Club 80-90 Forums

I recently acquired a 1984 Devon conversion (moonraker I believe) that is in need of a lot of tlc including replacing the bellows of the side raising pop top.

I have done a quick Google and I'm seeing loads of replacements for Westfalia but finding it difficult to source a replacement for mine.

So I need some help and have a few questions.

1) does anyone know anywhere near south Essex that supplies and fits?

2) what sort of price am I looking at?

3)to reduce cost, is it something that you can do at home easily if I can get a supply only?

Check out Poptop-parts, not so local though. They are based in Worstershire. They do supply only (£325) . There has been a recent thread about a replacement canvas and problem closing the roof , but this was sorted and quality of replacement canvas was good and fit was good. You'll hear I expect from others who have fitted their replacement themselves.

From a fellow Devon conversion air cooled van

Julia

H Julia wrote:Check out Poptop-parts, not so local though. They are based in Worstershire. They do supply only (£325) . There has been a recent thread about a replacement canvas and problem closing the roof , but this was sorted and quality of replacement canvas was good and fit was good. You'll hear I expect from others who have fitted their replacement themselves.

From a fellow Devon conversion air cooled van

Julia

Thanks Julia, looks good and definately an option if they are a DIY fit

If you're handy and patient you should be able to fit a new canvas yourself by carefully noting how the old one comes off and repeating in reverse. You would save yourself perhaps £600 in labour, maybe more. The pros usually remove the entire pop-top in order to get a better, more factory-fitted result as well as to inspect the van's roof underneath for hidden rust - quite common.

Looking hard at my roof and the way it's assembled I would definitely have a go at the canvas myself if it needed changing but I reckon it'd take a good long weekend of fiddling and cursing to get it done right.

Have a look at the structure of yours - would you need to remove headlining or the sky-light, or drill out many rivets? Forewarned is forearmed..

Moonrakers wrote:If you're handy and patient you should be able to fit a new canvas yourself by carefully noting how the old one comes off and repeating in reverse. You would save yourself perhaps £600 in labour, maybe more. The pros usually remove the entire pop-top in order to get a better, more factory-fitted result as well as to inspect the van's roof underneath for hidden rust - quite common.

Looking hard at my roof and the way it's assembled I would definitely have a go at the canvas myself if it needed changing but I reckon it'd take a good long weekend of fiddling and cursing to get it done right.

Have a look at the structure of yours - would you need to remove headlining or the sky-light, or drill out many rivets? Forewarned is forearmed..

Appreciate the advice. General consensus across here and Facebook seems to be to do it myself and I'm reasonably handy so will probably take that route

I fitted my own and found it easy after the wife stopped helping. You will need an angle drill to drill out the rivets on the hinged side and I found cutting the drill bit down helped.
I used screws stainless screws to refit mine as I found it easier.
Take your time marking out the centre of the of the new bellows and roof on the unhinged side as this is the best place to start and work your way around the top edge then fix the lower edge. Once it's all fixed into place a quick bead of sealant round the outside where the bellows meets the fibreglass and your done.
Steer clear of proud to pop as the bellows I got from them is poorly made and the fit is terrible it's too big.
Before you order ask if the new bellows are made with the hoops for the aluminium poles fixed to the bellows if not it makes it a pain lowering the roof.
Oh and be very careful when removing the old bellows as the plastic strip is old and will be very brittle might be a good idea to warm it up with a hair dryer before you try lifting it.

MGP wrote:I fitted my own and found it easy after the wife stopped helping. You will need an angle drill to drill out the rivets on the hinged side and I found cutting the drill bit down helped.
I used screws stainless screws to refit mine as I found it easier.
Take your time marking out the centre of the of the new bellows and roof on the unhinged side as this is the best place to start and work your way around the top edge then fix the lower edge. Once it's all fixed into place a quick bead of sealant round the outside where the bellows meets the fibreglass and your done.
Steer clear of proud to pop as the bellows I got from them is poorly made and the fit is terrible it's too big.
Before you order ask if the new bellows are made with the hoops for the aluminium poles fixed to the bellows if not it makes it a pain lowering the roof.
Oh and be very careful when removing the old bellows as the plastic strip is old and will be very brittle might be a good idea to warm it up with a hair dryer before you try lifting it.

Really good advice - I appreciate that

Hi
Let me know how you get on as mine needs a new canvas as well,I got a quote last year from a place called garden eyers ,quoted me £190 plus vat .dont know what there like.will send e mail address if your interested,all they wanted was old canvas as a template

Professor plumb wrote:Hi
Let me know how you get on as mine needs a new canvas as well,I got a quote last year from a place called garden eyers ,quoted me £190 plus vat .dont know what there like.will send e mail address if your interested,all they wanted was old canvas as a template

If you have any more details I'd love to find out more about them

I heard about them on this forum , there e mail address is kingswoodcanvas@btconnect.com

Professor plumb wrote:I heard about them on this forum , there e mail address is kingswoodcanvas@btconnect.com

Thank you

You could also speak with Andy Baron from coastal cushion co., he made an excellent canvas for my LHD-Devon Moonraker with tiny little windows in it.
It's also not made with PVC or similar materials, it's made with a gore-tex similar, very lightweight.

Thus, it wasn't very cheap (£375 or € 470,-), but it was worth any penny.

Here is the link to his shop, probably you'll find this useful:

https://m.facebook.com/Coastal-Cushion- ... 129466897/

Great guy, offering great service. He also sent us a sample for the canvas to made a better decision.

takeshi wrote:You could also speak with Andy Baron from coastal cushion co., he made an excellent canvas for my LHD-Devon Moonraker with tiny little windows in it.
It's also not made with PVC or similar materials, it's made with a gore-tex similar, very lightweight.

Thus, it wasn't very cheap (£375 or € 470,-), but it was worth any penny.

Here is the link to his shop, probably you'll find this useful:

https://m.facebook.com/Coastal-Cushion- ... 129466897/

Great guy, offering great service. He also sent us a sample for the canvas to made a better decision.

Thank you - I am going to try and repair what is there as we have found its only the seams that have come apart but will keep this link in case I do buy new

Mine was too worn out and had paint on it (shame on pre-owner).

It was nearby a shame to open the roof, if you can repair it, quite better.

If you need material to repair, canvas from a truck-trailer will help a lot.