JK ROOF CANVAS - Are they much cop?

[Gütterßnipe]

Looking at replacing my westy pop-top canvas thats more duct tape than anything else!

As budget is a deciding factor and I dont camp in it more than 6 times a year is this one ok at £179? - i dont want something too shitty
http://www.justkampers.com/shop/t2-...s-westfalia-3-window-front-hinged-j14149.html

or should i opt for a C&C one as they are currently offering 20.12% discount but its still priced a bit over my limit

http://www.customandcommercial.com/..._top_canvas_front_hinge_in_orange_68-73_9516/

I'd prefer the C&C one as its in the original colours but dont know if this will add any extra value to my camper...

swings/roundabouts....

Your views, ideas and preferences please.

cheers

Spence

 

[Austin]

Had a jk one for my 69 westy, was perfect last time, very good quality and fit. Liked it so much have recently bought another from Jk for my 71.

Faultless and well priced. Identical in design to the rip off originals and WW items.

Why wouldn't you buy one is the question!!

Hope this helps dude.

Cheers

Austin

 

[Austin]

Ps, who cares about original colours? Won't make a blind bit of difference to the value I your camper.

Safe buy.

 

[mister]

Hi Spence
Mines got a JK one on, the PO fitted it, its now three years old and has a couple of small holes, otherwise its fine. Your welcome to come and have a look at it if you want.
Andrew.

 

[Gütterßnipe]

Cheers Austin
1-0

did you fit it yourself? how easy was it to do? for some reason i'm just being a bit anal about the og colour thing at the mo :?

Spence

 

[Gütterßnipe]

Hi Spence
Mines got a JK one on, the PO fitted it, its now three years old and has a couple of small holes, otherwise its fine. Your welcome to come and have a look at it if you want.
Andrew.

Andrew,

Hello mate, i might just do that if its ok with you, i'll pm you my mobile number.

JK 2-0 C&C

thanks

Spence

 

[Gütterßnipe]

cool - i just passed the 300 posts mark :lol:

 

[Austin]

Dude, I fitted it myself no problem and I'm gonna do it again in my 71, one good tip for you tho, use counter sunk screws and screw cups to give it the final fix. Any type of staple gun you use will never be as good as a screw.

Just take your time, and lay it all out the right way ad check it before you start.

You also get some pretty good instructions with the Jk one too. It pretty satisfying. An you won't get any holes if you do it right and look after it, just the same as an original item.

 

[birchyman]

They seem OK till you compare them to a good one
Do it once its a big part of the bus
I've fitted lots
Jk by far the crappest

 

[ZedBed]

The last JK one I fitted had a square flap in the end instead of rounded and it fastened with velcro instead of zips which was rubbish! The material was thin.
The fit was good.

 

[Graham L]

Having fitted a few to buses personally I would go for the more expensive option, the JK one I used was very thin, didn't fit that well and overall the quality was poor.

The ones from C&C & Heritage are West Coast Metric ones from memory and are made of a much better quality material, have a better overall fit and match the original colour.

Unless JK have upped their game and produced some better ones recently I would look elsewhere, if you want a definative answer send Faux a PM, last time I spoke to him he would not fit JK Canvas's on behalf of customers and he offers a fitting service!!

 

[Gütterßnipe]

Graham,

I guess you get what you pay for and that's what's been playing on my mind.
gonna check out a fitted JK one later this week and will make a decision thereafter.

Cheers

Spence

 

[Graham L]

As I say drop Jon (Faux) a PM, he will give you his honest opinion.

 

[Shorty]

I think this is a JK one that was fitted to my bus before I swapped it out for a WW one...

You can't compare the quality between this and the WW one, but then this maybe a case of getting what you pay for... They are certainly not all the same though!

BTW, this was was removed successfully with damaging it, so is for sale if you want a replacement cheaply....

 

[*Sam*]

Hi all just to throw this into the game, I purchased a JK canvas a few months ago, prior to buying it I was gonna get a WW thrown in my van before it left the states but they were sold out.

I spoke with JK and they said the following.

We have purchased a WW canvas picked it apart and had a batch made from the pattern of the WW canvas.

Now I have not fitted mine yet so can only pass on what I have been told.

I guess in theory they are different to any previous JK canvas and should be better but only time will tell.

Cheers
Sam

 

[ZedBed]

JK sell two different quality ones. I guess you're talking about the better one? Don't know anything about those.

 

[Gütterßnipe]

Looking further into this, Custom & Commercial
Sell three types

I'm looking at he middle range one for £280

http://www.customandcommercial.com/volkswagen-baywindow/pop_top_parts--and--sunroof_parts/westfalia_roof_canvas/german_quality_pop_top_canvas_front_hinge_in_orange_68-73_9516/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As the £355 one is far too much for me.

http://www.customandcommercial.com/volkswagen-baywindow/pop_top_parts--and--sunroof_parts/westfalia_roof_canvas/german_quality_pop_top_canvas_front_hinge_in_yellow_68-73_1394/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Any clues on what one is West Coast Metric or are they both?

Ta

Spence

 

[niklee1]

I purchased a JK roof canvas in 2006 and it was a really good quality and easy to fit. I do not have the van anymore but I know who does and they have stated that it is a little worse for wear now with a few minor tears but still very usable.

That would give it a working life of 6 years so far. Hope this helps.
Regards

 

[*Sam*]

Hi all just to throw this into the game, I purchased a JK canvas a few months ago, prior to buying it I was gonna get a WW thrown in my van before it left the states but they were sold out.

I spoke with JK and they said the following.

We have purchased a WW canvas picked it apart and had a batch made from the pattern of the WW canvas.

Now I have not fitted mine yet so can only pass on what I have been told.

I guess in theory they are different to any previous JK canvas and should be better but only time will tell.

Cheers
Sam

Ok so i have now fitted my roof canvas, i have not fitted any other canvas in my life but this is my opinion of the NEW JK canvas.

Had it on my list of jobs to do for some time but kept struggling to find the time and decent weather as i was doing it on the road side.

The canvas was well packed and came complete with instructions, I decided that i wasn't going to remove the roof from my van as per the instructions as i was on the road side and clouds were above me.
I removed the leftover of the original canvas and cleaned up all the original ally track, i then polished the roof and fixed a few broken bits of the wooden frame work that the canvas attaches to.

Initially i was going to use screws and cups to fix the canvas as i thought this would look better and has been suggested by my buddy Austin as a good method, unfortunately i hadn't got as many cups and screws as i though so i defulted to the staple gun.

I marked centre of each side of the canvas and the centre of each side of the roof.
I the matched up the marks and shot a staple in to it I initially used 6mm staples and with each side fixed in the centres I then worked my way out to each corner putting a staple in very 4" (aprox)

once complete i then attached the ally track at the bottom, the instructions suggest you fit the tack strip before the lower ally track but i felt it better to do the track to see how the canvas sat.
With this completed i swapped to 8mm staples and fitted the tack strip putting a staple in every 1" (aprox)

The whole job took me and my dad about 3hrs including a tea break. In my opinion the canvas is really good and the instructions are fine, it was easy to fit and at a fraction of the price of other canvas's i have seen.

Here are some pics i snapped tis evening sorry its dark.

 

[faux]

This was a JK one I fitted a long time ago but I was not happy with it, I think they are different now.

I ended up fitting this one which is now 4 years old (ish) and is as good as the day I fitted it. It was from WW.

Another WW one I fitted recently. They are very good and last pretty well. It was about £300 from CC.

I can't really comment on JK ones as they probably change their suppliers regularly. My advice would be, if you order one and you are not happy send it back.