ASI/Riviera pop-top repairs

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I've just purchased an 81 ASI/Riviera with a few maintenace issues (the price was right). One that I'm stumped on is how to repair the pop-top fiberglass (or whatever it is).

There are cracks in the pop-top across from the handles used to raise and lower the roof. One is fairly bad although the roof is still structurally sound. Inside, there are also cracks around the edges where the top clips down to the roof (these are not leak issues but they are unsightly). Then, there is the outer perimeter where the top is attached to the roof of the van. Most of the screws used to attach the pop-top are different sizes, some too big, some too small. All have crummy silicone or something covering them. There is no good seal around the bottom of the pop-top but, someone has squirted silicone there also...mostly in the front above the windshield.

So, I'm wondering what to do now. My first inclination is to take out all of the screws, take off the poptop, clean out underneath it, remove the silicone, and then reattach with better hardware and some sort of weather seal.

Is there any way to repair the cracks in the poptop roof? Is this job going to be a lot harder than it seems? Also, can this poptop unit be replaced with a better condition one? What about a Westfalia top since they are easier to find?

I would appreciate any ideas or experience that you could share.

Thanks,

Hans

[wgargan]

if it is indeed fiberglass then ou can re glass it and add some new fiber. and grind it all down and there you have it. i would buy a fibre glass book. your ideas for the hardwar and seals sound good, but if you can purchase th correct seals and hardware, do that. i would keep the iviere becaus it is harder to find, unless it is completley trashed, but i cant tell with out seeing it
either way good luck
lc

[bljones]

If it isn't your daily driver, and you can devote a weekend to the task, i would take the top off, and start from scratch and fix it right. First, when you talk about cracks, how big are they? are there any pieces missing? Second, why did it crack? There's no point in fixing the fiberglass unless you fix the reason the fiberglass broke in the first place. It sounds like someone may have used a screwdriver to remove the old weather stripping and gouged and cracked the top, or someone may have climbed onto the roof at some time, or a heavy weight was put up top, which will cause the fiberglass to deform and stress cracking to occur. As far as the handles go, it sounds like someone may have tried to heave the top open without unlatching the top, stressing the points where the handles mount. For the perimeter cracks, i would sand them dwon, front and back, feathering out about 2" from the crack, and open the crack up a little with a die grinder or dremel, to create a "v" On the backside, use fiberglass cloth and resin to create a patch, overlapping the crack by at least 3". Use two or three layers of fiberglass, with each layer overlapping the one before it by at least 1/2" On the outside, chop up some fiberglass cloth with scissors into little pieces, and mix it with the resin, so you have a fiberglass "stew" use a spreader to spread this mess over the crack, again overlapping the crack by at least an inch on each side. sand it down, and repaint it.
As for the handles, you may want to fiberglass a piece of wood to the top (about 1/8" thick) to give the handle mounting area a lttle more support. Weatherstripping can be found at CIP1 or Bus Depot. good luck.

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Thank you for all of the advice. I think I have a good grasp on how the repairs should go now. I will be able to take a weekend to work on the project as soon as the weather warms up a bit.

Hans