Sunroof to camper conversion

[deschutestrout]

Hey gang! I'm kicking around the idea of removing my troublesome sunroof on my '78 and replacing it with one of the small "Rivi" tops (the non-sleeper...for headroom only). Has anyone done this? Is it an easy swap? Any cutting, welding, etc involved? Thanks!

[vdubyah73]

study a rivi installation. the bracketry that allows the up and down probably fastens to the bus in pretty specific locations.

[DjEep]

The early bay westy tops that hinge forward will fit no prob.

[hambone]

I like the lines of a hardtop bus.

[deschutestrout]

Yeah, just kicking it around. The sunroof hasn't been opened in a couple of years. Some weird problem with alignment in front...it has never closed quite right. Colin looked at it the first time I met him in a Safeway lot years ago and he said it looked like someone may have sat on it at some point and very slightly bent it. Maybe I'll mess with it again this year and see if I can fix it....or, just leave it. Thanks for your responses guys. Carry on.

[vdubzen]

the sportsmobile top and the older split window campmobile tops might work well on this. i have seen a few bayswith this top on them. just for head room in the 'kitchen'.

[deschutestrout]

Yeah, just for the headroom is what I'm looking for. I'll take a look at those if I decide to make the swap. Thanks!

[vistacruzer]

it would be a eazy install. i have the baby pop top on mine nothing to it. measure the opening and sent it to me i will be working on the bus next weekend and see how a baby pop will fit on your bus.

[JLT]

it would be a eazy install. i have the baby pop top on mine nothing to it. measure the opening and sent it to me i will be working on the bus next weekend and see how a baby pop will fit on your bus.

That's what I did on my '70 bus. It worked great. I had to cut out the hole, but I remember it being about the same as a sunroof hole ... so much so that when I bought my '71, I saved the pop-top to install on that. But by the time I got around to doing that, I found that the pop-top had disappeared from the place where it was stored.

[drober23]

My understanding is that the opening for a '68 - '73 Westfalia is the same as the sunroof opening, so adding the fiberglass top from that year range should be pretty easy.

The reverse is not true, as the Westfalia models do not have the drain setup that the sunroof models do, so the Westfalia models would not be good candidates to slap a sunroof on.

[deschutestrout]

Thanks gang! Sounds like it's "easily" doable should I decide to make the switch. No firm plans yet to change, but good to know it's an option. Or, I'll just camp in it more and duck when I'm inside before I flop into my bed

[JLT]

One thing I forgot to add: When I took the pop-top off the "donor bus," I noticed that there was a raised lip all around the hole, presumably to keep water out when you're blasting down the road. It was only about 1/2" to 3/4" in height, IIRC. So I duplicated it by (PURISTS WHO WANT TO KEEP THEIR BUSES TOTALLY STOCK: STOP READING RIGHT NOW!) getting some 3/4" aluminum angle stock and pop-riveting it around the perimeter of the opening, using some sort of caulking to seal it. It worked just fine.

[deschutestrout]

Ha! I kept reading ... I'm not a purist...I'm a functionalist. I add things to my camper to make it better fit my use. If I find a screamin' deal on a small pop top, I may just pick it up...had one a few years ago on a 73 Rivi I bought....resold it so it's gone..............but, the bed from said Rivi is in my sunroof bus and you'll see the side tent at the RendezVW

[grandfatherjim]

The Adventurewagen top is a beautiful thing. Headroom - if you're 5'10" or under, you can stand upright.

[Kubelwagen]

Love my Adventurewagen!