Andrew’s Van Chat - Making The Van Ours

When we first set our eyes upon our future Vanagon, the first thing we noticed was it’s ugly brown paint. The gentleman said he had recently re-sprayed, but the color was not much to look at, to say the least. We decided we could look beyond the paint color when purchasing because the rest of the van was so sound. However, the more we looked at the doo-doo brown color, the more we didn’t like it.

Brakayla before her makeover.

Brakayla before her makeover.

We have friends who own a body shop, so we drove the van there to get an estimate to change the color. Even with a “friends & family discount” a new paint job was waaaaaay more than we wanted to spend. So back to the drawing board we went. 

After looking at many different options, such as a vinyl wrap or spray-n-peel ‘paint,’ we decided on a product that had received rave reviews for its durability and easy cleanup in the Jeep & off-road community -- Monstaliner. 

Monstaliner is a product manufactured by Magnet Paints in Cullman, Alabama. It is a do-it-yourself, tintable bedliner that can be used as a cost-effective way to change the color of a vehicle. It can be sprayed or rolled on using an included textured roller. It can also be tinted to any color of one’s choosing.

During our research, we noticed a lot of Jeep owners were applying Monstaliner to the interior tubs of their vehicles as well. This got us thinking, “Why don’t we rid of our nasty carpet altogether and roll on Monstaliner?” If we were to replace it with new carpet, it would eventually end up dirty as well. So, we decided the interior would be done up with bedliner as well. We ordered a 2-gallon kit for the interior, pop-top, and luggage carrier and a 2-gallon kit for the rest of the exterior…roughly $250 per kit. A kit includes gloves, rollers, a paddle bit for mixing and everything else needed for application. 

With rolling a new color on the vehicle comes more work for us...replacing all the window seals. This is something we had been considering anyway. Also, having all of the windows out would mean an easier task of rolling on the new color. Our 1985 VW Vanagon originally came with a chrome trim built into the seals around all the windows. Most of the original chrome trim had faded or broken. It is also a very outdated look in our opinion. The later Vanagon models have a full rubber seal with no chrome trim for a much cleaner look. That’s what we opted for. We also decided to renew the seals for the skylight, pop-top & luggage carrier at this time. 

Trying to figure out which seals go where…

Trying to figure out which seals go where…

We began with the interior. We spent a full day removing the seats, all the cabinets, interior panels, top bunk, carpet, instrument panel, door windows, etc. Since we were wanting a full color change, we decided to remove all the doors and the luggage carrier to make the nooks and crannies a little easier to access. Next, a razor blade was used to cut out the old window seals, and the rest of the windows and windshield were removed. Once everything was cleared inside and outside of the van, it was time to prepare the surface. Every inch of metal that would receive Monstaliner would have to be scuffed & roughed up (mostly by hand) and cleaned using a household detergent. Once this was finished, the surface must be wiped with a solvent to rid of any oils, adhesives, grease, etc. Next would be masking off any and everything that would need to be protected from the product. (As with any job that requires paint, you will always have splatters.) The masking was a very time-consuming chore.

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After a full 4 days of prep work, it was time to apply the Monstaliner. We decided to use Monstaliner’s Light Quartz Grey color for the interior as well at the pop-top & luggage carrier. The product is mixed with a catalyst using an electric drill & paddle bit. The life of the product is 6-10 hours depending on the ambient temperature and humidity, plenty of time. The product applies very easily with the supplied rollers. In the smaller areas where a roller can’t be used, simply dabbing with a paintbrush will give you a similar textured effect. We applied two coats. The finished product looks really great!

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The following weekend we tackled the exterior. One more obstacle we had to maneuver was the bedliner product that the previous owner had applied to the front end and bottom of the sides of the van. During a conversation with Monstaliner, they suggested blasting off the previous bedliner. They couldn’t guarantee their product would adhere to it. Ignoring their suggestion, we instead applied a primer product by Kilz called Adhesion. This stuff is like Velcro in a can! It rolls on thick and is very rough to the touch once dry. There’s no way the Monstaliner wouldn’t adhere to this! We rolled the Kilz product over the previous bedliner a couple days before applying the Monstaliner.

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For the exterior we chose Monstaliner’s Medium Quartz Grey. Two coats once again applied quite nicely.

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Once everything was dry, it was time to install the windows with the new seals. This was a task that I had watched a few times on YouTube, but had never done or had seen first-hand. The inside groove of the seal is placed around the glass. Next, a thin but strong rope or cord is placed into the outside groove. Finally, with a lot of lubrication and elbow grease, the window is “roped in.” The bottom of the seal rests on the bottom of the window opening. The cord is then pulled all the way around the window while the seal is being pulled and rolled over into place. It sounds way easier than it really is. After struggling for about an hour with the hatch glass, we popped it in. I believe we started with the toughest window first, as the rest installed much easier. There are no pictures of this process because it was a very intense evening, if you catch my drift :)


Next, we re-installed the doors, luggage carrier, and all the other bits (grille, mirrors, etc.) Man, she is looking good! We brought her appearance into the 21st century with the color change and new window seals. We couldn’t have been happier with the results.

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Now it was time to get the interior back together. That is for another blog...

Balance of Funds: $1506.33
Monstaliner + misc. materials - $600

Pop-top, Luggage Carrier/Window Seals - $360

Running Balance= $546.33

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