Makeover for 1979 VW Riviera Pop-Top

Repurposed Upholstery for 1979 VW Bus 'Honu Li'u"

Honu Li'u (Hawaiian for tardy turtle), our green 1979 VW bus, in my estimation, was long overdue for the spa treatment. I wanted to keep the original vibe in this bus, so I decided to re-purpose the Harvest Gold and Avocado Green plaid fabric. First order of business was to wash the stuff and press it flat, then to pass it on to Juan, our masterful upholsterer, with hand rendered plans for the new design.

Durable automotive vinyl selections were made, pulling the green and gold colors directly from the original plaid. Since these backseats see so much use from car seats, kids & kitchen spills I thought it best not to continue the plaid fabric panel down onto the backseat bottom. The piping would surely end up gnarled within one year, and then I'd be grieved at the loss... so no plaid or piping for Honu's backseat bottom ;(

It truly is a wonder to see how well this plaid upholstery fabric has held up for the 33 year haul. After being washed it's sparkling and doesn't show any wear whatsoever!

I've added a touch of fabric and piping to the door panels as well; in doing so the design is reinforced throughout the interior.

Next steps are to install the remaining door panels, visors, & upper berth cushions. Then a trip to the Garment District to source some fabric that will coordinate with this cheeky plaid so I can put a new spin on the window coverings and add a toss cushion or two. Eventually the flooring will be replaced with a hard surface material, the smaller interior panels will be recovered with an embossed vinyl wallpaper and the laminate will be refreshed, although it's held up quite well in this bus and doesn't need immediate attention.

New updates will follow as I progress through this happy hippy bus project!

Cheers from Diane at Diane Grace Interiors

Refreshing New Skin for Interior VW Bus Panels

 Interior VW side panels with the old stickyback paper treatment.

 Bye, bye ashtray...

 Ah, the wonders of duct tape!

Front view of panel with new washable, grass cloth vinyl paper. *Remember to mark the holes for screw placement when installing later on.

Et voila! A new interior panel for the Taos bus :-)

A New Interior for 1977 Westfalia VW Bus "Taos"... Continued...

Here's Taos, back from the body shop, all shiny and new! She's, or wait, is Taos a he? Hmmmm... well whatever, Taos is looking kinda like a creamsicle, YUM!

A New Interior for 1977 Westfalia VW Bus "Taos"

We've started working on a new interior for our 1977 VW Camperbus Taos...

The jumping off point for the new color scheme on this bus was it's original 70's Avocado green. The interior on this bus is in great shape, so instead of pulling the interior completely out in order to repaint the bus an entirely different color we decided to work around the green and just re-paint the exterior of the bus for now. It's exterior will soon be painted a burnt orange with a creamy white top.

 

 

Yes, these are the original 1977 VW seats, they've been masterfully rehabilitated by our upholsterer Juan. Juan rebuilds the springs, uses new foam, and cleans and paints all the parts - the end result being seats that are better than new! We chose a combo of solid burnt orange and a swirl pattern marine vinyl for the seats, cushions, door panels and visors.

 

A big deal was scored via Craig's List where we sourced laminate remnants for $0.15/SQ. FT.! So here we've matched the Craig's List laminate with a lively lime green laminate which will be used for cook top/sink horizontal surfaces.

We found some playful, bright fabric that incorporated the Avocado green, in addition to a citrus green, burnt orange, a touch of gold and a wee bit of charcoal and black.

Here, the upper berth cushions are getting the full spa treatment!

We'll update you as we progress through the Taos Project, so stay tuned!

Out with the old, in with the new...

 Lots of good changes happening around VSW! We sold Rell Sunn to a happy family. 

Rell Sunn is the orange/red bus to the left. She was one of the best and we will miss her.

    
There are miles of fun and happy memories in the vans, with chips and rips to show.

Eddie is getting updated with new refurbished cabinets! 
Our vans take a lick'n but keep on tick'n.

Yah, Bill told me the same thing when he took the picture.

It took almost half the day for Bill and I to remove the original cabinets, as we had to wrestle with old hardware, plumbing, and a gas hose that someone put lock tight on during a previous fix. I am glad we were not tape-recorded! These interiors are like a big jigsaw puzzle. What I had to clean out from underneath the carpet and behind the nooks and crannies is a story unto its own. I thank the cleaning gods for Simple Green. Here are the bare innards of Eddie. 

more to come...