Giving Back: Chronicle of VW Westie Pop Top Restoration

[CdnFembot]

The van:
'81 Westfalia VW Vanagon - Sunshine Yellow - near mint condition
156,000 km on original engine, Canadian van
Acquired March 2013 with full service history intact (one prev owner)
In use Mar - Nov, winterized and stored Nov-Mar

The scoop:
The fiberglass pop top was white and clean but had a slight fuzzy feel when acquired. This year it became increasingly difficult to keep clean. Time for restoration!

After scouring the various samba and alternate forums, talking to marine shops and scoping out numerous online videos, I had the game plan:

1. Serious scrubbing and cleaning
2. Thorough sanding with 80 grit
3. Thin coat of Interlux Pre-Kote Marine Primer
4. Sand with 120-150 grit (now recommend 180)
5. Second coat of Interlux Pre-Kote Marine Primer
6. Sand with 220 grit
7. First coat of Interlux Brightside Marine Poly (in 'White')
8. Sand with 320 grit (you may need to special order pads)
9. Final coat of Interlux Brightside Marine Poly

Side note: None of the hardware on the pop top (bolts or luggage rack loops) are rusting so I will not be replacing them. If yours are, I highly recommend you take this opportunity to replace them. I also plan to paint over them to further protect them (other restoration projects where the bolt heads were painted showed that it protected the bolts whereas the others rusted, up to 10 years later).

STEP ONE - Serious scrubbing and cleaning

I admit I had no idea quite how dirty my pop top had become. I regularly see it when the top is popped and I'm walking around it- but getting up there (and adding water to the grime) was really eye-opening. Any doubts I had left that the fiberglass was worse off than the previous spring are long gone. It never got dirty like this last year, and I washed it more often this year.

If you don't have ladders or scaffolding and are lucky to be small or light for getting up on the roof, I would still recommend being mindful of your weight, where you put it, and how you put it. I mostly sat or kneeled, and we kept our weight to the sides if standing.

I started the first two panels toward the back with water and a simple environmentally-friendly fiberglass boat cleaner and a nail brush…. and by the time I got to the last panel before the luggage rack I was using the straight soap concentrate and steel wool!

I went back over the first panels with the pure soap concentrate and steel wool, as well as the sides of the top. I wasn't able to get the last vestiges of grime off before capitulating to exhaustion, so I will take the van to a self-serve carwash tomorrow to take advantage of the pressure washer rinse cycle- it works miracles on pop top grime! This is where I raised the white flag on the scrubbing

And after power-washing (wow, right?)

The pop top is now very 'fluffy' and completely 'naked' with no protection, so it's very important you keep it out of the sun, and out of the elements, until you can start getting layers of protection on.

The project will begin again this weekend, and I've recruited two friends. Stay tuned

[Mike Fisher]

Painting over the chrome hardware will make it look like an amateur paint job. All it takes is a screwdriver etc to do the job right!
_________________
https://imgur.com/user/FisherSquareback/posts
69 FI/AT square Daily Driver
66 sunroof,67,70,71,71,71AT,72,72AT,73 Parts
two 57 oval ragtops sold
'68 Karmann Ghia sold

Society is like stew. If you don't keep it stirred up you end up with a lot of scum on the top! - Russ_Wolfe/Edward Abbey

[CdnFembot]

[CdnFembot]

STEP TWO - Thorough sanding with 80 grit

I will preface the start of this step by saying- Step Two is a doozy and is critical to the success of your project. Your pop top must be clean, it must be free of debris, and it must be dry before starting.

ALSO, now is really the time to take your rubber seals off, so you can get at the fiberglass underneath, and replace them when you are done. I didn't do this as mine were in great shape (or so I thought, one corner requires attention). My lack of closer scrutiny will be 'rewarded' by having to tape them, and later when I have to remove and replace them.

On that note- when we arrived at my family's farm (with glorious tool collection), the forecast had shifted to the threat of rain. We hung numerous tarps to protect our workspace and recalculated our plan for longer curing times. We would not be able to get the project done this weekend, but we'd get as far as we could!

We taped all of the rubber seams with green painter's tape and hung plastic sheeting to protect the van. [Important tip: Put the tape up before sanding. The orbital sander cannot get near the rubber seal, and neither can the sanding sponges- it instantly takes black rubber off the seal and transfers it to your white pop top!]

I used a 5" random orbital sander, two 80 grit sanding pads, and two 80 grit sanding sponges. We wore nutrile gloves, 3M N95 masks, and safety glasses. Tip: We learned halfway through the sanding that it is best to have your gloves on at all times, in order to prevent transferring oils from your skin to the fiberglass at any point during your project.

I did try to remove the bolts before we began- but it did not work out. It was certainly not because we didn't try, swear, try a few hundred more times, and swear a few hundred more times. The access at the back is very tricky, and a set of the rear bolts simply would not allow themselves to be removed so we capitulated. We are being very mindful of not creating a 'seal' of primer or paint over the bolts as we move forward, and are sanding the paint off the bolt heads between coats.

We did, of course, get the luggage rack pulls off by using a drill bit to remove the rivets and then a smaller one (3/16) to pop them back (they fall into the backside of the luggage rack, no biggie).

"Power tooooools, *roar"

I can offer at least one tip for those who may be more successful than us: If some of your bolts don't have a flathead screwdriver slot on the head to help you keep the head from spinning while you loosen the nut on the back… put duct (or gorilla) tape down over the head.

We used the sanding sponges to sand along the rubber seals and the contours, and the orbital sander for all of the flat spaces. It was a very dusty job and I can't insist enough on protecting yourself. Be careful not to oversand- it is quite easy to feel when you have gone from fluffy to smooth, and that is where you want to stop. We kept a small dustpan brush with us to help clear the fiberglass dust away as we sanded, which helped with 'smoothness detection'

This is a tiring process, but it's really important not to skimp. Every bit of fluffy-ness you leave behind now will poke through your first primer coat and you'll have to sand it then- but it will gunk up your finer grit pretty quickly. Better to take a break if you need to (even if it's a day!) and do it right the first time.

After the sanding was complete we used the whisk brush to clear away most of the dust, and an air compressor to blow off the residue. Time for priming!

STEP THREE - Thin coat of Interlux Pre-Kote Primer

Online sources indicated 2 - 3 quarts for the primer, so I bought 3 quarts to be safe (I can return what isn't used). We put a thin but respectable coat on for the first one. We used a simple white dense foam roller, a small one (4" in length") for the flat surfaces and had a sponge brush for the edges and contours. Don't use a sponge brush- go get a high quality actual brush that won't throw hairs, the sponge brush was useless! Like with cutting edges for regular painting- feather your paint away from the edges and contours so that you don't create lines that will show through when you roller over it.

We painted from the back of the van toward the luggage rack, and then I sat down in the luggage rack while a friend popped the top and placed a 10" block of wood in to keep it ajar and give access to the fiberglass on the interior side of the luggage rack. I painted one half/side of the luggage rack and the front panels, leaving a 'dry' side to clamber down via the front door, and finished the luggage rack from there. We used just a smidge over half of the first quart of Pre-Kote Primer

Unfortunately our rain challenges continued. While we were very fortunate that the primer dried to the touch in a few hours- the rains were very heavy at times and it got dripped on in a few places. We kept an eye on it and dabbed it up with clean painters rags and hoped for the best. Because of this, we decided to allow the full 24 hours for curing (for sandpapering). Temps were a high of 20* and low of 15*. We took a rest day (it was Sunday) for our sore fingers and arms and lower backs and decided to get back at it Monday (stat holiday) from home where we could dart in and out of the carport if needed.

More to come

[CdnFembot]

STEP FOUR - Sand with 120-150 grit

I had a sanding pad variety pack for this project- it conveniently came with 2 80 grit, 2 150 grit, and 3 220 grit sanding pads. Unfortunately they then only sold 120 grit sanding sponges (same product line/company and store, go figure), so we used those. They did come in a few shape choices… stick with the standard squared corners. The angled ones added no benefit in the contours and they deteriorated more quickly. Also, I'd aim for 180 grit.

This is nothing compared to the earlier sanding. In fact it's quite the opposite, you have to target the the bits of fiberglass (that you missed) poking through the primer in spots, like little crunchy forests under snow. Bang or clap your hands together with the sanding sponges to free them up now and then. For the rest, smooth lines and scuff it up. Too much more than that just takes the coat right off- especially the orbital sander.

We don't have an air compressor at home so we used a dustpan brush to remove debris, then slightly damp cloths to rub the surface down and remove residue. We gave it two hours to dry before moving forward.

STEP FIVE - Second coat of Interlux Pre-Kote Primer

Exciting! I was already pretty impressed by the effect the first coat of primer had over the old fiberglass, but the second coat takes the cake. We put a nice, healthy coat on for the second coat of primer. We used the balance of the first quart of Pre-Kote primer, and used about a quarter of the second one. My tip is, with the sun out- wear sunglasses- that white top is WHITE.

This picture actually reminds me of another tip. Start with your sides, edge and contour with the brush in small sections and follow quickly with the roller. Do the same on the top. Avoid letting any painting of edges happen or dry before you can smooth it with the roller soon after.

We have put the westfalia back into the carport for drying and will give it at least the full 24 hours for curing (to sandpapering) since we're entering our work week now. The forecast is calling for moisture for the next few days so I will just begin STEP SIX - Sand with 220 grit on the sides. Thursday finally calls for sunshine so I will be able to pull her out and get to work on the top that evening. I'm unfortunately away all weekend so if I don't get to the first coat of paint Thursday evening it will have to wait until the following week.

Update: Sanding and first coat of paint will proceed Thursday (forecast returns to sun tomorrow/Wednesday). I have to admit I'm tempted to throw another coat of primer on since I have 3/4 of a quart left..... pretty sure my 'help' would kill me though.