Date:         Thu, 24 Jul 2003 08:15:18 -0700
Reply-To:     Alistair Bell <albell@UVIC.CA>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Alistair Bell <albell@UVIC.CA>
Subject:      pop top tent tightening kludge
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First off, I admit this is somewhat cheesy and not for everyone...


Yesterday afternoon my friend and I tightened the fabric of his pop top. It
was a replacement canvas (Bus Depot I think), with 3 windows, purchased and
installed last summer.

But he had been disappointed with the installation job he did, the sides of
the fabric were not as taut as he wanted. He was reluctant to undo the
bottom mounting rails and fuss with the fabric that way.

So we decided to make the pop top "pop" a little higher by fitting some
1"X1"X3" blocks between the roof and the forward lifting mechanism. The
blocks were drilled (oversized) for the bolts, and we replaced the stock
slotted carriage bolts with longer stainless ones.

One person on the luggage rack area and the other inside with the pop top
popped, a bit of a push up and the block is inserted between the strut and
the top (sealant applied to replacement bolts of course).

It actually worked, the sides are tauter and look better.

But then we had an awful thought, will the top still close?

I does! Just as before, the arm mechanism still has enough range movement
left in it when the top is down to allow the latch to engage.


Alistair
--
'82 Westy -> diesel converted to gas in '94
albell@uvic.ca
http://members.shaw.ca/albell