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vegpedlr
Samba Member
Joined: June 07, 2014
Posts: 774
Location: TBD
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 Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2017 8:52 pm Post subject: I Blew My Top! |
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Driving on I-80 I heard a loud bang. Thought I hit a rock. But things didn't sound right after, and the guy behind me dropped back and changed lanes. Looked over my shoulder and the top was shaking and tent canvas was blowing more than I thought it should even though I left a window open. Figured that the poptop latch came undone, pulled over and sure enough that was it. Good news, even unmatched, my fear of the top billowing open, turning to a sail and blowing off didn't happen.
Lesson learned, make sure hatches are defienitely battened prior to departure!
_________________
1985 Tintop 4 sp GW 2.3 “Connie”
2006 Mk V GTI 2.0 FSI “Penelope” |
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Sodo
Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2007
Posts: 9605
Location: Western WA
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| Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2017 9:03 pm Post subject: Re: I Blew My Top! |
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Whew!
Wonder, if it would have lifted, if you had the jackbombay poptop assist.
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb |
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rubbachicken
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2004
Posts: 3058
Location: socal
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| Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2017 9:19 pm Post subject: Re: I Blew My Top! |
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how fast were you going ?
you got lucky
i think there's a thread on an easy reminder, to be sure it doesn't happen again
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lucy our westy
lucy's BIG adventure
meet 'burni'
markswagen {mobile mechanic} san diego area all early VW's cared for.
619 201 0310 or 617 935 4182 |
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E1
Samba Member
Joined: January 21, 2013
Posts: 6543
Location: Westfalia, Earth
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| Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2017 9:22 pm Post subject: Re: I Blew My Top! |
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Sodo, that was precisely my thought as well!
Not as bad as a best friend errantly tooling though downtown LA before realizing he'd left the poptop up!
Kinda related, I cut a 2x4 to the length needed to support our poptop in big winds when parked. Since we have around 220 lbs with Yakima and contents, seemed a cheap insurance move for our tender, old roof. We have both Bombay 90 lb. struts and the GW 160s so lifting is pretty easy.
Happy Travels.
_________________
‘84 Westy, 2.1L with Digijet, 5.43 R+P, GT Gears
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."
— Colin Chapman |
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dhaavers
Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2010
Posts: 7756
Location: NE MN (tinyurl.com/dhaaverslocation)
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| Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2017 9:30 pm Post subject: Re: I Blew My Top! |
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Simple...ask your local ski shop for a couple free velcro straps:
Once the top is down, strap the two (now-) parallel bars together & you'll never
have another problem.When you pop up, hang them around the bottom support
bars & you'll always have a reminder to strap in before leaving...
- Dave
_________________
86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS> |
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vegpedlr
Samba Member
Joined: June 07, 2014
Posts: 774
Location: TBD
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| Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2017 9:39 pm Post subject: Re: I Blew My Top! |
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I was at my usual attack speed, 57 mph, hit a rough patch and heard the noise. Took me a few minutes to guess what may have happened, but at that point a freeway merge brought me down to 1st gear for awhile. When it opened up, I stayed at 45 for a couple miles before I could pull off and get it sorted. My top is hard to lift on its own, and there wasn't enough air getting under it for more mischief. Saw the ski strap fix here once, sure I have some lying about ready for a new use.
I'm usually very careful, as my latch can feel like it engages when it hasn't. Don't know what happened this time, but I will be paranoid about it from now on for sure!
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1985 Tintop 4 sp GW 2.3 “Connie”
2006 Mk V GTI 2.0 FSI “Penelope” |
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E1
Samba Member
Joined: January 21, 2013
Posts: 6543
Location: Westfalia, Earth
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| Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2017 10:06 pm Post subject: Re: I Blew My Top! |
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| dhaavers wrote: |
Simple...ask your local ski shop for a couple free velcro straps:
... |
On particularly-windy nights, we sometimes pull the top down a few inches above latched and use straps with Fastex buckles to do this very thing.
It really is a great way to keep the roof down, particularly with lifter struts!
_________________
‘84 Westy, 2.1L with Digijet, 5.43 R+P, GT Gears
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."
— Colin Chapman |
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kamzcab86
Samba Moderator
Joined: July 26, 2008
Posts: 7917
Location: Arizona
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| Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2017 11:14 pm Post subject: Re: I Blew My Top! |
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| dhaavers wrote: |
| Simple...ask your local ski shop for a couple free velcro straps: |
Had an extremely windy trip across I-40 towards New Mexico several years ago: After pulling off to remove the contents of the luggage bin, just sitting on the off-ramp the sides of pop-top were lifting up.  Wrapped Night Ize Gear Ties around the bars for the rest of the trip. Once home, I made quick-release straps:
Not really needed, but added a label to the latch too as a reminder when opening and closing the roof (crappy, quick pic):
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~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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bobbyblack 
Samba Member
Joined: May 21, 2015
Posts: 4349
Location: United States, Iowa
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| Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2017 11:37 am Post subject: Re: I Blew My Top! |
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KamZ, Just love the sticker, nice touch! What is that hole below the sticker? I only thought my bit was factory until I see yours only has a hole, mine has a wing nut assembly that you spin a shaft into the release mechanism, and it can't open. I guess I will snap a pic of mine when I get home, perhaps the PO made this mod to his own spec? Back with a pic in a few hours!
_________________
'87 Westy 'Flossie','86 Westy 'R1','86 tintop GL - Subi2.2 'J2','83.5 stock tintop L 'ZoomBus','74 Karmann Ghia, '63 Notch |
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dsdunbar
Samba Member
Joined: December 19, 2014
Posts: 564
Location: Crozet VA
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| Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2017 12:05 pm Post subject: Re: I Blew My Top! |
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Bobby,
Your setup does sound strange. The hole in kamz photo is where a spring loaded pin inserts when the top is down. the two angled parts on the left and right of kamz photo (where you see a bit of rust on the lip) is where you squeeze to disengage the pin to lift the top.
| bobbyblack wrote: |
| KamZ, Just love the sticker, nice touch! What is that hole below the sticker? I only thought my bit was factory until I see yours only has a hole, mine has a wing nut assembly that you spin a shaft into the release mechanism, and it can't open. I guess I will snap a pic of mine when I get home, perhaps the PO made this mod to his own spec? Back with a pic in a few hours! |
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'89 2WD Westy "Grey Goose" - Manual 4spd
Crozet VA
Vanaru EJ25, Peloquin |
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bobbyblack
Samba Member
Joined: May 21, 2015
Posts: 4349
Location: United States, Iowa
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| Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2017 10:06 pm Post subject: Re: I Blew My Top! |
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Well, again, not surprised at the ingenuity of the PO. He passed at 94, two years ago. Had the Van from '89 until his departure. I hadn't looked more closely at this until now. Hera are a few pics of his solution. ---- I am not saying he thought this up himself, just I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere else --- Even thought it might be an available option from dealer or such.
Here are the shots: see how you can't get the release to pop when the wing nut is clamped down? I'd have to take the whole thing apart to see the back side, not sure what all he did to get it installed. I might be coaxed to take it all apart to get that rust dealt with at some point.
And when the nut is backed off, here comes the pin!
_________________
'87 Westy 'Flossie','86 Westy 'R1','86 tintop GL - Subi2.2 'J2','83.5 stock tintop L 'ZoomBus','74 Karmann Ghia, '63 Notch |
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dhaavers
Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2010
Posts: 7756
Location: NE MN (tinyurl.com/dhaaverslocation)
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| Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2017 5:12 am Post subject: Re: I Blew My Top! |
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^^^ Clever! Simple...functional...rusty.
Nope, never seen that before. I figure if it was original there would be a beautiful
color-matched (but broken) plastic knob rather than just the bolt/washer/nut.
Someone should offer a kit...hint, hint???
- Dave
_________________
86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS> |
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E1
Samba Member
Joined: January 21, 2013
Posts: 6543
Location: Westfalia, Earth
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| Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2017 7:41 am Post subject: Re: I Blew My Top! |
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| dhaavers wrote: |
Someone should offer a kit...hint, hint???
- Dave |
The PopStop?
The Blow Me Down?
The Anti-Goof Roof?
_________________
‘84 Westy, 2.1L with Digijet, 5.43 R+P, GT Gears
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."
— Colin Chapman |
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bobbyblack
Samba Member
Joined: May 21, 2015
Posts: 4349
Location: United States, Iowa
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| Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2017 8:36 am Post subject: Re: I Blew My Top! |
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| dhaavers wrote: |
^^^ Clever! Simple...functional...rusty.
Nope, never seen that before. I figure if it was original there would be a beautiful
color-matched (but broken) plastic knob rather than just the bolt/washer/nut.
Someone should offer a kit...hint, hint??? |
Hah! Indeed. But who?!?!? I wish I knew if it was the Old Duffer PO, or the original purchaser. It is possible that the original purchaser yet lives. I guess I could do a title search and find out...
Along with this kind of 'kit' there are a bunch of others I would like to see... My other big gripe with the top is the H bar. I had a couple Split Westys, Bay Westys. and then Jumped to a new off the lot EV Westy. Had not remembered the H bar being so crappy on the Bays, but indeed, it was. The EV Westy had, in my opinion, a much better system... I emailed GoWesty a very detailed 'wish list' doc on how they could take the idea of the EV Westy's top with NO H bar, and do a kit... No luck yet, and it's been a long long time. No reply to my email either. I wanted it to get called "H bar Delete" kit. Im not going to do such a thing, unless I retire early.
So, who needs more stuff to present on the classifieds or their own web?!?!? Maybe it would even make some $'s A couple names come to mind. 10C, T3, a couple more, but grumpy ones too.
_________________
'87 Westy 'Flossie','86 Westy 'R1','86 tintop GL - Subi2.2 'J2','83.5 stock tintop L 'ZoomBus','74 Karmann Ghia, '63 Notch |
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bobbyblack
Samba Member
Joined: May 21, 2015
Posts: 4349
Location: United States, Iowa
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| Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2017 1:42 pm Post subject: Re: I Blew My Top! |
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Well, GoWesty wins the 'kit-to-market' battle (in my head) with the following product:
http://www.gowesty.com/product-details.php?v=&id=24205
It is exactly what I had asked for, the ability to ditch the H-bar...
So, you ever suggested to a company that you'd like a product, and later find it on ther web page? Just today, I was finally starting to look at the bits it would take me personally to build what I wanted. Just for some language to search on I went to the GoWest page and searched. Wow, incredible. Now here is the part where I am just a bit put off: NO reply email to my suggestion, NO message when the product was added.
I will post to this list the answer I receive
edit: that email was boring anyway. Removed
_________________
'87 Westy 'Flossie','86 Westy 'R1','86 tintop GL - Subi2.2 'J2','83.5 stock tintop L 'ZoomBus','74 Karmann Ghia, '63 Notch
Last edited by bobbyblack on Sat Sep 23, 2017 3:06 am; edited 1 time in total |
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dobryan
Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006
Posts: 16503
Location: Brookeville, MD
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bobbyblack
Samba Member
Joined: May 21, 2015
Posts: 4349
Location: United States, Iowa
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| Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2017 1:53 pm Post subject: Re: I Blew My Top! |
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I was under the distinct impression that the H-Bar in the Vanagon was the same as in the EV. I guess I jumped the gun 
Ok GoWesty, how about now?
_________________
'87 Westy 'Flossie','86 Westy 'R1','86 tintop GL - Subi2.2 'J2','83.5 stock tintop L 'ZoomBus','74 Karmann Ghia, '63 Notch |
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bobbyblack
Samba Member
Joined: May 21, 2015
Posts: 4349
Location: United States, Iowa
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| Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2017 2:02 pm Post subject: Re: I Blew My Top! |
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BTW,
I had posted on the EV forum in May, when I had again picked up my "thinking-about-it notes" on stuff I had kicked around... Nobody replied with info on what I was asking for, but that is OK too.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=677823
_________________
'87 Westy 'Flossie','86 Westy 'R1','86 tintop GL - Subi2.2 'J2','83.5 stock tintop L 'ZoomBus','74 Karmann Ghia, '63 Notch |
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bobbyblack
Samba Member
Joined: May 21, 2015
Posts: 4349
Location: United States, Iowa
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| Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2017 2:28 pm Post subject: Re: I Blew My Top! |
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GoWesty response is they didn't get my email. But that the kit for EV was out in 2015 or before.
I asked if the EV kit could be mod'd to work on a Vanagon.
_________________
'87 Westy 'Flossie','86 Westy 'R1','86 tintop GL - Subi2.2 'J2','83.5 stock tintop L 'ZoomBus','74 Karmann Ghia, '63 Notch |
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big swifty
Samba Member
Joined: August 21, 2007
Posts: 246
Location: Formally in Republic of VT; now in Hollywood, FL
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| Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2017 5:14 pm Post subject: Re: I Blew My Top! |
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Very often I enter my van from the slider and walk/duck into the driver seat. Last month I walked/didn't duck enough. Hit my head pretty hard. With meat in the seat, a few miles later I noted quite a bit more wind noise than usual.
Yup, I headbutted the button better than Richard Gere hit Andy Garcia in Internal Affairs and unlocked the poptop.
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Evan
1987 Vanagon Syncro // Westfalia pop-top graft // Factory new ALH. 11mm IP. AFN 110 RC 2,3,4 // S7 turbo// Titan P502's
2013 Golf 4d TDI. No mods. Yet.
[1991 Jetta coupe TD. Giles Superpump. Custom tall 5 speed. SOLD |
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