Have any of my fellow Norsemen replaced the seal on their pop-tops? If so, were you able to do it without taking the roof off the van?
we at heritage do a generic seal to fit part numebr 211-817-001 you can search that on our site for a look
Been looking at doing this on my van when I get round to painting and putting it back together, I think the roof has to at least come off the hinges to do it, as the seal is fitted very tight against the hinges, almost crushed against the hinge, I've taken my seal off but it looks a knighmare to put back on in-situ. You'll also need the longer seal available - at about 10 metres.
I tried mine a few years ago on the Viking roof and it was a bugger to do, still not fitting snug under one of the hinges. I managed to break one of the hinges in the process of it, the night before we were due to go away for two weeks. A mate had to come around and knock up a hinge for me at night. There are two morals of my tale go careful as the hinges could be fragile and don't do it the night before you are due to go away. God I was in the dog house big time.
No idea. But I know my brackets have a bit or reenforcing on the inside of the roof so could be a bugger to get back on. I found the two Middle ones the hardest to go around, I ended up using a flat screwdriver to ease it on the roof.
I'll do my usual thing tomorrow. Go out to the van full of hope with a grand plan, look at the thing, realise I haven't got the time or skill to do the job then go back inside crestfallen; thinking it'll have to do as it is.
Well it's taken me this long to finally look at the thing. The seal it has at the moment avoided the hinges altogether. Whoever fitted it just cut the seal to fit between them. I think I'll do the same and use my rather impressive sealant skills to keep the water out. However before that it's a full sanding, bit of filler and a rollered coat or two of thinned Rustoleum. I think it might be a job I can actually do! What sort of glue would I need to fit the seal?
With regards to the seal sold by VW Heritage, Why is there a circular bit on top? My existing seal doesn't have that, it's just a regular U shape.
Along the hinge bit I just prised it on. Still not fitted proper around the hinges though. Those 4 little things on the u bit grabs that roof bit.
Took another look. The seal has been partially replaced at some point. About a two-thirds looks like the picture above while the rest is just bog standard. Quite a lot of the original seal is showing signs of perishing though and there's a pretty coating of algae all round. I'd really like to get the 19 previous owners in a room and start asking questions (and knocking heads together). There's some weird stuff been done to that bus which needs explaining.
As mentioned just now on another thread I bought the JK seal kit today. I'll post up my roof renovation project as I'm doing it ('cos as mentioned earlier, I'm never going to be able to show any welding or engine stripping - you're lucky I didn't put up a fifteen-step post about how I put on a new gear knob or stuck three plastic footballers on the dash).
The seal on my roof, had come off in parts, so applied thin bead of clear silicone inside seal and it has kept it on great.
Hello Sir Arthur, How did you get on with this.. one of the jobs I think I could do is to replace the rather sad looking seal on our roof.. A little concerned about the working space around the hinges though.. Would you recommend the roof seal from JK? Hope it went well for you. Kris
Hey Kris. The plan was to do it once the MOT and service was done and the weather clears up. Unfortunately - as mentioned elsewhere - neither has happened. Looks like it'll be a June job now. I have a tin of Rustoleum and a box with a seal in it (no not that kind, it refuses to play ANY tunes on car horns with its nose) but no actual van.
