Roll Trim #1

Happy new year dear reader.

The roll trim compliments the rest of the trim package in the Station Wagon model of the Series 2a. Like many of the Station Wagon trim panels they are no longer available. Some new / old stock items pop up on eBay from time to time but a prohibitively expensive.

They sit above the rear windows on both sides and consist of a pressed metal frame, foam padding and the elephant hide vinyl.

The originals were pretty distressed after 50 years. The metal frame and vinyl were in good order but the foam filling had all but disappeared leaving the vinyl a bit on the floppy side.

The objective of the exercise was to replace the foam filler with… errr… something less floppy. Now, i don’t profess to possess much aptitude when it comes to fabrics… unlike some others out there and i’m sure there’s a proper / better way to do this but I have to work with what I’ve got. I had planned to use the inside of an bus old seat cushion but it proved very difficult to cut neatly so another material would be needed.

Whist contemplating what I could use over a cup of tea, I fell upon the idea of using an old Karrimat…. remember those thing we all used to camp on, convinced they were actually comfortable. “Hmm I slept so well, I hardly noticed the rock sticking through the floor of the tent into my back at all”… I use a Thermarest these days and they are very warm and comfortable… the only drawback is they can’t be cut up to repair anything 😉

A Karrimat would be perfect, it’s obsolete in my camping kit, of a uniform thickness (about 9-10mm) can be cut up easily and there’d be more enough of it to do both trims. I’ve owned a plethora of these things but with the passage of time, I no longer seem to possess one… or at least if I do, they’re well hidden.

Whilst hunting around the house I did come across an old yoga mat. Similar to a Karrimat but less than half the thickness. It had been used to park bikes on in some rented accommodation a few years ago, so it is considered well used. It won’t be enough to do both sides though. One thing at a time.

Time to repurpose it…