Getting the roof sorted

roof open with panel missing

The first job to be sorted was the roof, which we found almost impossible to raise. So after a quick chat with the previous owner,in case there was a knack to it, he told us that it had always been hard work and was a 2 person job so we just heaved it up. The front of the roof went up easily but the rear section just wouldn't budge at first then it parted company from the rest of the roof!

On closer inspection we saw that the roof ends folded on 3 piano type hinges and  2 of these had seized solid.

We removed the complete rear end of the roof and put them in the garage over night sprayed liberaly with WD40.

On closer inspection we saw that the internal lining of the roof was soaked so we decided that as the weather was lovley and warm with a light breeze, we would leave the roof open for a couple of days to dry out.

dirty channel

We then decided to investigate why the roof had got wet and soon found that the channel that the roof sits in when it is down, was full of muck which had blocked the drain points and had the effect of making a moat for the roof to sit in!

So we cleaned out the channels, removed the drain covers cleaned then replaced them and then set about freeing the hinges off.
This took a couple of hours of wire brushing and then working them back & forth in a vice until they were nice and free. The hinges will be replaced when we can find some brass or stainless replacements.The top end of the back panel is screwed to the internal lining ot the roof but where this had got wet it has made it too soft to re-attach the back panel, so for now we have used some plastic 2 way block fittings to do this , but we will probably have to remove the roof next year so that we can reline it with some new ply wood all the way through.
So the roof is now back on and working, so the next job will be the brakes.
See you next time, Derek & Lyn