Hi top vs pop top roof.

[LeapStone]

Hi Team! 

I hope you're all having a positive afternoon!

So my camper has a high top roof, which I really don't like, wife says it's excellent and want's to keep it! 

I say different, I prefer the space roof over the high top as I can keep it closed go fishing, and when we go camping have it open so our little daughter can sleep in it!

Question: Can the hi top be removed and replaced with a space roof? Has anyone here done it? is it a lot of work? rough pricing?

I am that close to saying to the garage it's in to remove the high top roof and weld the top until I find and buy a space roof and have it fitted! 

Otherwise does anyone have any ideas? will the hole on top be too big for a space roof etc.

Thank you all so much for your help! 

Warm Regards
George

[R0B]

Be careful. Removing the hightop could reveal a lot of rust as one of our members found out. Sometimes it's better the devil you know.

[LeapStone]

Man.... Wife's right again ill leave it on! 

Damn, If it gets to that stage (Or already at that stage) on mine it'll cost serious money to repair that! 

What did the gent/lady who had that sort of rust done? closed it back up and forget it? or removed it and changed it! Wonder how much something like that will cost!

Thank you so much for your response Rob! 

Warm Regards

[R0B]

There is a thread about it somewhere in the restoration section. Hopefully, the member will see this and point you to it.

[LeapStone]

Thank you so much! 

It's luck of the draw i suppose, It now is 40 years old so i suppose it might have the same issue! 

It's mostly been covered up so i am not sure, but ill still look into it and see the negatives and positives and depending on how much it costs too  

[LeapStone]

There is a thread about it somewhere in the restoration section. Hopefully, the member will see this and point you to it.

This is the thread! 

Rust advice sought - Club 80-90 Forums (club8090.co.uk) 

3k to repair it! 

Honestly ill see how I feel in a few weeks time as I paid 1/3 of that for the camper and the repairs are at 1.3k already   

If all goes well and we use it often ill recon ill do the conversion to popup top! But for the time being I don't know how damaged or if it actually is rusted, I know for certain those campers tend to rust, however the gentleman who owned it before and inside the camper there was an entire cover for it!! so I recon they might have had it covered up a little bit and hopefully either the hi roof is fairly new or it was covered mostly thus will have less rust hopefully, I do have the paperwork for it but just havent looked into it!  

[Aidan]

If you want a pop top just buy a van with one on and sell the hitop van, unless you are a metal whisperer it will cost you more in time and money to convert one to another; the Westfalias are structurally quite different to the commonly available pop top converted pop top vans

[Stesaw]

Yeah if the van doesn't have sentimental value id sell that one and buy one with a poptop. Its a job that could get very expensive if the roof is rusted out.

Hightops are good as you have a solid roof thats better in bad weather, you dont have to worry about rips or tears in the fabric either..but gotta make sure that they are sealed right from the outside and inside.. hightops trap moisture and it runs down the sides and sits in the roof and rusts it out. Some cheap passive dehumidifiers will sort that.

Having a side elevating poptop myself it has its bonuses like getting under some carpark barriers and but as I have solar panels on the roof I have to try to park where the roof opens towards the sun, although that's because I don't use mains hookup. Poptops still have rust issues as they are usually just riveted to the roof so once they rust out your roof will come loose.. also my catches to lock the roof in place has messed up the gutters where they have hit them when closing it sometimes but thays to do with the gas struts which are also a consideration. Mine died a death before we had the van as it came with a broom handle to hold the roof up so opening the roof is a mission, very very heavy, not something you'd want landing on you if you were sleeping in the top bed.

[davidoft1]

It’s not overly difficult to do, there may be corrosion, there may be none , it will however almost certainly be cheaper to buy a van than convert to poptop

[Mocki]

If you could buy a complete pop top for a sensible price , and you are handy enough on the tools , its not a huge job , but its a backward step imho , pop tops catch the wind ( both stationary in camping more and closed up on the move ) and you ll not get under many barriers , but you will spend plenty of time moving stuff about everytime you want to go from camping to driving …..

I changed a pop top to a high top in a weekend twelve years ago

[Michael4]

Don't forget that there are pop tops with solid sides. Best of both worlds.

[keynsham1]

Man.... Wife's right again ill leave it on! 

Damn, If it gets to that stage (Or already at that stage) on mine it'll cost serious money to repair that! 

What did the gent/lady who had that sort of rust done? closed it back up and forget it? or removed it and changed it! Wonder how much something like that will cost!

Thank you so much for your response Rob! 

Warm Regards

It is mine! I had the whole lot repaired. I took the high top off myself and fully stripped the van myself. All roof repairs and all wheel arch replacements, fix to the floor behind the fridge and a few other repairs, and all finish painted came to £13K

The £3k I originally stated was just for repairs to the roof. No other repairs or paint. Paint alone was £4000. Really good job though and it is difficult painting a high top.


 

[LeapStone]

Woah gents, I didn't get a notification of this messages!!!

I spoke with the garage today to even ask them how much It'll cost to simply remove it and solder a piece of metal on the top instead, Just to return it into non high top just normal camper, just wondering on the price for now on this, as wife says to keep it we need it, but id prefer it without so i can drive it fishing etc

Thank you all so much for all your answers!

[Simon Baxter]

Loads of opinions but for me it's a pop top as I can go anywhere a car does, my Westy pop top will go under 2m barriers with mild lowering so I can still go shopping and get into those beach car parks. More stable on the road, fits in my garage at home for the insurance.
I wouldn't convert a van though, just buy the right thing.

[keynsham1]

I guess it is all about use. I only use my van for camping, day trips and the odd run to the recycling centre. The high top is brilliant for this. And the extra storage space in the top area is very useful.



As an everyday vehicle, I don't think any T25 is a good choice really unless you are a dedicated enthusiast! They are all getting on a bit now.