Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2008 09:19:39 -0500
Reply-To: The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Subject: Re: changing pop-top canvas
In-Reply-To: <002101c96522$e70d6d00$6b01a8c0@deeke5aef7afa1>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> My first question is which canvas to buy. I see one on eBay
> for $314 and they say it is manufactured by Acme. Gowesty
> is made by Acme also and $360. Gowesty also has an acrylic
> canvas for $480.
> Bus depot has two canvases. One type is priced at from
> $260-$280. This canvas is said to be made in Europe and
> a close match to the original. The other canvas they have is
> $399 and is manufactured by the original maker. One strange
> thing I've found out about the bus depot canvas when speaking with
> someone who has replaced many canvases. this person told me
> that a customer came in with a bus depot canvas and wanted
> him to install it. He said that the bus depot canvas that
> this person brought in had the same label on it has the Acme
> canvases that he has installed before. So that's kind of
> confusing. I would be willing to pay the extra money for the
> original canvas if I knew it was that much better than the
> less expensive one.
We sell several canvas options for the Vanagon. Our most popular ones are
the low priced one we import from Europe, and the genuine German OEM
Westfalia one. The former is our best seller, and much nicer than the Acme
one in my opinion. It is a better fit and it looks MUCH closer to stock.
However, it is designed like the earlier-style OEM canvas in that it does
not have a beading up top. If you use it on a late model that screws in on
the poptop end, you would still do it the same way, even without the
beading. Despite this difference, many have been in use for years and the
canvas does stay in place just fine that way. This canvas gets you most of
the way to OEM quality for a much lower price, and is definitely the best
value-for-dollar out there.
The OEM German one is simply the best you can buy. Materials, zippers,
stitching, etc. are all original quality. This canvas should last you as
long as the original did, which is to say probably longer than you will keep
your Vanagon. Given the work involved in replacing a canvas, there is much
to be said about using the best quality replacement you can find, and this
is definitely it. When it comes time to replace my own poptop canvas, I
personally will settle for nothing less than this.
We also sell Sunbrella/acrylic canvas, for those who insist on that
material. It is the same one everyone else sells (so the one that your
installer reference must have been this one), except that our price is a bit
lower. Sunbrella's main claim to fame is that it won't fade after long-term
continuous exposure to strong sunlight. On a boat sitting in the water with
constant reflected sunlight, that can be an issue - much less so on a Westy,
whose top is not open constantly and there is no reflected sunlight. On the
negative, acrylic is stiffer, making the poptop harder to fold in and close.
There is no real-world advantage to acrylic over the OEM material for a
poptop canvas, and the price is higher. Therefore I personally see no reason
to recommend it, although we do offer it for those who feel differently.
We also sell original ASI/Riviera, Country Homes, and Eurovan Winnebago
canvas.
You can find all of your options here:
http://busdepot.com/details/canvas.jsp
- Ron Salmon
The Bus Depot, Inc.
www.busdepot.com
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