In a message dated 27/09/2005 12:03:33 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
LISTSERV@GERRY.VANAGON.COM writes:

I am  toying with the idea of replacing my pop top, but before I leap
into it I  had a couple of quesions:

1) Was the skylight optional? If possible I'd  like to get a top
WITHOUT a skylight.

2) I know earlier vans did not  all have skylights, but as I understand
it the canvas attaches differently.  So assuming I have a 1986 van am I
restricted as to what year of pop top I  can buy (because of the way
the canvas  attaches)?

Chris, your toying with engineering here.  The  skylight was not optional.
It came on all but very early Vanagon Westys  after they found they needed
ventilation for the fridge.  The way the  fridge is installed the heat produced
behind the fridge has to escape to keep  the fridge working.  There is no
exterior exhaust for this heat so they  installed the skylight.  Fresh air is drawn
in under the front of the  fridge as the hot air rises behind the fridge and
out through the grill work  behind the stove cabinet then out through the
skylight.  If the skylight is  closed or not there the heat will stay inside the
van until an equilibrium is  achieved and the fridge will quite working.  Some
of us including myself  have re-engineered the fridge to have a positive
exhaust of the heat to the  outside by fitting a 12 volt computer fan as an exhaust
fan in the city water  intake port, which is dead center of the fridge heat
exchanger  coil, switched from the front of the sink cabinet.

Cheers,

Frank  Condelli
Almonte, Ontario, Canada
'87 Westy, '90 Carat, '87 Wolfsburg  (Forsale) & Lionel Trains
Vanagon/Vanagon Westfalia Service in the Ottawa  Valley
_Frank Condelli  & Associates_ (http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/busindex.html)
_Vanagon Stainless Steel Exhaust  Systems_
(http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/stebro.htm) 1
_BusFusion_ (http://members.aol.com/BusFusion/bfhome.htm)  a VW Camper
camping event, Almonte, ON, June 08 ~ 11,  2006