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Thu Apr 09, 2020 10:38 am

jimf909 wrote: ^^^ You're going to love it! consider putting the fan (if you have one) on the rear deck similar to syncro jael and dobryan.

I am really happy with the fan mounted on the rear deck. It helps ventilate the upper rear of the high top and makes the upper berth summer sleeping quite pleasant.

It also opens up the top for a large 170W Solar Panel. In addition to keeping the overall height down a few inches.

We love our NAHT!

View of the North Atlantic from Nova Scotia

Thu Apr 16, 2020 2:24 pm

FYI I have a friend who decided not to put a NAHT on their van. PM me if you're interested - Johnson City, TN area

Thu Apr 16, 2020 3:23 pm

shagginwagon83 wrote: FYI I have a friend who decided not to put a NAHT on their van. PM me if you're interested - Johnson City, TN area

Double-high-top??? Cooool. 8)

Thu Apr 30, 2020 8:33 am

It's really gratifying to see the quality of work that folks are doing as they use their time to develop their hightopped vans closer and closer to their ideal.
We delivered hightops for Staunton Va, and Bradenton Florida at the end of Feb, beginning of March. Our Florida installer had planned to pick up 6 tops from Staunton and take them back to Bradenton for installs there.
We all know what happened early March - mid March . First real sobering real indication for me was when I found out on March 10 that no insurance company was writing policies for Travel Medical Insurance to the US - they simply refused. March 13 (here) all hockey in Canada was shut down and we were all told " Go Home, Stay Home".
We had planned to take a trailer load of NAHT tops westward around the middle of April but with International borders closed - and some interstate travel restricted - that planned delivery run was obviously out of the question.
I hesitate now to say "we have plans" But, I think that the likelihood is that we will be able to make the delivery run to the west - Buena Vista Co, Grand Junction Co, Salt Lake City, Bend Or, Kennewick Wa, (maybe Missoula Montana) sometime mid May to the end of June. At this stage there is no point in being any more precise - probably a good indicator will be when the Insurance companies are once again willing to write policies for Medical Insurance - they're not in the business of having to pay out so when their data suggests that they can safely resume we can probably be pretty well assured that it'll be OK irrespective of what the various governments say before that.
On the NAHT hightop website canadianhightops.ca on the first page I went to great lengths to describe differential pricing for tops reserved before production was ended etc - obviously all of that is now moot - so there will be just the one price for the tops from this production run - the same price as in 2019.
Our window manufacturing plant has been closed since Mid March - another complicator to the whole picture but I think that with the easing of restrictions in B.C. they will be up and running mid May - where our order of windows will be in their queue of production will be another matter and another bridge to cross in the future.
So - in summary:
1. There will be NAHT tops available
2. They will be at the same price they were in 2019
3. When they will be able to be delivered to "the west" is still TBD
4. Keep checking my sig line on Samba posts for availability - there is strong demand for the tops.
JC

Mon May 04, 2020 8:28 pm

J Charlton wrote: The Boss

Out of curiosity, what year is this BEAUTIFUL van?

Mon May 04, 2020 8:39 pm

Driver's sider windshield washer location suggests pre-'87, chrome window trim also suggests md-80s MY at the latest. '85? '86? There's a thread on the rack build here - here may be more info on that van there...

Tue May 05, 2020 10:12 am

VanagonPDX wrote: J Charlton wrote: The Boss

Out of curiosity, what year is this BEAUTIFUL van?

I know that van pretty well. It has undergone many iterations since we put the hightop on it. It would be unwise to speculate with any certainty wrt to the year of the van - so much has been done to it. IIRC though it started its life as an '83/84 and was a diesel.
The rack was custom built for it at a shipyard out of welded stainless steel then powder coated. Its as nice inside as it is out.
Great colour choice!!!

Tue May 05, 2020 5:41 pm

J Charlton wrote: VanagonPDX wrote: J Charlton wrote: The Boss

Out of curiosity, what year is this BEAUTIFUL van?

I know that van pretty well. It has undergone many iterations since we put the hightop on it. It would be unwise to speculate with any certainty wrt to the year of the van - so much has been done to it. IIRC though it started its life as an '83/84 and was a diesel.
The rack was custom built for it at a shipyard out of welded stainless steel then powder coated. Its as nice inside as it is out.
Great colour choice!!!

Do you know if there are more photos of this build? Here on the Samba or elsewhere? I was looking at the slider handle, which puts it at 84 or older, I think.

I think this van is gorgeous, 1. But I also like that it is an early model, like mine, which never seem to get the same love as the later models.

Tue May 05, 2020 8:40 pm

Here you are wrt the van above http://canadianhightops.ca/superzeno.html
this is just the tip of the iceberg - no longer named Zeno but rather a variation of "tangerine". When I first met it it had a 1.9na diesel engine - I know that it has had at least 2 subsequent engine and transmission upgrades, neither of necessity and has literally been worked on from Vancouver Wa to Miami Florida with stops at RMW and other well known shops.

Tue May 12, 2020 2:13 pm

I'm in the club!! Picked up my van from John and the guys at Urabus last week. It is going to take some time to get used to, visually. I keep doing double takes whenever I walk by the van. The only draw back is it makes me want to tackle body work & a paint job, something my wallet isn't ready for.

Driving back to Denver from Buena Vista is a windy drive, I did notice a difference when hit with heavy cross winds but not a major difference (keeping in mind all suspension components have been replaced/upgraded within the last few years and I'm running BFG AT TKO2 tires, also running a 2.5l subi).

I opted to have the Maxxfan installed in the rear (thanks for the recommendations), glad I made that decision. It pulls an insane amount of air through the van.

Still to do:
-select/install a LED dome light
-install LED light in bulkhead
-instal cleats/brackets to prevent the bed from scooting forward when stowed & when open
-figure out how I want to finish the floor of the bulkhead, maybe a wooden platform or just carpet, not sure.

A few pics from the install:

Thanks URABUS for the quality work and thank you John C. for the quality product!!

Tue May 12, 2020 9:11 pm

VanagonPDX wrote: J Charlton wrote: VanagonPDX wrote: J Charlton wrote: The Boss

Out of curiosity, what year is this BEAUTIFUL van?

I know that van pretty well. It has undergone many iterations since we put the hightop on it. It would be unwise to speculate with any certainty wrt to the year of the van - so much has been done to it. IIRC though it started its life as an '83/84 and was a diesel.
The rack was custom built for it at a shipyard out of welded stainless steel then powder coated. Its as nice inside as it is out.
Great colour choice!!!

Do you know if there are more photos of this build? Here on the Samba or elsewhere? I was looking at the slider handle, which puts it at 84 or older, I think.

I think this van is gorgeous, 1. But I also like that it is an early model, like mine, which never seem to get the same love as the later models.

It belongs to a friend of mine I haven't seen for a while. He's been busy with a newborn and work. It's been in storage for a while, the past year or longer. Last time I saw it the interior was gutted while he figured out how he wants to do it.
Here's a pic when we were working together.

Thu May 28, 2020 7:42 am

Best wishes and good luck to Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley the two Astronaughts scheduled to blast into space on Saturday.

Kinda reminded me of our own two Kanadian space Kadets also named Bob and Doug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bulMs80W6aQ

Their segment was originally intended to fill in a 2 minute difference between US and Canadian TV commercial time per half hour - but Hosers everywhere picked it up.
So - to all of the Bob and Dougs out there - Take Off Eh!!

Thu May 28, 2020 7:58 am

J Charlton wrote: Best wishes and good luck to Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley the two Astronaughts scheduled to blast into space on Saturday.

Kinda reminded me of our own two Kanadian space Kadets also named Bob and Doug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bulMs80W6aQ

Their segment was originally intended to fill in a 2 minute difference between US and Canadian TV commercial time per half hour - but Hosers everywhere picked it up.
So - to all of the Bob and Dougs out there - Take Off Eh!!

Strange Brew is one of my favorite movies of all time. I assumed when I went to Canada that I'd see references everywhere. I asked a lady in a Banff gift shop why there wasn't any Strange Brew stuff for me to buy.

She replied, "uh, that was like forty years ago."

Obligatory High Top shot:

Thu May 28, 2020 7:00 pm

joetiger wrote: J Charlton wrote: Best wishes and good luck to Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley the two Astronaughts scheduled to blast into space on Saturday.

Kinda reminded me of our own two Kanadian space Kadets also named Bob and Doug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bulMs80W6aQ

Their segment was originally intended to fill in a 2 minute difference between US and Canadian TV commercial time per half hour - but Hosers everywhere picked it up.
So - to all of the Bob and Dougs out there - Take Off Eh!!

Strange Brew is one of my favorite movies of all time. I assumed when I went to Canada that I'd see references everywhere. I asked a lady in a Banff gift shop why there wasn't any Strange Brew stuff for me to buy.

She replied, "uh, that was like forty years ago."

And far to the East! Try Bancroft, Ontario... :shock: 8) :twisted:

Fri May 29, 2020 5:21 am

Jake de Villiers wrote: joetiger wrote: J Charlton wrote: Best wishes and good luck to Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley the two Astronaughts scheduled to blast into space on Saturday.

Kinda reminded me of our own two Kanadian space Kadets also named Bob and Doug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bulMs80W6aQ

Their segment was originally intended to fill in a 2 minute difference between US and Canadian TV commercial time per half hour - but Hosers everywhere picked it up.
So - to all of the Bob and Dougs out there - Take Off Eh!!

Strange Brew is one of my favourite movies of all time. I assumed when I went to Canada that I'd see references everywhere. I asked a lady in a Banff gift shop why there wasn't any Strange Brew stuff for me to buy.

She replied, "uh, that was like forty years ago."

And far to the East! Try Bancroft, Ontario... :shock: 8) :twisted:

Yeah while Strange Brew has pretty well lingered only in the minds of folks such as us Jake, the one iconic movie that even now just about every 16 year old Canadian male over the last 25 years has known is the absolute best sports movie ever made : "Slap shot".
How come so much of the great humour came out between "75-79"?
SNL '75. SCTV '76 , Slap shot '77. Seems political correctness began to win the day around then.
oh yeah - and the last time I watched Slap shot was just after my 16 year old son drove home from a game in our Silver Hightop T3 (just to be thread correct)

Sat May 30, 2020 1:10 pm

Yahoo - successful launch!!! Bob and Doug in space!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq0IjRSRSlI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pOU-SKj9jQ

Take off EH!!!

Sun Jun 28, 2020 8:18 am

Copied from my euro bus build topic:

I finally installed the solar panel on the NAHT.

170W flex panel.

https://www.emarineinc.com/sunpower-170w-solar-panel

The NAHT has some bumps and such on the center portion for a vent and likely for structural reasons. I needed to bridge those to create a reasonably 'flat' surface for the solar panel.

I chose to use 10mm coroplast as the material since it would allow good air separation to help keep the panel cooler.

To adhere the coroplast to the panel and then to the NAHT I used VHB tape. And then I used roofing tape to finish off the edges of the panel to NAHT.

Panel VHB'd to the NAHT.

Note that the solar panel wiring is tucked under the panel. I had prewired the NAHT for solar anticipating panels on the rear deck area and so I used a utility box especially design for solar wiring. Unfortunately that box was too tall for the panel to fit on top of it so I had to cut it apart to get it off of the solar wiring that went thru it. I used the 3M marine adhesive from the NAHT install to seal up the area where the wiring came thru the NAHT. The nice thing is that the connections are not visible and out of the weather. The bad thing is I may have to destroy the solar panel if I ever need access to them.

And the roof tape is applied.

Everything works well. The panel and the Victron solar controller are happy with each other.

Sun Jun 28, 2020 10:28 am

Neat solar install!

In my last solar update I replaced a high-profile solar wire gland like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Link-Solar-Weatherproof-Pro...&psc=1

With a low profile plate like this from Winegard so it could fit under the (glass) panels:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B009LX1JWU?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image

Sun Jun 28, 2020 12:17 pm

The attic fan mounted in the rear makes is brilliant in that it frees up the center section of the roof for a solar panel.

Since my fan is mounted in the center section I've been problem solving the solar panel for awhile. I temporarily mounted two cheap (HQST from Amazon) 50 watt panels on the back section while I planned to build a rack for panels.

I got about 60 watts out of these (the panels overlap) but after three years they had degraded to producing next to nothing, i.e. you get what you pay for. But this was never intended to be a permanent solution, it was installed quickly before a trip back in 2017...

My rack building/buying exercise failed: I couldn't find Thule 420 feet with the 423 (60cm - 77cm) high roof extension; my attempt to add a 28" extension to Yakima 1A raingutter towers looked good but wasn't stable. So I finally decided to mount two 80 watt Renogy panels to the roof. So far this is working for me.

Sun Jun 28, 2020 12:56 pm

jimf909 wrote: Neat solar install!

In my last solar update I replaced a high-profile solar wire gland like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Link-Solar-Weatherproof-Pro...&psc=1

With a low profile plate like this from Winegard so it could fit under the (glass) panels:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B009LX1JWU?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image

Yep, that would have been perfect for my needs.