Vinyl Roof Repair Questions

[Uglybastard239]

Hi everybody, I just signed up with NHAA and this is my first post. I've been searching through the threads and I've found quite a few regarding terrifying leaks and rust situations that make my skin crawl, but nobody has addressed the possibility of repairing a mildly damaged vinyl roof. My apologies if it's been covered somewhere else.

Let me start by saying that I recently picked up a 1988 Fleetwood S&S off of Craig's list. I'd been searching for a hearse with the proper price to rust ratio for almost 20 years and this one fell backwards into my lap when I had the money and was shopping for a car.

My biggest problem is that I can't garage it right away do to an abundance of stuff in my garage (including a 7 person hot tub). You may or may NOT be aware that Ohio has been experiencing some ridiculously hot and sunny weather this year. In my desperation to keep the sun off my slightly cracked roof I've been religiously treating the vinyl with Turtlewax UV protector and I bought what I thought was a decent cover for an incredible price from CARCOVERMAN on eBay...DO NOT MAKE THAT MISTAKE YOURSELF. They sent me a piece of crap that dissolved within a month and told me to call Ghostbusters about the warranty after 2 days of trying to get somebody from customer service. I'll make a separate post about that adventure another time.

Anyway, I'm ordering a cover from Covercraft tomorrow, but my question is this. My roof currently only has minor cracking issues. Maybe 12 to 18 total ranging from 1/8 inch to 2 inches, but more seem to appear whenever I'm not looking. The vinyl in general is soft and pliable to the touch and the edges around the cracks do not seem to be overly crusty or brittle.

Is there a way I can do quality repairs on this myself? A local custom shop has a guy that can repair the cracks that are in it for about $250. Is it worth getting the repairs done after I get my cover or should I just resign myself to the inevitable and just keep up with the treatments until I can get the top pulled off and Rhino coated?

Sorry for the length of the post (I actually edited some stuff out) but any help and/or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Glenn

[Guest]

Hi Glenn,

My vinyl top got lots of little cracks in the top during a hail storm. As i'm sure you've read here, most people here don't repair or replace, rather they rip the vinyl off and either just paint the metal or use some truck bed liner type stuff.

Now, my coach stays locked in a garage. It is also all fiberglass from the belt line up, so i wasn't hugely worried about rust issues. The cracks in mine are also only on the top. Since the roof is rather tall, you can't really see the damage.

I opted for a vinyl repair kit. You can get them at car part stores or places like walmart. it will have a sealer, some paint, and some fabric swatches. the theory is that you use the sealer to seal up the cracks, then mix up the pain to match your color, and then use the fabric swatches to press into the paint and match the pattern of creases on the material. Now, that seemed awful complicated, and because you can't really see the damage, i opted to use the sealer only. It seems to be doing a pretty good job.

If you want to try and do a proper repair, i'm sure you can find all kinds of how to videos on you tube or other places. i'd try that, and be sure to practice on some inconspicuous area first.

[Abnorml]

I know hearses with vinyl tops are notorious for rusting under the top. I know some of the "newer" hearses have fiberglass tops as Ryan stated. My hearse never had a vinyl top, it was a crinkle top. I when I had my hearse painted, I had Line-X spray the top. It turned out nice. Easy to keep clean and don't have to worry about. If you go the bedliner route and you do it yourself, made sure to do your research. My friend had one of hearses sprayed with some "cheap" bedliner and with a week rust was coming through.
One of the best car covers I have heard of is California Car Cover. Custom made for your vehicle. If they don't have the measurements, they sent you a detailed sheet and you measure yourself. They are not cheap, but you get what you pay for, most of the time.

[Guest]

yeah i'll testify to the car cover. i got a cheaper one and while it didn't disintegrate that quickly, it wasn't the best thing ever, either.

[Uglybastard239]

Well, I ordered a Covercraft cover this afternoon. I went with their Evolution fabric which is supposed to be damned near bullet proof and I chose to go with a pre-measured cover for an extended cab truck with a cap. It should actually be a little big for my car, but it saved me about a hundred bucks. Unfortunately it only came in tan.

After a couple of hours searching on YouTube I found a vinyl repair company that sells what appears to be a really good system. I talked to the guy on the phone and he seems nice enough and he's been repairing vinyl, leather and God knows what else for 30 years. He actually sells Professional Vinyl/Leather Repair business kits, so this should be quality stuff.

If I can substitute out the cleaners and prep fluids for something I can get locally the whole kit will be under 50 bucks + Shipping. If not it'll be around 70. Doesn't sound like a bad deal if it works as well (and as simply) as it does in the videos.

Does anybody know if the 88 Fleetwood S&S has a fiberglass shell under the vinyl? I'm hoping it does, because that should mean less rust if I eventually have to remove the top.

Glenn

[msc0nduct]

You also might want to treat the rest of your vinyl with saddle soap. Then a vinyl/leather sealer. I was one of the lucky ones that had a new vinyl top replaced right before I bought my current coach and the stuff I use works wonders. It really keeps it nice and soft as well as pretty and shiny. Good luck in your repairs. Also, please let me be the first to welcome you to NHAA forum boards. I hope you find it as informative and enjoyable as I do.

[Uglybastard239]

Thanks for the suggestion. How does saddle soap do against UVs? Sun damage is one of my major concerns. I don't want my roof to deteriorate any more than it already has.

I think I've found the vinyl repair kit that I'm going to be using, for the next while anyway.
If your vinyl or leather is still soft and repairable, I'd recommend checking out VINYLPRO.COM.

I watched his YouTube videos 3 or 4 times and I did four practice runs on a piece of vinyl I stapled to a board, before I tried it out on my baby. I wish I'd had a car to practice on first, because it would have saved me some bonehead mistakes...but such is life, you live you learn and hopefully it's nothing that can't be fixed down the line.

The first thing to remember is that green scrubber pads CAN scuff your black vinyl down to a gray if you use to much pressure. Lucky for me I decided to clean 3 large sections at once before I figured it out. At least they're in the middle of the roof where nobody under 7 feet tall is going to see them. BE GENTLE AND DON'T RUSH is the mantra for this whole procedure from cleaning to heating. Be aware, the guy isn't kidding when he says not to put too much pressure on the heating iron or you'll end up denting the vinyl. I'm a big guy and I have heavy hands. Until it was done, I thought I WAS being gentle. Apparently you simply let the weight of the iron do the work. Again, luckily it's in the middle of the roof.

I may not have achieved completely invisible repairs, but the repairs are very solid and should help keep the water out. The whole kit cost me 80 bucks (to my door) and I've got enough supplies to last me for years. With more practice I know I can achieve virtually invisible repairs and the guy assures me I can always add another layer of goop, thus covering up any repairs I'm not happy with.

I've tried adding before and after pictures on here, but I'm obviously doing something wrong, so here's the link to my MySpace page photos if you're interested.

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.editAlbumPhotos&albumID=2049338

[Guest]

i couldn't get the link to work

[Uglybastard239]

Damn, looks like you have to have and be signed into a MySpace account to access the pics. I'll try figuring out another method of including pics.

[Uglybastard239]

I'm trying to post pictures again. I've decided to try photobucket as a hosting site, so hopefully I'll be able to get the before and after pics up this time. Please let me know if they open up.

Thanks.

http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/bb470/UglyBastard239/DSCN1734a.jpg?t=1283657174

http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/bb470/UglyBastard239/DSCN1740.jpg?t=1283657212

http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/bb470/UglyBastard239/DSCN1737a.jpg?t=1283657267

http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/bb470/UglyBastard239/DSCN1741.jpg?t=1283657332

http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/bb470/UglyBastard239/DSCN1742.jpg?t=1283657361

[spastic_chicken]

Those cracks are so small. You could totally get away with using a dashboard/seat repair kit. Comes with an iron to melt the crack together, different grain patterns that will come close to matching your vinyl, and color dye. I'd try it without the dye first.

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_x_7740002-P_x_x?cm_mmc=CSE-_-Google-_-VALUE3-_-VALUE4&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=7740002

[Uglybastard239]

Actually, those were before and after pictures. I did about a dozen cracks that day and most of them came out nearly invisibly. They're all holding nicely. The first 2 shots are of the one I think came out the best. The other three are of one that I rushed and didn't come out as well as I'd hoped. The beauty of the system that I got from vinylpro.com is that I can always go back and try to smooth it out some more. The system does use a heating iron and you have to be careful not to "dent" the vinyl padding.

Here's an example of dented padding. This is also the one I think came out the worst. Lucky me it's on my rear door. the crack was right on the curve and I pressed to hard trying to get the texture in. Still looks better than the crack and I'm going to revisit this one the next time I go on crack patrol, but it looks a LOT worse in the picture than it does in person.

http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/bb470/UglyBastard239/DSCN1731.jpg

http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/bb470/UglyBastard239/DSCN1739.jpg