My first Pop-up finally - FEW questions

I just wanted to say Hello to everyone and Thank you for the pop-up education.
Im in my glory.I finally bought a pop up after 2 years of being CHEAP and looking around at Travel trailers, I found this 1970 Jayco pop up in AWESOME condition, 1 year old canvas, 1 year old A/C mounted great on the side wall, Fridge, micro, sink, sleeps 4 on new mattresses,nice floor, diamond plate lock box screwed to front, 1 Awning.   I LOVE IT !!! 
$ 400.00  !!!!!!!!  Its from Texas origanally, I guess the dry air helped with NO RUST on frame and the floor is real good.

I know what your thinking, whats wrong with it ??? 
1: One spot had leak in corner, not to bad, I fixed that already, It was because of the way it was closed improperly and the lock pulled the seam away.

2: One dent in the back which made it slightly crooked, it opened a seam on the side, I fixed that seam.

3: I did find a couple of little pin holes on the aluminum roof  ??? Any advice on what to use for  the roof ?

4: HERES THE MAIN Problem : someone has to get on top of the roof to  squeeze  it shut, like a stuffed suitcase, so we can lock it, the cable doesnt make it go down ( HAND CRANK )   ???  What could I do to fix that?

???  Does anyone know the proper way to fold the canvas in when closing up, is there a right way? I tried my best to even it out away from the sides, ANY ADVICE appreciated.

THANK YOU
Denise, Mom of 3 teenage girls, Hard working waitress with a passion for camping ( use to be in a tent )
I will post pictures on Tuesday the 5th, Promise.
 

TODAY  2/5/08
I have to break my promise on pictures (maybe no one cared any way, I dont know). doing the roof is taking longer then expected, when Im done I will post pics.

I'm not sure how the Jayco canvass works.  I used to have a Coleman pop-up and I would crank it down about half way, then go around and tuck in the canvass all around.  I would make an effort to be sure the corners of the canvass were inboard as far as possible.  I would then crank it down until there was only about 5-6 inches between the top and the bottom.  I would go all around again and tuck in the canvass as far as possible.  I was then able to lower the top until it closed completely.  I was always amazed that even after 18 years of use, that Coleman pop-up would seal up very tight and we never had a leak.

Hi Lowell
Thank you for your advice.
I did do it the way you said but I felt and saw it put to much pressure on the roof center when closing, I think im going to try to take down the mattresses or move them to the center and then close it so the canvas has more room where the beds were.
Denise
P.S. I'm surprized that a 38 year old Jayco is able to open and close.

I have a sponge mop that is my ally when I am closing my Niagara...I lower the roof about halfway, then go around with the mop and push the canvas in (my arms aren't long enough), and it works! 

I have found I have to allow 'settlement time' when closing the roof to allow the air to escape before I can latch the roof.  Where I used to load whatever in my tow vehicle before I began the closing process, I now wait and load while waiting for the air to burp out of the camper.  Another thing that helped was to leave a few windows partially unzipped to allow the air to escape when lowering the roof.  Makes for a shorter settlement time.

There have been times when I've had to 'rush' to get on the road, and have used a claw hammer and pulled down on the roof latch attachment and it's helped....but, the settlement time is the key for me.

Congrats on your new to you PUP and many happy camping memories!

What I did was to put my elbow on the top of the body while cranking it down.  When the top touched my elbow then I went around and did the final poking in.

The Coleman latches were hook on, flip down.  I hooked all before flipping first.  Still had to sometimes sit on the top.

Joel

Is the problem that it doesn't crank down at all or just the final few inches?  My 1994 Jayco stopped cranking down higher than my 1983 StarCraft and I used to hop on top of the last corner or two to close the latches.  I used the method of stopping the crank down procedure 2-3 times and tucking the canvas in.  You have to make sure the beds are in all the way and the sink counter is folded in properly.  If you're not able to tuck everything in, how thick are the mattresses? 

PattieAM:
I use a pole too, but I didnt think about settleing or opening zippers a little, I hope to have many happy years in it, Thank you.

joelmyer :
I have to get my 150 lb kid on it to get the latches hooked, I will try to hook all first, then lock. Thank you.

rjf7g :
The last about 6 inches it doesnt crank anymore, not due to anything in the way, my mattresses are pretty thick im going to try pushing them into the center so the canvas has more room next time, I think even if there was noting in it, it would still not crank down maybe my cables need to be adjusted.Thank you.

8)  Im ready to go camping !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a Coleman and my experience was exactly like Lowell.  My guess is the new bedding is a little thicker than the original causing the difficulty.  I could not add additional foam on my bunk or it would behave as you have described.

I'm sure you'll have fun in new pop-up and you did get a great deal!

Bruce...

Wintec
I think your right the bedding is pretty thick.

To test for clearance between your roof and mattress - take an empty Kleenex box and set it on the mattress, close the roof, and the non crumpled portion of the box is your clearance.  I had the standard 4" foam mattress on my PUP, and found it a little uncomfortable, so did the Kleenex box test and had about 2" clearance, so got a Memory Foam Topper 1-1/2" thick, and would have loved to go thicker, but the bunk end ceiling support poles when closed wouldn't allow it.