Hi

I have an '88 panfam and over the winter I discovered it was very wet inside with the poptop down and a cover on! I worked out than water was being drawn under the poptop seal and the canvas was soaking up the water, this in turn dripped inside.... I remidied this by keeping the top up under the cover.

Looking at the poptop I see it's less of a seal and more of a trim piece so I'm thinking the original one perished and this was fitted by the PO. Does anyone have a picture of what I should be looking for to replace it?

Hard to understand how water can be wicked up over the inner lip by the canvas unless the canvas is too low at the bottom, worth a look with a ladder when the top is up to see how the bottom fits, it should not touch the lower part of the roof.

The canvas ? is the wrong colour to be factory fitted has it ever been waterproofed? is it canvas? it does not seem to have the zip up vents either?

You are correct it is not a seal its a trim that stops the lower edge of the pop top rubbing on the roof while in transit, the small gap in the rear is normal.

Hi

What is happening is the water sits under the poptop where the roof has sagged slightly over the years creating a low spot, when the Poptop is down the canvas spans the lip (perhaps I should try harder to tuck the canvas over said lip) once the canvas was saturated the water dripped inside.

The canvas seems to be as old as the van and has the Zips all round just like the orange types, I have since fabsiled it but thought that fitting an actual seal will stop the water entering in the first place

When not in use try using the jockey wheel to raise the front a couple of inches higher than the back so the water runs off better no need to be level when not in use.

Ah there is no shock cord, come to think of it my old '73 Puck didn't have one either but that never suffered this problem.

I will give it a try. Thanks for the pointers

Just

I recon the lack of 'shock cord' is the problem too, if the canvas is not pulled inwards it is very likely to be exposed to the weather and get saturated and 'wick' to the inside. Well worth a try to replace, at not a very big cost ! !

PS the trim around the pop top is really only an edge trim and not supposed to be a weather proof seal !

Nice looking van