My 1989 Suburban with a Westfalia top grafted into it... also dual 360 swivel seats

[red EOD veteran]

Yes. It is actually THE original gauntlet. Meaning mine was custom, and Kurt turned it into a model after mine came out so well. Diy4x does amazing work!

yes he does, great customer service to. have a few of his parts on my 87 haha.

how much extra room does the roof add? placing another bed up there?

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

[dbreid]

It adds a ton of room. Just like a Westy pop top. You can fit a bed up there (I have the plywood mounted for one in the pictures). There's not quite as much "thickness" for a bed when the top is closed, because the Suburban has a more domed (side to side) roof than a Vanagon. But it works!

 

[Highland doc]

I love it!

 

[locrwln]

Nice job. Looking forward to the final version.

I had thoughts of putting the "flip" portion of a flip pak on my 80 series, but couldn't figure out the details, so awesome job!!

Jack

 

[O.R.T.]

That actually came out sweeter than I envisioned it being. (Saw it while Robert had it b/c I'm a Parts Guy.)

What are your plans for the top edge of the windshield and the raw-metal/body-work he had to do to make it fit?

Shane

 

[dbreid]

Robert is the man. . I have been dutifully coating all the raw metal where he had to reinforce, cut, and weld around the opening. Doing it with POR15, which I have had good luck with on other vehicles. Not sure what you mean by the "top edge" of the windshield. The front Fiberglas basket attaches to the factory roof with L brackets (just like the factory van). So the roof is intact original Suburban roof above the windshield.

 

[O.R.T.]

Forgot to mention I have a suggestion (still).

Weld in a gutter edge all the way around the cutout to keep some strength on the roof panel as well as divert any leaks that get past the Westy-Top's seals. Then just cover them with rubber welt or finish enough to paint so you don't hurt yourself on it. That or just welt when the headliner's all installed to divert water.

As for the top edge of the windshield, above the rubber glass seal, roof metal, I thought I either saw some rust developing or may just be paint peeling?

 

[dbreid]

The roof panel could now be used as a jack point, I think. It is craaaaazy reinforced. Totally understand the gutter idea, though.

And the chips above the windshield is the old original blue showing through where the 15 year old horrible Maaco paint peels off. I just use spray paint to fix that. Makes me not care about scratching up the truck!

 

[TurboChris]

The cool factor is high on this one!

 

[java]

Very cool! Id like to see it finished

 

[driveinwoods]

What a great idea, it looks like it should have been a factory option.

 

[colierar]

I'm very jealous of this project. Looks great. A quick question about the seats, will you be able to run some sort of center console with the swivel mounts?

 

[dbreid]

I probably could run a center console (a narrow one) but I am not going to. I am gonna leave that as a flat floor

 

[Sentinelist]

Whoa! Wicked project. Way to keep your original rig and reinvent it for your family. Well done and keep it up.

 

[Camelfilter]

Very nice!