don’t look back in anger…

Project creep

The guys at SKP have high standards, very high standards, which is why I really like what they do and the way they go about their work. It’s also why I’m really happy having them work on my classic early bay VW Westfalia Camper.

Decision time

So having spent time fixing/replacing areas of the front windscreen uprights because of the pitted metalwork, there was a big decision to make when we started looking at the roof/gutters!

The vast majority of the roof was in pretty good shape, but there were areas where the surface was pitted (because of some surface rust) and numerous small areas where the gutters had small sections that were going a bit thin and perforated in places where the gutters had become clogged with dirt/organic matter that had not been cleaned out over the years.

Nothing overly major, but enough that when you put the time altogether to carry out the various areas of remedial work, that the question had to be asked, was it better/quicker to replace the entire roof for a rust-free replacement?

Roof replacement

In the end, we decided that it was actually a better option, in the long run, to go for getting a replacement rust-free donor roof. We had not cut corners to this point, and with the quality of SKP’s work and final paint, the last thing I wanted was to make a decision that might come back and haunt me in the future with small bubbles mysteriously appearing under the final paint!

So I managed to source a really nice, imported rust-free roof section from another early bay VW Westfalia camper through the Early Bay forum. It also had the added bonus of having the missing (from mine) aluminium fixing strips for the pop-top canvas.

So once a couple of minor outer sill repairs get completed, this is the next big thing to do on the list, cut the roof off!