Adventurewagen Top Install: Hole Cut Size

[Robw_z]

Hi all,

I recently had a spur of the moment opportunity to purchase an Adventurewagen top off a 1983.5 Vanagon that was in pretty rough shape (the van, not the top). So, no guilt in letting the rest of the van go to pasture.

I don't know if this van was factory AW or not, it didn't have the cabinets only the top and a few interior lights unique to AW's. I have a feeling it was not an original AW, simply because it would've been better taken care of if it was.

I was very surprised on removing the top that the cut in the roof was about as large as can possibly be from the B-pillars back to the hatch. Is this normal? It feels strange to cut this much off my roof off, I get that once you commit you commit but man this is a big hole.


Link


Sorry for the somewhat rushed video footage, I bought it while on a road trip and a tow truck was coming to take it the rest of the van to a salvage yard. Strapped the top on my tin top's roof and continued on.

Thanks for any tips! Most threads I've found about cutting a hole in the roof, the hole is way smaller than this (have not found a thread specific to installing an AW top).

-Rob

[MarkWard]

No idea, didn’t watch the video. But, a factory pop top camper has the majority of the metal roof removed. Just the metal over the passenger driver area. One reason was to get a flat surface for sleeping.

It’s your project. You can do what feels best to you. There are threads here documenting installing a Hightop. You can search Hightop title only and I bet a few good ones come up. But customize for your needs.

[syncrodoka]

I have never seen an adventurewagen cut all the way to the rear like that. They stop right at the rear seat and have a wooden rail added to them to hide the roof cut. There is a roof reinforcement rail there that they keep intact.

[uberaudi]

Yeah I agree, that's not a traditional AW cut. My AW hole is approx 44" from in front of the bulkhead shelf to the rear trim piece for the upper bed.

Having it fully cut out probably works fine and opens it up nicely on the inside, though I do enjoy using that upper area for storage while traveling.

Most hightoppers seem to have all that removed when they install any brand of top these days. Can't say I've seen anyone add in hoops or bars to replace any lost structure.
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'84 Adventurewagen 1Z TDI, '08 Audi Avant Quattro 6spd BHW TDI

[?Waldo?]

I believe all of the adventurewagen holes ARE that big. They drop the rear ceiling down flat like a Westy.

[Robw_z]

I took a look at a local AW earlier and it does look like they cut all the way back.

However I’ve also run across images like this:

But something about the cut you see in my video looks too wide, like they almost literally cut up to the rain gutters. Cutting all the way back doesn’t bother me as much as cutting so wide that you expose the sub framing above the windows and pillars and such.

Thanks for the input so far, appreciated.

-Rob

[uberaudi]

I guess I never really thought about it too much before but my upper bunk has the flat bottom so it is definitely cut all the way back! There'd be no room to sleep up there if the floor wasn't lowered.

I wonder if the slide out upper bed was an option back then. That last pic has the same trim work as the front of my bulkhead where it conceals the factory metal roof which makes me think there is no bed in that pic, just storage.

I think if I was starting fresh and didn't require sleeping up there for kiddos, I would cut out the majority of the roof, but keep a couple feet up top for storage.
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'84 Adventurewagen 1Z TDI, '08 Audi Avant Quattro 6spd BHW TDI

[?Waldo?]

That's an interesting pic. I hadn't seen one like that before. I own an '85 and have seen several others but not like that. The theory of that just being for storage is a good one.

[jimf909]

[syncrodoka]

I always assumed there was a sleeping area above the rear seat but the one I finally looked in was like this. Maybe it was ordered from the conversion company like that.