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Post by 66saint on May 21, 2005 14:21:13 GMT 10
On close inspection of the roof of my van I have found it once had a vinyl covering. I have not noticed any pictures where this is present. As I said earlier, my van is supposed to be 1957. Does anyone have information on the existence of vinyl tops on these vans? Also, I am contemplating recovering it with vinyl if it was original. My first thoughts are that this may increase the weather shield… Any ideas or opinions?
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Post by Roehm3108 on May 21, 2005 16:29:01 GMT 10
Hi
Personally haven't heard of vinyl tops on vans. Wonder if it is some sort of malthoid based waterproofing cover?? (a tar base) This could even have been added after-market so to speak. I seem to recall the days when cars with vinyl roofs used to be popular and one of the problems they had was condensation between the vinyl and the roof panel, which resulted in them rusting. So, if you are planning to add a new vinyl, make sure it's sealed properly. Water and wood don't mix well together. What sort of van have you got, by the way???
Cheers
Ray
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Post by looker on May 21, 2005 16:32:56 GMT 10
Is it possible the vinyl you mention is painted canvas?
Maybe it's a different thing to your van but back in years past there were vans that had a painted canvas roof.
I suspect the canvas was stretched over the roof frame then given liberal coats of paint.
An old van i saw recently used this technique with the canvas stretched over caneite. The paint acted like a glue and bonded the canvas to the caneite. The result was very good
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Post by 66saint on May 21, 2005 21:55:46 GMT 10
My reason for suspecting VINYL (don’t you hate it when you spell a word wrong in the subject line and it pops up on each post  ) is that there is evidence of the cotton matting which they used to back the vinyl under the since painted roof. It looks like the vinyl had been ripped off years ago and the roof repainted several times since. The traces of matting are under the edging also. With the advances in vinyl since those days, I wonder if there is a breathable product available  . |
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Post by 66saint on May 21, 2005 22:00:43 GMT 10
Oh yeh, Ray, my van was made by a company called Highway caravans in Melb. Vic.
I have not been able to find any reference to Highway Caravans so far but the build plate states the name and address of the manufacturer.
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Post by Roehm3108 on May 22, 2005 15:21:24 GMT 10
Hi Hi!
I wonder from what you have described if "Looker" may well have a valid point, that it was originally a canvas base painted over. There is a caravan book on ebay at the moment (look under caravan accessories) which has a pic of 2 vans on the cover. One of those vans seems to have some sort of material on the roof. Can't tell what it is, but the book is about the same vintage as your van. Pity the price of the book is going thru the roof, I tried to get into the bidding, but it's going beyond my budget at the moment!!
I guess you're going to have to to some more research if you really want to have that vinyl roof!!!!
Cheers
Ray
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Post by carapark on May 22, 2005 19:39:13 GMT 10
Highwayman, Just to put my 2 bobs worth in, if the canvas was removed / ripped off, it tends to leave a pattern resembling fabric.
I assume this is formed during assembly when the canvas was laid over a wet coat of whatever.
The trick is to make sure if the canvas is removed, that a waterproof barrier is applied in its place.
Gary
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Post by Roehm3108 on May 29, 2005 14:02:24 GMT 10
Highwayman
I see bigdidda won that caravan book on ebay. Perhaps, when he gets it it might have some more info about these rooves in it, and he could share that info with you.
Cheers
Ray
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) is that there is evidence of the cotton matting which they used to back the vinyl under the since painted roof. 
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