From your pictures, it looks like you tried to put the new canvas on
with the poptop entirely up. Had you checked the archives, there was
the hint of putting a chair on the top bunk and partially lowering the
poptop. That removes the tension from the canvas and makes installation
very easy.

On Aug 1, 2005, at 7:29 PM, Matt Barclay wrote:

> "White Man's Burden" got a new pop-top canvas and lived up to its name:
>
> http://gallery.openfbo.com/PopTopCanvas
>
> My recommendations if you get a new canvas:
>
> 1.  Take the damned pop-top off the camper and screw in four screws per
> corner.  The corners are the tightest part of the canvas.  I tried to
> save
> time and effort by installing the canvas with the pop-top still on the
> camper.  HUGE mistake.  Wasted a good 10 hours altogether.  Once I got
> the pop top off, it was a 5 hour job.
>
> 2.  With the top corners holding the canvas to the pop-top, put the
> pop-top back on the camper.
>
> 3.  Screw in the middle of each bottom side.  The bottom of the canvas
> has
> a rubber strip that butts up against the metal tacking strips.  Work
> your
> way out to the corners stretching the canvas out a little bit at a
> time.
>
> 4.  Screw in the rest of the top of the canvas, taking up slack in the
> fabric.  My canvas has several inches of slack at the top:
>
> http://gallery.openfbo.com/PopTopCanvas/img_3898
>
> 5.  Find a local supplier for the screws and pop-top attachment nuts.
> Those screws get stripped or lost in the grass easily.
>
> I sure am happy with it, now that its done.  The breeze through the
> three
> windows is great during these hot summer days.
>
> Cheers,
> Matt