I have to say, voices like his...soft, lilting, coupled with his engineer's eye for detail and artist's drive for perfection? That's a turn-on for MANY people. Then add the "patience" factor, and that beautiful hair? I think I could hang out with this man for about 20 years and never lose interest. I hope he's getting the attention & caring he deserves from women (or whomever he desires) a beautiful human.

This man is genious. Put his engineering skills & sewing ability to good use. The first self build pop top l've seen. Great job 👍😃

Dude is brilliant.

A younger version of Bob. LOL 😂. Great video...

@rayfletcher3683

3 жыл бұрын

The angled top gives you the best ventilation as well as mor headroom where needed

What a smart guy to put that top together. He did an excellent job!

Wow... That engineering background really helped out in this build~ Great job!

... Gavin is not only a very resourceful soul, but a great communicator. Thanks Bob, great video ; )

Great work and his calming voice has relaxed me. I've been crazy stressed. I might listen to him talk some more even if I don't understand it.

@shnuggumz

5 жыл бұрын

You should check out ASMR videos here on KZread for more relaxing voice, sounds, and tingles.

This is exactly what I need to get the headroom for my 7 foot tall body to stand up in a minivan conversion. Thanks for showing this, Bob. I'm encouraged finally that there's a solution fit for me.

That's a very smart and talented young man there!

My mouth is hanging open...agape! This guy’s knowledge and pure common sense makes my heart a flutter! I so appreciate his ingenuity and perseverance. Thanks for sharing and adding to my bucket list entitled, “The Perfect Man!” Seriously, where do you find these geniuses?!❤️ Thanks again for share!

What a wonderful project. So glad you shared the details. Excellent vlog

What a cool set-up! Proof positive that where there's a will, there's a way! What an awesome view!! True GENIUS! Happiest of trails to you both!

I just can't get enough of this guy. Been watching this series over and over, I love doing this kind of stuff!

@realgavio

5 жыл бұрын

Thank you, that's high praise indeed......

@audriannarose8137

5 жыл бұрын

@@realgavio do you have a KZread?

I was impressed so much i spent the weekend removing a fiberglass roof from an e150 (like mine) and getting it loaded up on a trailer. Your videos do so much to help people save money and enjoy the lifestyle of van living.

Here in the UK, most pop-top suppliers apply an elastic strap, stitched inside across front and rear, with quick release clips. As you lower the roof, the straps pull the fabric in....or another way is a long bungee strap all the way around the outside of the canvas about half way down.

put many of them canvas on westys and it ain't easy getting them straight nice job looks tight

I know this is an older video but I just came across it. Very informative, intelligent young man. Love his pop up. Thanks for sharing

Gavio is a gentle soul. Thank you and Bob for 3 superb videos. After the first 2, I couldn’t wait to see this one!

@realgavio

5 жыл бұрын

Thank you.....

I love engineers. And I love when they take the time to design and build things for their own use. Very cool to see how they think and approach builds, and the problems that they solve and prevent along the way.

This is a wonderful example of how thoughtful skilled design and construction work to fabulous results. Thank you for sharing this build!

What an incredible build! I really love all the finishes.

Wow wow and wow. This guy is so incredibly clever. And his van in brilliant

R-e-a-ll-y Nice. I want to be an engineer, designer and artist too! (I think I am at heart) 😉🌷👍Love the canvas, batting and windows.

Thanks for sharing! I truly appreciate the discussion of some of the challenges and a few solutions. Fun!

what a beautiful piece of work you did a great job

Beautiful workmanship in the top it’s beautiful🎉🎉🎉

I see another KZread star! I would totally subscribe to and follow this guy. Very soothing voice too...

@realgavio

5 жыл бұрын

That's very kind, thank you..... Maybe I will have a channel soon....

What a fun series to watch!! Thank you both for sharing!

Wow! He did a great job. I'm so impressed how well he did on his pop top. I would pay for him to put a pop up in my van if I owned one. It would be so worth it for me being a women & all. Plus I'm only 5'5" & couldn't reach any of those hard to get places in the front half of the van. Just a wonderful job & he paid close attention to detail. Just so impressed with it. Best regards, Chris from Missouri

Wow! What an amazing pop top. Congratulations Great Job! A real professional creation. Perfection.What a beautiful job.Super creative.

Outstanding! Thank you both so much!

I saved this video to help me fall asleep. 😜

Bob and Gavio make it all simple and easy to do! Thank you very much for helpful info and been my inspiration in making simular videos!

@BridgesBoatsnBeaches

5 жыл бұрын

Bob's school the best!

@FreeRV

5 жыл бұрын

Ros! Bob is blessings for our community!

@rvtravel8788

5 жыл бұрын

Bob is created best community ever

@ladlad6215

5 жыл бұрын

FREERV If Bob your inspiration then I FEEL sorry for you!

@FreeRV

5 жыл бұрын

LAD Why?

Awesome Build!

Man you did such a great job on that top.

Gavio's pop top design and build is Fantastic! That Astro van is just So Cool!

Thanks for sharing your project with us! I just logged on to youtube searching for any videos about installing salvaged pop-tops on vans. Yours is the only one that came up in the results. It looks great! You were fortunate to find a fiberglass top that was made for your particular van model. I did a similar project, and I had to modify a top to fit. I'm thinking about making a similar video to encourage other vanlifers to rescue the many Westfalia tops that are sitting in pick-n-pulls around the world. I installed a salvaged Westfalia top on my Chevy Express full-size van. After minor mods to the fit and the hinge function, it looks right and works right. But after watching your video, I want to add a "clamp bar" to mine! I'm impressed with your sewing skills! You may inspire me to replace my tent canvas with insulated, if only for the noise abatement. I mounted my top so that it can use the standard canvas tents that are available for Westfalias.

Great Job! I've owned several VW Westfilia campers with the pop top and you still have to fuss with the tent part to make sure it all comes inside of the top then tuck it in after the top was down. The one thing the Westy top had was elastic in the corners so it would help pull the fabric in word on the way down. My biggest regret was selling my Westy thinking a new one was around the corner then finding that after the Vanagon Westy , VW never came out with another van that was as roomy as the Vanagon for a camper.

I have watched this video lit 20 times plan on doing the same to my safari van that's for the inspiration

What an intelligent van dweller! This van is totally awesome & inspiring!

Your a genius thankyou I need a to on my Astro van . I don’t want it to move at all . You give me ideas thanks dear. Godbless us all.

I have a pop top camper. It has a hand crank and four corner veriticle tubing that uses a cable to raise and lower. It also locks so if any snow load weight does not cause a calapse of the top. The self rise struts are a lot weaker than tulhe tube system. The tube set up going ves wind stability. It also gives you a full length raise instead of a pivot type Westy style. Also my canvus has some "memorie metal strips that run up and down sown inside the canvus which causes the canvus to fold inward allowing a easier calapse or the top when closing. These metal strips are like those old wrist toys where you slapped them on your wrist and they wrapped around your arm tightly. We saw those at a Dollar store...lol and replaced a couple broken ones.lol athe cable crano system with verticle tubing is by far more stable and wimple to use. As far as having to mess with the canvus as it closes..all types have this...lol The crank in mine is a simple boat caboe crank mounted inside on the back where all four cables(one to each corner) meet. A small metal plate with adjusters colle t them together so they can be individually adjusted l.Then from that plate a single cable wraps on the crank mechanism with a removable crank handle. Wish I could post a pic but.. under able to..have fun...oh, the canvus, a upholstry shop did mine...@ $ 700.00.

Impressive! Thanks to both of you for sharing.

hey Bob, crazy amount of time & effort in to that top, wow! be well out there,

wOw! A lot of work, but well worth it! Sweet~ thanks for sharing with us, Bob!

Cutting a hole in the roof... Like we say in The Wild Wild West, "Courage is being afraid, and saddling up anyway". I have a 1972 Hunter Compact Jr. trailer with a pop-top. The old school mechanism design endours still.

Bob, maybe you can ask this creatively capable man to take a look at your van top and see if he can make suggestions on how to improve it. And maybe you can hire him to work on it.

Very well thought out. Very well done. I owned a VW Eurovan Westfalia and I’d take Gavio’s van over the Westy anytime. I always worried when the Westy would break down next, because you knew it would. This is a better base vehicle and just as good or better design. Congratulations Gavio and thank you sharing so much.

So many great tips in this video. I plan on doing this to my high top Astro van.

Thank you so much for sharing your expertise 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

man did great interview and excellent build

Great build and very informative

Fabulous , Thanks to you both great video too!

Fantastic work!!

Thank you so much for this video. I love hands on creativity and innovation. And an Incredibly handsome narrator. Bonus!

Amazing work! Don’t think a regular person could do this.

Bravo Gavio. Great job. I have a 83 Sportsmobile and the canvas has a thin bungie cord that wraps around it to pull the canvas in when you drop the top. I don't know it it will work on Gavio's van but I figured that I would mention it. Thank you again for the great videos Bob and your love for the community. Mark & CC

@realgavio

5 жыл бұрын

Thank you..... I considered the bungee cord, but in the end, my fabric doesn't need to pull in or push out either one, it needs to stack straight...... Once I got the hang of it, it hasn't been a problem....

@designlife4living547

5 жыл бұрын

As the roof goes down, the canvas generally bulges outwards. One trick I’ve seen is to simply hook an elastic cord to each side of the canvas roof, bringing the canvas in, and then lower the roof.

Thank you for being structure-conscious. The videos of people cutting up their vans freaks me out a bit. I keep thinking roll-overs and weight over it, as well as even a side impact. I was thinking of doing this, so huge plus to be learning from your build. Your build gets an A plus plus/ five stars in my world. Thanks for sharing.

Great job!!!

Amazing!!!! Looks great.

Excellent job! Would be useful to get the specs and supplier for the lifts (which ones he finally went with).

I'm impressed!

Wonderful job. Definitely not replicatable for most of us

Very impressive, looks like something that was built at the GM factory, I'm more than impressed.

That's a real smart dude with great skills, fun video.

Amazing job! Well done.

Looks nice!

Very cool, great engineering and build!

That's so cool, I would not have the patience for to do that

I'm living the van life in my son back Yard dreaming to finish my Dodge ram 3500 van that I bought only a month ago love 💖 to see your program I need to put high roof in my van 🤗👍

Nice job and you put it in terms everyone can understand. your engineering degree was well worth the effort and time.

Excellent information. Thank you.

A brilliant man created a brilliant van.Wow!

I wish I can b able to do that to unfortunatly i dont have manual skills but like the video is so well explain and what a cute man !

Very nice work on this project

Brilliant, but not a projects for us mere mortals. Thanks for sharing!

Very impressive. I wish you would have shown us a picture of the CLAMP mechanism too. I assume it is something like a swing clamp, perhaps? IS the tension adjustable ?

Absolutely beautiful mind on this individual. He's more than welcome to come design my skoolie. -In all honesty, does he do this for a living? Does he consult or design for $$? I'd hire him in a heartbeat. Possibly bake him some cookies, as well. ☺️👍🏽🌸

@realgavio

5 жыл бұрын

Thank you..... And Yes, I design stuff for a living (mostly living spaces of all kinds, rolling and stationary) ... And you can hire me..... My website is www.livebetterbydesign.com - you can contact me through it .....

@eca2641

5 жыл бұрын

Gavio Gavio I actually found your link in the description box directly after I commented. I chose the option of emailing you through your site so, there should be a message there for you! Thank you for taking the time to respond. ☺️

@realgavio

5 жыл бұрын

Hmm, I didn't get an email... I have had trouble with some of the buttons on there..... The form on my contact page works..... Or you can try my Facebook page at facebook.com/LiveBeterByDesignNow....... I apologize for the hassle..... I look forward to hearing from you.....

GREAT VIDEO! I wish I could put 2 thumbs up. I think some of the other pop-ups have a sort of bungee strap on the outside to pull the material in as it closes. All in all it's an awesome build. Thanks again for the video. John S.

Impressive!

Phew! Awesome project.

Great videos. I like them a lot. My thumbs up.

I love this!

Great work u did wit ur van.

Wow! This guy is genius!

That is very nice work !

Very nice.....great job!!

Wow, now we know why it costs $10,000 to have it done by a professional.

@Cornerstanding

4 жыл бұрын

Just buy a new vehicle at that price.

Great video, Gavin looks like a younger version of yourself.

A welding class and this guy is the total package! Lol

Love Your Videos👏👍👏

Very well done.

awesome stitchery techniques style sewmanship🎉❤

Oh, my goodness... this is what I wanted to put on my Astro van

This guy nailed it

Well done. would like to see more info on the pop top seal

this is awesome! thank you

YOUR RIG IS AWESOME I LOVE IT I WANT MINE TO BE AS COOL

Great ideas.