Sunroof bus, to poptop or not

[alaskadan]

I just made a deal to buy an early sunroof bus, not sure what year didn't really care. An old guy near me sold his house and has a bunch of vws to get rid of. I have a year to get it out of the barn it's in. The body is very straight with the usuall rust through in some of the lower areas not too bad. The interior is a 9 out of 10. Passenger bus setup. Only buying it because bays aren't getting any easier to find, its only a mile away and for 1500$. He also has a few early westys. Two of them have good camper interiors and tops. They are really rusty, from experience I know I don't want to mess with them. But I bet I could buy one of them for 500$ essentially for the interior and poptop to convert the sunroof bus to a camper. Ultimately my wife and I would prefer a camper interior. But busses in their original form are getting harder to find and even fewer unique models like sunroofs. To bastardize it or not that would be the question.

[alaskadan]

If I understand correctly the sunroof opening is the same as a westy except for two additional reinforcements, one on each side?

[skills@eurocarsplus]

i'll call them "nut plates" but yes there is a reinforcing plate for each hinge. it's been a while, but as i recall they screw into the area in the cab where all the panels meet/headliner bows rest

that said, if it's a sunroof bus and all of that shit is there and works, i'd keep it a sunroof bus. they are pretty fucking cool and not many are out there
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[busdaddy]

X2 on keep the sunroof mechanism if it's salvageable.

The camper interior bolts into the sunroof bus with minimal drilling, it'd be like a tintop with the option to stand up or ventilate if you desired.
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[danfromsyr]

if I was in AK and had this offer
at the current rate of VW parts prices, availability and (lack of) quality of replacement parts.
I'd buy out all 3 and sell the extra camping interior/top

I would also leave the sunroof as a sunroof bus.. but if you do want the comfort and convenience of a poptop I would not remove the sunroof mechanism and add in the poptop.. this is a modification that could be reversed if wanted/needed by the next caretaker of the bus.

all in all they aren't making any more of them. and I'm sure less of them are ending up in AK at the end of their road/lives.
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[my59]

Having a sunroof bus with camper interior is pretty nice.
Our sunroof cables and bits are in the barn, but we can open the roof after sliding the interior panel back and removing some home made blocks that keep it elevated and closed. Takes a few minutes.
Sleeping under the stars inside the bus with mosquito netting over the open roof and windows is a treat.
The downside of the sunroof is the interior wind storm for those sitting in the rear westy street when under power.
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my59: Well son, my grandfather died before I got to drive it, so does that answer your question?
our79: sunroof bus w/camper interior and 2.0 FI
Other:'12 Jetta, '77 Benz 300D, and a 74 MG Midget.

[alaskadan]

Yep, all good points. I would leave the sunroof mechanism intact for sure. It has the usual signs of not working, some sort of extra seal around it and isn't all the way flush with the rest of the roof. Leaning towards camper interior sunroof van. A full length roof rack with a hole in the middle would be good. Our husky would enjoy the wind storm in the back. You never know , if he gets desperate to move the last of his herd I do have acreage to park them on . Won't likely haul it home until fall. Summer madness in alaska has begun!

[danfromsyr]

it's funny that people blame the seals when a sunroof dumps water on the interior
but the only seal is a dust/wind seal it doesn't seal water.
water is supposed to fall into a drain trough and is supposed to drain amply at all 4 corners..
but years of leaf/tree litter, pollen that turns to slime up top and mud daubers and spiders plugging the bottom of the drain lines from underneath..
prevents proper flow in the drains..

a little time with a small brush tied to a length of wire goes a long ways to a properly draining sunroof. that doesn't require duct tape or silicone to seal it up.
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[SGKent]

there can be condensation on the inside of the roof that does not dump into the sunroof pan. That is also the main reason sunroof pans rot out. I've been showered in my 1971 in rainy cold weather where the hot moist air comes in thru the heater, it condenses on the inside of the roof, collects and comes forward in a hard stop. Usually when it does it is over the driver's left hand shoulder or the passengers right hand shoulder i there is a passenger in the seat.
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[creative native]

I am one more who is agreeing that keeping the sunroof is a good idea. I once had a '69 sunroof Bus, but most of my Buses have been Westfalias. I always thought it would be neat to have a sunroof camper. We drive our Buses more than make camp in them, so it seemed I would get more use out of the sunroof, but still have a camper interior when I needed it.

We're at a phase of Volkswagening where our Bay Buses are quickly increasing in value and originality makes them most valuable. If you kept the sunroof, but installed a Westfalia interior, that arrangement could be undone much more easily than installing a pop top. Similarly, in my '74 Sun Bug, the stock '74-'75 seats are quite uncomfortable, so when restoring it, I tracked down a pair of '73 Sports Bug/Recaro-Porsche seats and had them restored in the SE Sun Bug upholstery. These seats are SO comfortable. However, when I sell it, if the next owner is even more of a stickler for originality than I, they can just reinstall the original seats in about 15 minutes.

I also agree with SGKent about sunroof drainage. When I first got my '69 sunroof Bus, it leaked water in heavy rain, so I blew out the drain tubes and never had that problem again.
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[rsbadura]

[nemobuscaptain]

Yeah, we didn't get those other style tops or other style interiors in the US, except for the rare European delivery type vehicles or servicemembers bringing them home.
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[creative native]

[alaskadan]

Good info thank you. I do like dormobile and mid tops.

[Type2_Personality]

When I bought my first Deluxe Sunroof 71 Bus new and had it converted to a camper at AdventureWagen they could not legally install their gas stove in it unless they put a raised roof (about 3 inches or so, like the top left photo) in place of the factory sunroof.

I opted to keep the factory sunroof ~ priceless for the clear starlit skies and a great combination for the adjustable AdventureWagen bed in the back. It can also give you an option for transporting some odd size items (plants, trees) through the sunroof opening.

I'm all for keeping the original sunroof, I wish my current 71 had one.

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