Date:         Thu, 27 Oct 94 17:52:49 ADT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         smitht@jupiter.sun.csd.unb.ca (Tim Smith)
Subject:      Re: Camper/ pop top conversion

>> Hi, van' fans,
>>  
>> The shop guy also has some camper interiors that he sort of wants to 
clear out.
>> What would be a reasonable offer for the stove/sink/fridge stuff? What 
should I


I've put in an older Westy pop-top that rose straight up, only standing 
room/windows 4'x4', no bed! Nibbled (? just call me T Rex) a hole in the 
roof, then........ using some panel beating tools (hammer, dollies) bent up 
a half inch lip all around to hold the molding/canvas clip, recut the 
headliner to fit said hole, drilled through the roof for the accordian legs, 
made some 1/8 steel backing plates to beef up those areas, and IT WORKED OK.
      There is a certain sense of finality/fatality that occurs when you 
slice into a clean roof with a jigsaw and say to yourself GAWD what am I 
doing. No one will bail you out of this one if it goes wrong. May as well 
circumcise the beast just above the door handles and tell people you're 
making a convertible. A full length top would be major effort, but not 
without its rewards. Make sure the quality of this top warrants the maniacal 
scream of a jigsaw into a sheet of resonating metal as your neighbours shake 
their heads in disbelief. Make sure you can lift the new top into position, 
maybe with an army of vertically advantaged persons (tall, to the 
politically incorrect). Make sure you measure everything every way you can, 
at least four times. When I took the pop-top I also cut off the section of 
the roof with the cutout for a pattern. This helped incredibly, and I still 
messed about for half a day marking out the roof cut on strips of 2" wide 
masking tape stuck to the top of the bus. Given my druthers I would use a 
recognizably "Westy" top so your vehicle can pass as a factory camper. This 
adds sig. $ value.
    As far as the bus innards go, depending on year/features maybe  $100-300 
IMHO. Ask yourself "how much would I have paid for the ENTIRE vehicle this 
came out of?"   maybe $1000 for a DOA junker from which you could salvage 
many more equally useful parts. My bottom line is that half the value in a 
junked Westy is in the COMPLETE camping package, pop-top and all, including 
the flooring and aux. heater. Pillage the lot, like a good Viking. Back to 
the longboats! tim s.