[BitterandTwisted]

Looks good Geoff 👍
Looking forward to seeing this fitted .

 

[Soundz]

Yes me too Geoff sounds really interesting ha belt an braces a man after my own heart

 

[geoff123]

On reviewing this thread I notice that the pic of the white van with high roof has somehow been added to the pics of my van.Geoff.

 

[poffer]

Can’t help thinking a hight top or mid top is a better solution than a pop top. Watching with interest,

 

[geoff123]

There are advantages and disadvantages with both systems. The high top generally has more storage space, full standing headroom at all times, and is easier, quicker (sometimes drier) setting up and leaving site. The pop top is probably more asthetically pleasing (beauty is in the eye of the beholder), can enter most height restricted parking places, is less liable to be blown about in very high winds, will use less fuel when running at motorway speeds, has limited overhead storage space and can sometimes pass as a stealth vehicle. The top top also probably has a higher top speed with the less powerful engines. I actually bought a used pop top roof which I intended to fit to my vehicle, but after using the van a few of times with it's standard low roof (often picnics or short stays) decided that a high top would better suit our needs. I think it really is a matter of horses for courses. Geoff.

 

[64 SPLIT]

I'm interested to see the install of this - it's certainly not something you see very often (if at all) so I applaud your skills and willingness to give it a go.
With regards to graphics - I don't have my own shop/produce them, but I can create the artwork for you to get made up and applied by any regular sign-writing / vinyl / car wrapping business.
I used to create full-vehicle designs for various vehicles in a previous job - from little Smart cars right up to large double decker busses for various promotional uses etc.

 

[geoff123]

When

I'm interested to see the install of this - it's certainly not something you see very often (if at all) so I applaud your skills and willingness to give it a go.
With regards to graphics - I don't have my own shop/produce them, but I can create the artwork for you to get made up and applied by any regular sign-writing / vinyl / car wrapping business.
I used to create full-vehicle designs for various vehicles in a previous job - from little Smart cars right up to large double decker busses for various promotional uses etc.

When I do start the installation I will post a few pics of of what I an doing. The factory SCA HT comes with a cloth internal lining, but without insulation. I shall probably bond a few cross ribs and a and battens down the length to make a cavity into the top whilst it is upside down for insulation. Once the vehicle roof is stripped out I think that cutting the roof out and bonding the top on should not take much more than a day or two. Once the roof has been placed on the adhesive I intend to tighten it down and hold it firmly in place by having about 3 heavy duty ratchet straps right around the girth of the van. I am really quite looking forward to getting on with this now. Geoff.

 

[geoff123]

Sorry 64S, I got a bit carried away there! Thank you for your kind offer with regards to the graphics, not meaning to take advantage or push my luck, but what do you think about the boat graphics Idea. I live in the Lincolnshire fenlands and call the "make" of my vans Fenlander and the "make" of my boat is a "Fenliner". Geoff.

 

[BitterandTwisted]

Are there any obstacles expected with insuring this vehicle after the conversion?

 

[geoff123]

Sorry 64S, I got a bit carried away there! Thank you for your kind offer with regards to the graphics, not meaning to take advantage or push my luck, but what do you think about the boat graphics Idea. I live in the Lincolnshire fenlands and call the "make" of my vans Fenlander and the "make" of my boat is a "Fenliner". Geoff.

Are there any obstacles expected with insuring this vehicle after the conversion?

When the conversion is complete I intend to re-register the the van as a motorcaravan (it will comply with all the DVLA requirements). I shall inform my insurance company that the vehicle is now a campervan with a high top. If the insurance company require an engineers report I will have the work surveyed and submit a professional report. I do not forsee any problems in that direction as I have already told my insurance company that the van is currently undergoing conversion. Geoff.

 

[BitterandTwisted]

Yeah i didnt know whether it would need an engineers report upon completion although do any of the conversion companies actually do this ? 🤷‍♂️

 

[64 SPLIT]

Sorry 64S, I got a bit carried away there! Thank you for your kind offer with regards to the graphics, not meaning to take advantage or push my luck, but what do you think about the boat graphics Idea. I live in the Lincolnshire fenlands and call the "make" of my vans Fenlander and the "make" of my boat is a "Fenliner". Geoff.

Not a problem! Drop me a message through here with what you'd like creating (saves you cluttering this thread up with unrelated info) and I'll see what I can do 👍

 

[geoff123]

I had intended to leave all the shuttle internal plastic side panels in the van, but the hot water tank that I bought is just a little bit too wide to fit in the undersink cupboard. Do people usually leave the jack etc. where it lives, or is there an alternative position for it. It does look to me that a some vans seem to have a fixed panel in front of the jack position. Thank you for any comments. Geoff.

 

[geoff123]

Nothing new on the conversion front, but last week I bought a 6 ltr 12V/240v hot water cylinder for our conversion from a FB seller. Of course, nothing that I ever buy is local to me, but this was near Stirling in Scotland!!! We decided to make the trip into a a few days "short break" and travelled up via Barrow, Kendal, Alexandria (to visit the old Argyle car factory). We last visited the factory about 15 years ago when it had been converted into an Outlet shopping centre and housed an Argyle museum. This was (then) a really nice day out - the front of the building looked like a red brick palace, and had an impressive foyer with a large central marble staircase. All the factory buildings were long gone. but there were numerous wall plaques with photos and explanations giving the history of Argyle who were at one time the largest motor manufacturers in Europe. Anyway this time we were very disappointed as the museum is no more and whilst there were still a couple of shops still there it was very quiet and not much happening at all. Perhaps later in the holiday season it will be better. We then continued over to Stirling to collect our cylinder, then on Falkirk to visit the Falkirk wheel where we stayed for a couple of hours before returning to the van for a nice picnic lunch before setting off for home. We had left Bourne with a full tank of stupidly expensive diesel and on the way home left the M6 at Carlisle to refuel at Morrisons (£172.9/ltr as opposed to £185.9 on the motorway - saved over £10 for a detour of less than a mile). We had clocked up 615 miles since leaving home and the fuel guage was reading just

 

[geoff123]

Nothing new on the conversion front, but last week I bought a 6 ltr 12V/240v hot water cylinder for our conversion from a FB seller. Of course, nothing that I ever buy is local to me, but this was near Stirling in Scotland!!! We decided to make the trip into a a few days "short break" and travelled up via Barrow, Kendal, Alexandria (to visit the old Argyle car factory). We last visited the factory about 15 years ago when it had been converted into an Outlet shopping centre and housed an Argyle museum. This was (then) a really nice day out - the front of the building looked like a red brick palace, and had an impressive foyer with a large central marble staircase. All the factory buildings were long gone. but there were numerous wall plaques with photos and explanations giving the history of Argyle who were at one time the largest motor manufacturers in Europe. Anyway this time we were very disappointed as the museum is no more and whilst there were still a couple of shops still there it was very quiet and not much happening at all. Perhaps later in the holiday season it will be better. We then continued over to Stirling to collect our cylinder, then on Falkirk to visit the Falkirk wheel where we stayed for a couple of hours before returning to the van for a nice picnic lunch before setting off for home. We had left Bourne with a full tank of stupidly expensive diesel and on the way home left the M6 at Carlisle to refuel at Morrisons (£172.9/ltr as opposed to £185.9 on the motorway - saved over £10 for a detour of less than a mile). We had clocked up 615 miles since leaving home and the fuel gauge was reading just under quarter full so I was well pleased with the with consumption, if not with the total fuel costs. We then continued home having clocked over 820 miles on our short break. The old bus (now over 290k miles) performed well and we enjoyed our camping and the glorious weather we had for the few days that we were away. Geoff.

 

[geoff123]

Sorry for the double post, but my computer went into lockdown as I was nearing the end of my saga and I did not realise that I had posted - must be an age thing! Geoff.

 

[happyjames013]

Just so you know, I’m watching with interest. Nice to see a different lay out. I’m umming and ahhhhing about a pop top, a medium high or just leave it.

I’ve gone for a removable pull out side bed/sofa and am currently adapting some used units. I managed to pick up a load of fold up units that are highly configurable. They were made for Honda, to kit out their big racing vans, but be removable and fold down for storage. Ingenious.
Not quite sure how I’ll make it work, but it will!!!!

I hope to leave the shuttle panels in too and am just about to start scribing. Any tips on that or is it simply a matter normal rules and templates?

Did you sound deaden and insulate? If so, how much was needed?

Keep it up. Great thread.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[geoff123]

Hi HJ, your fold down/removable set up sounds useful and interesting. For getting my scribing dimensions I just squared up everything from the floor using 2 loose square cornered boards (one down the length and the other across the bus) with the corners taped together to form a sort of hinge (you could of course use hinges). I had lines parallel to the floor drawn on the board offset from the wall that I was wanting to scribe every 100mm and simply recorded the distance to the wall, where there was a fairly sharp change I added extra marks between the 100mm lines. I use this method because I then transfer the measurements into a cad programme and cnc rout the shapes. You could of course not bother with the lines and just tape a pencil to the end of a smallish (must span the gap to the wall) spirit level and draw the line following the wall ensuring that the level is kept level. The reason that I try to keep everything squared up from the floor is because I never know if my van is standing level!! At present I have no insulation fitted as everything will have to be removed for fitting the high top when it gets a bit warmer. I would have liked a slightly lower high top than the one I have, but could not find one and cutting my roof down is not really practical. Geoff.

 

[geoff123]

Sorry HJ, I meant to finish with "good luck with your build". Geoff.

 

[geoff123]

After Easter I hope that the weather will be warm(and dry) enough for me to start to fit my high top. I do of course still have my used pop top and in fact another one (a SWB top), so I will put offer on classified here for a week or so before listing them on the bay. Geoff.