The Lime - Pop-Top Replacement Part 2

After all the work of replacing the poptop I was dismayed to find out it was too tight! After posting my problems on www.thesamba.com for help it was heavily advised I take the canvas back off and restaple it. My concern in doing this was that I followed the replacement steps exactly, including draping the canvas over the tacking strip. My research indicated that many of the replacement tops are too short meaning you can't properly drape the top over the tacking strip.

One interesting solution I read about was cutting the support struts to relieve the tension. I wasn't fond of this idea at first since I didn't know how much to cut off, and I didn't want to damage the van irreversibly. In other words, if the top stretches or I replace it again with a different brand I would like to be able to put it back to stock height.

So, I devised this adjustable strut modification!

The pictures show me removing 4" from the support strut, cutting a 5/8" diameter threaded rod to a 12" length and test fitting it in the remaining strut. Next I removed the support bracket from the end I removed from the strut, and used the remaining scrap piece as a jig to drill through the threaded rod.

Check the next post for the conclusion!