pop top dandruff

[Karin Liimatta]

Hi.  We have recently purchased a 1977 Westfalia camper.  Currently we have a local VW mechanic rebuilding the engine and clutch and my husband and I hope to work on the interior.  One of the problems we noticed is that the original suede-type finish on the inside of the pop top is sluffing off like dandruff.  Has anyone worked on that?  Is it best to scrub it all off and refinish it?  Got any tips?

We also are considering replacing some of the interior cabinets.  Where does one go to replace that?

Has anyone had great success with adding a particular type of flooring in these vans?

Thanks for any ideas.

[whc03grady]

Cabinets come up for sale here pretty often. Here's another link with just cabinets and related items.

I didn't know later bay window Westies came with any liner on the tops; I thought that was a Vanagon thing. Were it me, I'd seriously consider scrubbing it off and going bare fiberglass. There may've been a good reason Westfalia put it on there, but I can't think of it would be. It seems like it'd be little more than a mildew farm, especially if you cook in the bus.

[B&S '87 Westy 'Esmerelda Blanc']

Flooring: here's a teaser pic: http://sdmcriders.org/oddstray/Westy/screen/lower1.html

This is interlocking foam squares that we found at Home Depot. The design on it is a town with traintracks and stuff like that.

It's fun to look at, but we cover it up with a square of indoor/outdoor carpeting that we cut to fit, from a big roll of the stuff, also bought at Home Depot. The foam squares are padding for our aging knees! The indoor/outdoor carpeting is easily picked up and shaken off.

We also have a smaller piece of the indoor/outdoor carpeting that we use outside the van as a "welcome - scrape off the mud and muck here" mat.

[Karin Liimatta]

Very creative and cost effective idea. Plus, helping the knees out with a bit of cushioning is a fantastic plan Thanks..

B&S '87 Westy 'Esmerelda Blanc' said:

Flooring: here's a teaser pic: http://sdmcriders.org/oddstray/Westy/screen/lower1.html

This is interlocking foam squares that we found at Home Depot. The design on it is a town with traintracks and stuff like that.

It's fun to look at, but we cover it up with a square of indoor/outdoor carpeting that we cut to fit, from a big roll of the stuff, also bought at Home Depot. The foam squares are padding for our aging knees! The indoor/outdoor carpeting is easily picked up and shaken off.

We also have a smaller piece of the indoor/outdoor carpeting that we use outside the van as a "welcome - scrape off the mud and muck here" mat.

[Karin Liimatta]

Great link that I saved to "my favorites" Thanks for the idea.

whc03grady said:

Cabinets come up for sale here pretty often. Here's another link with just cabinets and related items.

I didn't know later bay window Westies came with any liner on the tops; I thought that was a Vanagon thing. Were it me, I'd seriously consider scrubbing it off and going bare fiberglass. There may've been a good reason Westfalia put it on there, but I can't think of it would be. It seems like it'd be little more than a mildew farm, especially if you cook in the bus.

[whc03grady]

(Not related to the OP per se, but it needs to be mentioned)
If you aren't made of money, you'll be working on this bus yourself. Two sites which are invaluable to ACVW ownership are The Samba (the one you bookmarked) and Itinerant Air-Cooled. Personally, if you intend to keep this bus for a long time I strongly recommend joining these forums. The Samba has a much larger stock of discussions to draw information from, but the atmosphere can be somewhat unkind to the uninitiated. At Itinerant Air-Cooled you can dive right in, and ask as many stupid questions as you want (or need) to.

[Laura Anne]

I restored a 78 this year and the p.o. had scrubbed some of the dandruff off but what I did was cover it with a tapestry: click here for pic! I used contact cement to stick it up there which I don't really know if I would recommend because you can kind of see the glue thru the white spots on the tapestry... however with the contact cement i KNOW that it'll never peel off... :)

[Karin Liimatta]

That's like the Sistine Chapel for VW fans. Nice and creative idea. Thanks.