Author |
Message |
Sodo Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2007 Posts: 9616 Location: Western WA
|
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 9:16 pm Post subject: Westy Table vertical slider modification (How-to) |
|
|
******* Easy access to the cabinets!!! *******
Hello folks,
I saw a similar modification somewhere on the web and decided to copy it. You can set your table at any height with the knob - which is great when you want to get into the storage cabinets.
The modification is to add a pipe INSIDE the bent table support pipe. This holds everything in line when you lift the table.
Actually you CAN raise the table without a pipe inside, but when you try to put the table back down it will punch a hole in your Wheaties box, and then it's pretty hard to align it onto the little plastic bushing at the bottom.
I can't claim it's the best thing I ever did for my Westy
...... because JackBombay's air lift kit ( http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=578890 ) still has that status in our van. But its a good one, another modification that I wish I had ten years ago!!!
Stuff you need:
1) one inch electrical conduit (about 22 3/4"). 10 feet costs about $11.00 at a hardware store.
2) A benchtop Vise
3) Hacksaw
4) quarter-round file, (fine tooth)
5) hammer and punch
6) 10mm wrench
Pull out the support pipe and remove the lower bracket. This lower bracket will be modified. You will remove the plastic bushing and put a 22+ inch pipe in its place.
You will have to remove the top bracket too (when you install your 'slider').
"One INCH Electrical conduit" actually neasures about 1.165" outside diameter, which is PERFECT to insert into the table support. Almost no slop and it doesn't bind at all ----just perfect!. Don't bother measuring diameters, just bring your table support pipe into the store and check that the conduit slides into it before you buy. There can be variations in the pipe used to mfr Westies, and also variations in the OD of electrical conduit. A 10 foot section was only $10.65 at Home Depot.
Insert the conduit until it touches the 'bend' in the table support. Mark it and cut off. It's better to cut it a half inch long (about 22 3/4") then trim it after you have verified that it is 1/4" higher than the upper bracket.
Remove the white plastic bushing. The hole in the bracket must be opened up from 1.140" to the diameter of the conduit: 1.162". This is only .022" of enlargement (= 1/2 mm) , very easy to do.
It only took this quarter-round file 2 1/2 minutes. The ideal condition that you want is the bracket fitting TIGHT around the pipe. So file slowly and keep checking the pipe. For this reason I recommend leaving the Dremel in the drawer and go buy a "fine 1/4 round" file. Yes, I understand this is difficult for you modern fellas to go all old-school manual but trust me it's better this way.
Also file the corner off the pipe edge so you can jam it into the hole tightly.
Nice tight fit huh?
Cut a bunch of 'tabs' with a hacksaw. This hacksaw blade is a 24T (24 teeth per inch) It would have
been MUCH easier to make cuts in this thinwall pipe with a fine toothed blade (32T).
Bend the tabs over with a punch. After the first one, put the table support pipe (the heavy bent pipe that supports your westy table) in the vise, and slide it into the table support pipe which will help to keep everything all straight. Don't bend them down flat, stop about 10-20 degrees short. When they are all bent outward most of the way, then Hammer them all flat against the bracket, (....which is backed up by the heavy table-support pipe.)
Ready to Install. This may be kind of ugly, but it's NOT going to be visible because it's the underside of the lower bracket.
Put the upper bracket onto the pipe, and then install the new lower bracket with pipe slider. Drop the table-support in.
Notice the internal slider extends about 1/4" above the top bracket for easier alignment when you drop the table support in from the top. The slider fits perfect, with almost no slop. Consequently the table is secure and slop-free at any height even almost touching the light. _________________
'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb
Last edited by Sodo on Sat Jun 06, 2009 12:26 pm; edited 13 times in total |
|
Back to top |
|
|
goffoz Samba Member
Joined: May 09, 2007 Posts: 1486
|
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 9:26 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I like it!
nice presentation |
|
Back to top |
|
|
foodeater Samba Member
Joined: July 13, 2007 Posts: 1318 Location: Newburgh, NY
|
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 9:28 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Nice mod, I just might have to do this. Nice write up too... thanks. _________________ 89 Bluestar-2.5 Subaru Powered-RIP
'84 Westy Tiico-daily driver-sold
'82 Caddy diesel-sold
'87 Vanagon Syncro-RIP
'81 diesel rabbit-sold
'82 Vanagon auto-RIP |
|
Back to top |
|
|
motelvw Samba Member
Joined: July 19, 2005 Posts: 465
|
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 2:38 am Post subject: |
|
|
I did that to mine this spring. It's so nice to lift that table up, now.
Nice pics and instructions. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
j_dirge Samba Member
Joined: August 08, 2007 Posts: 4641 Location: Twain Harte, CA
|
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 9:45 am Post subject: |
|
|
Cool. Simple fix.
Now.. if you want to trick it out.
Mount a little strut (like the type that lifts the rear hatch) inside the tube and it will lift by itself! |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Sodo Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2007 Posts: 9616 Location: Western WA
|
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 5:51 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Yes that would be great. Need the proper air lift that operates at 'neutral' so it just stays wherever you nudge it to.... I bet that's pretty 'low' for an air cylinder....... I wonder if they make one with ~5 lbs force.
NOW its starting to sound like a Jackbombay kit (....but give the guy some time to get his new shop built).
Tom _________________
'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb |
|
Back to top |
|
|
badger7777 Samba Member
Joined: November 21, 2007 Posts: 14 Location: UK
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
j8 Samba Member
Joined: August 13, 2003 Posts: 575 Location: Minneapolis, MN
|
Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 10:41 am Post subject: okay, that's ideal. |
|
|
badger7777's mod is pretty much ideal in terms of amount of time necessary + low permanent impact, and i can only imagine what that would fetch on a vendor site. _________________ Julia
'89 2WD Westy (No end to names...) |
|
Back to top |
|
|
parishollow Samba Member
Joined: August 28, 2008 Posts: 79 Location: DENVER,CO
|
Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 4:30 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I am off to the shed to see if I have the conduit, really like that mod. _________________ Andrew
84 Vanagon Westy 1.9, now a 2.1 |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Franklinstower Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2006 Posts: 1896 Location: PNW
|
Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 12:57 pm Post subject: |
|
|
thanks for that mod Tom.
I did that last night in about 20 minutes (already had the conduit with a perfect fit to the table leg). Instead of bending the tabs over like you did, I welded the conduit to the bottom bracket - took less than 5 minutes.
Again, great idea! _________________ '89 Westy - EJ25/22 Frank 4.44 5mt
'75 Miami Blue Sunroof FI Standard Bug |
|
Back to top |
|
|
jackbombay Samba Member
Joined: October 19, 2007 Posts: 2723 Location: Eastern Idaho
|
Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 5:10 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I found shocks with as little as 10 pounds of force, but I couldn't find any with enough travel, they max out at 11 1/4" of travel, but those have more force, the 10 pound shocks only have 8" of travel.
My van didn't come with a table so I made my own that attaches the the passenger side of the van youtube vid of how it works for those interested. thread about it here to avoid thread-jack.
But if I had the stock table I'd certainly Sodo-mod it!
Thanks for the compliment _________________
Gas struts to pop your top easily!
Pop Top strut kits now available for late Bay window Westies
Samba ad here.
DIY artificial rain gutters (ARGs) |
|
Back to top |
|
|
VANGAUX Samba Member
Joined: May 25, 2008 Posts: 56 Location: Harrisonburg, VA
|
Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 10:37 am Post subject: |
|
|
I wanted to use the ideas listed in this "how to" section to be able to raise my rear table to access those lower cabinets. However, I could not find the right size tubing.
In looking at my collection of odds and ends I found an old piece of plastic water line that worked perfectly and installation was extremely easy--no welding, bending, or cutting little notches. All it took was a quick cut of the pipe to the right length, some sanding of the end of the plastic pipe and a little epoxy.
My wife is absolutely thrilled with this modification. If VW still made the Westy, I'll bet they would have done something like this. To see pictures, go to:
http://picasaweb.google.com/teerhb/TableTube?authkey=Gv1sRgCMWknsKatp2nCw#
Harold |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Jon_slider Samba Member
Joined: April 11, 2007 Posts: 5091 Location: Santa Cruz, Crowdifornia
|
Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 7:47 am Post subject: |
|
|
> I found an old piece of plastic water line
that is the simplest solution I have seen yet, thanks!
Last edited by Jon_slider on Fri Jun 05, 2009 7:26 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
Back to top |
|
|
climberjohn Samba Member
Joined: January 11, 2005 Posts: 1840 Location: Portland Orygun
|
Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 4:27 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Thanks to a tip from 1621, I did a mod like this. I used a thick wood dowel and a sort of lag bolt that has threads at both ends (dunno what to call that).
I drilled a pilot hole in the floor, and threaded in one half of the lag bolt thing with pliers. Then I drilled a pilot hole in the dowel, lined up the dowel over the bolt sticking up from the floor, then threaded it tight.
Fast, cheap, works great. It's an excellent enhancement for the van that I'd recommend to anyone. _________________ '86 Westy, 2.5 Subaru power
Know your limits. Exceed them often. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
singler3360 Samba Member
Joined: February 25, 2009 Posts: 1191 Location: Corvallis, Oregon
|
Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 9:58 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Performed this mod today and it's a really nice (easy) thing to do for instant gratification. The hardware store had two different types of 1" metal electrical conduit (IMT and EMT??). The one without the threads and flared end fit inside perfectly, the other didn't, so the advice to take your table support into the store is a good one. The mod also results in being able to elevate the table far above the stove so that a second shelf is created when not cooking. Thanks for the post. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Sodo Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2007 Posts: 9616 Location: Western WA
|
Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 4:12 pm Post subject: |
|
|
OK, continuing the table slider project..... to stop the maddening
"eeeeeeek....BONK!....eeeeeeek....BONK!....eeeeeeek....BONK!....eeeeeeek....BONK...."
Since the table can now be lifted to align with the metal moulding strip (which is part of the Vanagon body) I added rare-earth magnets to hold it against the wall. The metal strip is at 32" above floor level, which is 4.5" higher than original table height. These magnets are (one inch) long, embedded deep into the table.
The magnets protrude about 1/16". 3/32" would be better.
Source of rare-earth magnets ----> http://www.rare-earth-magnets.com/detail-ID-83.html
I used four .75 inch magnets, 7.5 lb pull, but the longer 1.00" (10 lbs pull) would be better for many reasons. I drilled holes into the side of the table and pounded the magnets in.
It's not easy to drill the depth accurately. In the bottom of each hole is a small adjustment screw, which I used to pre-set the hole depth (so the magnets are equal across the 4 holes). The Gray edge-moulding is a "T" moulding. So don't assume that you'll get the full engagement of a 1" deep hole. A significant portion of the hole is taken up by the groove for T of the T-Molding.
The "steel strip" is not actually vertical, you have to hit it with a hammer at each contact point to make a vertical landing spot for each magnet. It's very thin and deforms easily. Tune it with a strip of paper between the magnet and the moulding, so all 4 magnets contact at the same time.
This aluminum bicycle part was modified to fit onto the slider. The hole was enlarged with a round file to fit the 1.165" electrical conduit. (30mm). This clamp (collar) is set at the default height where the magnets align with the metal strip. This is 4.5" above the original. It's easily adjustable too.
There it is, the new default height of 32", 4.5" higher. A little harder to open the rear closet, but easier to get into the bins. The table now equal to the stove height makes cooking easier.
_________________
'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb
Last edited by Sodo on Sat Jul 04, 2009 9:25 am; edited 8 times in total |
|
Back to top |
|
|
wbx Samba Member
Joined: April 11, 2005 Posts: 1254 Location: Monterey, CA
|
Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 8:48 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Sodo wrote: |
No more "eeeeeeek....BONK!....eeeeeeek....BONK!....eeeeeeek....BONK!....eeeeeeek....BONK...."
|
Sodo, i'm digging the mod. Any fix that uses bike parts is right up my alley. 2 questions, though:
Do you find the new table height still suitable for eating/general table use?
Is there anything stopping you from placing the metal strip lower down to use the stock table height?
Thanks for the writeup!
-Damon _________________ '84 Westy (first owner).......but my daily driver has pedals
My "perspective" mantra:
A Volkswagen Vanagon is just a material thing,
As such, it is of the earth,
And if i need to, I can let my Van go. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Sodo Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2007 Posts: 9616 Location: Western WA
|
Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 7:55 am Post subject: |
|
|
>>>Do you find the new table height still suitable for eating/general table use?
Good question! I edited the original post above adding this info (a few minutes ago.)
The metal strip is at 32".
Original height was 27.5, which is a little too low"
Standard dinnertable height (in your house) is 30".
At 32" it's equal to Westy stove height, which is convenient.
Access to the bins is good, they are much more useful.
>>>Is there anything stopping you from placing the metal strip lower down to use the stock table height?
Note that the metal strip is part of the existing Vanagon body. To get a height other than 32" you could ADD a 2nd metal strip (or attach 4 metal 'targets' to the pressboard paneling,. But the paneling is flimsy, and it's significantly un-flat, and finding structure behind it is hit/miss. _________________
'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb |
|
Back to top |
|
|
wavanagon Samba Member
Joined: September 17, 2007 Posts: 400 Location: Everett, WA
|
Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 8:15 am Post subject: |
|
|
Sodo, I love the rare earth magent mod. As I near final reassembly of my westy's interior, this is one problem that I was wondering how to tackle. I have a pile of scsi hard drive magnets, and was trying to think of a way to put them to use to solve this problem, but your solution seems much more elegant! Thanks for continuing a great post!
-chris _________________ 1988 Vanagon GL - For Sale
1987 Westfalia
2008 Audi A4 2.0T
http://wavanagon.googlepages.com
Dirty from working on your Vanagon? Buy soap from my wife!
http://www.teatreesoap.com |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Sodo Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2007 Posts: 9616 Location: Western WA
|
Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 8:45 am Post subject: |
|
|
wavanagon wrote: |
I have a pile of scsi hard drive magnets |
Hi Chris, I started with hard drive magnets too, but couldn't think of a way to use them - they are not very attractive either, and often epoxied to a chunk. Maybe create a front curtain and sew them into the fabric.
While you're ordering magnets, add this pack of 12 for your existing curtains. It's great for the slider door curtain, and you can get rid of the lower springy thingy:
http://www.rare-earth-magnets.com/detail-ID-135.html
(more info-------> http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3427493#3427493) _________________
'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb |
|
Back to top |
|
|
|