Hi everyone, My 1974 RHD Westy restoration is close to completion (build thread coming soon), but I now need to address the pop top elevating roof hinges. My roof sags a little at the rear and I've tried all sorts of things to fix it, but the hinges seem to be past it (bent, rivets damaged etc) so I am looking to replace them with new ones (or very good used ones). At the moment I am propping up the rear of the roof using some small boxes and cushions to stop it damaging my freshly painted roof, but I obviously need a more long-term solution. Now I've looked everywhere online, but all I can find are prototype bay roof hinges (on ebay, buttysbits, thesamba etc). So, what's the deal with late bay window roof hinges? Are they simply not available new like the prototype bay ones? Are they considered a good enough design to not warrant replacement ever? (I'd beg to differ!) So, before I give up and get a local engineering firm to make some for me (for £300!) I would really appreciate it if someone could tell me where I can find either new or good used hinges somewhere, even if they can be found overseas, I don't mind shipping them in if I have to...I'm sure I saw them once on ebay a year or so ago, but lately I can't find them anywhere, thanks in advance. And thanks to the forum in general for helping me resolve many issues already...I couldn't have got this far with my driveway restoration without the many threads that have helped me find answers...so over to you TLB,can you help me with these hinges?
Serial-Kombi has them. http://www.serial-kombi.com/en-GB/b...ting-roof-hinges-8/1973-7/1979-a-pair-n312272
What's wrong with yours ? I can't really see how the original ones could fail . The slidey bits can wear but that's fixable
Mine have a few issues...one of the hinges has a broken rivet at the point where the 2 bars cross (I'm using a nut/bolt at the moment) and both hinges have bends in the bars themselves...the 'slidey bits' on both of my brackets are also slightly worn, although I'm not sure how much that affects the rear of the roof sagging (a fairly common problem apparently, at least according to the research I've done). For the record, without my current bodge (boxes and cushions inside to lift the roof up a little at the rear) my pop top would not be anywhere near level (mine was out by as much as 2cms). I personally think that the late bay hinge design is better than the prototype bay designs, so there is perhaps less need to produce replacements as they tend to last longer than the early hinges (the tubes on early bays tend to bend or crack whereas the thick bars on late bays are tougher imo). That said, I often see late bay Westfalias with a roof that is sagging a little at the back and not running level with the gutters towards the front, so these hinges do seem to wear and rather than try to bodge or attempt to straighten and repair mine, I'm looking for a decent (hopefully stronger) replacement so I can forget about them once and for all. I am currently deciding whether to go with the ones that Serial Kombi sell for 300 euros or go with a local engineering firm who say that they can re-produce the hinges for me for around £300 (slightly thicker/stronger than stock)...what do you guys think I should do?
I'm not sure if they'd fit, but my Spaceroof westy replica has similar hinges, so it might be worth speaking to Pete at spaceroofs. They don't explicitly list it on their site (http://www.spaceroofs.co.uk/extras.htm), but it can't hurt to ask them.
@Essex-bay did you sort out your roof sag, was it the hinges? My roof is suffering from the same issue so wondering what the solution is.
https://www.buttysbits.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/T2B_Latebay_Westfalia_hinges_BB-109-1.jpg https://www.buttysbits.com/product/bb-109-latebay-t2b-westfalia-top-hinges/
