LRCC

At last, now ready to fit.

What a job, but worth every minute.
I asked when I was getting the flocking done what would be the easiest way to remove old flocking and they said sand it off with a DA. It was really important to clean up round the rivets because anything left would show when re-flocked.
The flocking was a bit more expensive than I had hoped, £400 but the finish is great and Nikki at Banbury flocking did a super job. With £200 spent getting someone to clean up and spray the base (I rollered the top to get a slight "textured"finish) I will have spent close on £1000 in total and hours and hours of work.


Regards and many thanks for everyones help and advice.
Christine

That looks fantastic Kip - well done, it looks well worth the effort

I know what you mean about 'slight adjustments'! On the ones I've replaced not one of them has sat flush and lifted cleanly on the first go, despite using exactly the same measurements as the original woodwork - I wonder if Searle had the same 'adjustments' to do on each one

Did you re-fit the glass yourself or get a 'professional' in? Just wondered if you/they had used sealant on the rubber to metal, and/or rubber to glass? I know it's a weak point on most of the roofs I know of, including mine and I replaced the seals with new
Sikaflex and Captain Tolley are good friends with my windows

Cheers,
Robin.

Hi,

I fitted the glass myself, new rubber seals. I joined the ends using sikaflex cutting the rubber 15mm too long so that it was a tight fit when pushed into place. Coh Baines sell a tool for putting the claytonite rubber seals and infill strip in, the cheaper one they sell does the job well and has different shaped ends for different size seals. I used low modulus silicone sealer between the metal and rubber and also between the glass and rubber.

I think while it is all dry I will just run some captain tolley's round to be on the safe side. Someone at work had run off with my low modulus clear silicone so I had to use black.....you can imagine the mess cleaning it all up. I will let you know where it leaks. For now it is still in the dry, I don't want to put it outside yet but looking forward to fitting it to the landy. I may even need to run a fine bead of sikaflex between the glass and rubber especially on the skylight, because of the sloped panel I think the water will sit.

Regards Christine

Hi, I'm new to this forum, very impressed with the roof build, I'm looking for a roof for my 6 cylinder 109 and hadn't thought of building one until I saw this. Did you start from scratch from plans or copy an old one? Bet it took some patience to get it all sealed up and opening properly!

It was a restoration of an existing Carawagon roof.

To make one from scratch requires a couple of sheets of 'special' alloy - the roof panel isn't ordinary aluminium which would work harden and crack with constant bending and straightening.

I've restored three Carawagon roofs (see HERE for one), with new marine ply, seals etc. but used the original 'alloy' panel.
I've still got another two to do on my project Carawagons.

There are easier ways to make a lifting roof - look at things like X-Panda or any of the modern roofs which hinge at one side or the front or rear.

Cheers,
Robin.

Thanks for the reply, have looked at the other options but like the design and engineering of the carawagon roof, will have to keep looking for a roof to rebuild.