HiLo Pop Top Gel-Black Roof on Pearl Black T6? Plus general HiLo poptop thoughts

[adibell]

Hello all,

Second post - almost 3 years since I posted a question when considering buying my T6!

Well, I bought it, and it's been completely un-loved while I renovated our first house (complete gutting, back to brick level!). The house is done now, and I'm gearing up to convert my van. Have started buying some fundamentals (DCDC Charger, heater, trying to decide on battery etc). I'll have to make a build thread eventually but it might be fairly retrospective when I find time...

I'm considering a pop-top. I personally dislike the look of chunky pop-tops, so I've been eyeing up the HiLo one as it's very 'stealth'. I have some niggles after reading about @Fish 's duct-tape-gate, and also think the finish inside when closed looks a bit pants. I also think it'd be great to have some form of upgraded bed (maybe make my own slatted version), though imagine package space would be tough seeing as it's so slimline. I do also want the bi-fold for standing room to the back of the van, and feel it'd be possible to combine slatted base with bifolding frame. Anyone got any thoughts on the above points?

Anyway, main question: My T6 is Deep Black Pearl (LC9X), and HiLo offer a £100 gel-coat 'edition' black finish, which is only £100 vs £300-£350 for colour coding. I'm thinking that it'll likely match my black T6 enough not to look out of place (although if I look out of the landing window, I look down onto my van roof!), but I want to be more confident. Does anyone have this option and mind sending photos/detailed descriptions of the finish please? - Ideal would be if anyone has the same colour T6 with the same roof!

Thanks all, great forum. I might go make my third post whilst I'm on a roll!...

Adi

 

[Ads_Essex]

Hello all,

Second post - almost 3 years since I posted a question when considering buying my T6!

Well, I bought it, and it's been completely un-loved while I renovated our first house (complete gutting, back to brick level!). The house is done now, and I'm gearing up to convert my van. Have started buying some fundamentals (DCDC Charger, heater, trying to decide on battery etc). I'll have to make a build thread eventually but it might be fairly retrospective when I find time...

I'm considering a pop-top. I personally dislike the look of chunky pop-tops, so I've been eyeing up the HiLo one as it's very 'stealth'. I have some niggles after reading about @Fish 's duct-tape-gate, and also think the finish inside when closed looks a bit pants. I also think it'd be great to have some form of upgraded bed (maybe make my own slatted version), though imagine package space would be tough seeing as it's so slimline. I do also want the bi-fold for standing room to the back of the van, and feel it'd be possible to combine slatted base with bifolding frame. Anyone got any thoughts on the above points?

Anyway, main question: My T6 is Deep Black Pearl (LC9X), and HiLo offer a £100 gel-coat 'edition' black finish, which is only £100 vs £300-£350 for colour coding. I'm thinking that it'll likely match my black T6 enough not to look out of place (although if I look out of the landing window, I look down onto my van roof!), but I want to be more confident. Does anyone have this option and mind sending photos/detailed descriptions of the finish please? - Ideal would be if anyone has the same colour T6 with the same roof!

Thanks all, great forum. I might go make my third post whilst I'm on a roll!...

Adi

View attachment 82781

Adi, I went for standard black gel-coat on my silver van. Whilst I don’t know about colour-match, I can say it is still black three years later (parked outside).

For the difference, I’d be inclined to get it colour coded - but only after you’ve parked your van next to a gel-coat roof and checked for differences, in case they do actually appear identical.

Oh, and welcome back to the forum

 

[Jollyvan]

Adi. I went for the black gel-coat but on an Acapulco blue van. (Fitted late 2016). My roof is just now showing signs of 'Blooming' and as I look out on it from an upstairs window. I am thinking it might need painting or as someone suggested wrapping. I can polish it out with bumper gel but it's a tiresome job. I would have it painted before its fitted if I were doing it again. Hope this helps.

 

[adibell]

Thanks both,

I think I would go for the painted option based on your answers. Additionally HiLo got back to me and described it as a 'flat black' - so it'd probably not match to be honest!

Immediately after posting this one I read @DaveyB 's account about HiLo roofs, and heard that others have mixed experiences (though largely due to fitter error) and I'm slightly more nervy about them. They also said that they have no slots free to install until Feb, and they do not do supply-only (which would be my preference).....so I'm moving away from HiLo

Does anyone have any recommendations on poptops that have good features, but don't look too clunky - also cost must be reasonable too but that's the golden ticket isn't it!

Cheers,
Adi

 

[Skyliner33]

Have a look at the Stealth Roofs. LowLife. I've been to look and seems a really nice guy. Plus you can get the roof in real carbon fibre.

 

[Jollyvan]

Adi. I went for the black gel-coat but on an Acapulco blue van. (Fitted late 2016). My roof is just now showing signs of 'Blooming' and as I look out on it from an upstairs window. I am thinking it might need painting or as someone suggested wrapping. I can polish it out with bumper gel but it's a tiresome job. I would have it painted before its fitted if I were doing it again. Hope this helps.

Thought I would update this thread. After speaking to @Tourershine I found out this is a common problem with Gel coats and needs polishing out.
This has been sorted today and what a great job he has done. better than original. Just need to maintain it now!!

 

[Tourershine]

Although I don't have a camper, I am going to add my thoughts on the OP's initial question after working on this Hilo roof today.

Anyone that doesn't know what I do, it's exactly what you see above on @Jollyvan roof, kind of.
My company specialises in Restoration work on fibreglass and aluminium, but only on Caravans and Motorhomes. We've been doing this kind of work for nearly 15 years now, so pretty much know what we are doing when it comes to gel-coats and several other specialist materials. This roof was a first for me, and although the principal is exactly the same as my normal work, the fact it was Black made it a lot more difficult than our usual White or Silver, but as you can see, we sorted it no problem.

As for the question above on a gel-coated roof or a colour coded roof. In my opinion, if you are going for a dark colour, avoid having it painted and stick with the factory option of a gel coat. The simple reason is the finish of these roofs is not to a good enough standard that having it painted in something like Pearl Black. That's not a dig at the roof quality, it's a fact that the fibreglass will show every imperfection that fibreglass naturally has from the factory. This is hard to avoid on the standard Black roof if you look carefully, but going Pearl Black would be even easier to pick fault with. Lighter colours won't have this issue, but Black is as most people know, notoriously hard to get right. The Black Gel-coated finish is totally sufficient for a roof, so I wouldn't waste my money having it painted.

Lastly, the only reason the above roof has oxidised the way it has, is simply because it wasn't waxed on a regular basis. This is totally normal and if it wasn't so common, I wouldn't have a very busy business in the Caravan industry. So anyone that has a fibreglass roof, or thinking of buying one, make sure you factor in maintenance. Lastly, through my experience in my industry, ceramic coatings on fibreglass won't have the longevity that it does on the rest of a T6. There are better fibreglass specific sealers that will do a much better job at protecting against UV damage. Yes, we do apply these, but so can your detailer if you request this if you go down the protection route. Otherwise it's a good quality wax that has a UV protection. Minimum twice a year with wax, and no missing a year because literally one year unprotected, and you will run the risk of the sun doing it's damage very quickly.

 

[Strange Al]

@Tourershine how many stages of Polish did you need to use to get that finish? It's way better than the original 'just fitted' shine (though seeing your other work that isn't a shock). Also what fibreglass sealant would you recommend?

Asking for a friend...

 

[Tourershine]

@Tourershine how many stages of Polish did you need to use to get that finish? It's way better than the original 'just fitted' shine (though seeing your other work that isn't a shock). Also what fibreglass sealant would you recommend?

Asking for a friend...

When you read about 'several stages' of polishing, that's normally on car paint, which is lacquered, so you are removing scratches and swirls initially, then changing compounds to remove the polishing marks you've created from that stage and so on until it's perfect.

My job is to remove oxidation, which isn't as deep as swirls or scratches, so 99% of my work is a single stage polish. Bare in mind that product technology has moved on leaps lately, and there are products that start off quite aggressive, but the more you work them, the finer they get, meaning we can get away with just 1 product on most of our work to remove oxidation. Plus Gel-coat won't scratch up like a painted lacquered finish, which is much softer.

As for sealing it afterwards, we use our own PTFE sealer that's been in my business for years and works great, but there are loads of fibreglass sealers on the market.

Lastly, Black roofs like the one I did, will need regular maintenance with a wax or sealer, simply because it will get so hot in the sun and regardless of how good a manufacturer claims a sealer is, it won't last forever.