Will a 1981 VW Westy Roof fit on a Delica....

[thedjjack]

Thought I would start a new thread....So I cut the roof of a 1981 VW Campervan last week and finally picked it up tonight! Now the real fun starts!!

Here are the first set of photos.

[thedjjack]

My answer is sure, I got a saw and a welder why not!!

Should be a fun project....

[jessef]

I already tried it.

I had an 87 westy and cut the top skin off. Was going to transplant it on a syncro but then had the bright idea of putting it on the L300.

The westy roof is huge and I had traced out 6 sections to cut, shorten the length/width and the put spars and reinforce it with glass/resin to hold it's own on top of the Delica roof skin.

I never got around to cutting it as it took too long (project).

good luck on yours. I've only come across one person on the planet who did something similar and there are pics somewhere on the uk site.

He did the same thing. westy roof. cut into sections. shaped the contour of the L300 roofline skin and then put the cut sections back together.

Cutting the L300 roof is another matter.

You'll need a lowroof L300 for this to work so you can use the existing cross braces.

If you have a highroof L300, you will have to weld your own bracing and that is where insurance gets complicated.

I got a negative no go to insure my rig if I would have gone ahead with that via ICBC.

I'd like to see someone try it and succeed. Watching !

[thedjjack]

I am a low roof. Not sure what ICBC problem is...

My understanding from my last build (1964 FC170, Mercedes OM617 diesel with a Trillium camper) you can not weld to the frame unless it is certified (which my welds where).

The roof is easier as I will not remove factory cross braces and the opening is going to be the same as the large sunroof.

I suspect I would be cutting and glassing the roof (looked at the UK site)

I will see when I get the VW roof pulled apart. (took the whole roof for a template).

[jessef]

Nice.

Looking forward to the progress

I wish I had the time to finished what I started back then. It was fun while I was doing it.

[thedjjack]

Progress so far (sorry forgot my camera)

Roof:

Got the old roof (VW Westy) unmounted. canvas off.

Looks like I will need to take out 5.5 inches out of the middle of the long roof and 16.5 inches out of the front cargo holder end.

Challenges: Delica roof is flat with ribs long way (problem for water pooling over the VW roof which is arched and has ribs sideways).

May glass the front ramp up piece onto the larger roof so it is a one piece roof to make sealing easier? Still work through it in my mind.

Next step is to cut the large roof to fit and then deal mount it to the roof (no hole cutting yet till I commit and see how it looks. Probably tack the hinge to the roof to see???

[jessef]

Tack first, weld later. My moto.

[thedjjack]

Tack the hing to avoid having to Drill holes in the roof for fab up.

Like your moto!