LeSafari - 1997 AWD Build

[SportsBoy]

Got some help to lift the top on (since it's gotta be 250+ pounds at this point) to check the fit and trace the hole. The frame prevented the top from sitting flush in most places, which wasn't unexpected, but it was discouraging.

View from inside when it was initially placed on top

After getting it all lined up and tracing where I needed to cut and drill holes to mount the lower frame, I propped it up

Drilled out all the rivnuts for the roof rack mounts, since I didn't want them to be in the way later

Drilled out the holes for mounting the lower part of the frame to the roof

Also removed the front headliner, which is held in by the screws holding in the sunvisors

Pull through the wiring to undo the electrical clip

Undo the screws on the trim above the front doors, then pop off the clips holding the rest of it on

Break the clips along the way

The trim piece above the slider door had to go too

Then pull out the headliner

Since the piece of trim there isn't going back on, I removed some excess metal

Trimmed the sheet metal all the way around the opening

And then trimmed down the ribs - only two of which were cut btw

[SportsBoy]

I kind of like how the front looks with no headliner for some reason - it looks clean I guess

So once the whole was cut, filed, deburred, sanded, and everything painted (very messily) the top went down to be bolted on

bolted it through all the cross members and some other areas

At this point the front and rear parts of the frame were still sitting on the van's roof and preventing the top from sitting flush. So, I cut more of the roof off (now with what I am going to do to change the frame, this was unnecessary after all)

There are little notches above the B cross member in the front

And all the sheet metal in the rear had to go

So once all that got cleaned up and painted, the rear part of the frame was recessed into the roof and didn't interfere with the top sealing on the roof

I bought some 1/8" c channel steel from HD and cut and drilled it to use to secure the rear part of the frame to the van

So now the top sits on there pretty well - some latches to hold it down and I'm confident it would be water proof

Then I took the Maxxfan (I got the deluxe 5100 version mostly because it can be open in the rain, and can intake or exhaust)

Took off the decals

And stuck it on there.

So that is how it sits now.
Unfortunately, it's going to have to come off and be redone. But, since I don't have to do all the stuff with the roof of the van, and the solution I have should be somewhat simple, I'm hoping it won't take too long. We'll see.

[markmitch]

Sorry I never got back to you, I was in Sanford, Maine close to the NH border.

[SportsBoy]

Update
The top came off for pretty much a complete redesign.

bare top

Frame out

Undoing weeks of work...

Cleaned up

I decided to make mounting pads in the 4 corners for the hinges to sit on. So I prepped the corners

Cribbed up pads of wood and some super adhesive

And there are the fronts

And rears. I didn't want to drill more holes through the roof, so I used the mounting bolt for the roof bars to help secure these, along with lots and lots of loctite

To get the hinges to sit up higher in the top, I had to shorten them as much as possible

Remove the bearing

And boink them back in there

I replaced all the mounts with these guys, which I could fit now that i was changing the frame desiign. I had wanted to go with these earlier, but knew I didn't have the clearance for them.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MW ... UTF8&psc=1
1/2" bore pillow block mounted bearings

These are what I have in the tubes - https://www.vxb.com/3-4-Inch-with-1-2-d ... 93EALw_wcB
VXB bearing with 1/2" integrated axle.

I had a really hard time figuring out what to put in the ends of the tubes to mount them. I ended up going with those vxb bearings with axles, but I'm sure there is a better way.
Maybe threaded end caps like this? https://www.jwwinco.com/en-us/products/ ... 7-1%2F2X13

Or maybe I could have tapped a bearing after pressing it in there, or something else. I dunno.

Anyways

Stuck these much more stout bearings on to all the hinges

Then I connected the hinges to the top and put it back in the van

This allowed me to put the top exactly where I wanted it (which was further towards the rear of the van than it had been before). This has given me a nice seal all around.

Once on the van I got the top where I wanted it and drilled holes to mount the bottom half of the hinges, and bolted them on

[SportsBoy]

So, since my last update I did some little things to make the top sit flush with the roof of the van. Then it was on to the lifting mechanism.

I took some rectangular tubing ~3.5" long and drilled some holes in it

Cut off one end

Which made it u-shaped

And cleaned up the edges and top to prep it for welding

I ended up messing with the shape a bit, but you can see how it ended up - and how it connects to the linear actuator with wire lock pins so it is easily removable without tools

Got two of these strut trolleys for the lift to slide along. It was the best way I could think of to keep the arms and actuator in a straight line. I cut them up and prepped them for welding. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KN9UA0S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is how the trolleys sit in the 1 5/8 x 1 5/8 strut - there isn't much play, so they can take weight pushing or pulling on them

So for mounting the other side of the linear actuator, I got a couple strut brackets

Took these brackets I got with the actuators and used them to connect to the end of the actuator

Ended up with this

And the other end in the u channel that will be welded to the trolley

Buuut then I realized I needed to switch the actuators 180* so I changed the brackets

This is the actuator I got btw... 400 lbs x2, 24" extension. If I had to do it again, I'd get ones with 750+ pound lift strength though. You'll see why in a bit. https://www.firgelliauto.com/products/p ... -actuators

[SportsBoy]

So I took a piece of unistrut I got at Lowes and cut it in half so I had 2 five-foot sections. This ended up being the perfect length.

I had saved the leftover pieces of metal from cutting up the L shaped strut brackets, the trolley, and the u-shaped channel. Those ended up being perfect for mounting the strut to the ceiling of the top. I used the bolts holding down the roof rails to secure the track when I was done with it.

Everything welded

Trolleys welded

This is the one part I welded - my first (crap) welds - woot! I gotta get a welder soon...

Then I painted everything with some metallic spray paint and dried it with a heat gun

This is the strut channel with the actuator bolted onto it on one side, and connected to the trolley on the other

Then this is how it turned out with it mounted on there

Passenger side

Passenger side

Drivers side

Drivers side

Drivers side

[SportsBoy]

I was eager to see if it worked, so I got it wired up and tried it out - and success!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES

It's really tall - I can't reach the top standing in the van when it is all the way up.
I shook it some and it is pretty sturdy - but not stout. If I had done steel in the same dimensions, it would be fine - but aluminum is a little bendy - and it's got a lot of weight on it. I'll test it some more later - but I was just glad it worked and didn't collapse on me.

One thing is that the actuators have a hard time doing the first couple inches of the lift because the angle of the mechanism inside doesn't give them any help lifting at all. I had to do it that way and knew it might happen.

It can still lift it on it's own, but it lifts unevenly and clearly the actuators are struggling badly. This is why higher strength actuators would have been good. I just give it a little assist for the first few inches and then it's all good on its own.

I have a remote synced up to the actuators that lifts them simultaneously - it is this unit from Firgelli (where I got the actuators and brackets) - https://www.firgelliauto.com/products/t ... rol-system

I'll go more into the remote and such later on.

Oh - also, a convenient thing is that the actuators use the full 24" length - I didn't have to get any sort of limiting switch. Like I said, it is crazy high though - I could have gone with an 18" actuator it seems - and gone shorter one the "long" portions of the hinge arms.

[SportsBoy]

I struggled so much (and am still struggling) with the way I'd latch the roof down. There just isn't any easy way to do it that isn't intrusive or involves too much work.

This is what I have for now -

[Rod's Trucks]

Impressive engineering effort and great pictures!

I had no idea those actuators were that inexpensive. Thanks for the link. I might have a use for them with a different project.
Rod J

[dcsleeper]

Hella work! Good job!

When satellite was popular the actuators were often on the surplus market for 29 bux. But that was a while ago.

[AlpineVan]

Wow this pop-top build is great!

[Brewtus]

Blake, this thing looks great! I am so excited to look through all of the photos. I imagine cutting the hole in the roof was exciting! Can't wait to see where you go with it.

[sixsix]

Wow - That is some job on the Lift and Hold Down.
Wonderful Imagination - Great work - Fab Pics.

Thanks a Lot - Future High Top folks will be Thanking you also !

[SportsBoy]

Thanks gents - it's been a lot of work, but I'm looking forward to when it is done!

Yesterday I replaced the radiator cap with a pressure release one from Autozone - the other one was leaking.

[tungtide]

Looks like the Autozone pop top was much easier to install. Great work on your write up and pictures.

[SportsBoy]

Looks like the Autozone pop top was much easier to install. Great work on your write up and pictures.

Haha, true true


So this has been happening this week - https://www.astrosafari.com/viewtopic.p ... 8#p1572848

Seems like that will be drawing to a close as soon as I go to the junkyard next.

As far as current events, today the van took a trip up a long, steep, snowy, and icy forest service road to a trailhead. I got a flashing ses right as I pulled into the parking spot, so I figured I'd deal with it after the hike.

View from the parking spot

Super sweet views just a couple hundred feet away - you can see the presidentials unobstructed in this one.
Such a cool spot for this super secluded summer cabin.

When I got back to the van I used my obd2 reader to see I was getting a cylinder 3 misfire, and the van was running bad.
Oil looked fine.
Doghouse off, plugs and distributor looked fine.
So it was a good thing I had all my tools with me.

How the tables have turned.

I got the wheel off and popped the skirt in the wheel well to find this -

Wire #3 fell off the plug!

Once I got that reseated, the van was fine.
I was dreading having a flashing ses on the top of a mountain way up off the main road, but it only took me like 20 minutes to get it figured out and fixed.
It really felt good to be able to diagnose and fix the problem on my own so quickly - in a place where help was not coming soon.
Even though the van can be a pain sometimes, I'm really grateful for the skills I am learning in the process - being able to do what I did today is absolute verification of that.

Also, the van slayed the road up - only one other car had driven up in the past two days since the last snow, and a group was walking up the road after having parked their subies way farther down where it said "road unmaintained from this point on" or something to that tune.

[sixsix]

Nice going, Great Fix, sporty !

[SportsBoy]

I made a trip to a couple junkyards, here are my finds.

s10 relay bracket for holding volvo relay for efan mod

This metal box has dozens of feet of cable, plugs, the relay bracket, a/c pressure switch, the plug and wiring for it, and a bunch of relays and fuses of all sizes. Guy at the counter said "Ehh... $10"
Sold!

I got this huge bundle of wire for $10 at another yard from a wrecked rv.

I soldered, heat shrinked, taped, and loomed the plug for the a/c pressure switch on the accumulator, and installed the jy switch.

Then I got to work on the rear end. I took the plunge on finally fixing the roaring that has been getting progressively worse over time. It had been making me nervous that the rear is going to blow up catastrophically when driving.

Rear brake line and diff breather

undoing the brake line

Off

Took the rear drums apart

And got the ebrake disconnected

ebrake routing

I had some issues with undoing the ebrake connector bracket thingy. I undid it so I could drill a hole on the ebrake line bracket for the 2" lift I will be installing eventually.

Instead of repeating what I already posted, here is where I posted about it in another thread - https://www.astrosafari.com/viewtopic.p ... 2#p1573372

[SportsBoy]

Found a leaky axle seal on the driver's side rear. I wonder if that was why my brakes were so jerky in the back when I'd first start driving in the morning.

I took off t he clamshells and such

I had no idea there were isolators in there, I figured they were gone or something

I am so glad I have a cordless impact wrench these days

There was also this tiny thin piece of metal on the leaf spring isolators

The last thing to do before taking the rear end out (I had also disconnected the brake line and shocks of course) was the driveshaft.
What. A. Pain.
It took freakin forever and was pure evil.
So I was looking for a different way to bolt the driveshaft and found driveshaft u bolts. I posted about getting the driveshaft off and some info about the driveshaft ubolts here - https://www.astrosafari.com/viewtopic.p ... 8#p1573698

So, as you can see in that thread, it was a pain, but I eventually got the driveshaft and the rear end separated.
And then it was out!!

Woo!

[SportsBoy]

Once the rear waas out, it was on the the springs, hangers, and shackles.

The leaf spring bolts were all seized, so I took the hangers and shackles off first

After wrecking two metal sawzall blades and doing almost nothing to the first hangar bolt, I switched to a grinder - which barely fit in there, but did the job

I would have died without the impact wrench. I'd still be out there. As it was, the passenger upper shackle bolt was unbelievably stuck. It took all my might for probably two hours to get the nut off with a breaker bar. It was insane.

Finally I got the springs out!

And I mercilessly beat the leaf spring bolts until they came free.

They were all super corroded inside - I think it would have been impossible to replace the leafs without taking off the shackles and hangers. Good thing I had to take them off anyways.

The 22-687hd's got the poly bushing treatment. It was mega hard to get the bushings out with the ball joint press though.

Purdy.

New vs old

The underside of the van is hollow