Canvas is off. Now the hard part!
Cleaning the aluminum strips, and thus the screw heads, may have been helpful. As with a dirty CV bolt head, cleaning these tiny Phillips screw heads may have helped the bit seat better. Certainly helped me see the work better. A fair amount of mung had come to rest in these strips. A small wire brush was deployed.
This Pro.Point tool was awesome. Ironically, it wasn't quite small enough to fit into each corner screw (the top was popped, fabric tight. Top part way down, it should fit) but it got to all the rest. The ratchet handle is cool. Twisting it CW-CCW "continuously" turns the fastener in a given direction. Some screws needed penetrating fluid and a few hammer raps to a bit held to screw head, but out they came. None of the heads stripped. Having enough light to see if the bit is seated properly, and screw is actually turning, is important. Mine was MIA somewhere in the Westy but it occurred to me that a headlamp might be of use here. Using the proper sized Phillips is crucial.
It was interesting to see that the fabric was tacked about every 8" to the wood frame. Maybe doing so will help installation of new canvas?
There's a useful thread on thesamba in the Bay forum. Sorry. No link. Using a suggestion from that thread, I pulled the strips and staples out as one piece. This tool was really useful. The head "indexes" to quite a few different angles. I imagine other similar pry tools would work just fine. Though I don't think this tool is designed to be hit with a hammer, I used a medium hammer "rap" to get it under the plastic strip. Setting it at 90º then rapping on the head was useful at the rear strip as there's limited to swing a hammer. Once each strip was pried free a little, all that was needed was the pry tool.
I won't go into details on how I supported the top, as my top has the lift assist kit, but getting the canvas out only took 2 hours.
Staple removal however, took ~ 45 minutes. YMMV. At first I used my vice at about 1/2" open to support the strip, but then found that a large socket provided a better surface to tap down (out) the staples before pulling with pliers. You may notice a small piece of the strip plastic in the pile of staples. Yes. The strip can break. I had choked up on a ball pein, tapped lightly, didn't hit plastic against the vice or socket but a piece broke off at the end of a strip. There were many staples at each end of each strip.
These small screens are not secured around the entire perimeter. I may seal it all the way around. I assume that most bugs wouldn't get under it but maybe wasps could?
I feel like I'm half way there now but installation will be more of a challenge I'm sure. Had to laugh at myself though. While ripping the tent off from tack points I was surprised to see how much "effort" it took to rip it free. It still had some life I guess.
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