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Date:         Sun, 26 Apr 1998 14:44:37 -0500
Reply-To:     "Karl F. Bloss" <bloss@ENTER.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
Comments:     Authenticated sender is <bloss@mailman.enter.net>
From:         "Karl F. Bloss" <bloss@ENTER.NET>
Subject:      front table for non-Westies
Comments: To: Vanagon@vanagon.com
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

In an effort to make our Weekender more camping friendly, I started the motions to get a front table into the van.

Chris Turner found a partial breadloaf Westy table set for me, which included two brackets with bolts and an L-shaped swinging arm. You should be able to pick these up from junked loafs or shows. There's also this flat-funnel-shaped part that mounts to the bottom of the actual table. I don't have one of these yet and cobbled something together in the mean time. After glass-beading the parts and spray-painting them, I set out to mount the brackets.

The brackets can be mounted on the side of the box under the driver's seat at the right rear flattened "corner." Having never checked out a Vanagon Westy, I presume that's where your table goes as well. The hard part is drilling the holes just right. There are other metal plates in the box and you need to get the holes aligned so that you have some place to put the nut from the bracket bolt. I put the bottom bracket about as low as I could and still have the hole come out just slightly above the bottom of the inside of the box (right through the welded line).

The other thing to consider is that you want the brackets some minimum distance apart to reduce the leverage of the arm (i.e. it doesn't rip out). With that in mind, I put the top bracket as high as I could and still be able to reach the bolt on the inside for applying the nut. There are the darned plates to consider again. Also make sure the top bracket is tilted right so it doesn't bind the table arm.

Now, the loaf arm is actually too long in both directions. It's easy enough to hack off the vertical aspect, but the horizontal part has a cylinder welded to the end that actually holds the table bracket (funnel thing). You can get a weld shop to reposition the cylinder. I'm going to use it as is and see how badly it annoys me before doing anything about it. It actually appears to be the right height when you swing the table between the driver and passenger seats, but too high for the bench seat (unless you're a dog and prefer to eat right out of the dish :-).

-Karl Karl and Kristina Bloss, Trexlertown, PA '87 GL Weekender "Beverley" VW shop list: http://www.enter.net/~bloss/vw/vwshops


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