anybody cut tin top to install a TV top?

[astrosafari2000]

I found these, which don't seem too crazy expensive. http://www.discountvantruck.com/vantopsraisedroofs/AstroTVvantopsCA.htm
Unfortunately, there's no details about installation. I'm wondering if anyone has done this and could detail how? Other option is to try to cut a conversion van roof off at a junkyard, but don't know how feasible that is either.

[WoodButcher]

$3224.00 shipped, no liner, no gelcoat. No thanks.

If your close enough to pick up maybe but I'd be looking at junkyards first. $1,600 ain't chump change to me.

[gavio]

Other option is to try to cut a conversion van roof off at a junkyard, but don't know how feasible that is either.

That's how I'd go about it....

I pulled one off at Pick n Pull to use as a shell for my poptop... It took me and a buddy about 5 hours working at a reasonably mellow pace... Exactly how they are attached differs a little depending on the manufacturer (and there have been a LOT of different manufacturers over the years) but in general it's a mix of sealant and screws.... The technology on older conversion vans is pretty primitive, just regular screws and what-not, no complex hidden fasteners or anything.....

The kind I got is the so-called reverse flange type, which has a mounting flange that is turned back into the inside... It's screwed down with a bazillion screws that go up through the sheetmetal into the flange from inside... After stripping out the trim, we removed all the screws and then used a pull-wire to break the sealant all the way around, and voila, a loose conversion van roof.... There is another kind that is attached with screws that go through molding on the outside of the top, so there you would be working from outside instead of inside....

After it's off, take careful measurements of how the donor van is cut and so on, and then just reverse the procedure - no doubt a bit harder done than said, but in principle, that's it..... Hardest part will be the moment right before you take a saw to your van's sheet metal... After that it's all easy...

My top cost me $90, plus the c-note I threw my buddy for helping, and another bonus is that if I'd been planning to reinstall it as a conversion roof, I could have had all the interior trim pieces already cut to shape to go with it....

T avoid endlessly driving to yards and finding no hightops, I signed up at row52.com and then just watched the listings as new Astro vans showed up to see when one came in to a yard near enough with a hightop I wanted - probably took about 3 or 4 months of waiting.....

[astrosafari2000]

Wow, this is very helpful. Thank you. Maybe this is my poor math/geometry skill, but a cut conversion top wouldnt fit inside a regular Safari for transport would it?

[WoodButcher]

Strap it on top.

[WimpTech]

Nice high top at LKQ sun Valley right now...

[gavio]

a cut conversion top wouldnt fit inside a regular Safari for transport would it?

Depends on which style you get..... There's a style that is wide and extends all the way to the very edges of the roof, and there's a style that fits between the rain gutters....

I got the kind that fits between the gutters, and bringing it home, we just slid it in from the back and rested it on top of the rear dutch doors, with it sticking out through the hatch - had a couple inches to spare in width.... The style that goes all the way to the roof edges would not have fit like that....