Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2011 18:07:03 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Adding a tall top to a non-westie ?
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
reply-type=original
Hi Don..
yes, a factory Westy has a nice bar welded in from side to side..
right at the forward edge of the upper bed area ..
about even with the aft edge of the sliding door opening.
it's like a sheet metal 1 X 4.
And ..I have a top from a 'real adventurewagon'..
they just chopped away ...
removing a big chuck of the roof ..
to no determent that I can tell.
you can come see this 'donor roof section' if you want..or I could send you
a picture ..
basically though..
they just chopped a huge hole right in the middle of a tin-top roof. and no
bracing is added.
It's back yard grade work actually.
Kinda pathetic even ...but with the top on nothing shows..
and they did upscale finished oak wood work around the edges upstairs, so it
looks very nice up there inside.
to install a Westy top onto a hard top van..
there are two ways to do it basically..
one ..the more right way ..is to drill out all those many spot welds around
the perimeter of the entire roof..
then install the westy roof , the whole metal thing..
back onto the perimeter ..
lot of work obviously.
I have one I plan to do someday to an 87 GL (I'd sell that whole van and
Westy complete roof system btw )
I am going cut 'just enough' .....to install the new roof at the line of the
bottom of the tent..with about one inch overlap ...glued with epoxy steel
and rivets ..
where the hinges bolt on in the rear the roof if flattened out some there
....gotta accommodate that.
but your not thinking of doing a westy top ..sorry ..
so go for it. ..
and keep as much of your original roof as you can is what I suggest.
My adventurwagon doesn't seem 'floppy' or weak in the basic structure at all
that I can tell.
I hope your dodge roof fits nicely..
wouldn't want it to look too hack.
Scott
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Hanson" <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Saturday, September 10, 2011 5:06 PM
Subject: Adding a tall top to a non-westie ?
> I know there are "adventure wagons" with pretty tall hard-shell tops, and
> that people seem to like these a whole lot.
>
> Well, I was just trekking about in our field, looking at what needs to be
> done before this winter and I saw my old Dodge Van...a camper van I used
> with pleasure before fuel got really pricey. So I was thinking about the
> ad
> I saw..." will remove your junkers and give you $300 for them" I have
> that
> in mind for the Dodge. I've tried to sell it but nobody wants these
> anymore.... Then I looked at the fiberglass aftermarket top on it and
> began
> measuring stuff.....With some careful scribing, I could put that top over
> onto my 84 tin top van....It would fit. That thing has lasted for 20yrs
> so
> far...Why send that to the crusher?
>
> That particular top, it tapers toward the front...it has a low section
> over
> the driver's area that sticks up maybe 6" (enough for some storage
> shelves)
> then at about the C-pillar, it takes a turn upwards, has a couple of fixed
> plexiglass windows across the width and then it continues back to the
> hatch, rising all the while at a gentle slope, where it adds 19" in the
> center of the width of the van. Has a funky little kicker at the
> back...Looks like the "A-Team Van".... In the Dodge, we had the bed cross
> wise across the back with that extra height above used as storage....The
> 'walk around area' (my van has most of the westie interior...sink stove
> fridge water, etc) in the Dodge...there was almost full standing headroom
> with this top, and you could see out those windows...
>
> So if I saw off the top of my GL and simply pop-rivet or screw this thing
> on in it's place....is my van going to turn into a 'slinky-toy' and get
> all
> flexible because the roof is gone? Do factory Westies have more body
> structure to make up for no real structural roof? Ya think if I go for it
> I
> should have some tubes bent to tie the sides together, cross wise and
> maybe
> bridge the slider somehow? I guess I could integrate the plastic roof
> into
> the structure by bonding it tightly and adding some carbon fiber to carry
> some of the chassis loads....
>
> just thinking out loud here..anyone want to comment?
>
> Don Hanson
