Hi Top Dilemma

Hi Folks

Happily been the owner of a 1992 Trident for 6 months(not camped yet in him before check). Last week my van had a habitation check and was saddened to learn he had 60% saturation from a leaky roof vent which the previous owner looked like he had messed up putting in. The carpets need taking out in the roof and boards need replacing to the tune of £520 according to my local motorhome garage. The roof window seals are leaking as well and I am seeking advice as to what to do. I'm tall 5ft 10 in and bought the van specifically so I didn't bang my head all the time unlike on previous vans!

I'm I best getting the repair done and asking for the windows to be resealed or look to replace the roof with a new hi top or replace it even with a soft top? Its a lot of money to spend and Victor has had a lot of money spent on the engine and making sure he runs well.

Thanks.

Caroline

I doubt you will get a new Hi top, and certainly not for £510. So bit the bullet as they say.

Hi and welcome to the forum from Bridlington 
Boaby

I had both leaking roof vent and leaking side windows on my last high top A/S conversion, and neither was particularly hard to fix, though quite labour-intensive as the interior trim panels have to come out.

As Ploughlin says, a new high top or pop top will be serious money - I don't know about the former, but the latter can't be done for less than £1k and if installed and trimmed properly you would be looking at more than double that.

Unless the roof panels are starting to break up they will probably be fine when they have dried out - I didn't need to replace any of mine.

Thanks Folks. The repairer is a small garage but with a good, local reputation. He is booked in for the repair and I think the roof panels are ok but we won't know till the work is done. I have toyed with the idea of going back to A/S and just gauging what the right thing to do is at the moment. In terms of the windows did most people get the seals redone ?

Thanks Caroline

There have been several different types of roof windows fitted, and I'm not sure what yours has. On mine, the windows were in acrylic plastic by Para Press, with rubber seals to seal between the frame and the window - these did not need replacing. In fact replacements can be a bit of a pain, as they tend to take a long time to squash down, and closing the windows can be difficult until they do.

The seal between the frame and the van is what typically fails - I suspect due to flexing of the roof next to where the (hidden internal) roll-over bars are fitted. They were originally sealed by A/S with a butyl rubber mastic, and they can supply a replacement strip (improved in terms of width) if that's what is leaking. On mine, A/S' recommended repair was to replace the butyl rubber strip and then add a bead of clear silicone sealant around the outside. For those not familiar with it, the sealant mastic strip has a consistency very similar to Blu-tac, which means that you have to tighten the frame down gradually and wait for all of the excess to squeeze out before cutting it back.