Date:         Mon, 23 Oct 2006 15:44:31 -0700
Reply-To:     John Bange <jbange@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Bange <jbange@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: VW Camper dreams
In-Reply-To:  <453CF2C3.6050108@cox.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

> Yes, and I am considering just that approach though I have no fiberglass
> skills myself. Not nearly as good as a fresh top would be so maybe
> modifying a Westy top to then make a mold from might be a way to go. I
> want a solution that would work as a replacement for a Westy top as well
> as for easily converting a passenger roof to a Camper. I don't think
> there are too many people willing to pony up the big bucks for one of
> these but a couple dozen of us perhaps would.

Out of curiosity, today I picked the brain of an electrician I know
who's built fiberglass boats before, just to get a feel for what it
takes. Man, it sounds like a LOT of work. First, you gotta make a
"plug", which acts as the "master" for the mold. He says he used thin
plywood on a wood frame in the general shape, with plaster over that.
I have no idea how well that'd work for a pop-top, but it sounds like
it'd work. Then, once the plug is made, you coat it in wax and lay
fiberglass over it to make the mold. Apparently the rule of thumb is
that the mold should be 5 times the thickness of the part it makes, so
the mold will end up weighing at least 5 times as much as the finished
part (no wonder those Adventurewagen molds are so heavy). Once that's
done, you have a one-sided mold. If you want the inside to be "clean",
with a nice gelcoat finish like the outside rather than just rough
glass cloth and resin, you have to make an inside mold. That's
apparently an ADDITIONAL pain, as it requires carefully layering and
sculpting sheets of appropriate thickness wax inside the outer mold to
mimic the exact dimensions of the part you want, then hitting the wax
with gelcoat and another 5x-thick fiberglass layer to make an "inner"
mold. I've never actually seen a carthago top up close (or a westy top
for that matter!) so I don't know if they're two-sided, but the
Adventurewagen tops definitely are.

I tell ya, if I was wealthy and bored and not so chemically sensitive
I'd probably go for it, or at least pay someone to make me one; but
that's a heck of a lot of work just to make the top parts (the
hardware is probably its own nightmare!). The boat guy was telling me
that if you're not gonna make at least a dozen, it's almost not worth
it. Then again, when I asked him if there might be another material or
method that'd be easier, he said "probably not".

If anyone decides to go for it, they should definitely be "westy top
compatible" like Mark suggests, i.e. unbolt the westy top, bolt on the
new top in its place using the same hinges and such.

--
John Bange
'90 Vanagon - "Geldsauger"