Club 80-90 Forums

Door cards arrived today. Delighted with them. They even left out the ashtray holes for me. Accurately cut and everything lines up perfectly. I did consider making my own (would have been cheaper) but no way could I cut them that accurately.

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No affiliation, I just posted feedback in case anyone else was considering a set. They're 3mm so fit spot on. I do recommend ordering new clips though. I'm going to stain mine a light blue and finish with a polyeurethane varnish. Fancied a natural but cheerful look and could always cover them in years to come. Beats hardboard. Will post pics once they're done.

Hmmmm.Tempted

Its been bugging me for some time Rob. Trying to hang on to 30 year old buckled hardboard ones that have split here and there is a bit fruitless really. I think they have a finite life and thats that. I can't refit interior without sorting them. Tried cutting plywood with jigsaws and the like in the past and its hard to do particularly well without it showing signs of 'amateur'. They do ask what year, model etc. Very helpful and good communication throughout. Good base for those that want to use fabric or vinyl but lots you could do with them I'm sure.



I originally planned to cover them in denim fabric with a thin layer of padding beneath but doing it this way I still can at a later date. I'll be giving them a sand,and a coat of the stuff below (water based) followed by a light sand to expose the wood a little more then varnish on that. Should last for years and easy to clean.



£10 - £13 a litre which should do the lot and more. Matt/silk varnish to finish - water-based also. Should give interior a nice 'beach' feel as I've gone for a very pale blue thats not in above chart - 'sea mist' or something like that. Its normally an exterior paint/stain for sheds etc but on those boards it should look the dogs, particularly if its rubbed back a bit.

Will WIKI it if it works as I anticipate.

Other ideas after talking about this to Hakuna Matata is 'half and half' where you could do top half sea blue and bottom a sand colour - stick starfish on and stuff. Thats not for me but for the ever-creative, you could do stensils, all sorts. For about £120 you've got a new interior without too much work.

Do any of you know if there is a CAD drawing somewhere 'out there' of these panels? I have made my panels myself but in the back they just don't fit (couldn't get the 'curviness' correct) and I can't be bothered with paying £60+ (JK) for a couple of mdf panels which I can easily cut myself for far less...

schroe wrote:Do any of you know if there is a CAD drawing somewhere 'out there' of these panels? I have made my panels myself but in the back they just don't fit (couldn't get the 'curviness' correct) and I can't be bothered with paying £60+ (JK) for a couple of mdf panels which I can easily cut myself for far less...

Maybe CovKid could draw around one of each shape and sell them as patterns, similar to what they sell for dress making

I like that idea... except the 'sell' bit

schroe wrote:I like that idea... except the 'sell' bit

sorry, didn't think that through did I

I won't be drawing around panels sold to me. These are at least ply, not MDF, a material I wouldn't bring anywhere near a T25.

You won't be able to cut ply this well at home without some seriously good equipment - if you're to avoid splitting etc. I do have access to a big and very good wood workshop within the family with industrial planers and the like and most of it on 3-phase but for the cost, even I wouldn't try it. Might be possible with a router etc but when you weigh up the time, setting up of jigs and so forth, its just easier/simpler to buy them in.

Have treated a few of the panels to a colour wash now. Will post further pics tomorrow. This is a 'suck-it-and-see' project, as the Rustoleum Roller thread started out. The look/finish won't be everyones cup of tea with some preferring vinyl or cloth covering (fine), but its achieving what I set out to do and looks great so far. I can also cover if I want a change in a few years. Obviously this way the panel clips show but I don't mind that.

They will need a silk varnish to seal and protect the wash-effect side and probably reverse to seal against any condensation that might build up in doors although this ply is water resistant. At the moment I'm working on getting just the right balance between the wash effect but still allowing the wood grain to show through. So far only once coat appears to be needed so the small matchpot containers for Cuprinol garden shades appear to be enough - 1 litre tin way too much. Looks like material cost for finish may be under £15 (including varnish) so its cheap to do.

Varnish I'm using is Wilco's (water-based) 'Ultra Tough Quick Drying Varnish' which is around £3.50 for a small pot - enough to do all panels. I bought a slightly bigger tin as I need to varnish another project. They do two sorts - oil or water based. The water based one doesn't stink and dries completely clear. I opted for a silk finish to help the grain stand out a little more. Gloss would have looked ridiculous for this purpose and matt as if I'd not cared in the least. Two coats are needed with a slight rub down after the first to improve and key up for subsequent coat.

To give you some idea:

One coat of Garden Shades, applied evenly - just enough for the wood to almost disappear. I chose a pale blue called 'coastal mist'. Darker colours will produce a much more striking result, particularly terracotta, sage, holly, and iris. My camper is a mid to dark blue so needed lighter interior panels to brighten interior.

Once you have even coat of paint, allow to dry for several hours. The paint slowly soaks in in some places but stays more on the surface in others. If you can leave overnight, even better.

Next very lightly sand until smooth and/or until you feel they look right but don't go mad. Remove all dust. Very soft brush useful.

Below: Photographed indoors - Paint wash with one initial coat of water-based silk varnish (another yet to be applied).





Photo taken outdoors with second coat of clear varnish:



Overall it hides any very dark areas of the plywood and gives it a subtle colour (depending how much you apply) but still obviously wood. If you look at first pics in thread, the raw ply has a much darker, more yellow hue and uneven. Even if you varnished it, it'd still look like varnished ply. The paint wash just lifts it and you can use bright/strong colours if thats the look you wanted. I nearly bought 'sage' on the day which was a really nice but muted green but chickened out at the till and swapped. I'm sure household emulsion would work but this paint soaks in well on plywood

May try some other things on these panels - not sure until I get them in.

Its sealed with the silk varnish so wipes down easy (unlike the original Caravelle cards which needed a carpet cleaner every time). Next weekend I may put a paint effect on top. Just not decided what yet.

If you're wondering what the black box is, its a screw-on VW Beetle electric winder kit.

May I suggest ronseal hard glaze , its a good hard wearing varnish and I usually thin it 30% with white spirits and it can be wiped on with a micro fibre cloth.
dries in half the time to.
Cheers dazz

The Ronseal does tend to darken it a little though - hence opting for polyeurethane. It dries very fast actually - around 30 minutes even indoors. That said, when I've finished messing with them, it may just finish with that to protect it. Doors will only need a quick go over with furniture polish now - makes life simple.

A couple of things I did notice though:

The very back side panels on my Caravelle don't have all the holes in the body for the clips - ie the three vertical ones next to hatch door so I presume there were very slight differences on the 85 changover year in the way these panels were fitted. Not encountered that one. Its not a problem as such as I can soon make the holes but I was stumped at first.

The other thing I found is that as plywood (even at 3mm) isn't quite so flexible as hardboard and has to be encouraged to curve in the vertical plane, the clips would resist going home top-to-bottom. I found that what was needed was just time. All I had to do was get most of the clips in place, leave it to 'rest' for an hour and when I returned it only needed a small push to go the last bit. After that they seemed to accept the shape no problem and stayed firm. With changes in humidity they will basically 'set' like that I suppose.

Anyway tomorrow I'll plumb in the electric fuel pump. Bit of a pain as the connections are 8mm but think I've managed to find a way to accommodate it.

Bit of a dead thread but thought I'd add my question here without starting a new thread. I've got some panels from Delilahs and I can't for the life of me get the sliding door one to cling onto the van, the middle clips don't seem to engage properly with the holes on the door. I got the clips off of eBay and they worked for other panels but I'm wondering whether there are different/better suppliers that make them that might make a difference ?