swapping a pop top for a high top....... the pro and cons

IamTheBoogieman

let me try this a different way... i see why my other one got locked and i made an ad to fix it.

but, i'm really looking for some feed back here. i've searched and read sooooo many posts here but not found any yet for this particular way. taking my pop top off and putting on a high top.

do i have to cut the whole bigger?

once the high top is on can i just use the top of the tin roof to store stuff on?

i know that most either love or hate the idea but i think i love a high top!

also i just bought this bus and it's my 1st VW. so this is kind of my introduction as well.

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1978 Westy " Serenity "
Not a hippy
but, not your average Redneck either

[url=http://www.vw-mplate.com/mplate2-17748.png]Click to view image[/URL]

IamTheBoogieman · Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 6:37 am Post subject:

hole....not whole, lol
_________________
1978 Westy " Serenity "
Not a hippy
but, not your average Redneck either

[url=http://www.vw-mplate.com/mplate2-17748.png]Click to view image[/URL]

curtis4085 · Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 6:57 am Post subject:

Come on!!! Don't butcher a good bus to put a high top on it. Sell what you have and buy a high top.

The builders of the high top buses have unique interior layouts and are very incredible to own if you like that sorta bus. Personally high tops are not the best choice. The VWBus is already a large box that acts like a sail in the wind. Add 3+ ft to height for a high top+wind equals ass puckering driving. Not fun.

Stick with the pop top and keep it stock. If you ever decide to sell it in the future your pocket book will thank me.

Please research your current bus. Read the Bentley service manual and become familiar with the stock setup. Drive your bus and fall deeply in love.
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archemitis · Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 7:03 am Post subject:

I think the above advise is the best you can get. Have you put many miles on that sweet lookin Westy yet? High winds make the difference between white knuckling it at 55, to cruisin at 70 with one hand. I couldnt imagine adding 3 more feet to the top of mine.
Pop tops make the most sense all around. But you can always sell it and buy a different one.

busdaddy · Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 7:41 am Post subject:

X3, that's not a bad looking bus that could likely be really nice with a sympathetic clean up, use it as is and learn what you like or don't like, then sell it and put together the bus of your dreams with the proceeds. If you still think you need a high top in a year you'll have had plenty of time to shop and compare, you could find one already converted and trade or put a top on a Kombi and customize it to your tastes. A clean OG Westfalia is always valuable, one with a hacked on high top is a hard sell as it appeals to a very limited market, especially if it's been "personalized".
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DaleNW · Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 8:02 am Post subject:

I hate to tell someone what to do with THEIR bus, but I agree with everyone else here. You wouldn't cut the legs off a quarter horse to make a Shetland. Love your pop top bus and get a high top later. Just another guy's two cents.

Sorry to not actually answer your question...
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'78 Deluxe Westy - Loose Lucy (where I rest peacefully)
'77 Transporter (may it rest in peace)

GeorgeO. · Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 9:52 am Post subject:

tubdub · Samba Member Joined: March 29, 2004 Posts: 2274

The current opening will work just fine.
Yes you will be able to store stuff up on the inside roof area.
Its your bus, do whatever you want to do to it.

IamTheBoogieman · Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 3:01 pm Post subject:

i guess i want my cake and eat it too......

i want to know.... is it physically possible to take my pop top off. then place a hight top on.... no cutting. then, if i decide to sell later to just reverse the action.

or is the install of the high top going to ruin any part of the roof? i want to keep it as original as possible for resale.

i love this bus!! and i dont want to hurt her. but i would like to be able to boondock somewhere AND stand up to cook and or get dressed and so forth. but not at the expense of ruining a good thing.

i here you all and agree. that why i ask this so specifically

thank yall very much. this is a new project/road i'm on. i come from the JEEP world. i feel like a kindergardener again, lol
_________________
1978 Westy " Serenity "
Not a hippy
but, not your average Redneck either

[url=http://www.vw-mplate.com/mplate2-17748.png]Click to view image[/URL]

tubdub · Samba Member Joined: March 29, 2004 Posts: 2274

you will need to drill screw holes all around the edge of the roof where the new top would attach to the existing roof.

IamTheBoogieman · Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 3:33 pm Post subject:

ouch
_________________
1978 Westy " Serenity "
Not a hippy
but, not your average Redneck either

[url=http://www.vw-mplate.com/mplate2-17748.png]Click to view image[/URL]

busdaddy · Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 3:49 pm Post subject:

IamTheBoogieman · Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2013 7:41 am Post subject:

i'm talking about standing and doing these things "incognito" if the pop is popped...then it seems like i would be noticed too easily. now i just sound creepy, lol. i do not like to pay for camping and plan to just park here and there on my travels.

high top. no one really knows

popped top ... too obvious

i wonder if there is some kind of super powered, industrial, 2 sided adhesive that would hold up...?

and that cross member.... i see your point! lol
_________________
1978 Westy " Serenity "
Not a hippy
but, not your average Redneck either

[url=http://www.vw-mplate.com/mplate2-17748.png]Click to view image[/URL]

Yondermtn · Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2013 8:21 am Post subject:

How are ya going to fly under the radar with a hightop? Laughing

IamTheBoogieman · Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2013 9:28 am Post subject:

[quote="Yondermtn"]How are ya going to fly under the radar with a hightop? Laughing

]

MOST people on the road have no ideand are clueless. but if they see a top popped... it's kinda obvious. if they just see a high top van parked in a parking place..... no big deal.

if a VW guy sees it...well then they should come up and knock and have a beer!

also to the idea of the adhesive ..... check this out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OtrDvDvF5I
_________________
1978 Westy " Serenity "
Not a hippy
but, not your average Redneck either

[url=http://www.vw-mplate.com/mplate2-17748.png]Click to view image[/URL]

Red Fau Veh · Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2013 9:41 am Post subject:

I never thought about what you just said before, but it sounds like a high top is more stealthy for camping. That is a great observation, makes perfect sense to me. I think you can put the high top on without any other changes so it can be reversed. But you can go out and find sweet high top buses too.
_________________
1971 Deluxe Sunroof Bay 1905 stroker, dual idf40's, 74mm Scat forged crank, engle 110 cam. CB 044 heads, AutoCraft rockers, chromoly push rods
1973 Orange transporter stock type 4 with dual 40 Dellortos and Empi single quiet pack
1969 Adventurewagen blue whale Gene Berg 1776 built by Dave Kawell dual 36 DRLA's, Vintage Speed exhaust, Bosch 019 screamer
1961 Swivel Seat camper, L345 grey

ROCKOROD71 · Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2013 10:57 am Post subject:

Just throwin' my hat in the ring here, but I've "camped" on city streets several times in the Northeast, with the top popped, without any problems. No harassment, law or otherwise. The best part of my Westy is that it has eliminated any chance or even inkling of drunk driving from my life! Now I can pass out for a while and wake up with the sun and put some coffee on Laughing

I see you are in Tennessee though, I dunno what their loitering or vagabond laws are like, but I see your point in the hightop. Just giving you my prspective on rouge "camping"....no problems yet!
My personal opinion is NOT to hack that bus...it looks nice!
_________________
1971 STD BEETLE- DD-1st car, 1st love. keepin' it stock! 1600DP, Solex 34-3 Mexi Bosch SVDA Dist NOW w/POINTS
1977 WESTY "KrustyKamper" 2L FI

DougB · Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2013 11:23 am Post subject:

The conversion to high-top is a bit more drastic than the conversion I'll undertake soon, adapting a Riviera top on my existing tin-top Westy (but being so surgical about the hole that I cut that the work could be reversed in the future). I much prefer the Westy interior with the Riviera top...but I also understand what you're saying about stealth urban camping. It seems that high tops are easier to find at a good price...why not look for one sans engine (cheaper), and swap your Westy powerplant to the hightop for your trip?
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'75 Campmobile (tin-top to SpaceRoof)
'73 Fastback
'52 BMW R67/2
'41 Zundapp KS600
'55 Puch SGS250
A very, very understanding wife

IamTheBoogieman · Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2013 11:26 am Post subject:

thank you. "if" this gets done... it has to be done without hacking up the bus. i love the bus just as it is and may just keep it like it is and pop the top wherever i park and see what happens. worst case, i'm told to leave and i go park in the woods, lol.

but more storage up top would be nice
_________________
1978 Westy " Serenity "
Not a hippy
but, not your average Redneck either

[url=http://www.vw-mplate.com/mplate2-17748.png]Click to view image[/URL]

danfromsyr · Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2013 11:43 am Post subject:

it's your bus do what you like with it.
actually there are automotive adhesives that'll affix the hightop just fine to the roof,
tops usualy rot when left neglected for years to accumulate debris and moisture if you use it often and care any at all for it, it'll last your life useage just fine.

there are alot of discussion in this vanagon forum thread on hightops.
it's a very similiar process. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=395549&highlight=hightop
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swapping a pop top for a high top....... the pro and cons
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