The black vinyl covering the "board" under the rear seat on my 87 Syncro was
cracked and pealing too.  I removed the board from the van and scraped all
the vinyl off with a paint scraper, then removed the old adhesive with
acetone.  Next I applied a scrap piece of plastic laminate I had left over
from a bank lobby remodeling job. It was a dark gray and black faux granite
pattern.  Very easy to apply but a laminate trimming bit and a router is
require for best results.

Not stock of course but I thought it looked better than stock and it took
alot of abuse without damage.  Less than $10 worth of materials that
otherwise would have been thrown away.  Check with contractor friends or
cabinet installers for freebies!

Andrew
85 Westy 156K

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM]On Behalf
Of Larry Alofs
Sent: Monday, December 31, 2001 8:15 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: FS Power mirrors, front air dam...

andrewbell wrote:
>
> Well, today I went out and bought my first Syncro.  Also, I'm looking for
a good
> solid "board" that fits under the folding bed in front of the rear
> heater. Mine has a lot of holes in it with some speakers...
>

When I got my '91 this "board" was in bad shape; the particle board was
cracked and the vinyl was peeling. I used it as a pattern and made a
replacement out of real wood.  With stain and urethane varnish it looks
much better than the original IMHO.  Of course the purists would say
it's not "stock".

Larry A.