Date:         Sat, 10 Jun 2006 16:01:37 -0400
Reply-To:     Roger Sisler <rogersisler2000@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Roger Sisler <rogersisler2000@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: Removing the poptop -- how many people?

Hey,again. I need to tell you to err on the side of to many people. The top
is EXTREMELY fragile. If the edge scraps on the ground it will wear away
about as fast as a Grahm Cracker being pressed into ruff concrete with a
100 pound weight on top of it. Dont ask how I know,but I will tell you that
I broke a 1/2 inch X 6 inch sliver of fiberglass off. Epoxy fixes it up
good ,and the gasket covers it up(so did the new paint). Just look at the
top funny and it will break . The good news is that the gasket will cover
most of this boo boo, up. I built a frame work of 2X4's to hold the front
in the up position while I fastened the braces to the van.My son had
command of the rear area of the top , and held it steady till I could put
the hinge bolts in.

 An interesting upgrade is to put a neoprene foam water pipe insulation
cover on each portion of the braces(HD). 4 in total. This looks great and
prevents scraping you head on the bars , when the top is in the up
position.In the down position, they look great. Also the foam covers allow
wires too be routed for a ceiling light, or skylight fan(computer fans
fastened into a gang of 3).The light I have(junkyard ,from an american van
conversion)  is very near the sliding door. I can reach in, and switch it
on when the sliding door is opened up, and the top is closed( a pain ,
otherwise). When the top is popped,the light goes up for the top bunk
inhabitant to to read by.