All,
I just bought a vintage Zip Dee on eBay last week and when it finally
arrives plan to shorten it to fit my 1969 Caravel. I've already spoken to
Jake at Zip Dee and am confidant that I can shorten it easily enough by
making the cuts to the right side of the tube. He also advised me to remove
excess fabric from either side so as to retain the center seam in the
center. It's almost 15 feet long now and will be shortened to fit the
approximately eight foot span required for my Caravel. The factory(?) track
for the bolt rope in the fabric is already in place on the curve of the roof
and there are old fittings from another unknown brand of awning arms already
installed that I will remove and replace and cover with the Zip Dee
hardware.
Here's my question to the group at large.
Every photo of a Zip Dee awning I've seen on Airstreams have the legs
attached to the skin several inches above the joint between the banana skin
and the vertical side. I can't do that because there's an access door just
above that joint centered on the seam of the rear end cap and the flat side.
Jake tells me that there's an extra 6" or so of straight leg in the arm
that should allow me the length to attach the bottom fitting into the side
of the floor joint below the access door. Can anyone confirm that there is
enough arm length to install it that way? At worst, I may be able to buy
just the short arms from Zip Dee and splice them to the existing ones for
added length.
My installation is similar to this one
http://vintageairstream.com/archives2/71Caravel/1971Caravel2/index.html but
the bottom frame of the door on mine abuts the trim piece that covers the
banana skin and the side skin (photo of my installation available on request
to me at glynjudson@roadrunner.com).
By the way, I added that door based on seeing the one in the link above.
A series of before and after photos, excluding that access door can be
seen at http://vintageairstream.com/archives/69Caravel/index.html The
"After" photos are the first set that appear when you click on the link.
The "Before" photos are in the folder marked 1969 Caravel 2.
Thanks as always in advance for any and all help,
Glyn Judson, 1969 Caravel #508, Santa Monica. CA