I have a 1984 T25 Holdsworth conversion camper. The roof is a high elevating one with hard side panels that drop down and push up and you lock them together with a little bolt. Unfortunately in the winter, I went outside and one of the gas struts was sticking out the back corner of the van having ripped through the wood and plastic. It looked like someone had ripped it out with a crow bar (still does as haven't managed to fix it yet!). My local mechanic said the wood on the roof was rotten and that's the reason the strut pushed through it. No one seems to be able to fix it. Last advice I got was to find a carpenter to replace all the wood but haven't found a carpenter who is happy taking the roof to pieces and doing this. Have looked into getting a new roof, like a high top but the quotes I've been getting have been around the £2000 mark...would much rather find a way to fix the roof I have. I live in Bristol. Does anybody know anyone in my area who could fix my roof??
My other problem is with (I assume) the electrics. My van is an automatic. Last year it had a problem where when you turned on the ignition nothing happened, didn't even turn over, just silence. Sometimes it would work and then sometimes not. My local garage fitted a new starter motor and two new batteries (van and leisure) and had an auto electrician look at it, and he said he couldn't find anything wrong with it. For a while it worked fine but it has recently started doing exactly the same thing again. It has also started stalling when I brake at junctions and then sometimes not starting! This happened to me yesterday on a busy motorway roundabout with two kids and a dog in the back!! I was stuck their for five minutes trying to start it. Nothing and then suddenly it went fine! What is wrong with it?? Is this an intermittent electrical fault? Or my other idea is that it's got something to do with the automatic gearbox, cos if the gear stick is in Drive then it won't turn over, only if it's in Neutral...do you think maybe it's slipping and doesn't realise it's in Neutral and that's why it won't start? I mentioned this to a couple of mechanics but because I'm obviously a grily who knows nothing about this kind of thing they just patronised me. Am now thinking maybe the bloody thing didn't even need a new startermotor or batteries and the hundreds of pounds I've already spent was for nothing as it hasn't fixed the problem.
Really sorry about this long long message...am at my wits end...I need to find someone in my local area to sort this problem out. I don't mind paying properly to do that but am so sick of being patronised and basically told to go away by oily mechanics who just laugh at me and my old van!
Any help on either of these two problems hugely appreciated.
