Just finished insulating and painting my hightop.

[syncrosimon]

This has been a long process which I started last easter sunday. The camper is now nearly finished with just the usual small things to sort.

This is the side insulation, is the slab stuff and 80mm thick.!!!


This is the wiring for the electric roof fans, and their speed control, plus the lights.


The upper sides are now painted and in, the upper insulation is in place, being held by gaff tape!


Upper panel in now.










At last I fitted the vent pipes for the twin batts, see the clear pipe out the back, vents to the ground.




Very happy with the result.


Simon.

[Pepperami]

Nice work. But i took the same insulation out of this bus



And it was soaking

[syncrosimon]

Nice work. But i took the same insulation out of this bus



And it was soaking

As it is Easter can I say Sweet Jesu mother of God, in a celebratory fashion!

Simon.

[gti mad man]

Nice job dude

yup that insulation does hold water but its only against fibreglass anyways

[syncrosimon]

I thought too that that glass type insulation holds water, but she has survived 15 years in the Finnish army with similar insulation without any prob's, so time will tell. It's all easily take-a-part-able, so can keep an eye on it.

[jed the spread]

The reason it will hold water is because this is what happens,

The area is unvented so when in the winter it is cold outside and warm inside it will condensate up (I'm guessing the army didn't sleep in it in winter).
If you try and do this in a domestic dwelling lets say the roof space in a loft conversion the building inspector will make you take it out because it will hold the moisture like a sponge and gravity will hold it at the lowest point and saturate the wall or in your case the future problem areas of the van. This is why building code will only let you use kingspan or superquilt and it still must be vented via building regs.
I don't want to bum you out Simon as you do come across as a really nice fella and use your van as it should be used and i always admire that in anyone but the next time you go away as you do in cold weather just pull back a cladded area and squeeze the bottom of the rock wool and see how much water it holds. If it was me i would have a weekend taking it all out because the only thing that can keep a van warm is an air pocket from the cold outer metal of the van and the warm inner panel/door card of your van.
If you think about a fridge the thing that cools the fridge (insulated box) is the cold fins that sit in it, (the cold fins are all the bare metal you can see inside your van). Because the bare metal is cooled from the outside and inside the insulated box is warm it will condensate up on its own even without a couple of adults and a couple of kids breathing out moisture all night. Just feel the moisture on the metal bits of the van when they are vented, uninvented with the rockwood holding that moisture will in the end rot your van.

Apart from that i have always been very envious of your van and i admire the time and effort you have put into it.

jed

[syncrosimon]

I hear what you are saying guys, and appreciate your kind comments and advice, I will keep an eye on that rockwool and give it a squeeze at some point. The reason I have done it like this is because it is exactly as the Finnish Army installed it, and I found no trace of rust inside the roof or any other part of the dub after 15 years of use. Even where they had welded the extra roof supports in and not bothered to paint it. They even had rockwool stuffed in the panel work with no ill effect. Maybe it is the colder climate that has protected her.

I have waxoiled around the metal lip where the fibre glass attaches to the metal roof, and a little bit of water wont hurt.

The roof panels only take about 10 minutes each to unscrew, so I will have a look and see what is going on in there.

So long as the rockwool touches both the inner and outer panel then condensation cannot form? right?.

I can see on cold mornings the outlines of the metal hoops that go over the roof forming condensation on the outside, this is where there is no insulation because of the panel.







Syncroswede has done the insulation on his van with closed cell foam, and it is definately better at insulating, and I shall consider re-doing the rockwool with some of that, another £200 wont hurt this far in

Simon.

[radman]

Hi Simon & Jed
I read your comments with interest. I too have rock wool insulation (original westfalia type) in all the usual places. I took the time to remove furniture and internal panels to inspect and waxoyl and then refit the original insulation. The two areas of rust were behind the fridge and the rear tailgate under the lower plastic window rubber. Mine is a high top too so it will have plenty more rock wool above! I guess the previous owners camped mainly during the warmer months. I am know pondering should I remove and replace the insulation against the metal work. My question is should I go with something like thermal insulation foil (the plastic air filled cell with silver thermal reflector you can buy in rolls) I guess it will also act as a vapour barrier too? Jed I understand the condensation point you made, since I cannot stop the outside of our van getting cold I have to stop the internal heat and air moisture getting to the inner side of the metal panel. Does it matter if the insulation is in contact with the metal or not? Does it make any difference? Obviously there is no option behind the fridge area.

Hope you don't mind me asking. David

[HarryMann]

Panel repair that was worrhless and never rust treated around weld joins, post-repair. Nicely holed!

Currently finding Dinitrol RC900 spray can is really useful - this binds with the rust itself forming a primed surface... ready for painting. Will be using another Dinitrol product instead of Waxoyl for inside sections after all done, which penetrates through dust and grime (they say)
Have seen inside old Waxoyled sections and wasn't overly impressed...

Some floor and sill areas nearby, cutting out the canker!Sill top-plate had 'lifted' after someone's previous repair as floor edge was not replaced, so all spotting up was just a waste of time

[DavidPallister]

Hi simon

I've got one of those VW hightops, which is in desperate need of insulation, but how well does your's handle with the weight of all that extra steelwork up inside the roof?

Dave

[syncrosimon]

Well, I think she handles great, I dont drive her fast (except in a straight line) and to be honest she is always loaded up to the max with camping stuff, so difficult to say. A tin top is a little better on the twisties, but once the weight is up there, so what, I just drive accordingly, which is a comfortable speed for the family.

In the roof overhead locker I have the following items which weigh a tonne.

4x folding camp chairs
a fold out table chair combo
a camp bed
an aero bed
the 25m orange cable
the silver screens
peg box for the kyham awning
mattress for camp bed ( old sun lounger pad)
The blue water fill up pipe
a portable canister gas single hob thing.

The other end is the upper bunk mattress, 4x sleeping bags and 4x pillows.

So a little insulation and metal isnt gonna hurt, and much better crash protection.

Could not do without the hightop.

Strong enough for the kids to climb on and sit on the roof.


Simon.