Adapting a pop top from a different van type?

[Reducto]

I really love my old Toyota van but I'm running up against the size limitations. I'm fixated on the idea of adding a pop top. This will give me more comfort when I'm not working and more importantly allow me to take real showers when I am working.

I've found a few articles online about adapting old VW bus pop tops and it seems within my abilities but they are all lacking greatly in detail. They don't show up in junkyards often so I don't have anything I can look at to take measurements or see how the mechanism is mounted.

Has anyone tried this themselves or have any thoughts on it? How would I even find a top?

 

[SoulRaven]

What era tops are we talking about, and what van do you have?

 

[Reducto]

I have an 89 Toyota van. I don't know exactly what top would fit best as information is hard to come by.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

Hi Reducto I have a 1991 Toyota van a Townace , I have been toying with this idea for some time. I have looked into the VW pop top and for my model, unfortunalty the VW one was too wide, if you have the LE, Sienna or one like it I think you will find the VW too wide as well, the VWs are bigger then they look.  I am still looking, older hiace vans would work but are hard to find also planning on building one with a couple of those spring loaded cross hinges, like they use on some of VW, the ones that pop straight up rather then hinge from one end, those hinges come in either 900mm or 1200mm. 3 or 4 feet. I was thinking of building it with thin marine ply then either varnishing it, which would require a bit more maintenance but look cool or if the wood didn't turn out that great, I thought of covering it with fiberglass and painting it the same colour as the van.  There is not that much to them but I think you would want to have it working before you cut the hole even if the tent part was not on it, which could be done afterwards. 

 

[SoulRaven]

I believe I would look for a donor van with an identical roof. Then you could hinge it and add canvas etc, yet when closed, nobody would even know it existed.

Kind of like the Eurovans, they don't even look like they have a pop top.

 

[Lafnbug]

^^^ Now THAT is a cool idea. Thanks for that, OffGrid! On second thought maybe I shouldn't thank you, as now I won't be able to sleep tonite =:^)

 

[Reducto]

I was inspired by these posts:

Van with pop top:
http://www.toyotavanpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=7791

Here is one where someone cut a larger high top down to size to fit his Toyota:
http://www.toyotavantech.com/forum/showthread.php?1575

It seems like I could narrow it and modify the edges to match my roofline, or simply build my own top. I haven't actually made anything out of fiberglass before, though, so I'd rather have something solid to start with. The raising mechanism and latches seem like the key missing piece to me. It's hard to get started without them.

I don't necessarily need it to match my existing roofline. If anything I'd rather have it sit a few inches higher and be flat for easier solar panel mounting.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

GTRV a company in California you can google them, they turn Toyota Siennas into Poptop campers, they have gotten pretty slick with their roofs, perhaps they would sell you one, I bet they would be costly but who knows, they are hinged from the back and lift at the front, They are the same people that built my Dodge Caravan poptop back in 1993 when they were known as LULU Island campers, GTRV.