Roof Rain Gutters
Despite being in an open shed for 25 years, the roof was in good condition after being cleaned. The material was very dry and porous and several applications of black boot polish soon made it watertight.
October 2003:
As found - 25 years in an open-sided shed on the edge of a wood in a remote valley.
The roof was very dirty & dusty - after 25 years it was in truly grotty "as-found" condition!
December 2003:
The sliding roof opened up surprisingly easily despite not moving for 25 years!
A bit of CL waterproof grease on the runners helped a lot!
April 2004:
When tightened, the clamp nut holds the roof in any position - simple!
The porous fabric roof let in water until I used a tin of boot polish on it; just look at that shine!
September 2004:
After removing the sliding roof locking wheel and the bar with the handhold slot, the roof was removed completely.
The contours did not match exactly and it was necessary to slightly lift the central portion to clear the fixed part of the roof.
this is the bar with the hand hold slot - the covering cloth was not too bad, but as all the other trim had been removed, the cloth was removed and the bar painted.
the original label on the Pitchley Roof bar
With the sliding roof removed I could at last get to the gutter that deflects any water off the roof and through the side rails.
Surprisingly, in view of its position, there was a little surface rust but no corrosion. After cleaning out, the gutter was given a coat of Kurust and two coats of black Finnegans.
November 2006:
One advantage of a wide-opening roof is . . .
. . . that you can watch fireworks from the comfort of the driving seat!
The wide opening roof is also very useful for carrying long loads!
the Rexine roof was treated to Renovo Vinyl Cleaner and Renovo Vinyl Protector.
The cleaner didn't appear too impressive initially and didn't lather up - until I looked in the water bucket! (and this was after the second application!)
The Vinyl protector went on easily with a sponge and in fact I used four coats and used very little of the Protector.
Remember how the roof had looked when I got the car: yuk!
May 2007:
The location of the roof drain holes. The simple system means the water drains off the roof fabric onto the roof panel and then into the drain channels above the windows - UNTIL the holes get blocked that is!
. . . a drip down my neck persuaded me to look closer.
Both drain holes had become blocked, partly by debris and partly by the grease off the sliding roof runners.
Easy to clean out and even torrential rain has not allowed any water ingress since.