Good Morning Ken and Listers,

Thanks for the update.  My inquiry was on behalf of a neighbor who is
performing the replacement this week in advance of a vacation.
Fortunately, she is working with the later configuration that does not
use staples.  I will be doing the same thing to my Syncro at some point
in the near future, probably at the same time as initiating a repaint.
About 6mos ago the clearcoat began sheeting off of the Syncro en masse,
so I need to do something real soon.

I received a couple of responses from other list members who provided a
couple of great links, one of which is the one I remembered.

*Thanks again,
Jon*

Ken Wilford wrote:
> Jon, I just did this job on Friday.  If you buy the Canvas from me or
> other reputable list vendors it will come with detailed instructions
> on how to install it.  Be warned it took me over 6 hours to do this
> latest one and I have done many over the years.  I keep trying to find
> ways to go faster but my main concern is that it turns out well.  One
> other issue I have had over the years is with the tents made for the
> early Vanagons 80-83.  These are the ones that use the tack strips on
> the top of fasten them.  They require that the top of the tent be
> squared in the corners and the bottom be rounded in the corners.  So
> far I have never found this to be the case.  The tents have been
> rounded in the top and bottom corners of the rear part and will not
> fit like the old ones.  I have solved this problem by adding small
> blocks of triangular wood to the upper corners and it solves the
> problem but I am going to share my concerns with the tent makers
> because an average person may be stymied by this problem in the midst
> of having the top of their van off and on saw horses sitting beside
> the van.  Not a fun problem to run into especially if you are under
> time pressure.
> It is not a difficult job, take your time, read the instructions.  If
> you can't work inside start the first thing in the morning and have a
> fan to try to circulate the air for you.  You may want to do the work
> over the course of two days because by the time you get the top off
> and put the new canvas in it, the day will be getting toward noon and
> doing this work outside with the noon day sun hitting your top makes
> you feel like you are sealing yourself inside your own casket in an
> Asian prisoner of war camp.  Not a fun experience but if you are
> claustrophobic this is not the job for you.  There is no pleasant or
> happy way to fasten the rear section of the tent to the top of the van
> that I have found.  You can't have the top fully popped up, there is
> no air flow and I was sweating my guts out inside an air conditioned
> shop with a huge fan blowing up my way simply because nothing could
> reach me wedged back in the rear of the partially closed pop top.  I
> really hate this job worse than any other I have ever done on a
> Vanagon probably because I am somewhat claustrophobic to start with.
> If you only ever have to do yours, you can survive it and feel the
> pride of a job well done.  I usually do two of three of these over the
> course of a summer and then am happy when winter comes and they become
> nothing but a vague memory :-)
>
> Let me know if I can help you further.
>
> Ken Wilford
> John 3:16
> www.vanagain.com
>
>
> Jon Kanas wrote:
>> Good Afternoon,
>>
>> It seems to me that earlier this year there was a posting or reference
>> to a site where there was a good procedure published for replacing the
>> poptop canvas.  I've been digging around in the archives with no luck.
>> If anyone remembers this post or link, I'd appreciate a pointer to it.
>> --
>>
>> *Best Regards,
>> Jon B Kanas
>> Email: kanas<at>qadas.com <mailto:kanas@qadas.com>
>> LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jonkanas
>> Website: http://www.qadas.com/~kanas <http://www.qadas.com/%7Ekanas>
>> *
>>
>> *"When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always
>> one individual who perceives a solution and is willing to take command.
>> Very Often, that individual is crazy."
>> --Dave Barry
>> *
>>
>
>