Date:         Thu, 29 May 1997 00:04:58 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Redwood <redwood@speedlink.com>
Subject:      Poptop seal; was: Re: Rubber Blubber

At 12:44 PM 5/21/97 -0500, you wrote:
>Rubber Blubber:
>
>I will be replacing the rubber trim on my roof this week and was
>wondering if anyone could tell me any tricks?
>
>I have been told by some that it is very difficult but confess that it
>seems fairly straight forward.  Any tips for a 'nieve' owner.

Hi Nicole,

You've probably done it already, but i was gone on my 1st camping trip in my
'87 Westi until last nite.  However, I just replaced my poptop gasket a
couple of weeks ago, so will offer one hint just in case you procrastinated
[not that i'm assuming you share this particular challenge of mine  8^) ].
I got mine from Ron Salmon's Bus Depot, and despite some apprehension wrt
the absence of directions, found it almost completely straightforward, not
nearly as hard as i tried to make it <g>.  e.g., no adhesive was needed.  

The old gasket was so far gone on the poptop that the PO had tried to keep
it up by sheet metal screws into the fibreglass, and the hardest part of the
task was taking that off and cleaning it up [including scrubbing off some
old adhesive that had been tried].

The one small glitch is hard to put into words, but i'll try, in case it may
be useful--- I laid the rubber gasket out in the sun on the patio to soften
it up, and when I initially held it up to the van to check, it seemed plenty
long enough.  However, as i went around the van, reaching up and placing it
and then tapping it gently into place with a hammer [i'm tall, but not very
strong right now, physically], it somehow became shorter; and by the time i
reached the other side, it appeared that it wasn't long enough to reach the end.

I was pretty sure that couldn't be, however, so pulled it off, back to the
rear corner of the roof, and reapplied, it---this time, making a deliberate
effort to *pull* with my left hand, while holding it in place with my left
thumb, and tapping with the hammer in the right hand.  That solved about
half the discrepancy, so I took it off again, this time back to the other
side, and again reapplied it, pulling consistently while tapping it on.
Sure enough, i wound up with over an inch to spare.  The front gasket,
around the luggage rack, went on even more easily, without loosening the
bolts or anything.

And it was well worth the effort---big improvement over the previous
neglected look. :)  and I drove about 700 mi on my trip, with no change in
the fit, nor wind noise.

Good luck,

Gail
__________________________
Gail Fitzpatrick
'87 GL Westi, 117k   [Twiga]
Sacramento, CA         
<redwood@speedlink.com>