so42 flooring

[velvetgreen]

Hi All-

I want to replace the bad 70's kitchen linoleum in my so42 westy to the original grey and white flecked linoleum. I have searched high and low and it seems that nobody is repopping it. Anybody know if it is being repopped or where I can find a good match?

Here is a pic of what the original flooring looks like. Sorry for the scan quality grey is actually a bit darker in the real life then it appears.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=203235

[Hella Bro]

A close match would be a baywindow westy linoleum floor. Close enough for me anyway. The God's are smiling on you when you find one intact in a junkyard.

[iampeace]

I have a 67' walkthrough SO42 and I want to remove the carpet kit and install some flooring. How do you do it best? I was certain that the lanoleum doesn't go directly over the ribbed floorboard. Am I wrong?

[BryanM]

I am just going to throw down some VCT. It comes in all colors and designs.
_________________
-Bryan

Motorwagen LLC
Concord NC

[Hella Bro]

The westy linoleum has about a 3/16 wood glued under it.

[Major Woody]

There are multiple prior threads on this exact topic which I found by searching "westy AND flooring". With color sample pictures and everything.

Here is the flooring:

http://thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10186...y+flooring

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=82277&highlight=so42+floor

You can see that the pattern is printed onto PVC with a sort of fine thickness jute backing, glued to thin indoor grade plywood. That is why an exact repro is unavailable, because the pattern is one color gray on white, "high contrast" compared to the sheet vinyl currently on the market.

[velvetgreen]

thanks to all- i harvested a piece o' vinyl from a bay westy that is very similar but they tend to get brittle with age

at this point i would almost be prepared to settle for something close- it doesn't have to be exact - if anyone has home despot leads or the like would appreciate it

[cris torlasco]

In the past, I've used Armstrong's Medintech # 86411, which is (was) a close match (see below). But guess what, it has been discontinued...So I am too in the search for a good product.

BTW, here are some laminate products in current production that are close to the SO42 Westy cabinet laminate (not for perfectionists, though!):

-Formica's #7737-56 (Natural Cherry-Matte finish)
-Formica's # 7288-58 (Ginger Root Maple-Matte finish)
-Wilsonart's #10745-60 (Fonthill Pear)

You can go to your local flooring shop and ask for some free samples.
Regards,

[Major Woody]

Cris, I looked at the full line of Formica, Wilsonart and Nevamar and found that the closes match by far was Nevamar W8731T Grand Isle Maple. Maybe not close enough for purists but a very good match.

Curious if you compared this laminate to the others?

[cris torlasco]

[velvetgreen]

okay so am gonna do this floor thing, it appears that the flooring goes underneath the z bed and upright closet that run down the pass side. - what is the easiet way to take out the big upright closet, z bed and overhead cabinet (i.e what order should I do them in and how), don't want to damage the formica

[velvetgreen]

btw here is a link to the armstong site, as chris mentions the floring has been discontinued that he is using but there are a whole wack of other ones that looks sorta close- prolly would need to see in person to be sure

http://www.armstrong.com/commflooringna/quicksearch.jsp?q=Medintec&x=11&y=8

[velvetgreen]

okay i am now responding to my own posts.. oh well

well i got the interior out- for anyone attmepting it here is a quick run down of how to get the rear interior out and in what order

Important : Before starting i taped all the edges of the laminate on the cabinets so they wouldn't get damaged when moving them around

1. undid two thumb screw under z bed
2. undid bolts holding base of a bed cabinet to floor - rotated bolt 45 degrees and removed bolts (this means that you don't have to lift the z bed over the bolts to remove)
3. undid thumb screws and latches securing the upright closet.
4. Slowly wiggled the cabinet out on 45 degree angle towards drivers side. This is so that you don't get the cabinet hung up on the gas tank filler tube that is runs inside the van. You also have to make sure that you don't pull the cabinet out too far or on too sharp of an angle or you will break off a piece of it on the rear hatch hinge (have a look you will see what i mean)
5. Prior to pulling the cabinet out all the way I put some pieces of wood in to support the overhead cabinet so that it didn't fall down
6. Remove the various slot head screws that support the overhead cabinet and removed.

Next step replace the floor and find some period correct linoleum!

[velvetgreen]

Am going to be putting a new floor into my westy. I am planning on going with 1/4" inch plywood subfloor (treated with tung oil in case it happens to get wet by accident). Just curious if anyone has gone with some sort of plastic drop cloth/vapour barrier for extra piece of mind? How did people attach the subfloor to the actual metal waffle floor. As well looking at the circular hole cut in the floor behind the pass seat which was used to drain the ice box and water tank looks like a possible area where moisture canleak in. Any suggestions on how to make sure this doesn't happen.. mucho thanks

Still lokingfor original flooring or close replica too

[Major Woody]

Velvetgreen,
Go to a junkyard and look under the rear wells of newer cars. Often they have giant rubber plugs that would work well if modified into sort of a grommet for that hole. My Mk4 Jetta wagon has huge plugs in the spare tire well under the cargo floor, not sure if quite large enough but you get the idea. I agree the icebox drain hole looks like a potential water infiltration location. The problem is whatever you put there needs to be very flexible, as the water tank in the icebox tends to wiggle around a little bit. If you fix the drain pipe in place by passing it through a rigid grommet, then you're going to crack the bottom of the water tank for sure.
How about a piece of heavy pvc--the kind used for a membrane under tile shower pans? Glue it to the top side of the hole and "bunch it up" to form sort of a pocket/bag hanging down through the hole. Make a hole in the bottom of that to allow the icebox tank and drain tubes to exit. That should give you the flex necessary to prevent cracking the tank. Wouldn't be completely waterproof, but ought to protect against the spray from driving on wet roads.

1/4 plywood will be way too thick to fit into the slot on the threshold piece, especially once the flooring is glued on. Tung oil is an inferior sealant--4 coats of oil based polyurethane (especially around the edges) would be a far better sealant against the water that WILL get under your floor.

I am not going to adhere my floor down...the weight of the several furniture pieces, plus the three screws in the table leg socket should hold it in place just fine. I am however going to set it on a single layer of tarpaper to prevent it from squeaking or abrading the cargo floor's paint.

Chris

[velvetgreen]

hey chris-

thanks for the suggestions, esp re: the plug thingie that is a good idea to scour cars in the wreckers, will check it out. Agreeg that the hole for the coldbox is prolly the biggest culprit for water coming in. Believe it or not the DPO fibreglassed over the whole, so had to remove that to even have a look at what was originally there.

have been pretty happy with tung oil as it actually soaks into the wood as opposed to a varnish type thingie which tends to flake off with time. Best as I can tell 1/4" is what came in the bus originally ( or similar metric equivalent). What thickness would you recommend??

[velvetgreen]

digging through my so42 lino remanants it appears that there were two different flooring patterns used on so-42's a grey and white and lino and grey and black-

here is a pic

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=206900

[crofty]

I think my floor looked more like the smaller one in your pic, kind of like the salt/pepper upholstery
_________________
Your Vanagon sucks, Stop waving at me.

[Major Woody]

The slot on the door threshold channel is 1/4"--I calipered it last night. The orig flooring was thin like heavy sheet plastic so it fit in there with thicker plywood.
Real linoleum (Forbo Marmoleum) or commercial inlaid sheet vinyl which are the closest matches are between 1/16 and 3/32 thick plus the thickness of the twowelled adhesive that adheres it to the wood backing. It seems to me that 3/16 birch is the thickest wood you could use and still have the whole sandwich slide into that aluminum channel correctly.

When I go to the specialty wood store to get the flooring, I'm going to take the threshold channel and a small scrap of the flooring material with me and test fit it before buying--I'm not certain that even 3/16 will be thin enough. I won't be buying the interior panels and flooring until this fall, however.

[velvetgreen]

i am gonna look at some forbo flooring today- unfrtinately no one keeps it in stock and it is very $$ to get the small amount shipped that we require.

in the meantime have a look at their online store at

www.themarmoleumstore.com there are bunch of samples there that looks somewhat close