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peaceful warrior Samba Member
Joined: January 22, 2005 Posts: 5274 Location: Taoswest, USA
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Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2010 10:59 am Post subject: For those installing a GW replacement skylight/vent, Westy! |
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I did not have the original vent in my 89 Westy, so I bought the kit from GW.
No instructions, though thankfully the Bentley has fairly good instructions on removal and installation.
I thought I would post up a few photos that I took of my install from beginning to end. Every bolt that penetrated the pop top or the vent cover was sealed with silicone. It took me about an hour mainly due to removing the POS that the PO used in place of the OG vent.
Also the plastic spray paint that GW recommends (Krylon Fusion) works very well for the plastic cover.
Need to do something about the adhesive the PO used for the velcro strips.
_________________ "Two things are infinite: The universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." Albert Einstein
"Notchboy" says "Man up!"
"Tram" says " My bus is bigger than your bus."
66 13W Deluxe, 68 Westfalia, 87 Syncro.
TOOB Member #15
Brian
Last edited by peaceful warrior on Thu Jul 08, 2010 11:20 am; edited 1 time in total |
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GBA 88West LA Samba Member
Joined: September 04, 2008 Posts: 1279 Location: New Hampshire
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Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2010 11:03 am Post subject: |
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looks like a grey top, i just did mine with penetrol and man it looks great , nice PO set up with the wood _________________ 88 Westy GL Vanaru 07 2.5 EJ25/AA Trans/oiling plates, 1.14 3rd-.77-4th..solar powered cabin |
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peaceful warrior Samba Member
Joined: January 22, 2005 Posts: 5274 Location: Taoswest, USA
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Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2010 11:06 am Post subject: |
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GBA 88West LA wrote: |
looks like a grey top, i just did mine with penetrol and man it looks great , nice PO set up with the wood |
Grey top! What is the Penetrol for? _________________ "Two things are infinite: The universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." Albert Einstein
"Notchboy" says "Man up!"
"Tram" says " My bus is bigger than your bus."
66 13W Deluxe, 68 Westfalia, 87 Syncro.
TOOB Member #15
Brian |
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Zero419 Samba Member
Joined: January 11, 2008 Posts: 2160 Location: PA
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Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2010 11:23 am Post subject: |
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bringing back the shine.
My velcco strips are stock. Also came with stock screen/curtain for sun roof. _________________ 1987 Westy Auto Bostig 2.0 Ztec |
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peaceful warrior Samba Member
Joined: January 22, 2005 Posts: 5274 Location: Taoswest, USA
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Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2010 12:08 pm Post subject: |
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hero419 wrote: |
bringing back the shine.
My velcco strips are stock. Also came with stock screen/curtain for sun roof. |
Thanks for the tip on Penetrol....just went and picked some up.
By the way, with my retrofit kit it came with a new screen as seen in this diagram. If I need the velcro I will reinstall new....the old stuff was just hanging there and was worn out.
_________________ "Two things are infinite: The universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." Albert Einstein
"Notchboy" says "Man up!"
"Tram" says " My bus is bigger than your bus."
66 13W Deluxe, 68 Westfalia, 87 Syncro.
TOOB Member #15
Brian |
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westynova Samba Member
Joined: December 14, 2008 Posts: 209 Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
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Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2010 1:26 pm Post subject: |
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I used the GW kit this winter and it worked real nice. I also installed removable screen and shade. Help make it darker when sleeping. I leave it on when parked in the sun so basically I never remove it. _________________ 84 Westy
2010 VW Golf TDI Wagon
2009 Jeep Rubicon Unlimited, Lifted and Locked |
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buildyourown Samba Member
Joined: March 01, 2009 Posts: 1668 Location: Seattle
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Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2010 1:41 pm Post subject: |
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I don't see any silicon?
If you have not yet, you need to run a bead around the outside bottom edge of the rubber seal. This keeps water from sloshing up and under the seal and the roof. |
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peaceful warrior Samba Member
Joined: January 22, 2005 Posts: 5274 Location: Taoswest, USA
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Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2010 6:13 pm Post subject: |
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buildyourown wrote: |
I don't see any silicon?
If you have not yet, you need to run a bead around the outside bottom edge of the rubber seal. This keeps water from sloshing up and under the seal and the roof. |
You don't see it, cause I was a low voltage tech who used a lot of silicone over the years. I put it in the seal pressed it on and then wiped the excess.
_________________ "Two things are infinite: The universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." Albert Einstein
"Notchboy" says "Man up!"
"Tram" says " My bus is bigger than your bus."
66 13W Deluxe, 68 Westfalia, 87 Syncro.
TOOB Member #15
Brian |
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DWC Samba Member
Joined: October 02, 2007 Posts: 223 Location: San Jose CA
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 12:25 pm Post subject: |
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Here's the original (1982) French & German documentation that came with the Westfalia skylight kit if it helps anyone.
download all three here: http://www.everythingpcb.com/vw/skylightinstructions.zip
DC
_________________ 83.5 Westy Waterboxer
71 Squareback
81 Westy
59 Panel van |
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suebicum Samba Member
Joined: May 17, 2008 Posts: 173 Location: Richmond, VT
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 1:27 pm Post subject: |
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peaceful warrior wrote: |
buildyourown wrote: |
I don't see any silicon?
If you have not yet, you need to run a bead around the outside bottom edge of the rubber seal. This keeps water from sloshing up and under the seal and the roof. |
You don't see it, cause I was a low voltage tech who used a lot of silicone over the years. I put it in the seal pressed it on and then wiped the excess.
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I'm working in construction, same thing there.
Ground rule: use sealant (often lots of it) on doors, windows, roofing, trim.... But, if you can see it you did a bad job.
Good job sealant that you can see isn't doing anything
Michael _________________ 1986 Vanagon GL Syncro |
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Team WorldTour Samba Member
Joined: September 02, 2010 Posts: 2426 Location: Der Vaterland
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 1:49 pm Post subject: |
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I just replaced the sunroof seal on my 85 Westy. Bought the seal from GoWesty. Came with complete instructions which stated: Silicone sealant is not required. Seems pretty straight forward to me.... |
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jerrydog411 Samba Member
Joined: September 28, 2009 Posts: 388 Location: North Vancouver, BC
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 2:36 pm Post subject: |
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Domo wrote: |
I just replaced the sunroof seal on my 85 Westy. Bought the seal from GoWesty. Came with complete instructions which stated: Silicone sealant is not required. Seems pretty straight forward to me.... |
Might not be "required" ... it will work better in rainy, windy weather with a bead in the middle of the seal prior to install. |
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DAIZEE Samba Member
Joined: January 26, 2010 Posts: 7552 Location: Greater Toronto Area Ontario West Side
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 2:43 pm Post subject: |
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Knowledge from sailing and hatches, use lots of silicone and trim off the access after it firms up. Use lots especially in screw holes to protect layer leaks. Another product to use is the stuff they set windows with. Lay it down under the rubber seal, screw it down and trim excess. It never totally hardens so flexes with van and rubber seal. _________________ '09 2.5L Jetta 5 cylinder, 5 spd, super turbo, see thread in H2O Cooled Jetta, etc...
83.5 Vanagon L Riviera Model with 98 1.9L TD AAZ 4 speed Daily Driver 3 out of 4 seasons (sold)
84 Vanagon GL Wolfsburg Westy WBX 4 speed (sold) |
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kamzcab86 Samba Moderator
Joined: July 26, 2008 Posts: 7877 Location: Arizona
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 3:03 pm Post subject: |
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DAIZEE wrote: |
Use lots especially in screw holes to protect layer leaks. |
Definitely! I had two leaks coming from the sky light/vent window/whateveryoucallit: Opened the slider to see a puddle on the floor and the plastic cover filled with water. The source of the leaks: the bolts on top of the roof. I could very easily pop those things right out. I cleaned the area up, siliconed the holes, pushed the bolts back through and wiped off the excess. No more leaks!
So, yeah, silicone those roof holes/bolts and adding a bead under the rubber seal wouldn't hurt either considering that channel fills with water when it rains and the pop-top is down.
And, OP, that Velcro glue residue is not from the PO, that's factory. I had to remove two layers of glue on my van's roof: PO glue and the hardened, dried-out, disgusting-looking ancient factory glue seen in your photo. Most of the stuff just scraped right off though. _________________ ~Kamz
1986 Cabriolet: www.Cabby-Info.com
1990 Vanagon Westfalia: Old Blue's Blog
2016 Golf GTI S
"Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance." - 孔子 |
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Noganav T3 Samba Member
Joined: August 11, 2010 Posts: 101 Location: California
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 8:19 pm Post subject: |
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Great thread and nice pics. Does anybody know who has the best price on the replacement skylight? is the skylight guy still around?
After cleaning up the mess that pure silicone leaves behind I now no longer use it on anything whatsoever. I frankly hate the stuff with a passion. You can never get it all the way off and it does not really seal any better than many other very good products out there. I use DAP alex 50 year white latex caulking with silicone on just about everything. it works and seals really well and will come off clean when you want to replace it.
Goop also works even better than silicone and will also remove clean without the crumbling and filming that silicone leaves behind. |
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jerrydog411 Samba Member
Joined: September 28, 2009 Posts: 388 Location: North Vancouver, BC
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 8:33 pm Post subject: |
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Noganav T3 wrote: |
Great thread and nice pics. Does anybody know who has the best price on the replacement skylight? is the skylight guy still around?
After cleaning up the mess that pure silicone leaves behind I now no longer use it on anything whatsoever. I frankly hate the stuff with a passion. You can never get it all the way off and it does not really seal any better than many other very good products out there. I use DAP alex 50 year white latex caulking with silicone on just about everything. it works and seals really well and will come off clean when you want to replace it.
Goop also works even better than silicone and will also remove clean without the crumbling and filming that silicone leaves behind. |
Trevor is still around .. got mine from him last spring.
www.theskylightguy.com
IIRC ... most of the online vendors and a big portion (if not all) of the NA dealers & some of the European ones sell Skylight parts and kits .. and they are from Trevor ... the skylight guy.
His stuff is great and his service is the best ... buy your stuff from him & if you have any issues with it or installing .. call him & he'll walk you through it.
My Westy did not have a skylight; so, I had some trepidation & made sure to measure 4 or 6 times prior to cutting a hole in the roof . This is of particular importance in the PNW! |
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CREGAN Samba Member
Joined: April 26, 2008 Posts: 230 Location: Leduc, Alberta - CANADA
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 8:43 pm Post subject: |
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Trevor at TheSkylightGuy is awesome. I bought from him this spring and had issues installing. I called him and he asked for pictures and from those he diagnosed what the issue was and walked me through it. It works and looks amazing. I would highly recommend buying any skylight parts from him based solely on the service.
Craig |
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tangojeff Samba Member
Joined: February 20, 2005 Posts: 209
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 9:54 pm Post subject: Trevor the Skylight Guy |
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I last spoke w/ Trever a few years ago when he returned a call I made w/ an install question. An amazing guy w/ a nice outlook on the world. I think he called from a job on some new water slide amusement park in Dubai. Glad to hear he is still providing a fine product, |
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Noganav T3 Samba Member
Joined: August 11, 2010 Posts: 101 Location: California
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Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 11:29 pm Post subject: |
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I bought from him about 7 years back, great guy, great product, great service.
Thanks for posting his contact info again, I need another one and will be ordering from him. |
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DAIZEE Samba Member
Joined: January 26, 2010 Posts: 7552 Location: Greater Toronto Area Ontario West Side
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 5:08 am Post subject: |
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Anyone ever put one on a Riviera top? Wondering how it would do. It woud be a flat install and wonder if top too brittle. _________________ '09 2.5L Jetta 5 cylinder, 5 spd, super turbo, see thread in H2O Cooled Jetta, etc...
83.5 Vanagon L Riviera Model with 98 1.9L TD AAZ 4 speed Daily Driver 3 out of 4 seasons (sold)
84 Vanagon GL Wolfsburg Westy WBX 4 speed (sold) |
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