Just bought a Westfalia roof....

[tforturton]

I think I'm right in saying that this is the roof when it was on Syncropatrick's bus. This was taken at the Mendipity Syncro event, back in June....

And here's the same roof on top of my bus, when I brought it back from Bristol.

The front bit is inside....

[adyjoad]

Dropped the Syncro off at Ady's place today. Good to see another Syncro there in the yard, along with dozens of 2WD T25s and Bays. Watch this space for the 'before and after' pictures....

And maybe a few 'during' ones

[tforturton]

Here are a couple of pictures of progress with the roof.....

The best roof lining you've ever seen.....?

Hole cut....

....not any more. Big hole in both roof and lining

[tforturton]

Here's a few more pictures on the roof swap. Just so no-one's in any doubt, this isn't me doing this - these sort of skills are way beyond me. No, I'm paying Ady at Boxwagen in Bournemouth to put this roof on, and he seems to be doing a great job. He has said he'd do a step-by-step post if anyone's interested, so let me know if you want to see a bit more. Anyway, this is where the safety frame goes in - this is a steel frame that Ady has made up, that fits neatly into and around the hole in the roof, and not only strengthens and add rigidity, but it also gives a neat edge, somewhere for the headlining to tuck into (neatly) and also a strong mounting place for the H frame. This frame is unique to Ady (as far as I know).

This is then riveted into place using pre-drilled holes. You can see the flange (inner edge) where the headlong will fold over - a strip of plastic trim holds it in place, and gives a neat (and safe) finish.

The last picture shows the holes for the H frame, and also a section of the contoured aluminium rail that holds the canvas in place. Ady fits this first - once centralised, it can only really go in one place - and then drills the holes to fit it. Obviously, it has to come back off when you're fitting the canvas.

[tforturton]

More pictures from the roof fitting. Apparently, it's very common for the H bar hinge to go a bit 'floppy'. This is down to the horizontal bar revolving inside a piece of 3mm plate, which eventually cuts a groove in both ends of the pipe. Being an early roof, this one has been on more than a couple of vans before arriving with me, and the wear is plain to see. Pretty incrediblle, really - maybe it's time to check your's out! Anyway, Ady took the H frame apart, welded up the grooves, and made the hinge like new. Great attention to detail....

Before

After

[tforturton]

Okay, now we move on to locating the rear hinges. Ady did a lot of measuring and marking for this, and he also makes his own securing spreader plates, which fit inside the vehicle. They look like this...

The reason for the odd shape becomes clear when you have to fit them - it's the only way you can hold onto them, and move them around, while you are fitting the hinge...

Needless to say, you need to pull back the rear headliner to get in there.

[tforturton]

Okay, here's that specially made safety frame in action. You remember the lip, for the headliner to wrap around? Here's the loose edge in place...

Wrap it round, pull it tight, and once it's glued in place, the surplus can be cut away, and the trim slips over.

Leaving a neat finish - no jagged edges or torn headlining.

As you can see, the frame has been sprayed the same colour as the roof (but not, as we were to find out later, the same colour as the rest of the body). The little metal clip you can see is one of a few that will hold the bed base in place.

[jed the spread]

If you break anything or need any of the original roof rubbers replacing I have pretty much every part for a Westfalia roof here, http://campervanculture.com/product-cat ... lia-stuff/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Jed

[tforturton]

A couple more pictures for you. The work is all complete now, and the van is back with me in Cardiff. All that remains is to cover the bed cushions with something suitable.
This first picture shows the bed base that goes in the roof. This is curved at the bottom, but flat at the top. That's because Caravelle roofs are curved, whereas proper Westfalia ones are flat.

This picture shows the pop-top on and open. The canvas is non-original, but isn't like anything I've seen before - it's a heavy duty canvas type cloth, with a sort of metallic-rubberised finish. Not a great description, but the best I can do! In this picture, you can also see the slight colour difference I mentioned earlier on.

The roof colour was produced using the vehicle paint code, but as you can see it's come out slightly lighter than the rest of the body. I was aware that the body sides (but not the roof) had been repainted at some time in the past, and it seems something went wrong! They either used a different colour, or the mix wasn't quite right.... but there it is - the original roof was a shade lighter, and now the new roof is also that same shade. If anyone has any bright ideas how to remedy this, let me know!

[tforturton]

Here's some more showing it more or less finished. Sadly, there proved to be some damage to the original seal - in this picture you can see the corners had split. So it had to come off, and Ady fitted a new one.

Here's a view from the back end.....

And here's the finished product. Not a great picture, sorry - it was getting dark by then.

Many thanks to Ady at Boxwagen in Bournemouth for all his hard work.

[lloydy]

Very nice
Bet your well happy

[mrhutch]

^^^+1 that has transformed the bus.. good call and excellent work ady

[tforturton]

Luggage rack....

Roof re-lined.

[clift_d]

Nicely done.

[adyjoad]

Thanks for the kind words guys. I see these things in my sleep now...