Ongoing Work
September 2023
September 29th - Dodge Rear Canvas
I got a second hand rear canvas for the
Dodge earlier in the season. It is meant to be attached to the bow by a spiral
of rope, wrapped around the top of the bow. On a normal Dodge, having it
permanently fitted isn't a problem. On mine, having the crane fitted and having
to dismantle the roof bows to get it in the garage, makes the standard way of
attachment a problem. I wanted a quicker way of fitting it than threading the
rope around the bows and through all the canvas eyelets.
The wires that support the crane usually
hang a little way below the bow, stopping the canvas from rolling down from the
top as on a standard Dodge. When the tailgate is closed, that will support the
crane, so the lifting cables can be given a bit of slack. A small chain was
added to the bow, to hold the cables up out of the way of the canvas, allowing
it to hang below. So after a bit of messing around with ideas, I came up with a
new way of attaching the canvas.
Small lengths of rope were cut and fed
through pairs of eyelets in the canvas, knotted on the outside. They now hook
over small dowels on the inside of the bow, without any need for being tied or
wrapped around the bow. Longer lengths of rope are attached to each side, which
do wrap around the sides of the bow to pull it out at the edges. It is now a
quick job to fit or remove and the crane lifting wires don't cause a problem.
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