Doris
Well-known member
Hi all,
thought I'd document the repair of my fibre glass pop top from my 69 Dormobile.
The Martin Walter Dormobile pop top is a big old thing on a Bay.It is a fibre glass construction with a gel coat on the outer most side.It has 3 sets of tubing set within the roof for strengthening - two which run half way up the ends (from the hinged side) and a long tube that runs along the side where the hinges attach.This long tube has 'plates' attached to it that line up with the hinges.This means that the bolts that go through the hinges,pass through these plates also,so when the roof is raised/lowered,it eases the forces off the fibre glass and carrying them through the metal tubing.
anyway,some pics of the work.I must say that the fibre glassing is crude & messy work.In future I will be using the ready mixed glass & fibres,its much easier than trying to paint the liquid glass onto the fibre strands!
So,here's what we're dealing with.everytime I lifted the roof,it was the fibre glass that was taking the strain......
removing the rusted out tubing.some sections where good, but the lot had to come out!! try and leave as much of the good existing fibre glass as possible. this will provide strength and a good guide to re fitting the new tubing.I used a stanley knife to score & sharp screw driver to take away, just enough to remove the rusted tubing....
old tubing out,alot of it had just crumbled though,coming out as rusty dust.compare it with the new piece!!! Getting the new tubing is probably the most difficult part of this job. I used a local fabricators.10mm diameter tube is required,you may choose to use aluminium or stainless steel,I used mild steel.I was lucky in that the curved pieces at the ends where just about in tact so they could be used as a template.The metal workers copied the bends in the end tubes perfectly,I'm sure it would have taken me hours to get it right.
When it came to the long tube for the hinges,I decided to go for solid bar instead of tube.you can see from the pics that I had some 50mm x 60mm plates made up and welded to the back of the rod, not in the centre of the circle (if you are looking end on).In other words, If I lay the rod on a flat surface the plate would be flush with the surface.This is to balance the forces when its bolted up to the hinge i.e. all the pressure would be spread evenly over the metal plate/hinge.its at this point I rust proofed the metal.
thought I'd document the repair of my fibre glass pop top from my 69 Dormobile.
The Martin Walter Dormobile pop top is a big old thing on a Bay.It is a fibre glass construction with a gel coat on the outer most side.It has 3 sets of tubing set within the roof for strengthening - two which run half way up the ends (from the hinged side) and a long tube that runs along the side where the hinges attach.This long tube has 'plates' attached to it that line up with the hinges.This means that the bolts that go through the hinges,pass through these plates also,so when the roof is raised/lowered,it eases the forces off the fibre glass and carrying them through the metal tubing.
anyway,some pics of the work.I must say that the fibre glassing is crude & messy work.In future I will be using the ready mixed glass & fibres,its much easier than trying to paint the liquid glass onto the fibre strands!
So,here's what we're dealing with.everytime I lifted the roof,it was the fibre glass that was taking the strain......
removing the rusted out tubing.some sections where good, but the lot had to come out!! try and leave as much of the good existing fibre glass as possible. this will provide strength and a good guide to re fitting the new tubing.I used a stanley knife to score & sharp screw driver to take away, just enough to remove the rusted tubing....
old tubing out,alot of it had just crumbled though,coming out as rusty dust.compare it with the new piece!!! Getting the new tubing is probably the most difficult part of this job. I used a local fabricators.10mm diameter tube is required,you may choose to use aluminium or stainless steel,I used mild steel.I was lucky in that the curved pieces at the ends where just about in tact so they could be used as a template.The metal workers copied the bends in the end tubes perfectly,I'm sure it would have taken me hours to get it right.
When it came to the long tube for the hinges,I decided to go for solid bar instead of tube.you can see from the pics that I had some 50mm x 60mm plates made up and welded to the back of the rod, not in the centre of the circle (if you are looking end on).In other words, If I lay the rod on a flat surface the plate would be flush with the surface.This is to balance the forces when its bolted up to the hinge i.e. all the pressure would be spread evenly over the metal plate/hinge.its at this point I rust proofed the metal.
