Headliner back on track
No chance of going too stir crazy in lockdown. A VW camper often presents lots of potential work projects to keep you busy. Fortunately for me, I have the headliner to finish off. Living in the ‘new normal’ of a Covid-19 pandemic, where social distancing is the norm, it’s good to have something to focus and work on.
lockdown air-cooled social distancingUpdate refresher notes
It was a while since I last worked on the headlining. The trouble when you have a bit of a break, it’s easy to forget where you were at and what you were exactly doing last time. I know I got the front overhead cab panels resolved… so whilst getting stuff ready, it was a case of going through my sketches, notes and doodles to refresh my memory. Front cab panels cut to shape, onto the rear two sections (middle and rear) of the bus headliner next.
double-checking the dimensions in my sketchbookCargo area headliner
Apart from two notched out areas for the front cab vent and the rear interior roof light, the middle headliner piece shouldn’t be too bad. No funny angles or double curvature to really worry about for the middle section. Initially, I will just cut this section to length and then double/triple check the width and dimensions for the two notched areas.
making media mayhem bits and piecesMake do workspace
Before I can do anything, however, I have to clear and make a clear working space in the kitchen. Not ideal, but it’s the only area I’ve got to do the work unfortunately which is a bit of a pain. It becomes a job in itself just to clear space and make ready an area to work in.
Fortunately, there is just enough room to manoeuvre the largish sheets of plywood used. So when Lornas out at her studio, I temporarily take over the kitchen as my workspace for a little while!
carefully setting out the accurate dimensions for the headlinerCut down to size
With the dimensions marked up on the first sheet of plywood, time to get busy cutting it down to size. Slow and steady, straight and true. Initially, I decided to cut the sheets to length first. For my own peace of mind, I wanted to triple check the overall width dimensions for each piece. This will also give me an opportunity to double-check the sizes and positions of the interior light fittings and cab vent. Better safe than sorry having got this far without any major issues!
cutting the larger plywood headliner panels down to sizeSome advantages
It’s another sign of the times with lockdown. The streets and roads are way quieter than usual. That aspect I really don’t mind. So having got the first phase of cutting to length done, it was time to change location. I needed to double-check the width dimensions in the bus itself. So off to my other outside workspace, the supermarket car park!
even in lockdown, it still brings a smile on shopping tripsTaking the long way home…
So once the dimensions were sorted, (and the food shopping is done) with such great weather, it’s nice to sometimes just take the long drive home… a momentary lapse of freedom!
I’ve missed not driving the bus quite as much as normal. Hopefully, as lockdown eases, this will slowly begin to change…
