68 westy smooth roof - poptop and canvas queries

[scooby999]

Hi everyone just wondered if I could get a bit of advice, just having a new canvas fitted however during the strip down it has been revealed that the wood the canvas staples too being 47 years old has delaminated and needs replacing.

Now it was suggested that I should change the roof over to a later ribbed version which I am not keen on so I just wondered on two things -

1 - Has anyone fitted new wood to their roofs and how hard was it to do? What material did you use and would you suggest rather than fiberglassing it in another fixing material?

2 - It was mentioned that the roof being a smooth version is not very strong and I had not realised that a bar that has been fitted inside my roof was non standard, has anyone done anything else to strengthen the roof? A friend of mine suggested a a strengthening rod fibreglassed to the inside of the roof, any thoughts on this?

Cheers for any advice

Chris

 

[*Sam*]

I can't help with all the Qs as I have a 70 so ribbed roof but.....

I used pine to make my wooden frame, I carduly removed the old ones and used them as a template, fixed in place with no more nails and fibreglass.
Be carful not to let the sides splay out, my one did this and needs filling in a little as the sides.

 

[Skiingnick]

I've got the same type of early roof and when I spent some money on it a couple of years ago, I had the canvas replaced by Bromsgrove Autotrimmers and they made up a plywood sub-frame with cross pieces for the inside which was fibre-glassed onto the existing roof. They covered this over with a felt material and this strengthened the roof and provided something substantial for the canvas to be mounted to. It also looks nice inside.

It's made the roof heavier to lift but that's not an issue and now it's much stronger and doesn't flap around. It's also stopped the top from depressing when I drive the vehicle over 50 mph which was really annoying. I'm very pleased with it.

I can't remember what it cost because it was part of a wider restoration at the time. You could probably do it yourself if you had the time and the tools but you have to get the curve of the roof right or it will never fit properly.

Nick.

 

[Clem]

I have a ribbed roof fitted on my 68. I know that practically its better, but it irks me a little. If I had a smooth one, I'd keep it and reinforce it.

 

[67westy]

I have a ribbed roof fitted on my 68. I know that practically its better, but it irks me a little. If I had a smooth one, I'd keep it and reinforce it.

Snap

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[Graham L]

We've just had a customers smooth roof westy roof reinforced on the top surface by a local fibreglass specialist, has stiffened the roof up massively and looks good (customer is really happy)

Its quite common for the wood to come free on the inside and rot away, the curved sections were made out of ply and the side sections out of 2 x 1 or very similar, its relatively easy to clean them up or remake and then glass then back onto the roof, you'll find theres angle blocks that sit between the roof edge and frame and these are important as spacers and stiffeners for the side.

we have removed the extra aluminium sub structure to carry out the repairs but will put it back afterwards as its unique to the smooth roof westy top.

 

[kempy]

I have a smooth early roof on my 68 and had the same problem with the wood.

I simply removed these sections and made exact copies from some hard wood (I used oak as my father in law had some large strips)

After cleaning the fibreglass I glued these in stages using Gorilla Glue and clamps.

To help the structure there is a metal bar that runs across the width that I believe was standard. Apart from that nothing else and I can honestly say that I've had no problems what so ever.

If i felt the need to strengthen I would have done, however the thought had never crossed my mind to do so.

Mike

 

[scooby999]

Gents thanks for the various replies, I am picking the roof up tomorrow and will be having a go over the next week or so will put a few pics up on a build thread, its about time I got round to it