How tell if fiberglass top has wood?

[dr_nelson]

Hey y'all,

I am in the middle of ripping everything out from my Ford E-350. It came with a fiberglass high top. Not too high, but I can almost stand inside (I am 170cm, 5 ft 6 in).

Now, my high top looks like this from the inside:

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You can see that I removed one of the wood "struts", which was directly screwed into the roof. I was freaked out at first, but there is no holes or whatsoever on the outside of the roof.

My question is, how can I tell whether this roof has wood in between? I tried looking through the holes from the screws, which one of the previous owners put in, or knocking on it but I can't tell...

I can provide additional pics if that helps, just tell me what I should take a pic of.

Thanks for your help.

 

[SternWake]

It is hard to say.


generally the curve of a structure can yield the strength/rigidity and wood is used  in the flatter parts to add it rather than layer the fiberglass exceptionally thick.

I was rather surprised to find some foam in my roof.

I think you will have to do some test holes, using short screws or a drill of limited depth.  A strong light might reveal some areas with wood.

 

[highdesertranger]

how thick is the fiberglass? are you planning on putting a roof vent on it? highdesertranger

 

[dr_nelson]

Thanks for your replies!

It's hard to say how thick the roof is on the top. One of the screws was approx. 0.4 inches in the roof.

And yes, I will put a roof vent on it, probably two. I guess that's when I will find out whether there is wood or not...

By the way, this is the roof from the outside:

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[Canine]

Nice flat roof for solar.
That's quite the smack on the corner pillar, that part of the van is pretty tough. Wonder what hit it?
Like others have said, measure for your vent then cut away...then you will know.
Remember shading of solar panels when placing the vent(s), if you plan on any.

 

[dr_nelson]

Nice flat roof for solar.
That's quite the smack on the corner pillar, that part of the van is pretty tough. Wonder what hit it?
(...)

Yeah, I am quite glad the roof is flat, as I will be mounting solar and a vent.
I bought the van with the smack, and I will try to "fix" that (meaning making it less obvious). I can reach from the inside of the pillar to it, and if that doesnät help, I'll probably drill a hole or two while vacuuming from the inside to catch drill-chippings and then pull with all my might - and then use body filler.

 

[bullfrog]

It almost looks like a person's face I think I'd just make a mural out of it as it gives the van a personality.

 

[INTJohn]

Dude; you can get a 5lb slide hammer with puller parts for like 50$ new to take care of that piller dent.........
Harbor freight has a set for 25$ but its not.... - well its harbor freight. probably would be ok tho for your purpose........

INTJohn

 

[dr_nelson]

Just in case anyone was wondering. I do not have wood in my fiberglass top, but metal strips.

This...

...looks actually like this after cutting. You may be able to see the metal:

It is a fiberglass top made by Tri-Glas in 2001. A company that no longer exists.

 

[Alcatraz]

Is that corrugated cardboard sandwiched between the fiberglass Layers??

 

[bullfrog]

Almost looks like a hollow core door type construction, that gives me an idea!

 

[bkrunaway]

I have a similar situation with my fiberglass high top. There is a patched vent hole that allows me to see a cross section of the flat section of the fiberglass. I'm looking into how to install some sort of wood strip to anchor my ceiling cover to and lay my polyiso insulation between. Let me know if you've made any progress with your high top and whether or not it's been working for you to just screw directly into the high top since it has the double layer.

Thanks!

 

[Sassenach]

So how did the vent install work out for you?? My van is somewhat similar. What tools did you use to cut thru the fiberglass and did you have switch blades when you hit the metal?