How To Repair Sides On Starcraft Pine Mountian Camper

When we bought our pop upwards camper, we had been looking on Craigslist for quite some time for simply the right bargain. I wasn't quite certain what I wanted in a pop upwards, but I knew 1 affair — I did not want a Coleman with an ABS roof. We evidently threw that right out the window when this piddling Coleman Santa Fe came forth.

Considering our Santa Fe was in such fabulous condition for the toll, we jumped on it. I had read horror stories about the Coleman ABS roof state of affairs, but I was confident we could caput off any problems. What is an ABS roof? Well, in the mid-90'south, Coleman had this fantastic idea to brand a i piece, ABS plastic roof on some of their higher end pop up trailers. The thought was proficient, no seams for h2o to leak in, etc., but in reality, the ABS roof didn't hold up on well-nigh trailers. The lord's day actually stale them out, and there was some severe cracking and delamination on many campers. Coleman had to supersede quite a few roofs. The popular up camper division of Coleman/Fleetwood eventually went out of concern, and now it is impossible to have your roof replaced. Seems like a bargain breaker, right?

I thought so, also. Later a lot of research, though, I realized that y'all could still repair that ABS roof, and, in many cases, the owners of the repaired Coleman ABS roofs were happier with the results than had they gone with a traditional popular upwardly camper roof. We had minimal great in our ABS roof. There were a couple of medium sized cracks on ane corner, a few small hairline cracks along the lip of the roof, and some spidery cracks under the awning rail.

After a lot of research, we decided the best method for repairing the roof, and preventing further swell in the future, was the ABS MEK patch method, followed by a good coat of UV protectant bedliner. The Pop Up Portal was an invaluable resource for all things repair related, and there is a adept amount of information there nearly the MEK repair method. If you accept a pop upwards, and y'all oasis't checked the Portal yet, y'all are missing out! So, what is the ABS MEK patch method?

Mr. TypeTwoFun started out past drilling a minor hole at each terminate of the cleft. This is supposed to aid keep the fissure from spreading.

And so he used a cutting bike to clean out the crevice. He wanted a prissy make clean surface for the patch to attach to.

Now, I don't take a picture of the next step, because the stuff Mr. TypeTwoFun used to patch the fissure is pretty toxic. He had to use a respirator when he was applying the stuff. We basically took equal parts of MEK (Methyl Ethyl Ketone) and white ABS plastic pellets and mixed them together in a drinking glass jar with a lid. MEK is a solvent that breaks down plastic, and it is pretty dang toxic. Brand sure you wear gloves and a respirator when handling information technology. You can purchase ABS pellets on eBay, but we just took white airsoft bb'southward, which happen to be fabricated of ABS plastic, and used them. It takes well-nigh 24 hours for the MEK to melt down the plastic, simply so you've got a nice liquid patch for your cracks.

Wipe down the cracks you are patching with a scrap of MEK on a clean rag. The MEK will eat into the plastic a bit and requite you lot a nice surface for your patch to adhere to. Utilise a Popsicle stick or paint stirrer to patch your cracks and then let them dry. Again, use the respirator and gloves when working with your MEK patch "goo." Once you've got your crack patched to your satisfaction, you tin can sand it down a chip with some fine grit sandpaper or steel wool.

Once nosotros had all of our cracks repaired, we used some steel wool pads in our sander to sand the whole roof down. We wanted to make certain that nosotros had a nice clean surface for our bedliner paint to adhere to.

It'due south a niggling difficult to tell from the moving-picture show, but when you sand, it volition get out your roof looking a little dull. That'due south what yous want. Make sure the whole surface has been sanded evenly.

Nosotros then used drop cloths and painters tape to protect the areas we didn't want to pigment. Once you've got your camper taped up, yous can don that hot respirator again and break out your MEK. You want to wipe the whole roof down with MEK. We used clean, one-time t-shirts cut into rags. Make sure you protect your hands with gloves and check them periodically for holes. (The MEK ate through Mr. TypeTwoFun'due south gloves!) 🙁 Once your roof is wiped downwardly, it should shine like you lot see in the picture higher up. Now you are gear up to pigment on your bedliner.

Nosotros used a production chosenGrizzly Grip, which can only be purchased online. It is supposed to be incredibly durable, and it is a favorite product among Coleman ABS owners. We purchased the 4×eight kit in Snow White. Our camper is approximately half-dozen.5′ x eight′ and we had Plenty of product to finish the job. We actually had nearly half a jar left over.

This step was pretty toxic, likewise, then I stayed abroad. I did manage to snap a picture of Mr. TypeTwoFun finishing upwardly the starting time coat. The paint goes on with a foam roller, and you want to apply a low-cal first coat, wait ii-iv hours, and follow with a heavier top coat. Same rules here — gloves and respirator — and don't get information technology on your skin! Information technology is supposed to cure within 24 hours, but ours was yet tacky 24 hours after, and so make certain to permit for plenty of dry out time.

Remember that corner crevice from before? You can't even see it anymore! The roof looks astonishing. It'south now bright white, and it looks make new.

The spidery cracks underneath the awning rail are gone, as well. You tin can see that the Grizzly Grip did leave a slight chip of texture, simply I don't really listen it. It seems stiff, and I am hoping information technology will last the life of the trailer.

When we went to put the seal back on, we discovered that it had shrunk quite a flake. Nosotros tried everything, but couldn't get it dorsum on. In the end, we had to buy a new seal. Nosotros purchased it from colemanpopupparts.com and the new one went on pretty hands. We wiped down the lip of the roof with some acetone to make sure we had a clean surface for the new seal to attach to.

The new seal had a tape adhesive on one side, and we but gently peeled off the backing and tapped the seal into place with a rubber mallet.

Then we cranked the roof downwardly all the way to keep the seal in place while the adhesive cured.

Here's one terminal look at my brand new roof. Isn't information technology pretty? Obviously, if you have a Coleman ABS roof with major cracks and/or delamination, the roof repair might not be and so uncomplicated. If y'all've only got a few cracks in the ABS plastic, like we did, this may be the repair to go with! Nosotros'll report dorsum on how it holds up over the summer. Now who's ready for some camping? 😀