Date: Fri, 8 Jul 2011 07:58:53 -0500
Reply-To: Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: material for new rear hatch panel?
In-Reply-To: <1310101843.12454.188.camel@TheJackUbuntuNetbook>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
You should be OK with 1/8 inch tempered masonite. The untempered stuff will
work too, but it is less rigid and might not survive being pulled off again.
Paneling or some 1/8 in birch ply would be OK too, but I would think the
quarter inch thick stuff would be too thick on two accounts: 1. The original
fasteners wouldn't work and 2. the whole thing might look a little clunky,
but hey, you can buy some kind of replacement fasteners at your flaps that
would work, and being all the way in the back would not trash the appearance
of the camper even if it was a little clunky looking. So that's up to you.
Having done this a number of times, and you ask for finishing ideas, let me
offer a dictum ranther than an idea that will help you out: don't use any
petroleum based adhesive to affix the finish. Use heavy duty vinyl wallpaper
paste (premixed) and a wallpaper brush and let it dry overnight. It will
never fall off in your car. I realize you live in the mild northwest and not
in the harsh Alabama sun where I do, but spray on adhesives would fail in
all but the coolest, sunless climates.
Bus Depot still sells the original interior magical shredding material
(theirs may be better, but it is said to be match for the old stuff) and
I'm sure it would look good. I redid my entire interior with a smooth vinyl
that more matches the cabinet color, somewhere between the yellow of the
paint job and the band-aid color of the cabinetry. I picked it up at an
upholstery shop, where you can find a great selection and get leftover stuff
for cheap. This has a fabric backing, hides imperfections well and is very
tough. I think it makes the place a little quieter, too.
Grab yourself a hole punch kit (the round hollow kind that you hammer) at
harbor freight and make easy work of all those fastener holes. I already
have a paper tracing of a back hatch panel and all the fasteners. If I can,
I like to get my new work ready and swap it out with the old instead of
pulling the old and hustling to get it back in on an inconvenient schedule.
Anyone who wants to borrow it can do so if they will just return it.
Likewise, Rocket, I can send you a sample of the vinyl fabric I have been
using on my interior lo these many years.
Jim
On Fri, Jul 8, 2011 at 12:10 AM, Rocket J Squirrel <
camping.elliott@gmail.com> wrote:
> The interior panel on the hatch in Mellow Yellow has cracked. Doesn't
> seem like a major operation to pull it and use it as a template to make
> a new one. What's a good material which is commonly available? Finishing
> ideas?
> --
> --
> Rocky J Squirrel (Jack Elliott)
> '84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
> '74 Westrailia: (Ladybug Trailer company, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)
> Bend, OR
> KG6RCR
>
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