Tuesday
23rd October:
In
the pop top roof of the caravan we have a rear vent for air and
light, it has two smaller zips that allow for opening, however the
zip on the RH Side had broken and you could not open the zip fully it
would only open part way which was a bloody pain. I said to Brian I
think I could fix it myself. On Wednesday when Brian went off to the
golf driving range I rang around numerous van places to ask about
getting it repaired and or if they did mobile repairs - NO mobile
repairers - and all of them said the roof would have to come off to
do the job, it is not an easy job and cost around $400!!!!!! so the
next day we headed to Spotlight where I purchased some upholstery
thread as it is much stronger than normal thread, a long solid needle
and a zip, all up under $30. I managed to do the bottom side of the
zip myself however the top side was more difficult as you were
fighting against the pressure of the roof, so with Brian on the
outside with a rope and my inside pulling the roof down slightly to
take pressure off, Brian tied the roof down to allow us some slack.
Brian was on the inside of the van pushing the needle through the
original holes and I was on the outside standing on a ladder pushing
the needle back blind until we devised a way of me finding the
correct spot to push the needle back (Brian poked a pin through to
show me where the hole was) eventually the zip was in working like a
dream and cost was minimal - so how can these van repairers charge so
much when they have all the tools on hand. The next day Brian went
off to Bunnings to purchase some strong glue and we put this over the
stitching for extra reinforcing. As long as we are not rough with the
zip it should be fine, we now have both zips working that allows more
light and air in. We also took all the insect screens off and gave
them a wash. So the van is all spick and span now until we need her
in January before we head north.
