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Club Kombi -
Installment 9 (2007) - Interior fitout
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Whilst
Ken & Roma and Mike & Shirley piloted their beetles around
Southern Africa, work continued on the Kombi.
After much discussion on the best way to trim out the car, we settled
on covering the bulk of the panels with dark grey felt car carpet. The
door panels were to be the only exception, with a paint finish to match
the rest of the interior.
First
up new door cards were made up, using patterns from another car. These
were followed by inserts for the roof and front kick panels. The two
pairs of side doors and rear door followed. To make sure nothing was
missed out, patterns were made for the panels over the wheel arches as
well.
Rob
purchased sheets of high quality foam and these were cut to shape to
cover all of the exposed metal surfaces: inside of door, roof, side
panels. These were glued in place using high quality "3M' brand
adhesive (guaranteed to hold at temperatures to 70- degrees). The aim
of the foam being to avoid the drumming so common in vans.
The roof of the van presented a real problem: it is not only huge, but
is made up of a number of compound curves. Rob and Ian spent hours
trying to work out the best option. In the end they settled on two
large, square sheets for the main roof, and smaller panels for the
corners. The guys at Unique once again came to the party. Ian hand
formed supports to follow the roof profile and to which the sheets
could be attached. One support was made up for across the rear, another
for the centre and a third for behind the cab. Templates were made up
in cardboard and then transferred to metal sheet. The rear corner
panels
were a challenge, but once completed fit perfectly. This all took a few
weeks and many hours of careful work. Probably the hardest task fell to
Rob & Ken - that of fitting those two large roof sheets. Patience,
sweat and persistence saw them through.
While this work was being completed, plans were made to get the van
registered. A final check of all the electrical work was made. A couple
of globes were changed to get the right lighting balance and a new horn
fitted. A horn button was donated and temporarily fitted (while we
searched for the correct spring for permanent fitting). When we were
satisfied that everything was legal and roadworthy, preparations were
made for a visit to the Motor Registry.
Pete took a few hours off from work and agreed to accompany Rob in his
own car, in case anything happened to the van. By pure chance Vintage
Dick happened to be cruising down the road at the same time and stopped
for a quick chat. The trip to "Regency" was, fortunately, uneventful.
Once there the van was given a quick once over before the inspectors
ran all the relevant numbers through their computer. As per earlier
installments, the van was purchased without a motor and fitted with one
donated by DeBiasi Auto Repairs. We had a set of plates but were not
sure whether these were from the van or from the other "donour" kombi
and had no details of previous registered owners. To our pleasure, all
the numbers came up clear and we were given the all clear to proceed
with registration.
Next in line on the agenda were a much needed wheel alignment and
fitting or the precious "R" series plates organised some time ago by
Vintage Dick: ROY-055. Roy, for honorary number one membership holder
Roy Williams and 055 to signify the van's year. Finally, with the van
at practical completion, registered , insured and legal, it was
delivered to Kruger Signs. Jon Kruger had volunteered to details the
side door panels with details of sponsors and those who had worked on
the van. In addition, Jon had come up with a plan to sign write the
exterior of the Kombi in period style lettering. |
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