Away at mo so just thinking ahead. Last night had monsoon storm whilst away and roof leaked. Looked earlier and think we may have to replace main roof rubber was planning on sorting old springs anyway so will remove poptop. Guessing a complete stripdown. Sent from my SM-J510FN using Tapatalk
Watching too, mine was terrible, but new pop rivets and some sealant has helped. I have put a new t seal on the top lid, but stilll have the roof seal to replace.
Feel free to have a look at my thread.. I've come up with a master plan to sort rivet leaks and rubbish headlining frames.. Just waiting for a sample of some vinyl tomorrow and I'll post up the results
The Early Devon roof up to about 75 ish had a lot of design faults, and coming from a roofing back ground, they were glaring at me. It would seem next to impossible for it not to leak given the amount of movement a camper and its roof get up to. The rivets as you say are a bit of a disaster, and the fact that it is so close to a flat roof that in next to no time there will be a puddle then a bit of sagging then a bigger puddle etc etc. The biggest problem seems to be the framework externally is connected to a flat ish surface by means of a raised gasket which entails that if it rains , the water can't run off until its higher than the gasket so that's the start of the puddle and sagging procedure. I've watched quite a few rebuild threads on these and most tackle the flat roof bit by giving a lot more support with rails with a higher central profile to increase run off which is a winner, and some cover over the rivets with vinyl but leave the gasket which is a very weak point, and some coat it with the latest all purpose gunk . Where progress seems to be made is when someone fits a fibreglass roof cap to wipe out all the design faults. If I wanted one to work and last for years, I'd strip it all back to the bones including the large sheet instead of covering it up, I'd reinforce two or three ribs across the frame, then fix a fibreglass flat roof cap with no roof light with adhesive, glue a sheet of one inch celotex on the underside and fit a celotex ceiling which you can have vinyl wrapped-to look like the original or the Tower of London if you wanted, fix in an led light and you are good for twenty years plus. Also it'll be lighter, more waterproof and keep a lot more heat in or heat out in the summer and it'll be quieter when driving along. Because of the reasons above and prior to the roof caps being available. I have a later Devon roof on mine but with the celotex and vinyl wrapped foamex ceiling, so I wake up to a Hawaiian sunrise in my van. Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,, just my way of doing it
Cheers worth thinking about fitted cellotex inside other year but as you say main part sags. The roof cap idea I have only heard of a few and they are supposed to be heavy Sent from my SM-J510FN using Tapatalk
Yes you are bang on there. The roofcap is usually the final resort. So you have the original flat roof type thing complete with large ally sheet, then about five tubes of silicone mastic, two tubes of roofers caulk, three or four tins of bitumastic complete with several square metres of reinforcing gauze, then the coup de gras is a fibreglass cap stuck on with seventeen tubes of sticks like sh1t, which is brilliant stuff but you don't need seventeen tubes if you got a flat surface or Ribs to stick to. So that's why you can get super duper extra beefy Herculean type springs to lift it all up because of the assumption that most peeps will just bang it on top. If you do it how I said, it will in fact be much lighter than what you got now. Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,and warmer too.
Oh the celotex will only bend a minute amount. If you experiment with an off cut and a circular saw you can get the sheet to bend fairly easily. For something like a late Devon top or the curvature of a van roof, cut through the celotex just under half way with your circular saw approximately 100mm apart along the whole length of the sheet, for more curve like on the edges of a panel van roof, cut closer, works a treat then glue it up and leave it propped for a day or two, jobs a good un! Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,Ooops
Ok so now done some research, the roof caps only appear from JK @£500 !! , the point of strengthening the roof seems a start point (any pics). as a budget option wouldnt a sheet of pvc wall cladding bonded to strengthened ali frame, new rubbers (sealed) from poptop roofs and clean and fit stainless rivets to hold canvas up on outside work. May as you say loose skylight as cant only again see funnels from JK @ £70 unless there are other options
Yes,that sounds like a starting point. You can usually track down a new roof cap second hand and not fitted yet because some peeps are buying them but never getting around to fitting them so worth keeping your eyes peeled . The bestest bit with the roof cap is that it not only is the roof in one piece and also has ridges moulded in to the structure length ways to add strength but also there is a piece that`s part of the construction that hangs down the outside of the frame so to all intents it`s like a box turned upside down with strengthening ridges and all moulded in one piece and that`s the key, as in no joins and no rivets and no gaskets. Yes again in that it will defo be betterer than the standard item because you`ve lost the gasket. Where it`s lacking is because it won`t have the piece that goes over the edge like what in roofing terms is called a drip, so that`s where the water will drip off into the gutter, and it`s important because the drip is lower than the point of seal. Just an idea, if you could come across a large off cut of twin or triple wall polycarbonate sheeting, so like a huge skylight and then use a pvc F section to make a drip, not perfect because you`d need square corners plus there is every likely hood that it would get mouldy after a few years, but then again so did the Early Devon tops. If you use a large plastic sheet, you are relying on the adhesive to also seal the joint. But if you can make it look nice and seal nice it will be much better than the original. And by pvc wall cladding, I`m guessing we`re talking about the kind of thing we use in showers nowadays instead of tiles. I`d stay away from separate roof lights for the time being because every time you introduce something that reduces or interferes with the flow of the water then you are adding another potential leak, A because you have to make another seal, and B because that extra seal will have extra water pooling on it that would have otherwise just run off it it hadn`t been stopped. But anything can be done with a bit of thinking about but it also needs to withstand the flexes introduced by trundling down the roads and roundy bouts and motorways etc etc. I am very guilty of trying to make things that last forever and I`m gutted when they don`t and seals generally don`t. Compressed gaskets last longer if you can incorporate one somehow. Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,,, This is why the design was changed I reckon
