Hal The Van

[WVvan]

Windshield Cover

This is the last of the set of projects that began when the penthouse trim and headliner were taken down. This project is a inside cover for the front windshield. The goal is to have something that will both block sight into the van, for privacy, and also block light coming out of the van if in stealth mode. Up till now I used a off-the-shelf windshield foil reflector but it never complete blocked the light and wouldn't stay in place. I use Reflectix for the side windows but I think it's too bulky for the front windshield.

To make a cover I bought three yards of of "Quilted Iron Quick Fabric" from nancysnotions.com. The material is listed as "100% aluminum on a 100% cotton back, polyester batting and polyester/cotton backing. Heat resistant up to 399 degrees". One of it's suggested uses is as potholders so it should hold up OK. I'm thinking that the aluminum side will help reflect the sun's rays and the polyester batting will act as insulation. Here's what the back side looks like.


I experimented with different ways of holding the fabric in place. Maybe add a metal clip to the edge of the headliner then use magnets on the fabric.


Or sew wooden dowels into the fabric.


Here's what I decided on. Use epoxy to glue 10 small rare earth magnets to the front edge of the headliner.




Hand sew 10 fender washers to the back side of the fabric.


The washers line up with the magnets.


The washers and magnets hold the top edge of the fabric in place.


I tried different combinations of rare earth magnets and washers and their placement before settling on this configuration. Sewing smaller washer to the front of the fabric would also hold the cover in place but if the washer comes in contact with the magnet it's harder to separate them. By keeping the fabric between the washer and the magnet there's less chance of the magnet pulling free of the epoxy. This results in a weaker magnetic attraction so the larger washer is needed to compensate.

Now to do something about the fabric edge.


Say hello to my new tool.


OK it's not really new. This was my Mom's. She used to sew. A lot. After both my parents passed away and my surviving brother and I had to sell their house I'd already begun work on the van and thought that the sewing machine might come in handy some day. That day would be today.

And let's just get one thing out of the way. The thought that somehow using a sewing machine is sissified. I'll point out that the operative word in "sewing machine" is MACHINE! (manly grunt grunt grunt)

As a kid I'd seen Mom sew enough to have a basic idea how this works but luckily it came with a manual.


First up. Threading.


OK, that's done.


Turn the hand wheel, top towards you, till it brings up the thread from the bobbin.


Pull both threads towards the back of the machine. Put the fabric in place and drop the foot.


To operate the motor there is a paddle that swings down underneath the cabinet. You push it to the right with leg. The farther it's pushed the faster the machine goes.


OK. Start sewing. I'm folding the edge of the fabric so the white backing is on top. This is so when the cover is magnetically attached to the headliner the leading edge will curl upwards against the headliner and block more light.


I worked at a slow pace, folding over the fabric as I went. Had to keep shifting the whole mass of fabric to keep the stitching (somewhat) straight. When I got to the washers went real slow. Didn't want to see what would happen if the needle hit a washer.


When I got to the end of the fabric be sure the needle is in the up position. Pull it way from the machine then cut the two threads.


There it is. My first hem.


Give it a test in the van. Looks good.


Back to the machine. Now do the bottom edge. This time I'm folding the fabric so that the aluminum side is up.


Sewing along when I realize that something is wrong. Just making tiny holes in the fabric. No thread is joining the material. Found that the thread coming from the bobbin had broken. The bobbin is under the machine.


That's the bobbin on the right. It has thread wound around it that loops through the thread pushed through the fabric by the needle. I re-threaded the bobbin but it kept breaking. Ended up unspooling all the thread on the bobbin and winding it with new thread.


After that didn't have any more problems. Here's the two different hems.


How it looks in the van.


The fabric is thick enough that it can be tucked in at the gap between the windshield and the dash where they meet and stay in place. This way the slack in the cover can be taken in so there is less of a downward bow in the middle.


How it looks from outside.


I'm not done yet. The cover's sides will have to be taken care of next.

In working on the van so far I've used several of my Dad's old tools so it was nice to get my Mom's sewing machine involved in the project but also the realization that the last time this machine ran my Mom was using it did leave me feeling more than a little bit melancholy.

continued -

[Abitibi]

You crack me up
Hahaha!

Never a dull moment and never thought I'd get a sewing lesson on this forum! Priceless!

Cheers!
Mr. D

[Pschitt]

Originally Posted by WVvan

Thanks Pschitt.

Not been able to get out and go camping as much as I want yet working on the van isn't the reason.

Here's the reason:


The current forecast. Just about every time I've been able to get away it looks like this. Hopefully things will improve.

It's the same here in Europe. Spring was really bad and begining of Summer not better... Hopefully it will change soon...

[WVvan]

Thanks Mr. D.

A poster on RV.net gave me an idea for my new motto: "I post, You read, Maybe somebody learns something."

I interrupt this project for a little mechanical update. So I'm driving to Lowe's to get a sheet of Formica for the next project when the van starts running rough. The ScanGauge shows error codes P0303 and P0304 which means misfiring on cylinders #3 and #4. In checking the engine I find the spark plug wire for cylinder #4 is just hanging.


The part of the plug wire that grips the spark plug had broken off.


Nothing a new set of plug wires couldn't fix.


The #3 misfire code was probably caused by the #4. The engine is a 4.2L 6 cylinder and I was surprised how well it ran on only 5 cylinders. The last time I lost a cylinder like that was on my first car, a 6 cylinder AMC (green colored) Hornet. No fuel injection back then and it ran a heck of a lot rougher on only 5. At the time I didn't think I could get it back home.


Windshield Cover continued -

With the window cover in place there is still a gap on each side. Need to fix that.


This is the plastic trim cover for the "A" pillar passenger side. Use epoxy to glue three rare earth magnets to the back side of the cover. The magnets came from old computer hard drives.


It was easy to hold the magnets in place while the epoxy set up by putting washers on the opposite side of the plastic trim.


Do the same to the driver's side trim piece.


See where the washer lines up to on the cover.


Hand stitch the washer to the front of the cover.


As I'm sitting in the van sewing on the washers I was under supervision.


After sewing on the three washers the magnets now hold the window cover tight enough to the trim piece to block out light.


Use the sewing machine to hem this edge of the window cover.


Do the same to the passenger side edge of the window cover.




OK, that's the finish of the windshield cover. It came out pretty sweet. Goes up real easy and comes down with just a tug.




When not being used the window cover can easily be folded up small enough to fit in a plastic shopping bag.


When doing all this work on the inside of the windshield I began rethinking the shelf I'd bought from JC Whitney. Here's a picture from their web site.


The idea was to increase storage space in the front of the van. It works OK but it does restrict your upper vision through the front window. Having used it for a couple years I've come up with a better storage solution. A zippered tool bag from Harbor Freight. It has more storage space, is a lot cheaper and will fit just fine under the drivers seat.


Something else to add to the parts pile.

[86Scotty]

On the overhead thingy, I'm sure you've seen mine. It's a little bigger than SMB's model, and it still doesn't restrict my vision. I'm 6'2" and I keep my power seat base at the highest point and it still doesn't bother me. I have one of those CD/junk organizers on my visor as well and when that fills up with junk it starts to interfere, but only then. YMMV.

[WVvan]

Say "Hello" to my new friend. Still in the current owners garage. Making plans to get it back to my place this weekend. Won't fit in the van but I have a friend with a truck.



GRUNT, grunt, grunt, grunt, grunt, GRUNT, grunt.

[Ford_6L_E350]

Originally Posted by WVvan

Say "Hello" to my new friend. Still in the current owners garage. Making plans to get it back to my place this weekend. Won't fit in the van but I have a friend with a truck.



GRUNT, grunt, grunt, grunt, grunt, GRUNT, grunt.

Nice looking lathe. 12x40 or so. Good size for home use. I have a 13x40 gap bed lathe and am surprised how many times I need to use it. Hopefully you get some tooling with it. I don't even see a toolpost on it.

For your next project find a nice knee mill. It will outweigh your lathe 3 or 4 to 1.

Mike

[unimogdave]

Who made the Craftsman lathe, I think it was Southbend. Very nice machine the old USA machines are so much better than the Chinese stuff. I have a 1941 9" Southbend model b great machine. I'm the opposite,I use my Bridgeport all the time and the lathe maybe once a year! Try to get as much tooling as possible from the original owner.

Dave

[WVvan]

The Craftsman lathes were made by Atlas. I'd love to have a Bridgeport mill but will limp along with my small mill until the "need bigger tool" urge overtakes me yet again.

[twogone]

Aww WVvan, you busted my bubble... I thought all along that you were tool-free, you just wiggled your nose and magic stuff happened