My new wip...

[taylorvon]

Hola van creepers!

I just scored this OG SMB.

Super stoked. I've had VW Vanagons and Westfalias in the past, but never could tow my drift boat and camp with the family. Problem solved. Its a 351. Judging by the SMB website, the layout is an EB28.

With the EB28 the back seats are side facing and the kitchen galley takes up most of the lower deck. My current plan is gut the interior, re purpose the fridge, sink, range, and furnace in 4.5-5ft routered maple ply cabinet behind the driver seat and then install a sofa bed/seat ~3.5' forward of the rear doors to allow for a extended deck behind.

In short, I like the setup of a standard westy kitchen cabinet and bed. I do not require much in storage as my trips are short and frequent to the Oregon Coast and Central Oregon.

I'll take any advise I can get on sofa beds and safe installation of seat-belts to protect my 3 and 6 y/o precious cargo.

Tight Lines and Happy Trails
------------Taylor

[Ocsmb]

Sweet rig. Congrats and welcome

[Tapatio]

Clean!

[rockbender]

Nice - another old school rig in Oregon!

If you don't need the rear seat to fold, you could look into a Sprinter bench that has 3 built in 3-pt belts. It's hard to find them reasonably priced, but keep an eye out!

[BrianW]

Congrats and welcome! I have a 98 EB SMB with the exact same stripe and color.

Regarding your kids, I would strongly suggest getting two captain's chairs with integrated belts for the second row. First, nobody wants to ride sideways for any length of time. Second, I think it's required for child seats to be oriented front/rear and not sideways, as that's how they are designed with regard to impact protection (and most hits are rear-enders).

Edit: re-read tells me you're considering the Westy layout (also called EB/RB-50 in SMB terms), so the bench willl likely face front anyway. But, sometimes it's hard to get two three-point belts on a bench, as each belt must anchor to the van body somehow at the top. Sounds like maybe Rockbender's idea of a Sprinter bench might be a good one.

[twogone]

Tire Cover!

[larrie]

Welcome aboard. Glad to Jane another Oregon Sportsmoblier.

[buckkiller]

Nice rig...and welcome
Buck

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[VintageSMB]

NICE RIG, (I'm a bit biased since I have a 1990 that is very similar)!

Since we have similar vehicles, a word of caution that may save you a bit of trouble with your Penthouse's canvas: On the under-side of your penthouse top, the (2) plastic ribs that divide the (3) sections of wood paneling used for the head liner have been known to shift to the side.

I've had it happen and I've seen a post about someone else having the same problem. In my case, I did not notice the problem until that plastic piece had torn a hole in my canvas. I ended up loosening (not removing) the wood panels, bit by bit coercing the plastic rib back in place by "massaging" the rib while wearing rubber gloves, and then repairing the torn canvas.

Just feel along the outer edges of those wooden panels (aka headliner) to make sue you don't have the same problem brewing.

ENJOY!

[dante]

Very clean!