Hitop to pop top

[Sir Brixalot]

Kids are too big now for a high top. It would normally be sensible to sell mine and buy a pop top but I've spent so much time and money on engines and gearboxes that I am loathe to sell. I think the hole is too big in my autosleeper just to swap over. Has anyone done a swap and was it very pricey -I'm assuming it would mean getting a roof cut?

[adie89]

A lot depends on the roof. My last hi top daisy was just bonded to the roof and the aperture was, roughly by memory, about the same size as it is on my syncro Greta which is a Carthago (Reimo style) pop top which I believe is bolted to the roof. Unfortunately I don’t own daisy anymore so I can’t measure for you.
At first thought a roof cut shouldn’t be necessary because the hi top adds no structure to the bus unless it’s a pucker westfalia with the full sliding bed affair, then your roof cut would have to extend down into the window frames.

[Sir Brixalot]

Thanks for letting me know. I'm sure someone told me that the autosleeper is too big, Anyone know for sure on way or the other

[mhowood]

I'm considering the same move @SirBrixalot.
My T25 is a hightop too - it was great when both kids slept up there but they're now sleeping in the driveway awning. Saying that it's great for storing all the camping gear.
A poptop would also mean I could get it in to local garages and think about storing it in winter too, and I dare say it wouldn't roll quite as bad over speed bumps.

Please update the thread if you go ahead with the conversion.

[Sir Brixalot]

It's getting harder to have a hightop, increasingly car parks are putting up height barriers, Getting frustrating

[Mocki]

To be honest, having been present and helping to brake a autosleeper hitop , you will be opening a can of worms when you remove the old roof, autosleeper never heard of painting after they cut or caused bare metal , and the6 rivited or screwed into the original van roof, so the tin worm will have had a feast under that roof , particularly at the front corners ...... ( ask KevTheRev for the pictures of his when it went to have the bodyworkist do his stuff )
But the hole up to upstairs won’t be a problem for you as long as it was a four bearth ( only cut out between the "b" pillar and the "c" pillar with the cross members remaining intact)

I swapped my O/H’s pop top to a autosleeper hightop some years ago and it was a straight forward job apart from the three million rivot holes left by the pop top and it’s daft flappy tent thing !

[Oldiebut goodie]

Personally I would go for a high top every time ( and have with the new van) - you can't beat pulling up in a layby in torrential rain and just standing up in the back stretching whilst the kettle is getting itself ready. Having used a poptop in the 70's I found that it was an inconvenience that I could do without. I understand that a lot of users use carparks with height barriers but I take the view that if a town/ shopping area doesn't want my custom I will go elsewhere, no loss to me.

[Mocki]

To be honest most t25 pop tops wouldn’t get under car park barriers anyway , unless the hard of thinking have messed with the suspension !

[DavidS]

I changed my high-top to a Reimo pop-top last year and it all went pretty smoothly and I'm happy with the result. The pop-top was second hand via this forum and I was lucky that the actual roof of my van was in good nick at the corners and I did all the work myself so the cost was not too great. But if you buy a new roof and get it fitted it will be expensive.
My van had originally been a panel van and when the high-top was fitted the fitter had simply cut a square hole in the middle section of the metal roof between the cross members - this hole was just under 4' square. I have strengthened the edges with full length timbers that support the bed platform when it it folded out and act as a structure for the roof lining to fix to. The hardest bit of the job was working out, checking and double checking the position of the hinges etc so that it closes square onto the van.
Good luck.

[davidoft1]

To be honest most t25 pop tops wouldn’t get under car park barriers anyway , unless the hard of thinking have messed with the suspension !

My stock Westy does

[itchyfeet]

To be honest most t25 pop tops wouldn’t get under car park barriers anyway , unless the hard of thinking have messed with the suspension !

My standard Holdsworth Villa 3 is 2.1m to the tallest point of the roof when unloaded.

Most barriers are slightly above what they state.

[ash1293]

Most barriers are slightly above what they state.

famous last words...........

But seriously, ours is a high top and it does sometimes deter me taking the van somewhere if I'm unsure if I'll get parked somewhere.

I did find this on the alliance of british drivers website:
"The Department for Transport and BS8300:2001 recommends that a minimum height of 2·6m is required to allow access to high-top conversion vehicles [DfT], yet this is contradicted by the typical height of around 2·1m. If a barrier lower than 2·6m is installed, the DoT say that some ‘alternative means of access’ be provided. Yet in many locations there is no such alternative means."

I need to double chek but I think ours comes in at around 2.7m anayway

[Michael4]

Our Devon goes under a 2.1 barrier OK...but I had to get rid of the roof vent which stuck up quite a lot. No great problem, it has windows for ventilation in the pop top sides. Also means that it now fits in the garage after changing the up and over door for a roller.

[Sir Brixalot]

Thanks Gents. Food for thought. Thinking it may be easier to sell and buy....but with Ulez lurking around the corner it may be time to go for an older (or much newer) model. Until recently I thought that being as it runs on LPG I'd be exempt