Flat top raised roof...

ezbme · 08-01-2009, 12:00 AM

Has anyone just cut the roof off above the windows just before the curve starts & raised it with flat walls, a 90 degree corner & a flat top roof instead of using the existing roof? I think it would not only be easier but if you are going to put out the effort why not have the benefit of more interior space & would be much easier for the interior conversion... Something similiar to the Crown Highway Post Office? Just a thought! Anyone out there already done this?

Jonathan

ezbme · 08-01-2009, 06:09 AM

Sure you need to reframe it but you dont have to raise it as high, you already have a nice flat deck (circular staircase inside with roof hatch) & it would look cool!

I question the strength of some of the roof raises in the event of a rollover anyway cause as soon as you cut it...its not the same no matter what you do or how you look at it! Just my 2 cents... i like the idea!

NewSkewlHauler · 08-01-2009, 02:05 PM

I, being the purveyor of all ideas weird, thought about taking the roof cap off of an 18 wheeler (Freightliner Century Class, or Volvo would work). Both roof caps, I think, attach to the walls of the tractor in the final stage of production. I'm sure it can be removed somehow. I even went to far as to measure it and it's within 1/2 inch of the width of an average skoolie (could be exact, I didn't measure too carefully). The next step would be to remove the entire roof of the bus, attach the tractor's roof cap, frame and reskin the new roof. It would be flat, aerodynamic, and net about 6 inches of head room behind the driver versus the stock height, I think. You'd actually lose headroom in the driver area. I am also planning on doing the "sportyrick/den" door conversion.

It would be cool, but a pain in the a$$, and I have plenty of other weird ideas to contend with! I'm hoping that you get a mental picture of what I'm talking about...it took 6 or so posts of me explaining other strange ideas of mine!

Ben.

ezbme · 08-01-2009, 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smitty

If you reframed at the same height, you'd only gain in the corners. If you're going to reframe, why not go up as well. You're gonna have to lay decking material up top anyway, so it doesn't matter if that area is radiused or not. That is unless you add substancial roof framing and lay a roof skin exterior durable enough to walk-on.

I agree somewhat about raised roofs, but it all depends on the quality of the job. I don't agree with saying just because something's been cut it'll never be as strong (which is how I took it). Heck I'm all for someone doing whatever they want to make their bus different. I just try to look at the cost/work involved in comparison to the finished project. I'm also a huge fan of the "I did it myself" club, and "different" is good, but I try to be realistic at the same time.

Could a guy whitle a Cadillac down and make a Vega out of it? I'm sure someone could, my question would be "why" when you could buy one for much less, and with the same end result.

Smitty

I agree with you on some points smitty but the main point beyond anything else is it would be different & would look nice inside & out. Instead of a 2 foot roof raise (with a standard bus roof & squaring off the ceiling inside) which is alot, you could have the same result with a square roof raise of ~14-16" because you don't have to deal with making a curved ceiling straight. So you get a higher ceiling with a lower profile overall even with a deck attached... That make sense??

I guess another way to put it... If you measure the top center of a bus roof that is curved & you build a square top on it you now have a flat ceiling in the bus and it is still the same factory height. You would have to raise it that distance again to make a standard roof high enough to have a flat ceiling.

Not quite sure of the relevance of the Cadillac/Vega analogy...

Jonathan

ezbme · 08-01-2009, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewSkewlHauler

I, being the purveyor of all ideas weird, thought about taking the roof cap off of an 18 wheeler (Freightliner Century Class, or Volvo would work). Both roof caps, I think, attach to the walls of the tractor in the final stage of production. I'm sure it can be removed somehow. I even went to far as to measure it and it's within 1/2 inch of the width of an average skoolie (could be exact, I didn't measure too carefully). The next step would be to remove the entire roof of the bus, attach the tractor's roof cap, frame and reskin the new roof. It would be flat, aerodynamic, and net about 6 inches of head room behind the driver versus the stock height, I think. You'd actually lose headroom in the driver area. I am also planning on doing the "sportyrick/den" door conversion.

It would be cool, but a pain in the a$$, and I have plenty of other weird ideas to contend with! I'm hoping that you get a mental picture of what I'm talking about...it took 6 or so posts of me explaining other strange ideas of mine!

Ben.

I am trying to fully grasp the concept but it is kinda slipping as I read... You want to put the tractor roof on the "cab" area of the bus followed by a new flat roof the rest of the distance? I like the idea! The loss of height is because the new cap sits lower on the bus than the original roof?

OK what is a sportyrick/den door conversion & where would it go?

Jonathan

TygerCub · 08-02-2009, 05:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewSkewlHauler

I, being the purveyor of all ideas weird, thought about taking the roof cap off of an 18 wheeler (Freightliner Century Class, or Volvo would work).

Do you have a picture of the type of roof you're talking about.

I'm intrigued by the idea.

ezbme · 08-02-2009, 09:53 AM

Ok... I understand what you are saying...
My point is to have flat ceilings on a factory bus you wouldn't have to raise it any with a square roof to get a flat ceiling. To do this with a factory roof (flat ceiling, same height) you would have no choice but to raise the roof to get the same result... I think that would require much more work plus after you raise the roof you must still frame the interior for the flat ceiling... And you lose valuable space in the ceiling... Check out my little illustration below!

NewSkewlHauler · 08-02-2009, 09:56 AM

Here are some photos I snapped of a Volvo roof when it was in the Wally World parking lot. I actually measured a Freightliner roof at a friend's house and it was close to the width of a skoolie. I envision removing the roof of the skoolie just above the windows as if you were doing a roof raise, and removing the roof cap of the Volvo/Freightliner at the seams in the cab. I think the pictures show the seams OK...at least that was what I was trying to take pictures of. Once the tractor's roof cap is installed (somehow), you'd need to frame up something square or whatever behind it the rest of the length of the bus.

When I measured and estimated, I came up with the following figures: 1) by removing the skoolie roof, you'd lose a foot of head roof (the curved part would just be gone, although it was now be a convertible with more or less infinite head room!). 2) I think the roof cap on the tractor is about 2' tall at the rear. By setting the tractor's roof cap directly on bus windows, you'd lose a foot to gain a foot! If your stock height was 6' to begin with, chopping off the skoolie roof would make your height above the window about 5', then adding the tractor roof cap would raise it to 7' at the rear...so there would be some head room loss at the front. 3) Look at Sportyrick or RazorCityDen's conversion for their door. They removed the bifold door to put a co-pilot seat there and put an RV door near the rear wheels. Here's the link to RazorCityDen's thread and pictures. viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3981&start=15 If you did that, you wouldn't really have any need to stand that far up in the cab area. If would have a similar feel to the Volvo/Freightliner you got the cap from.

Hoping this makes sense...Here are some pictures!

Ben.

NewSkewlHauler · 08-02-2009, 10:00 AM

I so wish I had photoshop!!!! That would make my ideas a little easier to understand, I think!

ezbme · 08-02-2009, 10:03 AM

Hey I like that idea! You are onto something here & it WOULD have nice lines to it... Is the interior completely open on the tractor above the driver or is this a fiberglass cover on the roof for aerodynamics? May have to design something to see what it would look like!
Edit: I just saw the skylight...answered my own question...

zamfir · 08-02-2009, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ezbme

Has anyone just cut the roof off above the windows just before the curve starts & raised it with flat walls, a 90 degree corner & a flat top roof instead of using the existing roof? Anyone out there already done this?

You mean like this? http://trx.punknet.org/gallery2/main...2_itemId=10064 He's a member here, but I'd forgotten his nick - took me a few days to think of it.

ezbme · 08-02-2009, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zamfir

Quote:

Originally Posted by ezbme

Has anyone just cut the roof off above the windows just before the curve starts & raised it with flat walls, a 90 degree corner & a flat top roof instead of using the existing roof? Anyone out there already done this?

You mean like this? http://trx.punknet.org/gallery2/main...2_itemId=10064 He's a member here, but I'd forgotten his nick - took me a few days to think of it.

YES! That is pretty much what I was talking about! I like the look of the body although I would do it a bit different, but on the mark! Thanks for posting zamfir

TygerCub · 08-02-2009, 07:22 PM

I'd thought about buying one of those toppers and putting it in front of my roof deck. But just replacing the entire front end with that would definitely look very cool! I really like the lines of those sloped roofs.

Ah to have the time and money (mostly the money) to do these sorts of things!

There's all KINDs of things I'd think would be cool to do!

I, for one, hope you tackle this kind of conversion and post LOTS OF PICTURES :P That would be just too cool for skool!

paul iossi · 08-04-2009, 07:54 AM

some of the aero roofs are just fairings attached to flattop cabs, they can usually be had for a song from people that repurpose semi's minto dumptrucks and such that don't require full height aero kits. replacement roofs and aero kits are also available to add or remove sleeper boxes.

trx · 08-04-2009, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zamfir

Quote:

Originally Posted by ezbme

Has anyone just cut the roof off above the windows just before the curve starts & raised it with flat walls, a 90 degree corner & a flat top roof instead of using the existing roof? Anyone out there already done this?

You mean like this? http://trx.punknet.org/gallery2/main...2_itemId=10064 He's a member here, but I'd forgotten his nick - took me a few days to think of it.

That would be my bus. Let me know if you have any questions...

Chad

ezbme · 08-04-2009, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trx

Quote:

Originally Posted by zamfir

That would be my bus. Let me know if you have any questions...

Chad

One question...wanna sell it??

No seriously, I really like what you have done with your build. The fact you can fit your Scout in the back is pretty incredible. You have quite a bit of ingenuity in your design!! I have to look thru your build photos again when I have more time...so much to learn!

Jonathan

NewSkewlHauler · 08-04-2009, 10:09 PM

It looks like CAMO-MONSTER is going to attempt a roof raise with a roof off of a semi. I can't wait to see the result! It's not quite the same idea as mine, but close. I can't wait to see how he pulls it off!

Ben.

ezbme · 08-04-2009, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewSkewlHauler

It looks like CAMO-MONSTER is going to attempt a roof raise with a roof off of a semi. I can't wait to see the result! It's not quite the same idea as mine, but close. I can't wait to see how he pulls it off!

Ben.

Just checked out the photos...SAWEET! Ditto...can't wait to see it!

ezbme · 08-10-2009, 10:00 PM

Since seeing Camo Monsters idea of using a semi roof I just had to throw something together in Photoshop... I like it!

NewSkewlHauler · 08-11-2009, 09:06 AM

Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout, Willis!!!! (Jonathan)

Ben.

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