Club 80-90 Forums

Thanks for that Steve.
I guess I am 30 years out of the warranty period now so no use complaining to Auto Sleepers.
Interesting point about not treating cut holes. I thought Auto sleepers were supposed to be one of the 'better' converters, especially back in them days.

FYI the following image comes from a page on the van360 site with info on hightop restoration and shows a typical section through the gutter of a Westfalia / Postbus hightop:



The page is in German so you'll probably need to run it through Google translate.

Mocki wrote:

kentishvanman wrote:HI,

Mocki wrote:autosleeper high tops are known for leaking and rusting the original van roof along the edges

Are Autosleepers worse than others and if so why?
When installed Auto sleepers hi tops had pop rivets front and back under the rubber trim. Removed mine long ago. Not sure if others had them and that could be the start of the rust problem. Apart from that are not all high tops similiar at the lower edge? Do they all have the lip that sits in the gutter on a bed of sealant?
Any ideas/thoughts.

yes the pop rivets is the main problem, BUT also autosleeper NEVER treat any holes they cut , so rust starts from day one .....

autosleeper roofs are very much thinner ( you can see sunshine through them ) so they are less rigid and therefore they vibrate against the sealant and become less water tight, and capillary action takes the water in , and with little of no insulation, condensation forms inside and runs dowm and gather along the original roof inside .....

My own AutoSleeper, no longer has the moulding that went over the high top rivets at the front. The area was neatly finished during its respray two years ago and I was, perhaps ignorantly, pleased with it. But I would like to replace the moulding/trim now, so does anyone know where I can get the rubber trim? I've contacted AutoSleeper and they sent me a sample of what they thought could fit the bill, but it wasn't the right trim after all.

Reading with interest

My Autosleeper has an occasional leak from the front left corner, passenger side, water seems to come down the A post. Only happens when parked at a certain angle with torrential rain.

Is there a fix / mitigation that doesn't involve wholesale roof removal ?

This is staggering. Three people with AutoSleepers all have the same kind of leak from their high tps , down or along, the A post on the passenger's side!

HI,

salgarfi wrote:This is staggering. Three people with AutoSleepers all have the same kind of leak from their high tps , down or along, the A post on the passenger's side!

Staggering is not among the words I use when thinking about or trying to solve this leak problem.
If it is of any use to you I have a mate who lives near Merthyr T and he had his pop top removed, it leaked, and replaced with a high top. They made a good job of it for about £2k.
I can chase up the details if you wish.

kentishvanman wrote:HI,

salgarfi wrote:This is staggering. Three people with AutoSleepers all have the same kind of leak from their high tps , down or along, the A post on the passenger's side!

Staggering is not among the words I use when thinking about or trying to solve this leak problem.
If it is of any use to you I have a mate who lives near Merthyr T and he had his pop top removed, it leaked, and replaced with a high top. They made a good job of it for about £2k.
I can chase up the details if you wish.

Oh yes, please do. But with Merthyr being three hours away, I'd just like to know the whole of what he got (respray and all) for his money. Thanks.

Ok. Will do.
Might take a few days cos he is not a regular email watcher.
Don

Here's what mine looks like.

What's the white stuff in the gutter, the black bits are dirt enbedded in cracks ?

I just ran a finger nail down the black line between the gutter and green grp roof proper. There did seem to be a gap, is this where other people have had a problem.

My gutter was cleaned out by the bodyshop and neatly filled in (it was like yours). Unfortunately, there was still a slight gap between the gutter and the high top (rust developed), so some silicon was put in as a seal. This was not well done, so I've filled my gutter with sikaflex. What you show is definitely a culprit, but that's no longer the case with my camper. The rubber at the front of the high top might also be deteriorated slightly, but my body shop couldn't find a replacement, and I've been looking unsuccesfully.

clift_d wrote:FYI the following image comes from a page on the van360 site with info on hightop restoration and shows a typical section through the gutter of a Westfalia / Postbus hightop:



The page is in German so you'll probably need to run it through Google translate.

Is this what's under my factory high top ? (hopefully).

It doesn't leak (only in the front footwell) - but i'd like to change the sealant above the front window.
I replaced the screen rubber when i had the bodywork done a few years ago (so that area should be ok) - but always had a trickle into the front foot wells).

937carrera wrote:Here's what mine looks like.

What's the white stuff in the gutter, the black bits are dirt enbedded in cracks ?]/quote]
The white stuff is probably the original sealant. I have always used Tiger Seal as a replacement.

salgarfi wrote:. The rubber at the front of the high top might also be deteriorated slightly, but my body shop couldn't find a replacement, and I've been looking unsuccesfully.

You could try c o h Baines for rubber.

kentishvanman wrote:Ok. Will do.
Might take a few days cos he is not a regular email watcher.
Don

Thanks muchly!

Message for Salgarfi plus any others with same prob.

Hightop replacement....
Tim at AZTEC. Queensway, Fforestfach, Swansea. SA5 4DJ.
Tel 01792 586715
My mate had a pop top on a Holdsworth conversion and the end panels needed replacing.
Pop top removed and replaced with high top. I think it was a good job, looked great.
Cost was just over £2000. They do not do spraying and only do white roofs.
Hope that helps.
Don

kentishvanman wrote:Message for Salgarfi plus any others with same prob.

Hightop replacement....
Tim at AZTEC. Queensway, Fforestfach, Swansea. SA5 4DJ.
Tel 01792 586715
My mate had a pop top on a Holdsworth conversion and the end panels needed replacing.
Pop top removed and replaced with high top. I think it was a good job, looked great.
Cost was just over £2000. They do not do spraying and only do white roofs.
Hope that helps.
Don

Thanks for this info Don, it's very helpful! I now have some ball park figures to get my head around. Watch this space!