TheSamba.com :: View topic - Treating op-up canvas?

Tue Sep 30, 2003 6:35 pm

Hello all -

The bus I just bought has fairly new canvas in the pop-up, and I was just wondering if there was anything I can do to make sure I get as long a life out it as possible... any kind of waterproofing spray? Maybe the seam sealer they sell for regular tents?

-Paulie

Tue Sep 30, 2003 7:16 pm

The canvas should be treated already. You can buy a liquid designed for treating canvas from places that sell big wall tents (Cabela's, etc.) and canvas awnings (check your phone book). I would call the manufacturer and ask their recommendation as canvas is supposed to breath some. I would avoid Thompson's water seal like the plague (for any use).

Tue Sep 30, 2003 8:07 pm

The secret to maintaining your canvas is to keep your poptop seals in place and air out the canvas every once in a while. If your original seal has rotten off because the steel clips inside rusted the canvas can pop out and get ruined. My own canvas was ruined this way and it could easily have been prevented.

You can use a disinfectant dilluted in water to kill the mold that will want to take us residence.

Dawn at PLFVW.com recommends 303 High Tech Fabric Guard Spray. Unless you leave up the top all the time, you won't have trouble with UV so mold and mildew are the number one enemy that will weaken the fabric.

New canvases are not cheap and a hassle to install so invest the time to take care of the current one.

Wed Oct 01, 2003 8:03 am

I used scotchguard on mine.

Wed Oct 01, 2003 9:19 am

My canvas looks like swiss cheese. Anybody know where to get a new one for a good deal? I've seen them on gowesty.com, I guess that's affordable but would like to get it for cheaper.

Wed Oct 01, 2003 9:31 am

Unless you can find them used you're SOL. www.plf.com has good ones that are very close in color to the original if you care about that sort of thing. (I do!) Or you can get the tan replacement ones that are cheaper. www.busdepot.com has them www.oldvolks.com can get them too I think.

Wed Oct 01, 2003 10:48 am

The DPO on my Westy had Scotchguarded the canvas. Seemed to make it a bit brittle. Have read elsewhere that this has caused problems since it affects pliability, but so far for me it has been okay. I regularly open the top to let it air out and stretch. In fact, when I change the oil, I make sure I do that as part of the maintenance regimen.

As for vendors of the canvas, there's http://www.poptops.com/poptops.htm in addition to the others mentioned.

Wed Oct 01, 2003 11:25 am

The price varies quite a bit. You'll find the best deal on a 68-73 canvas at GoWesty. It's not a heavy item but will cost $10 UPS / $13 USPS to ship and you'll want to order from out of sate to avoid the tax.

All the aftermarket canvases come from the same source no matter where you buy from except for one (see below). They are all know to have an aftermarket fit and you'll have a hard time installing it with the fabric flipped over tacking strip like the original. Many people find that not folding it over the strip gives them the extra inch that's needed so it's not too tight.

Cotton and acrlyic are the two options for fabric. Cotton will rot quicker but acrlyic is harder to fold and stow.

As for color, tan was only a 68-79 color on a Mexico Beige or Champagne Edition camper. The others were mostly yellow except during the 74-75 years: orange matching the Brilliant Orange paint, in rare cases dark green canvas matching the Sage Green or light green matching the Bali Yellow paint. The color match between the aftermarket and OEM colors is not that close.

PLFVW. Dawn makes her own canvas and although it's the most expensive it's also the best. She only uses sunbrella and your canvas is guaranteed to fit right but she doesn't short you on the material. The sunbrella yellow is pretty close to the original but it you put one of Dawn's swatches next to it and unfaded curtains you'll see it's also off. The stock canvas was a perfect color match for the curtains.

Scotchguard is for stains and spills not for mold/mildew protection.

One final caution: if you order a tan OE canvas from Bus Depot for $300 check they actually have it. They had some OE Vanagon canvases mislabeled in Europe which causes a few people grief during installation (5" too short and impossible to fit).

Wed Oct 01, 2003 11:45 am

ratwell wrote: Scotchguard is for stains and spills not for mold/mildew protection.

No, 3M actually makes an assortment of Scotchguard products that serve varying purposes. The one I was referring to was Scotchgard™ Heavy Duty Water Repellent for Outdoor Fabrics. Not a fungicide, but a protectant.

Wed Oct 01, 2003 12:19 pm

Do a search under "restoration" on:

http://www.aircoolers.org

for "pop top canvas" and you will see how Huji (and lady friend) sewed their own. The material and zippers are really cheap, so if you can handle a sewing machine it is possible to do. Materials were way under $50.

And Scotchguard works great on canvas. Just do the treatment in front of you house on a sunny, windy day to dissipate the fumes. Don't be like me and treat the canvas on a tent trailer while camping, on a cold day, when the only warm place was inside the trailer -- with the fumes.

Wed Oct 01, 2003 12:49 pm

Like others said, make sure the seals are good on the poptop.

Another comment is when you are shutting the top, make sure that you pull all the canvas INSIDE. IF any part is under the seal, or outside the seal, it will be prone to the elements.

Wed Oct 01, 2003 2:08 pm

Dawn uses Marine grade sunbrella material. It is very durable.

The original material is actually a little more orange that what she uses but hers is , by far the closest match and It does match the yellow/goldenrod curtians put in the 73 and later buses that weren' green.

Campers, and I am only talking about Westies here, from 68-72 used the yellow/brown/white checkerboard material for curtains. 73 was a one year only interior and used the yellow curtains, but they may have been a one year only color too, I'm not sure. For late campers I have only seen solid green and the yellow/goldenrod color material used for curtains.

And (here it comes) early campers (pre 67) with the possible exception of 67 or late 67 campers, did not use the above mentioned checkerboard material. Check the manuals and brocheres.