet for all I know. The engine is out and I'm waiting to get a new 38amp generator.

I stripped the interior out and saved the bits and pieces I wanted to so I could closely resemble some things.

I sanded down the cargo floor, wire wheeled it, did all the proper steps and laid down some por-15. Which turned out great, it should last a long time underneath the new flooring.

Then I took a look at some rust in the wheel wells. I decided to cut out the seat belt brackets as all it took was the touch of the wire wheel for the rust to turn into holes. So I cut the brackets out and fabricated new sheet metal to replace them. I'm not worried about how I'll reattach the seatbelt right now...

Then I brought my interior over to get reupholstered in a material and color that I chose.

Today, I got it all back!

I mocked up the fit and honestly I can't wait for spring to come so I can around in my bus again all summer.

Now, I cannot weld the patches I made for those holes in the wheel wells.

I don't have the proper welder for the job, anyone know how much it would cost for those to be welded in by a shop?

Let me know what you guys think. I'll be putting down a laminate floor, and the side panels will be 1/8in plywood with a nice stain on them.

[ned]

What? No baby barf yellow? Looks good. Have you considered cork flooring? Its very comfy and durable, lightweight too.

[Rag00oll]

Nah, no baby barf for her this time. Haha.

I'm going for a more smooth and relaxing color for the interior. I wasn't too sure how the blue would look but I love it. It's almost like it's more comfy to sit on too...

And I've considered a few flooring options... But im gonna go with laminate since it's what it had before and it looked real nice. The shade i chose is in the picture next to the jump seat.

[dasdachshund]

Now, I cannot weld the patches I made for those holes in the wheel wells.

I don't have the proper welder for the job, anyone know how much it would cost for those to be welded in by a shop?

Don't know how much to weld but I bet for just about the same price, Eastwood has a real nice MIG-135 and it is much cheeper than just about any welder out there. Bottle 'o gas and your good to go.
I was mulling over the same when I fixed my windshield rust and went with the welder. Worked fantastic.

-dasdachshund