Hi everyone ,

I am hoping to take the bus on a 2 week surfing trip around Devon and Cornwall, and wanted to fit curtains to give a bit of privacy .

I've got a 23 window, but only wanted to put curtains around the lower 15 windows.

What I was wondering was where (and how) do I fit the curtain track?

I would really appreciate it if someone could put up some pictures of what they have done in their vans to give me an idea of what works, and what looks good.

Thanks a lot in advance

flip

P.s. It's currently at type 2 detectives at the mo, having the steering box raised, and the suspension sorted. Once I get a chance I'll try and post some pictures on the website. If anyones interested, you can check out the progress at:

http://type2detectives.com/

Just need to click on the Blog

you can get silentgliss from vwcurtains.co.uk it is a very thin tracke that bends into shape easily.

photos:


only got the one of the bend at the front before i secured them. i recut them after this to go under the airvent

Cheers wilgartw,

The photos of your bus really helped make some sense of it.

Just wondered how easy it was to screw into the bodywork?

Also, did you follow the line under the airvent round the rest of the van, or have to run up/down in places??

Is it something that I (a complete novice) could do at home, or would I need to get someone to do it for me? What I'm worried about is kinking the track so that the curtain sliders won't actually slide.

Thanks for all of your help

flip

p.s. awesome van mate, where was the picture taken? Makes me jealous!

cheers, the pics were taken in anglesey.

just used a small drill and self tappers to screw to the lip. it now dips slightly running round under the airvent. dead easy to do, you need a hacksaw, a small file, a (cordless) drill, small drill bit, screwdriver and screws. it would be quite difficult to kink it enough to stop the tracks running. the difficult bit for me was lining it up so the curtain can run all round the track if i wanted to - not really necessary, but sometimes useful when you are doing a job at one side of the van and want to get the curtains out of the way without taking them off.

Cheers wilgartw,

Will hopefully be placing an order for curtains and track tomorrow, so will let you know how it goes!!

Here's to bit of privacy in a golfish bowl !!

Regards,

flip

just doing a search for curtain rails and all that and came across this old tread... very helpful

Also noticed it's The Ship carpark

Are those kick panels 'see through'????

and are those little round things in headliner spotlights???

How did you fit them then?

Back to curtain rail.. sorry... does headlining (wooden in my case I think) have to be fitted before curtain rails??

thanks!

Another good idea I saw in someone's bus last weekend was that they had made each curtain with a little magnet in each corner. This meant that no fixings were needed in the van at all. So that when rolled up the magnets held the curtains up out of the way and when being used the magnet in each corner meant a great fit over the window to keep the daylight out.

Hope that made some sense. A simple yet surpirsingly effective idea. I'll be doing that to my bus in a few weeks time.

iesugrist wrote:just doing a search for curtain rails and all that and came across this old tread

yes very old, i wondered why i got an update

iesugrist wrote:Also noticed it's The Ship carpark

well spotted.

iesugrist wrote:Are those kick panels 'see through'????

no ihaven't fitted kick panels yet.

iesugrist wrote:and are those little round things in headliner spotlights???

yes thay are 12v LED lights from B&Q, but to be honest they are not btight enough to do anything, it is like having your lights on a dimmer but not being able to turn them up. i just cut a hole in the wood behind the headliner, and they just clip in.

iesugrist wrote:does headlining (wooden in my case I think) have to be fitted before curtain rails??

i don't think so, my certainly didn't. i'll try and get you a very up close pic for you if you want tonight.

splitpersonality wrote: Another good idea I saw in someone's bus last weekend was that they had made each curtain with a little magnet in each corner. This meant that no fixings were needed in the van at all. So that when rolled up the magnets held the curtains up out of the way and when being used the magnet in each corner meant a great fit over the window to keep the daylight out.

I have this too, i have 3 or four magnets sewn into the hem of the curtains. otherwise as you say they hang vertical and you have an inch or so gap from the curtain to the wall.

ok here you go, here is how it now fits around the airduct. I cut off the screw strip around the top, to save it dipping too much. one thing to note is that running the track around here means you cannot have the sunvisors in the stock position. (the curtain hooks foul the metal arm).




this is where i joined two strips, you can see the profile of the silent gliss here. you can also see that the headliner (in my case) tucks behind the track.



the next two pictures show the curtains with magnets in the seam. first hanging naturally, second to block prying eyes.

thanks for those photos!

I think it must ahve been you that mentioned using magnets on another thread a while back? I went and bought some of them but was a bit taken aback how strong they are!! Do you find it a problem???

the ones i use are very small. smaller than a five pence piece and about half the thickness. put a bunch of them together and they are really strong, but on their own not too bad, especially when they are inside the curtains.

Blimey,

Forgot about this thread - seems like ages ago that I was swearing at the curtain track whilst trying to get it to bend around the corners!!

Wigartw, was wondering where you got your magnets from as mine currently just dangle like in the first picture, and I would like a bit more privacy

Nice pics by the way, wish I had done the same around the air vents as you did, as mine has the much larger bend in the track to tget it to meet!

flip

flip wrote:Blimey,
Wigartw, was wondering where you got your magnets from as mine currently just dangle like in the first picture, and I would like a bit more privacy
flip

http://www.powermagnetstore.com/

flip wrote:Blimey,


Nice pics by the way, wish I had done the same around the air vents as you did, as mine has the much larger bend in the track to tget it to meet!

flip

if you notice, the first picture it is cut off, so i must've bought some more somewhere in the money pit.