Roof rack?

On my 02 Pollensa there is a metal bar around the perimeter of the roof. Can someone tell me what this is for? It's fixings don't look particularly strong. Is this supposed to be some kind of roof rack? I would like to create some extra storage capacity on the roof but not sure if I can fix anything to this metalwork...

I'm not sure if those rails would be strong enough to take a roof rack, they flex when any weight is put on them and as you say they are only held on with tiny domed nuts. 

You might try to check with Autosleeper, although the way things are with them now they may not be able to help as there seems to be no-one left there who knows about vans of that era.

When we bought the Pollensa we negotiated for the dealer to supply it with the same extras fitted as we had on the previous van we were px-ing, such as Fiamma awning, bike rack and a Fiamma roofbox to keep light bulky stuff in and this was fixed with straps through the fixing lugs then attached to the roof bars on either side. The box itself sat directly on the flat section of the roof so no weight actually went on the rails. 

However we removed this after purchase since we preferred to use a Fiamma back box which goes on the bike rack so we no longer had to climb on the roof.  So although it's a few years old, it's in brand new condition having been stored on a shelf in our garage.  (If you're interested it's a Fiamma Ultra-box Top 1  size 108 x 75 x 42cm) see below.

PS I dug out the original Pollensa manual to see if any reference was made there - see copy of the relevant page below which doesn't really help much, except that it does specify the maximum load for the roof.

My Ravenna has the same metal bar around the rear of the roof. Not sure it would be wise to have anything heavy on it.
Pretty sure it's more a decorative "trim" and I think someone on the forum removed theirs and put a decent roof rack in it's place.
Can remember the post or thread, but sure it's here somewhere!