Date:         Fri, 17 Apr 2009 23:05:56 -0700
Reply-To:     Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Phreighdaé: What one thing would you change abo
              ut a westy interior?
Comments: To: Robert Fisher <refisher@mchsi.com>
In-Reply-To:  <000701c9bfe4$6ff53780$4fdfa680$@com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

  My first Bus, a 57 south african splittie, I built a couple of 'overhead'
shelves into the drivers area, similar to how the AC is arranged in a
Vanagon...That experience was enough to keep me from even considering an AC
vanagon.  I musta bumped my head up there 100s of times...but it was nice
for storage..

  When I went worked as a shipwright/boatbuilder I soon discovered why
everyone else wore those little flat old fashioned caps instead of a regular
baseball  cap...Walking around inside a yacht in a baseball cap, you often
don't see the headknocker coming because the bill blocks your veiw ahead,
especially if you are already in a hunched over posture..

  When I got my Vanagon, I bought a passenger van only, thinking that since
I am a cabinet maker and boatbuilder, I could and would make a much nicer
interior than Westphalia...But then I looked closely at what they've
done...and bought a used westie interior for less than the plywood alone
would have cost do do my own interior...(and not to mention a couple of
weeks of labor)  They did a great job!

  Don Hanson



> Having said all that, on the first ship I served on, there was this battle
> lantern mounted to the overhead right on the forward side of the aft
> doorway
> to the ship's mess that all the tall guys would hit their heads on,
> especially while trying to run through the space to get to their general
> quarters stations. I dunno how many times I clocked my head on that thing
> hard enough to see stars, and more than one guy flat knocked himself out
> cold. There were a few neck injuries from that thing as well. Even with all
> that they refused to move it, remove it or modify it in any way.
>
> Cya,
> Robert
>
>