Bongo Fury

Hello all
I have decided to take a bold step and replace the fly net on my AFT. Having been on their 19 years its showing signs of aging in that it has two small repairs, a zip that is seized and to top it off, its rather discoloued and brittle.
So my challenge is to do this without removing the tent canvas from the vehicle.
My thoughts are to carefully un stitch the original, as I need this as s template and at its fixing points, sew in some 16mm grey velcro (matches the colour of the tent fabric) as the small 10cm lip will accommodate the velcro. The advantage of using velcro is, should in the future I need to replace or repair it again I can simply pull it off and replace with a new one. I have bought a speedy sewing awl, which although will be time consuming will allow me to sew on the velcro whilst in situ.
I have previously bought some fly screen netting from the internet of the same calibur as the original in white, only this time I intend to buy black to contrast with the white van and coordinate with the black rubber trimmings.
Once off I intend to sew in a black 2 way zipper into the new fly net, using a sewing machine and the original as a guide to location, plus velcro around the edge.
I have sourced v69 polyester thread as this is strong and not affected by rain, rotting or uv rays.
I had sourced a sail maker locally who was prepared to sew in a new fly screen but I am concerned about removing the tent and then never quite getting it back exactly as it is currently, what with the repair or misalignment. Plus to stop condensation whilst using I have covered all metal and plastic parts in the roof with grey self adhesive felt, which has also covered all the fixing screws.

What are interested parties thoughts? Am I missing something or am I onto a novel way to fix a common problem. Be interested to hear/read your comments.

It might be possible to replace the mosquito net without removing the roof tent? Allan has posted some information that might help you to work out if it can be done. See this link: https://www.allansvehicleservices.co.uk ... ongo-tips/

Hello Doone.
Thanks for the link, I have viewed that page, which gave me belief it can be done whilst still on the vehicle. Sewing in velcro is I hope going to make it so much easier to replace should the need rise again in the future.

Well having further investigated repairing my fly net, I have discovered it is not possible to replace whilst in situ, as along the top fixing point of the existing netting their is a aluminium bar running the length of the roof tent prohibiting access to the netting current fastening "fabric lip" (hard to describe but its a piece of fabric, a kind of lip, which can be sew into without the need to sew into the actual tent part. It accessible at the bottom of the fly net but not at the top) the only way to fix velcro would be to sew it into the actual tent fabric, which I don't want to do as this would compromise its water repellancy.

I read Alan's guide to repairing the fly net in situ but it's just not possible to replace the entire net this way, from what I can see, he describes replacing a window.

Having called a local sail maker he has quoted £70 to sew me in a new fly net with zipper provided I remove the tent from the vehicle.

Looks like I will have to remove the entire tent, just hesitant due to it not going back exactly as it comes off.

We've removed several roof tents to replace with other used ones and they've gone back ok. We glue the fixing 'screws' in with araldite or similar.

I was hoping you would find a way to make a decent repair without removing the tent as I also have a tear. It gets worse every time someone sleeps up there. I'm hesitant to remove the tent to have someone repair it. Let me know if you work something out.

I removed mine and replaced the entire netting myself. Took a little while and end result was good until you look very closely at the stitching as the sewing machine had a hard time getting through the material and keeping tension. Took a couple of attempts to find the best netting for the job, first time was too elasticated but overall I was happy. Would I do it again, absolutely not, I’d look harder to find someone to do it for me! Removing the tent frame is pretty simple though

Hello 255
Thanks for commenting. I think I am going to have to go the route of removing the tent. The sail repairer has not done a bongo before but having personally viewed the van, he feels he can do the job, I dont think he will have any difficulty sewing in the new net. My concern was whether the roof would operate and look as taut as it does now being factory fitted upon refit.

I think so long as the existing one isn’t in too many pieces then it should be easy enough to get it right. I made a template out of a load of sheets of paper so I could pin and cut the new netting. You do need to make sure the tent is back in the frame carefully though as the back corners under the motors are under reasonable tension and could rip or at least they were on mine. I deemed it worth the risk as mine was in pieces (see images)

Original against new black netting (too elastic)
New netting in place
I had no problems with roof afterwards, it didn’t reach full extension without a little push before hand

Thanks for the photos 255, mine is fortunately better condition with only two tears, one either side, so hop8will act as a good template.
I see you did not include a zip mid way in the netting.

Looking closely I can see you do have a zip. Mine is the new shape bongo which on mine has the zip more in the middle of the fly net.
You made a good job mind. I intend to use black netting too. Where did you source the netting and in what quanity