Date: Sun, 24 Jul 2016 11:46:36 -0700
Reply-To: Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Another pop top hinge repair
In-Reply-To: <25AE3E35-B683-4564-AFE7-CD53B1E45B4A@shaw.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
There is no doubt in my mind that the lift assists will help minimize this
problem, and I think simply welding will last much longer with assists
installed. The top stays in any position with the Jack Bombay assists, so
they take much of the load, maybe 80%+.
David Beierl's fix but with steel inserts and ignoring the hole in the elbow
might be the easiest "kit" fix:
https://picasaweb.google.com/117189706757545167023/VanagonPopTopHingeTrouble
s?noredirect=1#5497922326721741122
Stuart
-----Original Message-----
From: Alistair Bell [mailto:albell@shaw.ca]
Sent: Sunday, July 24, 2016 11:20 AM
To: Stuart MacMillan
Cc: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Another pop top hinge repair
To be honest Stuart, the design was made up as I went along. And seeing what
others had done gave me some guidance.
And as with all things I do, I find that during the process I see too late
what I should have done.
It would be great to have a simple kit that requires only simple tools to
install. Some ideas along that line came to me during my fix, I have to try
and follow through with them.
One wonders if the pop top assist kits ( jack Bombay and go Westy) help in
reducing the pressure on that wearing surface in the hinge. I'm guessing
they do. If you don't have to grunt so hard pushing up the bar then
logically there must be less pressure on the hinge.
So all you Westy owners, get the pop top assist kits even if you don't have
added loads on your pop top.
Alistair
> On Jul 24, 2016, at 10:51 AM, Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@gmail.com>
wrote:
>
> This is a complete redesign, not a repair, which is what I'd expect
> from a man of your talents and resources. I "repaired" mine by
> welding up the sawn through crossbar and grinding it smooth.
> Inelegant, temporary and simple, just like me.
>
> I've found that the H bar is very expensive to ship assembled, but
> taking it apart for shipping is reasonably cheap. Maybe you could
> start a side business, even Go Westy hasn't come up with a fix for this!
>
> Stuart
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
> Behalf Of Alistair Bell
> Sent: Saturday, July 23, 2016 11:36 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Another pop top hinge repair
>
> Between other things , I futzed around with my spare pop top lifting
> bar assembly this week. Little stainless steel shaft and a bronze
> bushing to fix the worn out hinge joint.
> Just adding one more version of what others have done.
>
> https://shufti.wordpress.com/
>
> Alistair
>
