Date: Wed, 12 May 1999 09:14:19 -0400
Reply-To: The Bus Depot <ron@NETCARRIER.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: The Bus Depot <ron@NETCARRIER.COM>
Subject: Installing sliding door screens
In-Reply-To: <199905110734_MC2-7546-9D16@compuserve.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
> I just bought a sliding door screen for our 82 westfalia. ... Has anyone
else
> installed these screens that might have some detailed photos of this area
> or perhaps some instructions they might volunteer.
I just took a look at the '89 Westy I have for sale, which was purchased in
Germany and has snaps for the Westfalia sliding door screen. What follows
is an explanation of where the snaps are located on this van. Since this
description is of an installation into a Westfalia, if yours is a regular
Vanagon you may have to modify this where it makes sense. Also, bear in
mind that it is entirely possible that the snaps on this particular van were
installed by the original owner in Germany, not the factory, since these
screens were sold as an accessory after purchase, so the exact locations I
am describing may not be precisely as Westfalia intended. Use your own
judgement; whatever makes a reasonably tight fit and looks good is fine.
The screen, when installed, snaps in from the inside of the van. By way of
identifying what side is top, if you place the screen flat on the floor in
front of you, you will note that it is not a true rectangle; there is a part
that sticks out on one corner. This "extended" part goes on the top toward
the front of the van. It is meant to wrap around the heater conduit found
on a Westfalia. On the van in question, one snap is positioned on the front
edge of the conduit (facing toward the back of the passenger seat), and one
opposite it (facing the rear of the van). There is also a snap that, on
mine, is located almost behind the front passenger upper seatbelt mount; you
have to swivel the mount slightly when snapping it in. While this does
effectively hide the snap recepticle, when installing my snaps I think I
might move it over an inch or so, since a slight bunching of the screen at
that point would have no impact on its utility and wouldn't even really be
noticable.
Now that you have an orientation as to what side is top, let's skip to the
lower side of the screen towards the rear of the van. You will see that
there is a notch there. That notch corresponds with the armrest on the
sofabed of a GL Westfalia. So if you have a Westy, when snapped into place,
the screen will follow the contour of the armrest and lay against the front
edge of the sofabed. I I suppose that it would similarly follow the contour
of the rear seat even if your Vanagon was not a Westy, since the height and
location of the seat is nearly the same.
There are snaps along both sides of the sliding door. Towards the front of
the van, the lowest snap is a bit more forward (away from the sliding door)
than the others. Towards the rear of the van, the snaps go along the side
of the sliding door except for the bottom two, which (if you have a Westy)
go along the base of the sofabed.
When I said before that there were no snaps across the top, I must have been
on drugs. There are indeed snaps across the top, although I'm not sure if
you'd use them if you had a non-Westy with a headliner there. On a Westy,
the snaps go along the heater conduit above the sliding door.
When installed, the vinyl "apron" at the bottom of the screen lays on the
floor slightly, to create a tight seal against the floor.
I hope this is a help to those installing the screens. I'd recommend using
some small pieces of duct tape, etc. to hold the screen up, then determine
the exact positioning you like and screw in the snaps accordingly. Bear in
mind that even though you have an exact duplicate of the original Westfalia
screen, this doesn't mean that you must position it exactly where Westfalia
intended, as long as the net result is a reasonably tight fit. Also, you
can achieve a decent fit even if you do not use every single snap, so don't
be afraid to skip a few if you just don't care for where they happen to line
up. It looks to me that even if you used half the snaps you'd still get a
reasonably effective result..
By the way, I have more screens coming the beginning of next week. Next
Tuesday or Wednesday, I will be able to fill all backorders on gray screens,
and will have a few extra as well, so if you haven't already ordered one,
you can reserve yours now. Brown screens will follow a few days later,
hopefully also with a few to spare. Again, they are $79.95, including
hardware, and are zippered in the middle for easy access in and out of the
van.
- Ron Salmon
The Bus Depot, Inc.
http://www.busdepot.com
(215) 234-VWVW
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