Carawagon roof restoration

[chippit]

Hi,

I have finally made a start to restore the roof on my carawagon. We put a standard roof on the landrover and got it through an mot, I have been doing 30 miles round trip to work every day and love driving it. The roof however was a bit tired. Silver guttering tape had been used every where, that took 3 hours to remove (like trying to scrape off soft toffee) but it had at least kept the water out.

Has anyone had any experience renewing the flock lining? it is damaged in one place. I have found information on this forum and 6 pot as to where to get all the seals and hinges (many thanks for that) I am going to replace all the plywood with a special ply that has paintable surfaces made by wisa (sign writers use it) and use two pack epoxy primer on all the edges. It will be interesting to see how long it lasts before it needs painting again.

Also does anyone know what the 'ridge' is made from? I am half thinking of building another carawagon roof from scratch.
Is it wood sandwiched between the 2 sheets of aluminium down the centre, also any ideas as to where to buy that sort of ali?

If anyone needs any photos of how it all goes together and how the seals all fit I will be more than happy to help. My carawagon is a lovely and original 1974 series 3, it even came with the leather carawagon key ring.


Regards Christine

[RMS]

Hi Christine,

Thanks for sharing

Looks like you've got a bit of work to do on that roof - we've done two so far, completely replacing all the wood with marine ply, and we've got another two to do.
It's like Carawagon Central on my front lawn

I would be careful about using epoxy type paint on the ends - I suspect if water gets in you wouldn't know about it as it could rot away but still look ok on the outside.
We give ours a good soaking with a wood preservative (Cuprinol 5 Star or similar), leave it to dry for a week or two, then a thinned coat of yacht varnish, followed by at least 2-3 full coats of yacht varninsh.
All of that is done before fitting, then that's followed by another coat a few months later.
At least then you can see what's happening to your ply

Steve on here (WhiteKnight) bought a flocking kit, but hasn't got around to using it.
Apparently, the adhesive is spread on to the surface, and the flock is 'puffed' on with a hand puffer.
The excess is then swept up and puffed on again until the surface is covered.
From what I understand, the tiny filaments or hairs should only stick at right angles to the surface, so you get a 'pile' like a carpet.
It all sounds very daunting, hence he hasn't done it yet.

We were approached by a guy at a show last year who said he used to flock the roofs for Searle, and they were paid extra to do it as it was such a messy job

One of my project Carawagons has a bare roof, but I think I'll have a go at sticking felt or even flock on a roll on to it while it's off the vehicle and unscrewed from the woodwork - much easier to do while it's upside down, I would think

Re. the ridge, as far as I know there's just a long length of timber the full length, but the ends are filled with shaped pieces.
The aluminium is Duralloy(sp?), and I understand it is available from specialist suppliers on the continent, but not found anyone in the UK who's heard of it. I think it used to be used on certain small aircraft many years ago. It is special because it can be flexed without work hardening - if you used normal aluminium sheet it would eventually crack. I understand it is also very expensive

Of course, don't forget that the Carawagon name, and presumably any patents or manufacturing processes, are owned by the company that also now owns Dormobile, so you shouldn't/couldn't(?) copy the design

Have you got any more pictures, especially of the inside?
We've got three different internal layouts on the front lawn, so it would be interesting to see yours

Cheers,
Robin.

[chippit]

Hmmm, yes good point about the patent.

I will sort through the photo's tonight and post a few. I am not sure if my carawagon is surposed to have a removable metal bar behind the front seats. One of the cupboard fronts makes the table and has the threaded sockets to take table legs (unfortunately missing) and I am guessing it hooks over that bar. I am also missing the front middle seat, I will be making something up to go there.

Regards Christine

P.S. I bought the metal roof rack that had been advertised on ebay, it fits a treat. Mine also has the original gerry can holders and tool box if anyone needs photos to build something.

[chippit]

Having taken one of the ends completely to pieces it was good enough to use as the template to route the new plywood.
Didn't quite get as much done today as I had hoped but managed to drill all the rivets out on the piano hinges atattched to the roof aluminium angle and get the lower section of the roof to the person who is going to spray it.

routing new plywood using original end

Interior, the other side is the same but the cupboard has a pull out washing up bowl once the front has been removed to use as the table. There is a spout and foot pump for filling the bowl with water.

Exterior

[jerryd]

Good luck with your roof rebuild it looks more complicated that mine

Some close up pics of the jerry can / tool box assembly would be really useful as I'm hoping to build something on mine one day. 40 litres of extra fuel could be a life saver out here and I don't have room underneath for extra fuel tank.