Penthouse issues.

[jlrray]

While going through my SMB with a fine toothed comb, I decided to perform some maintenance on my elec Penthouse top. As I climbed up the bumper to the top of my rig, I noticed some pretty bad damage to the fiberglass. The PHT looked like it had a sunburn and was peeling. It was a light, white and flakey. I tried brushing most of it off, but am wondering about the extent of damage to the fiberglass. I also noticed some other cracks on the top and what looked like a previous owners feeble attempt at fixing them. I also noticed that some of the rubber tape on the top of the van where the PHT meets the van was missing and/or peeling in some spots. I did my best to clean the grime, dirt and sand from that area to prevent rubbing of the protective coat and paint from the PHT. I also brushed the dust and dirt of the top with a brush. I rehydrated and softened the rubber seal on the PHT and the rubber tape on the body of the SMB.

Does anyone know where to purchase the plastic rivets that hold the rubber seal to the top?

Will SMB supply a new rubber seal?

Does anyone know where to purchase that black rubber tape?

What (if anything) are you using to clean the windows and the canvas top?

Are you using any specific automotive wax for the fiberglass? I think the previous owners neglected to do that and the top is suffering. I hope I can have someone work on the fiberglass and repaint the damaged areas so that I don't have to purchase a replacement top from SMB!

Anyone know a good fiberglass repair shop in San Diego area?

I'll take some pictures of what it looked like tomorrow.

[BroncoHauler]

"I never thought this would happen to me..."

Oh sorry, what was I thinking?


Herb

[scatter]

SMB warrants their penthouse tops for like forever. Give Peter a call and he can get you what you need. If it's a real problem, sounds like you need to make a trip to Fresno.

[jage]

The PO of my van had similar roof issues and did not want to return to Fresno. He worked out a deal to have the rear part of the top Linex'd locally and I think Fresno reimbursed him. This is via Peter @SMB not the previous owner, so I'm really not sure what the actual issues were, whether it was peeling and cracking, the leak, or some of both.

[Txn2daBone]

I've seen first hand what the South Texas sunshine and 100+ degree heat can do to fiberglass finishes here. I saw an SMB at the Fresno facility with the PH top sprayed with a lighter version of Line-X and decided to go with that option myself.

[WOOT]

Question......When the Line-X was put on, was the hardware on the top of the penthouse removed & reinstalled after the application or was the Line-X shot over the existing hardware on the penthouse? I was thinking of doing this too but if it was shot over, then what happens if I need to remove the hardware to do maintence. Your thoughts please...........

[jage]

Shot over and you have to dig out the hardware to remove- since my washers were not the right size I had to put the larger ones back over the LineX.

The LineX certainly didn't help with the leak and it made it harder to fix. I would probably mask a circle 1/4" bigger than each piece of hardware over it for easy maintainence later.

[sailquik]

Originally Posted by jlrray

Are you using any specific automotive wax for the fiberglass?

I use stuff from this company: http://www.zainostore.com/

On my daily driver, I clay bar it once a year, 2 coats of Z-2 with ZFX with Z-6 in between, then Z-6 after washing every couple of months to keep the slipperiness going. I have bushwhacker-like plastics on my wheel wells and the lower rocker panel, so I use Z-CS on that.

On the SMB, I'm using Z-CS on the Bushwackers and I did a coat of Z-2 w/ ZFX followed by Z-6. I'm planning to just do the Z-6 once a month and see how that goes (I can do the whole van in 15-20 minutes), if it stays slippery between washes, I hope to go a year between full Z-2 or Z-CS applications, don't know yet. Don't know if I'll do Z-CS on the PH top or just keep using Z-2. They say Z-CS lasts longer, but I prefer the slipperiness of the Z-2.

On my wife's car I do a once a year job of Z-2 w/ ZFX and she washes in between at an automatic carwash. The harsh detergents of the carwash take off the protectants quicker than a hand wash.

Z-2 is supposed to be just a gloss enhancer, but I find it gives the finish a very slippery feel which makes it easier to clean and it keeps the water beading big time.

If you use this stuff on your PH top as I do, be careful when walking on top if it's wet or you're in socks. It is very slippery.

Here's a before and after shot of my PH top:
You can't really see the difference is huge because of the crappy cellphone picture, but trust me, it is quite noticeable.

BEFORE


AFTER

[jage]

How come your top doesn't have the... uh, how come your top is smooth?

[sailquik]

Originally Posted by jage

How come your top doesn't have the... uh, how come your top is smooth?

No idea!

My guess is that SMB buys the PH top from different f/glass manufacturers and they each have a different mold and different processes. Mine has an "M" molded on the rear of the top. I assume whomever "M" is, they make the thing for SMBTX.