I want to reapolster my interior of my kombi. any tips and hints would be welcome. I am in brisbane, where do I look for materials

You talking Bus or Kamper?

Door and wall panels: If your originals aren't torn or full of holes, you can reuse the vinyl and remake the backing boards. Carefully peel the vinyl off the old rotten cardboard (it will be heat-embossed on but pulls off easily) and wash it. Use your existing boards as a pattern and make new ones out of 3mm MDF. Don't forget all the holes. Put a 5mm layer of foam over the new MDF, then glue your old vinyl over that. Use gentle heat to stretch the vinyl for a nice tight fit. You can then paint the result with vinyl paint - black is probably best.

Roof lining - probably best to get a motor trimmer to do that for best results. You can buy West Coast Metric headliner kits and fit them yourself, but it's a bastard of a job. For best results the windows should come out.

Carpets - you can easily make these yourself. Use cardboard to make a pattern of the floor before you take the scissors to the carpet roll. You can also make patterns to cover the seat towers for a result even better than stock.

thanks..can be a daunting task though.
motor trimmer?


:alien

There's plenty around if you look in the yellow pages. Finding someone who wants to do a Kombi may be difficult.
As far as the roof lining is concerned, you cannot replace it without removing all the windows. It is not all that difficult a job if you know what you're doing, but not an easy job for the inexperienced/first timer.
I had the full roof lining replaced in my '77 deluxe by All Car Interiors (Stafford), he did a great job (he has a kombi himself). He also can get original looking material.
I removed and replaced all the windows myself, as well as giving him the old lining as a sample to make the replacement.
~$800 for material and fitting on site (my place) from memory.
Andy

thanks...might have to get someone to get the windows out for me though.

where would be the best place to look for vinyl to recover the panels?



:rudolf

I have just bought some vinyl from spotlight, lincraft should also be able to help.

I have just bought 2 books :

Yhe Automotive Upholstery handbook by Don Taylor and Auto Upholstery & interiors by bruce caldwell. Both are pretty good.

I will be starting my kombi inthe new year so we can compare notes if you like.

Headliners aren't covered by these books and I've heard they can be really difficult.
Fortunatly mine is in A1 condition.
The good news is that once you read a few books Seats and Door panels dont look that daunting.

I only have acces to a regular sewing machine but with a "Leather" needle it can handle 4 layers of Vinyl with ease.

Good Luck :rudolf

I have a good mate who will do a Kombi in Brissy. He has been trimming for over 15 years and is very good at it. Give him a call on 3886 9617 a/h his name is Rod.