Workshop and Technical tips & tricks.
-
Troika
- Posts: 67
- Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2013 2:20 pm
- Location: North East Scotland
Post
by Troika » Tue Mar 01, 2016 12:09 pm
Purchased two replacement bunk covers some time ago, and only now got round to installing, so for those considering doing similar be aware of how easy it is to shear the bolts securing the end brackets,despite lots of releasing oil and gentle touch, and then after all the faffing around with eazi-outs and reinstallation, the bunk covers are a fraction too tight and have only a single line of stitching, which resulted in several inches of seam letting go when the bunk was opened out to full width.
Is it just me, or is there a race to the bottom these days to churn out replacement parts with little or no attempts made to quality check or dimensional control?.....if this had come in a Blue Box I might have just shrugged it off, but

.
-
Dormy
- Posts: 228
- Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2012 11:45 pm
- Info: Sleeping on the job.....Zzzzzz
- Location: Norfolk
Post
by Dormy » Tue Mar 01, 2016 3:30 pm
Troika wrote:Purchased two replacement bunk covers some time ago
I need to buy two for my Dormy. Which supplier did you use so I can place my order in the right direction ?
Thanks
Ian
-
Troika
- Posts: 67
- Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2013 2:20 pm
- Location: North East Scotland
Post
by Troika » Tue Mar 01, 2016 3:54 pm
Purchased from Dormobile themselves, first thought was that they were perhaps tapered for some reason but after measuring carefully it is not the case. Will be removing them and taking them to an Aberdeen sailmaker to unpick and resew with an appropriate adjustment in seam position and inclusion of some strengthening web's.
-
Dormy
- Posts: 228
- Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2012 11:45 pm
- Info: Sleeping on the job.....Zzzzzz
- Location: Norfolk
Post
by Dormy » Tue Mar 01, 2016 11:10 pm
Hmmm, thought you might say that.
OK thanks
Ian
-
RobW
- Posts: 389
- Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2012 4:16 pm
Post
by RobW » Wed Mar 02, 2016 11:07 am
Maybe a sail makers would be a better starting point? Assuming you can still get canvas sails and not just the nylon stuff I've seen on boats.
-
Jabbawocky
- Posts: 431
- Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2012 10:11 pm
- Info: Barney the Dormobile
- Location: Yorkshire Dales
Post
by Jabbawocky » Thu Mar 03, 2016 12:09 am
Assuming you can still get canvas sails and not just the nylon stuff I've seen on boats
??? the original material was nylon or polyester. It definitely wasn't a natural fibre.
Think I will make my own, again.
Mick
-
DrivingDutchman
- Posts: 392
- Joined: Mon Feb 10, 2014 11:44 am
- Location: Raunds, Northants
Post
by DrivingDutchman » Wed Mar 23, 2016 2:33 pm
1969 109 sw dormobile Dora
1996 overland defender sw 110 Nellie
1962 109 sw safari diesel Hannie (sold)
1973 88 series 3 soft top in various bits on the drive...
-
Dieselhen
- Posts: 19
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2014 9:56 pm
Post
by Dieselhen » Sat Mar 26, 2016 10:03 pm
We had the original tartan polyester ones on our first Dormobile - they were pretty perished because the fabric wasn't particularly UV-stable/resistant and the PO had not long returned from a trans-Europe-trans-Africa expedition. We were living in Manchester at that time, which had an amazing fabric wholesale warehouse called Bachers selling everything from fine lace to tarpaulin in pretty well any length or width. I had previously bought a lot of curtain material from there, so when we realised the bunk fabric would need replaced, I trotted along to Bachers and discovered that they had genuine deckchair cotton canvas. Norman dismantled the bunks and measured the length and width (but only at one end), I marked up the fabric and ran it through the sewing machine........brilliant...........but with one small problem - the bunks have a very slight taper to one end

So I then had to partially unpick one seam on each and then restitch them slightly wider - after which they fitted perfectly
(Those bunks are still in perfect condition and I salvaged them to go into the blue (Elgin) Dormobile whose bunks are knackered.)