staple in sunbrella pop top tent experience - with pictures

[valvecovergasket]

in my research for this project i didnt see a thread with pictures of the sunbrella tent in the staple in pop tops.

id read that the sunbrella was a bit baggier than the canvas replacements and that it didnt stretch (oh how true that turns out to be!).
our van had already had the tent replaced at some point but had been put away wet and sat around too long with the previous owner so it was in really bad shape. we bleached the mold out of it but then it didnt smell great, it looked awful, and it needed to go.

the one quote i got for replacement mentioned not doing a sunbrella (future mold proofing was a must so this wasnt ideal...) and they wanted ~$2000 for the job.


so i bit the bullet and dove in.

this gowesty video was a really great reference

Link


the actual tent we ended up with was the sunbrella from busdepot



some pictures and a few things i learned along the way -

getting the old tent out of the way really wasnt that bad. you feel a bit more empowered to really reef on it in the corners since you know its coming out.

heres how it sat when deployed before

note the awesome bleach splotches throughout

getting the pop top off wasnt terrible with two people, one person inside shuffling it to the back.

stripping and prepping the pop top was another fairly quick job, no real surprises here

the new tent was roughly the size of the old one, the seams lined up to the exact same places in the pop top

using this harbor freight 20g wide crown stapler
https://www.harborfreight.com/20-gauge-wide-crown-stapler-68029.html

and these wide crown staples from harbor freight looked exactly like what came out from the previous top

nothing too tough about stapling it in, just following along with the gowesty video still
having a second set of hands to keep the side youre working on tensioned helps a lot though. also used new plastic strips, and skipped the couple of spots where the h-bar screws into the wood
we did have to tap some of them flush as the stapler isnt the best, and if youre not perfectly perpendicular to the wood you end up with slight high spots. thats another 10-15 min of cleanup after the sides are stapled in.

all wrapped up and ready to haul onto the roof.

i took this opportunity to refresh the luggage rack, using the gowesty bracket kit - whoever was in here before had replaced the hardware on the back of the rack which required pulling the headliner. theyd kindly added screens already to the drains though.

so.... while we're in there... a headliner replacement made sense (didnt see much info on this either, so ill go on a quick tangent for anyone who stumbles on this later)

hoping these stay waterproof with all the silicone and how tight the rivnuts are, but at least its serviceable from above now.

for the headliner, i used the fleece fabric from spoonflower.com
they print any of their designs onto any of the dozen or two types of fabric they have. i tested other fabrics from them but the fleece was really nice since it has some height to avoid the glue (3m super90) soaking through, and it has nice stretch.

patterns probably not for everyone but we dig it.

as the fleece has a few mm's of thickness to it, it did require widening the grooves that the headliner board sits in in order for the panel to sit how its supposed to. just used some needle nose to expand those a hair
/tangent


top back on the van... it took four of us this time since theres a bit more care involved in aligning the rear hinges.

now... onto the worst part of the whole job. the front and rear strips.

first - get one of these ratcheting screw drivers
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BUJXQJ6

i know in other pop top threads folks mention the harbor freight one, but this has about 10x more positions to its ratchet action, and a much more compact head. $14 well spent.


as the gowesty video mentions - front track first, then rear, then sides.

the corners on the old canvas tent were a little more manageable since it has some more give, and with enough push you can force the screw driver in there. this new one is much tougher.
i think if the circumference of the bottom opening of the tent were ~1" or so larger it would have made the whole job much easier. but its doable.

i think i spent 45 minutes futzing with the front strip, probably would have been a bit quicker second time around but was careful to find the center position while wedging it in there, and driving that first center screw to locate it all

the other thing that helped was snipping the black beading once the corners are established, before driving the corner screws home, so it all sits flush.

you can see the lack of space here...

same story, but a bit worse, on the rear strip. with the amount of tension the corners are under you have to really pull on the tent while positioning the screws. i didnt find this possible solo in the rear given the awkward position.
the solution was putting the center 3 screws in, then having a helper from outside the van pull back on each corner while i drove the front-most screw down. this located the corner and "fixed" the tension. fighting the corners while also pushing solo from inside i found to be impossible.

once the rear is in the sides just click into place with no fuss.

the final product
not drum tight as expected, but waterproof, not-stinky, and a hell of a lot cheaper than $2000

given the lack of stretch id be hesitant to try and cheat the top up higher onto the wood when stapling to achieve that drum look, since you could really end up in a jam if its much more snug when it comes time to screw down the aluminum strips. i just aligned the top beading with the top of the wood, as per the one we removed. maybe making these adjustments after the fact is feasible on the screw-in tent

hopefully this is of some use for anyone researching this job in the future!
it wasnt that bad, could be done in a weekend if you were motivated and had help for those few steps where extra hands are needed.
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MegaSquirt resource - SpitfireEFI.com

gone, but not forgotten: '83 tdi westy - swap thread

[erste]

awesome write up!
that fabric looks really nice up front

[MarkWard]

So now that you have done one, what do you think about changing the canvas with the top installed? I can’t imagine attempting it that way.
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[valvecovergasket]

yeah i cant imagine it either. the top folds over the stapled portion, so youre fighting it + gravity the whole time + keeping the plastic strip in place against gravity + maneuvering the stapler (which is bulky and needs to be perpendicular to the wood) to fire the hundreds of staples needed. plus keeping lengthwise tension on the tent.
access gets really tight in the back as well, so that would seem to compound all of the above...

how many arms and helpers on ladders would that work out to??

yeah, no idea how people do these without removing the top. or perhaps that "just leave the top on!" mindset comes from the screw in style which (at least based on the videos) does look more manageable, but still probably more effort than is necessary given how easily the top comes off and realigns, and how close you are to that point once you have the tent detached from the van.

[mikemtnbike]

Sorry, I can't comment on your awesome pictorial because I'm blinded by garage envy.


(seriously though, thanks, I'll probably be doing this in a few years and have the staple-in).
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1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual

[Vanagon Nut]

[skills@eurocarsplus]

2 things

1) you're lucky you don't have a skylight and 2) i tore the original tent off my 84. it wasn't drum tight so i wouldn't worry too much about it. plus i think they will shrink a bit over time.

the corners are the absolute worst part of the job. well done!
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[valvecovergasket]

i was tempted to tear it off also but after reading the long threads where people got shipped multiple tents and seemed to perpetually struggle with fitment i figured id be better off saving it if possible to compare the size.
turned out not to be too big of a deal

i didnt think about having it shrink a bit with time, thats a good call!
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MegaSquirt resource - SpitfireEFI.com

gone, but not forgotten: '83 tdi westy - swap thread

[wbailey2112]

Looks good. My son and I did ours a couple of years ago using the exact same wide crown staple gun from HF but we installed the standard 3-window canvas tent from Bus Depot. Had the same challenges on the reinstall of the bottom but we used a 90 degree drill adapter (also from HF) to reinstall the screws. We also used this as an opportunity to clean the inside and outside of the top with a bleach solution to whiten and brighten things up before we stapled the new tent in.

As for the luggage rack, we removed it, did the bleach clean on it inside and out and installed new stainless tie down loops and "filters" for the drain holes (after trying the inside screen method we went with installing cable bushings that have the "star" opening in them).

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'74 Thing
'83 Westfalia

[vanagonjr]

[DuncanS]

Monel staples--NEVER rust. 3x the price but worth it.

[wbailey2112]

Guess its really not considered a bushing as I called it in my other post to this thread but its actually a computer/panel grommet.

Here's the post from a few years ago that pointed me in this direction after having no luck trying to glue squares of screen or trying to fit hose washers with screens.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=602968&highlight=luggage+rack+drain+filter

You do have to slightly enlarge the existing holes to accept these however its a very "clean" solution that will prevent most debris from getting inside your luggage rack and onto your cab roof. Also note that you're not going to find these at one of the big box home improvement stores but at your local full service hardware store like Ace or True Value or Do it Best.
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'74 Thing
'83 Westfalia

[valvecovergasket]

gowesty has those little screens also
https://www.gowesty.com/product-details.php?id=23881&category_id=253&category_parent_id=
but as you said its hardware store stuff - i think the previous owner of ours used something from the plumbing aisle glued in there and seems to be holding up well

i thought about that 90deg drill adapter too, was worried it might still not fit into those tight corner screws though - but maybe pushing against the regular canvas you were able to get it wedged in - most of those ive seen are kind of bulky near the angle part
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MegaSquirt resource - SpitfireEFI.com

gone, but not forgotten: '83 tdi westy - swap thread

[SlowGoing]

Valvecovergasket -- can you comment on why you chose the BusDepot sunbrella versus Gowesty or another brand? Any thoughts on the quality of the product? I'm looking for an acrylic tent for my early Westy and this looks to fit the bill.

I thought the Bus Depot and Gowesty tents were identical, but I see some of the GoWesty 3 window acrylic tents have smaller windows, which I'm not a huge fan of.

[valvecovergasket]