Date:         Mon, 05 May 1997 15:35:01 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "James H. McCarthy" <jimhmc@mit.edu>
Subject:      Re: Need Westy sliding door screen

I have made a screen for my sliding door.  I bought the approximate yardage
of cloth screening material from a hardware store, sewed a thick edge around
it.  I sewed magnets from a local office supply store (that sold them as
magnetic clamps; I chisled off the magnet and threw away the clamp; but the
clamp had been a good test run before the sewing) into cloth pockets and
then sewed the pockets to the edges of the screen.  Thus it sticks above the
sliding door by a few well-placed magnets that stop sliding down when they
hit the rain gutter.  Sewed a couple on the edge by the passenger door.
Those two sides were the easy part.  It took some careful cutting and sewing
to handle the two door arms on the left (looking at it all from the
outside), and getting a magnet strong enough to stick at the bottom meant
going to a hardware store.  It is not elegant, nor absolutely tight around
the door arms, but it does allow us to keep the sliding door open for more
fresh air.

Before attempting the sliding door I made screens for the two front windows.
They attach by velcro strips.  This has the disadvantage of having velcro
strips permanently inside the two front windows.  The magnet version packs
away and leaves no traces. But I thought of magnets after making the velcro
version.  Jim McCarthy
At 02:12 PM 5/5/97 -0500, you wrote:
>I am planning to make/buy a bug screen for my 85 Westy sliding door. 
>
>Do any of you fellow Vanagon listers have experiance making/buying one of
>these? The bug screen would be used while the sliding door is open saving
>wear and tear opening/closing the door while camping. Any information would
>be helpful.
>
>Thanks in advance all
>
>Richard - 85 Westy 118K (richard@bally.com)
>