Date: Fri, 8 Jul 2011 09:26:39 -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: <1310133654.12454.1265.camel@TheJackUbuntuNetbook>
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Daisies will work. Prepare to redo the whole van, you will like the results
so much. It's a lot of work to get to the side panels and those narrow long
strips over the slider and shelf. If things get that bad, I can offer more
help.
Jim
On Fri, Jul 8, 2011 at 9:00 AM, Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@gmail.com
> wrote:
> **
> <SIDETRACK>
>
> Not to sidetrack this helpful advice or anything, but have any of you guys
> noticed that folk working in home improvement stores seldom know what
> "Masonite" is? When I was a kid my old man bought Masonite all the time for
> various projects. "Where's the Masonite?" he'd ask. "Over back by the
> Formica," the counterman would say around his cigar stub. (To my youthful
> eyes, all hardware and auto supply store countermen looked like Bluto,
> Popeye's nemesis.)
>
> Now, asking for Masonite at the local stores seems to cause perplexion, as
> though I had asked for Bakelite or Linoleum.
>
> </SIDETRACK>
>
> Thanks, Jim. I agree that 1/4'' would look too clunky. Thanks for the
> adviso about the adhesive, that is most helpful. The desert sun in Central
> Oregon -- the high desert east of the Cascades mountains -- is anything but
> mild and we easily see 40 to 50 degree high/low swings from daytime highs to
> overnight lows due to the aridity of the atmosphere here.
>
> I would take you up on your offer to borrow your paper template, but the
> responsibility, the burden of having this prized item in my possession would
> weigh heavily on my heart and I'd not sleep easily until I was done with it
> and had it safely back in the mail before I spilled something on it than if
> I had just pulled my own darn panel.
>
> As for finishing appearance, I'm tempted to see if I can't find some vinyl
> wallpaper with a cheery Pacific Island beach scene or something on it. Mrs
> Squirrel would like daisies.
>
> -- RJS
>
>
> On Fri, 2011-07-08 at 07:58 -0500, Jim Felder wrote:
>
> 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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