Date:         Sun, 2 Mar 2008 19:09:04 -0500
Reply-To:     John Runberg <jrunberg@MAC.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Runberg <jrunberg@MAC.COM>
Subject:      Curtain upgrade
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed

Our '83.5 camper was the "base model" and came with the dark brown
curtains hung by aluminum rails. Functional, but the nicer Wolfsburg
(or just later Vanagon) style curtain tracks seemed oh-so-appealing.
Recently, a Wolfy appeared in the local yard so we were able to swipe
the tracks and assorted other things in the oh-so wonderful brown.

This weekend was the install and I highly recommend it to those with
the old-style curtains. Huge difference! Not only can the curtains be
opened closed easily now, but when open they obscure less of the
glass, making the interior much brighter (the tan color of the donor
curtains helps too). Later, we'll make new curtains to replace the
worn tan ones, but so far, do good.

There were a few things we learned in this. 1) the top cabinet and
closet had to come out so the original trim brackets could be
removed. It also made it a lot easier to test fit the new rails. 2)
the little screws holding the curtain track to the soffit are next to
useless after 20+ years. We filled all the holes with dowel and re-
drilled the driver's side + spot glued the track, which worked very
well (passenger side will get done later). 3) we bought all new
slider hardware, but ended up not needed most of the sliders or fixed
points -- the originals were fine. All the hooks, however, were toast
and were replaced.

john