Pop top for van

[pengyou]

Anyone know where I can get the fiberglass top for a diy project like this? Would be fun to try.

[ihatemybike]

Anyone know where I can get the fiberglass top for a diy project like this? Would be fun to try.

Grab the fiberglass top from a high top conversion and mod it would probably be your best bet.

[ihatemybike]

Thinking about dream vans again, had to revisit this thread. T.Low I really want a pop up. If I can't get GTRV to make me one in a few years, I'm gonna have to visit and take lots of detailed pics of your van.

[T.Low]

I think I just saw a thread on class B forums; a guy named Terry has done a bunch of his own conversions but has to get the top done by SMB. He took pics of some of their installation process. Here it is:
http://classbforum.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=885

Yeah, I'm so glad I did it last year when I was still making big money.

You're more than welcome to visit, crawl all over the van, and see what there is to see. We have a couple guest rooms, extra mountain bikes, extra kayaks, and you can even have the van while your here. Run up to GTRV and pick his brain too. There is a couple of GTRV complete camper Astros in Vancouver that you could go visit also. Just give me a little advanced notice.

[ihatemybike]

http://classbforum.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=885

Excellent thread.

Thank you for your very generous offer, hope to take you up on it someday.

[T.Low]

July, Aug, and Sept are gorgeous here. Take the keys to the van and a map to Whistler for biking and hiking ( http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/about/plan/summer.htm ), Fortune Creek trail for 4x4 camping ( viewtopic.php?f=38&t=2959&st=0&sk=t&sd=a ), and San Juan Island County camprground for whale watching and camping ( http://www.sanjuanco.com/parks/sanjuan.aspx ). That will be one eventful week. I know i don't have to worry about the van. Heck, you know more about it than I do. See you later this summer.

[T.Low]

Came across a new homebrew post while surfing Expo during lunch today.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/s ... hp?t=23254

[ihatemybike]

Thanks, bookmarked

[pengyou]

I wonder why the tops flip from the front to the back? I would think that is an increase danger in case the top opens while you are driving down the highway - you would loose it automatically ...if it opened from the back and it accidentally opened while driving there would not be much damage to either the top, the car or the people following you

[T.Low]

There are three latches holding the top down in the front, quite secure. And in plain view of the driver while driving.

The high end of the top is where you enter the sleeping loft. Most vans outfitted with pop tops have an interior similar to a Westy. Significance being that there will most likely be a bench seat somewhere in the middle or rear of the van that will inhibit access to the openning to the loft if its in the rear.

Access is usually made by walking between the front bucket seats, then stepping on one of them and climbing in to the loft.

I still owe you guys better pics of the loft area and interior.

[cd0156]

I have a question for you on this van.. I have a customer with a Ford E350 Diesel 4x4 Quigley van with a Sportmobile RVIA certified conversion with a pop top on it.. Ever since I first saw it I was jealous, and began thinking of pop tops... but I have had one hang up, and looking at your pics and profile and reading your posts I see you share a similar passion as myself.. I kayak, and I travle with them on the roof.. Do you know if it is possible to put roof racks on that? The Ford I was talking about has solar panels and a TV satellite mounted up there, and I have sat up there while mounting all of that, so I know the fiberglass can take a lot, but his roof pops straight up and remains level, rather than at a 45deg angle like yours, so I am not sure about wind drag on there...

... I guess to get to the point, my question is, where do you put your kayaks?

[T.Low]

No problem. Roy at GTRV remounted my factory racks on the fiberglass top for me at the time of install. Then I mount the Thule racks right to the factory rack rails that go front to rear along the sides of the top.

And I have heavy British boats. I use a stantion brace to insure it stays up in wind or snow with the boats on top.

I do prefer the "Penthouse" top or H top rather than my V top (angled) but no one seems to make hinges for an H for the smaller vans; too narrow they say.



FActory rails with Thule cross bars, kayak saddles, and load basket.


Factory racks without the Thule cross bars.



BTW I'm sure I'm not the only one that would appreciate a thread about your front bumper.

[e7ats]

I'm love'n your van. I ran across one of these this summer while in Rodanthe NC camping.
I didn't get a chance to clime in and look at it. Just snapped one single pic

[T.Low]

Thanks a lot.

I'm really glad I had the top done. We get a lot of use out of it.

Thats a Safari Condo out of Quebec. I really like their full interior conversions.

[Herbie]

For those of you hoping for a DIY solution to the pop-top question, watch this space.

I finally picked up an Astro of my own, and in my quest to basically clone T.Low's van, one of my first steps is a pop top. (build thread will be started as soon as I start tearing into it)

I'm working with a composites engineering company here in SoCal that's run by friends of mine. We're going to use my van as a test to see if we can make a DIY-installable pop-top system for the Astro/Safari platform. I'm going to start another thread with a poll to see if I can figure out what details people care most about so that we can design them in from the beginning.

OK, thread/poll posted to the Interior/Exterior section: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4932