The gutters are showing the 33 years of rain and uk weather and need repairs. I am thinking of getting this done but not sure how to approach this. First option is me to remove the roof, get it to my local (non vw body man) to do the gutter repairs then me to refit roof with new struts, seals etc. Second option is get a 'vw specialist' to do this for me. To follow this through, I am unsure who to use in the midlands, I know the vw camper company in banbury can do this but the couple of times I have been in touch they don't seem interested in just doing one bit of the van, they seem to want do do a full van refurb. I would welcome any views from you guys with recommendations for the best approach and any good specialists in the midlands who could do this. I would reckon that the semi do it yourself option may need some thinking through because I would imagine the fibreglass roof is rather heavy. Appreciate your views folks! Ps will be looking to do this in the autumn this year.
Got any pictures of the "rot" Things to bear in mind... If the gutters are rotten, then likely as not it has extended to the inside of the roof!! So depending on what you find when you take the pop top off, you could be happy or horrified
It's hard to say, as it is the side hinged roof, one side is innacssesable . The non hinged side has rot on the gutter but doesn't appear to have gone into the roof other than a couple of bubbles, same on the rear side I can see. It needs addressing as the bit where I attach the awning is nearly disintegrated at the right hand side. I appreciate there could be some horrors behind that I can't see but we are keeping the bus for the foreseeable as we get so much out of it, not saying money is no object but we are in too deep now, our view is it is not what it's worth, it's what it means to us, daft I know but there we are.
We're looking at getting ours done this autumn and I'm not looking forward to getting the roof off. We also have to replace the bellows as the PVC is degrading, but it seems impossible to get an exact match to the original. www.puddle-jump.co.uk
I have the same exercise to do at some point soon (before the existing hinges completely fail). I got new hinges, seals and clips from these guys: http://www.poptop-parts.co.uk/devon-flse.htm I think they do bellows too. Good luck!
We have one in at the moment with the same problems. It will look something like this: What you need to do is remove all the roof lining from that side. I did mention in a previous thread that I'm sure the coverings asbestos so it'll be up to the odd welding spark And it's a pig of a job as so much of the canvas has to be removed otherwise you'll rip it when the roof tries to make a break for it.
You'll save a bomb taking off and re-fitting the roof yourself + it won't be in the way at the restorers. Could be quite a big job, might not be, probably will be.
I've done mine recently and it looked much like birdy's one. The roof weighs as much as a blue whale so you'll need a few friends to help. Leave the canvas attached to the pop top and undo from the van roof, tape the struts and canvas to the inside of the pop top and lift it off. When I replaced mine I used bolts in the hinges instead of rivets. The problem starts with the rivets in the first place, they're too weedy for a roof that big.
