hipsterreplacement
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- Feb 24, 2019
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I've watched loads of videos on this (including Bob's). But every car is a little different so unless you find someone who has your exact model, you still have to experiment and jury rig a lot on your own.
I started trying to make window covers a couple weeks ago. Family was decluttering so they had a remnant bit of black foamcore that was big enough to do the rear window. I thought I was being slick by making a pattern first out of butcher paper, but I still wasn't accurate enough. It's a large window and even though my wingspan is pretty good, I still couldn't hold it immobile while tracing it. So when I cut out the foamcore it was too big in some places and too small in others. I've kept what I cut off of it so I'm really hoping I can fudge around and get something workable. If not, I'll need to buy some. I could mess with trying to find fridge or other boxes big enough, but then I'd have to mess with buying spray paint, painting and drying it and I've only got a couple weeks left before I have to go and plenty of other stuff I have to do.
I saw this very nice build tonight and he mentioned he got his window covers at Weathertech, but unfortunately they only have the windshield for my year of car.
I've got one old windshield cover I could cannibalize for its Reflectix and I'd still have to paint it black or glue black fabric to it. I suppose I need to break down and actually buy some Reflectix to get all these windows done. If I don't get the sizing just right so that pressure keeps it in the window, I'll need to use Velcro or something.
I also got a tension shower rod today to do the stealth curtain. However, I'm 6' tall and my seat needs to be far enough back that it's behind the pillar between the front & side doors. I tried several different jury rigs today to try to get that rod up there, but nothing was working. And the blackout cloth I got at the yardage store is for-real blackout cloth and heavy. So whatever I put up has to be able to take the weight.
I don't anticipate ever using the DVD player that's in the car. I could wrap some twine around that and use that to suspend the rod, but then I think I'd have trouble getting the curtain out of the way when driving as the rod would be suspended in the middle rather than at the ends. That'd make it harder to draw the curtains.
If I were willing to mess with the car, I might be able to solve some of these things more easily. I'm not sure what's holding me back, but I'm just not ready to cut into the car yet unless I had someone who could help me do a professional job of this stuff. So I'll keep messing around with things seeing what I can get to work.
Anyone else have stories of stealthifying their minivans?
I started trying to make window covers a couple weeks ago. Family was decluttering so they had a remnant bit of black foamcore that was big enough to do the rear window. I thought I was being slick by making a pattern first out of butcher paper, but I still wasn't accurate enough. It's a large window and even though my wingspan is pretty good, I still couldn't hold it immobile while tracing it. So when I cut out the foamcore it was too big in some places and too small in others. I've kept what I cut off of it so I'm really hoping I can fudge around and get something workable. If not, I'll need to buy some. I could mess with trying to find fridge or other boxes big enough, but then I'd have to mess with buying spray paint, painting and drying it and I've only got a couple weeks left before I have to go and plenty of other stuff I have to do.
I saw this very nice build tonight and he mentioned he got his window covers at Weathertech, but unfortunately they only have the windshield for my year of car.
I've got one old windshield cover I could cannibalize for its Reflectix and I'd still have to paint it black or glue black fabric to it. I suppose I need to break down and actually buy some Reflectix to get all these windows done. If I don't get the sizing just right so that pressure keeps it in the window, I'll need to use Velcro or something.
I also got a tension shower rod today to do the stealth curtain. However, I'm 6' tall and my seat needs to be far enough back that it's behind the pillar between the front & side doors. I tried several different jury rigs today to try to get that rod up there, but nothing was working. And the blackout cloth I got at the yardage store is for-real blackout cloth and heavy. So whatever I put up has to be able to take the weight.
I don't anticipate ever using the DVD player that's in the car. I could wrap some twine around that and use that to suspend the rod, but then I think I'd have trouble getting the curtain out of the way when driving as the rod would be suspended in the middle rather than at the ends. That'd make it harder to draw the curtains.
If I were willing to mess with the car, I might be able to solve some of these things more easily. I'm not sure what's holding me back, but I'm just not ready to cut into the car yet unless I had someone who could help me do a professional job of this stuff. So I'll keep messing around with things seeing what I can get to work.
Anyone else have stories of stealthifying their minivans?
