Date:         Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:43:52 -0400
Reply-To:     W Monk <billmonk@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         W Monk <billmonk@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: sunroof under front fiberglass
Comments: To: thomas LaPointe <vanagonmail@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To:  <88d27b100809161304v4db91296n5a456165fe5849b0@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

I had an 84 parts westy that had one installed by the PO. They cut away the
fiberglass bottom of the luggage rack. Used a rubber seal of some kind
around
the edges to sorta seal the rack to the roof. They told me that was needed
to get rid of a whistlen noise heard from air getting under the luggage rack
fiberglass. Then they had a local chop shop install a sun roof that popped
up in the rear or you could remove completely. The only problem was the
headliner
had some vinyl glued around the edges up to the roof . That part of the
install looked like crap. The owner said that after having it installed it
was okay when the sunroof was fully removed but useless with just the back
portion popped up.
That and he had to replace the glass portion twice. Once because it got
broken in the back of the bus and a second time he said he was too
embarassed to tell me what happened. His wife later told me he tried to load
some stuff on top of the glass roof (some chairs) and when they hit a bump
it shattered. This PO had done some other wierd mods to the van. He also had
a large sunroof
of some kind installed where the vent is in the poptop part. That must not
have worked out well as it was sealed shut with about 2 gallons of white
bathroom caulk. I jammed my finger into the two inch deep mess one time and
it was still
goey underneath the multiple layers. Also had mold growing all through the
caulking. I know it was bathroom caulk as I found a couple empty tubes of
the stuff in the tray above the stove/sink.

Bill

On Tue, Sep 16, 2008 at 4:04 PM, thomas LaPointe <vanagonmail@gmail.com>wrote:

> has anyone out there ever installed a glass sunroof under the front Westy
> carrier. i remember seeing something like that in an old German camping
> catalog many years ago. we seldom use our front storage, and would like the
> light in.
>
> --
> 1985 Full Westy "Rustfalia"
> 1982 Full Westy "on the mend"
> 1972 Honda Z600 2 cyl
>