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Wed Oct 14, 2015 2:04 pm

Wonder if someone has information/brochures/diagrams/drawings/pics regarding this bd roof rack. don't know if it's original or it is custom made. What do you experts think?

I am planning to weld a DIY roof rack and this model looks nice to me. I think thou I would do the cross bars longer in order to have classic fasteners to the drop list. Unless someone has better ideas, I'm open to all suggestions.

Thu Oct 15, 2015 5:20 am

There are a few different racks of that style in the gallery:

Thu Oct 15, 2015 1:21 pm

Fantastic examples you have added- They look pretty much the same as my example.

Your example #2 is very close and I wonder if some of them (like my example) are drilled in the roof or if the link to the drop list is missing.

Even though some of them provide less cargo area by being so narrow I find them elegant.

Still my question remain, is my example, and your example #2 and #3 home made or some brand like BeKoWa (or any other)...

Thu Oct 15, 2015 9:38 pm

luftgekuhlt wrote: Fantastic examples you have added- They look pretty much the same as my example.

Your example #2 is very close and I wonder if some of them (like my example) are drilled in the roof or if the link to the drop list is missing.

Even though some of them provide less cargo area by being so narrow I find them elegant.

Still my question remain, is my example, and your example #2 and #3 home made or some brand like BeKoWa (or any other)...

Example #3 was a factory installed rack. I would expect it was fabricated by the factory workers. The rack is painted brown to match the upper half of the bus, which is still wearing its first paint. The rack is bolted through the roof and the headliner was installed afterwards. The original headliner is still in place and the rack has never been removed. There is no way to unbolt it unless you take the headliner out. The owner (Clara) has a 53 dated photo of the bus on the floor of Wolfsburg assembly plant. The rack was in place then.

Wed Nov 11, 2015 2:09 am

You can check this page :
www.airmapp.com/vintagepictures

And type in "rack" in the search engine to get some vintage photos of busses with roof racks.. or click below directly :wink:
===> http://www.airmapp.com/vintagephotos/rack

Thu Nov 19, 2015 11:12 am

Is the bus with one on there too

Mon Nov 30, 2015 11:48 am

campingbox wrote: luftgekuhlt wrote: Fantastic examples you have added- They look pretty much the same as my example.

Your example #2 is very close and I wonder if some of them (like my example) are drilled in the roof or if the link to the drop list is missing.

Even though some of them provide less cargo area by being so narrow I find them elegant.

Still my question remain, is my example, and your example #2 and #3 home made or some brand like BeKoWa (or any other)...

Example #3 was a factory installed rack. I would expect it was fabricated by the factory workers. The rack is painted brown to match the upper half of the bus, which is still wearing its first paint. The rack is bolted through the roof and the headliner was installed afterwards. The original headliner is still in place and the rack has never been removed. There is no way to unbolt it unless you take the headliner out. The owner (Clara) has a 53 dated photo of the bus on the floor of Wolfsburg assembly plant. The rack was in place then.

There are not many buses with racks like mine, but there are a few. The rack on the Post bus looks to be the same style, but longer. Nice pic, Brian.

headliner still in place, though old and thrashed:

Mon Nov 30, 2015 11:56 am

from http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4...mp;start=0

Wed Dec 09, 2015 11:10 pm

Clara wrote:

Thanks a lot for the pics and additional information Clara. I think I will opt for this model, it really looks appropriate for the bd and will look grand in my 51 MAYBE I will extend it a little sideways and backward as in the Deutsche Bundespost pic or this other (below) from the archive. I love those vertical bars even more that the models in my own pics at the start of the thread. There are 7 vertical bars in the Deutsche Bundespost bd roof rack and 6 in yours, could you be so kind to measure the distance between bars in your roof rack? Also mine will be resting in the drop list. Pics will follow but project is in the mental planning phase still, but you get an idea of where I am going.

Could you also be so kind to add another pic of your roof rack from the front or the rear. I see your (magnified) example has 5 bars in front and rear the same as yours (I believe at least from one of the pics) while the Deutsche Bundespost has only 4. The distance between those front/rear bars in your roof rack would also be highly appreciated, thanks.

PS: Is there any other pic of the BOCO bd' that shows the roof rack from other angle so front/rear are visible?

Sun Dec 20, 2015 10:03 am

Ya, the bundespost rack has 4 uprights across the front, while my bus has 5. It looks like the BOCO bus rack also has 5.

My rack is set a little further back, probably to give room for the nifty air vent.
A WW floor half fits in the rack basket.
I cannot measure anything for a while, as the bus is in a storage garage, and it is not very convenient. I do not have enough room at my place to keep everything out of the weather. :( But I don't want it out in the rain.

There are more pics in my gallery.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_search.php?...t_dir=DESC

Sun Dec 20, 2015 2:26 pm

Sat Jan 02, 2016 7:57 am

Thanks Clara for the nice pics (thanks huetti as well), the one from the front of the bus is very nice and gives a good idea, even if you can't take the measures at the moment I think I will get an off-the-cuff guess from that pic by knowing the measure of the roof, for my project a ballpark figure will do.