Pop Up Sunroofs

[Morgz]

Hey guys, anyone put one of these in before?  Know where I can get one?

I'm keen to get one in across the back of the roof so it can draw air through the cabin on a hot day etc.  No need for fancy electric stuff, just a simple pop up hinge would be great (less stuff to go wrong) and the pop up gives it a profile like a rear spoiler if you put it in the right place 

Things I'm concerned about are the seal (would hate to have it dripping in the rain) and the mounting process (would like to do it myself).  The corrugations on the roof aren't that deep so flattening it out for a good seal shouldn't be too hard I reckon, as long as it doesn't warp.  I'd like to get one that's gently curved (do they make these?) to match the curvature of the roof so it can be as wide as possible, hopefully spanning most of the roof.  Anyone got ideas?

[eddy]

coupla things I found with the old style pop up sunroofs (by the way I don't fancy them) is they encourage rusting in the roof, they trap the water in the channels of the roof panels, and once the rust takes hold its a bitch to repair. the rubbers will eventually perish and the sunroof will leak and that means having to wear a hat and rain coat when its raining and a hat in summer to stop head sun burn. On hot days they let radiant heat into the van through the roof and they let the mozzies in when left open at night.

I have a pop up on the tow van and I would rather I didn't as its a bitch to cope with and thats not including installing the interior finish around it and hoping that smarties don't throw ciggie butts into the van . Another thing is that if you have a roof console and sun roof above the driver seat the sunroof adds heat and glare overhead and heats the stereo in the overhead console. A while ago I fitted a screen that could slide over the opening inside the van to stop heat getting into the van which is what I will do with the tow van sunroof.

For the back a better option in my humble opinion is smaller pop up vents with fly screens that you can mount outside the channels so water doesn't build up and sit and install them so the opening faces the front of the van to scoop air into the rear when moving much like rally cars have, put a rear spoiler on as an addition and preferably get one that has an inbuilt brake light see the van Red as an example. Just my thoughts on the subject ......... keep vannin Ed   

[Warren]

Have a look at the dordale or mushroom vents used on yachts, these are designed to "scavenge" air from the cabin area are small and discrete, have mozzie mesh and can be closed when not required.

Check out this site

You could use the plastic mushroom vent with the ventilator cover, or one os the stainless steel ones.

Or what about these cowl vents

This one looks might usefull


Warren

[Morgz]

Cheers for the suggestions guys.  I was always concerned about water build up in the channels.... will certainly consider that.  I'm not so worried about the heat and mozzies though, I've already got plans for a removable screen for the mozzies and I'm sure having an opening for hot air to escape will do more to lower the temp than the heat coming through the glass, especially with a suitable heavy mirror tint (say 70%).  But yeah... the water/rust...... 

A small vent might work I suppose, won't look as nice.  The idea is to have it as an escape vent so that I can open the windows a bit in the cabin and have air flow in the front and out the back, cooling the whole van.  As it is now I have to wind the window almost entirely down before I actually get air flowing 'in' the rather than sucking (thanks to the bernoulli effect).

I wonder if I could get mini pop-ups, the width of the high section of the roof?  hmmmmmm.... one on each side might look ok, with heavy tint and a little fly screen to velcro into place.  Maybe I'm dreaming 

Those cowel vents are interesting, will have to have a closer look there too.  Thanks again fellas,

Morgz


p.s.  Eddy, I've got a top mounted brake light built into the fiberglass back door but haven't installed it yet, I agree it's a good idea