canvas vs. cloth

[CARIBOULH@xxxxxxx]

Judging by the recent posts on convertible tops, there seems to be a little
misconception about the terms "canvas" and "cloth" in relation to tops. Both
terms are used interchangeably in the business and both terms simply refer to
the fact that this is a "woven" material as opposed to vinyl which is
"pressed". The real difference lays in the two types of material that are used
for canvas or cloth tops.... and that is acrylic vs. cotton.

An acrylic material will not fade, shrink, rot, mildew, etc. Basically an
acrylic top will look the same ten years from now as it does today. A cotton
material however can fade (note "can" instead of "will") based upon
environmental factors it is exposed to. Daily exposure to sun and your
location (New Mexico is way worse than Minnesota), air pollution, acid rain,
etc,. are all factors that can influence whether or not and how quickly a
cotton based top will fade. The problem is that if I gave you a piece if
acrylic material and a piece of cotton material and you accidentally dropped
them on the floor it would be virtually impossible to tell them apart when you
picked them up. I probably could because after 17 years of experience I can
see the ever so slightly "shinier" fabric finish of the acrylic material and
(believe it or not) the acrylic material has a different smell to it than
cotton does! So, unless you ask "is this material acrylic or cotton?" it will
be difficult to tell which it is AND the terms canvas or cloth do not define
it either!

So, the terms canvas and cloth mean the same thing... the difference is
acrylic or cotton. For the past 3 or 4 years or so ALL of Caribou's tops have
been made from acrylic material... they don't fade or anything... period. The
competitor to us, who was mentioned in prior posts as selling "Stayfast" or
"Sunfast" tops that do not fade, is indeed selling a top with very good
acrylic material but the terms "Stayfast" or "Sunfast" are simply trademarked
names by the manufacturer of those respective materials. These are indeed a
good acrylic materials, but not any better (or worse) than any other acrylic
material! Just have a trademarked name attached to it. Caribou makes our own
material for tops and we could trademark a name for it too, but why bother
with the added expenses which we would just have to pass on to you all! As
some of you who have talked with us know, we are making just $12 to $15
selling you a top. Our competitor mentioned is making $212 to $215 on each
top... and that my friends is esentially the difference.

Someone had mentioned about the instructions included with our Alfa tops and
wrote "varied dramatically from the installation instructions provided from
Caribou." For the record, a couple of years ago one of our customers wrote
those instructions and drew the accompanying diagrams out of the kindness of
his heart (we even state that at the top of the first page). He sent them to
us gratis with his permission to copy and give them away with each top. If
anyone has anything better or any improvements to make to them, we would
certainly appreciate it if you'd make these available to us to pass along to
future Alfa owners who are trying to install their own tops.

Thank you,

Ed at Caribou Imports, Inc.
NOW... the largest Fiat parts supplier in the Western U.S.
visit us on the Web at:
www.caribou.cc
NEW ADDITION to our Web site: check the Autotraders nation-wide database of
Alfas or other vehicles for sale OR list your own car for sale FREE. Courtesy
of Caribou Imports!

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End of alfa-digest V7 #125
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