Date:         Wed, 12 Feb 1997 10:36:43 -0500
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Rich Burdick <rburdick@voyageronline.net>
Subject:      Re: Rubber molding on pop up top

Blair Webster wrote:
> 
> The rubber molding (rather the metal clasps in it which are rusting) on the
> pop up top of my 86 camper is starting to come loose on the rear end of the
> drivers side. The local dealers have proven to be less than useless! Has
> anyone else had the same problem and/or does anyone have a solution? No I'm
> NOT buying a new top!

FOR SURE!!!

Info on gaskets:

I Replaced my pop-top seals with parts from :

	Bus Boys, Inc.
	18595 E. Lake Blvd
	Redding, CA  96003
	Tel: 916-244-1616
	Fax: 916-244-0933
	e-mail: BusBoys@aol.com

What they sent me was a gasket with a metal re-inforced 'c' clip (kinda
like the factory part) attached to a rubber 'bulb' (not at all like the
factory - some pro's, some con's to this concept). I'm sure you could
find this stuff elsewhere, and just cut lengths for your application.

This worked very well for the horizontal seal around the pop-top, and
moderatly well for the seal around the luggage tray - the only bad part
is that over about 70 mph the 'bulb' on the portion in the front of the
luggage tray vibrates *vigorously* against the body making an *AWFUL*
buzzing noise.  I managed to deal with that by loosening the luggage
rack and stuffing the 'bulb' part up under the edge, and tightening it
down again, no more noise.  To put the seal on the pop-top, I just
raised it, pulled the old one off, and pushed the new on - the length
was *more* than adequate - I cut off the excess, and put some black
putty in the open ends of the 'bulb' part to keep water out.  The
luggage rack I removed, cleaned out a decade's worth of debris, and
pulled the old seal and pushed on the new.  However ...

I did **NOT** replace the vertical seal that goes over the top/front
edge of the pop-top - that is a long rubber flange, and I could tell
that I would not at all be happy with the replacement.  So I neatly cut
the factory seal at those corners, to match the new part to the factory
part going over the top, and joined them as close as I could.

Factory type seals run upwards of $600-$700 - so I was quite willing to
put up with the hassles for the price - $69.00 for the pop-top, $25.00
for the luggage rack.

However, as mentioned before, if you go to a body shop supply house, or
some such, and find an appropriate style of gasket/seal, you should be
able to save significantly over these prices.

Let me know how it goes,

Rich
-- 
Rich Burdick (rburdick@voy.net)
Burdick Development
5906 Ooltewah-Ringgold Road, #N14
Ooltewah, TN 37363
(423) 238-6690