Replacing the clear vinyl rear window

The rag top is generally fine but the rear window is disintegrating by the day and is now mostly held together by gaffa tape. I suspect that if I roll the back flap up one more time the plastic will crack even further and I do like to see what’s going on around me. If I do manage to get a replacement sheet of suitable grade vinyl sewing it on as tidily as the exmoor trim job is definitely not happening. Has anybody out there replaced their vinyl windows on a rag top and if so how?
If push comes to shove I will take her into a tent repairers but I’m still getting over the bill for the bulkhead repairs.

I would imagine its sandwiched between a hem before stitching.
Not something I would look forward to.

It does look like a fine piece of work when you look at closely and not something I will come even remotely close to copying. The image in my head is of an artisan seamstress, a him or her one, beavering away although I suspect it will be a pre programmed machine. Sheets/rolls of vinyl appear to be readily available, often as table top protectors, and some claim to be resistant to uv, heat and going brittle but it’s going to look rubbish stapled, riveted or glued in place. I am taking the remains of the window out over the weekend as I’ll take on the draft rather than the ever increasing strips of gaffa tape.

More likely to be a specialist foot on an industrial sewing machine. The tent people have various contraptions.
Lots on YouTube of instruction vids but none on a tilt.

Saw a rag top maker sew in a new window for Mike Brewer on Wheeler Dealers the other day.

Tip number one apparently is NOT to take the old window out.

you actually stitch the new vinyl over the old then cut the old one out so as not to completely lose shape.

sumfin like this???

Thanks for those. The guy has eight fingers and two thumbs still.
Good job I had a browse before I took the window out. I will think of something else to do…….. like go for a spin perhaps wrapped up like an Eskimo.

We had no luck with a new rag top section or vinyl sheet so we effected a fairly tidy repair. Because the existing window was a bit fragile it was a delicate task but a sheet/section of ply or similar tucked and secured behind the flap gives you some stability and four drawing pins pushed through the corners, between the stitching really, stops the window section moving. I carefully removed the gaffer tape and glue residue, the latter with soapy water and a soft cloth, and the I carefully cleaned around all the cracks and splits and dried it all off. Clear T.Rex ‘ferociously strong tape’ cut into small strips helps to bind the longer splits, a bit like plaster stitches, and this is where the boarding comes in handy as you can push against it and using a wallpaper roller you can level everything out, especially when you put the longer lengths on. Just because I could I reinforced the top and sides before flipping the flap over onto the roof and putting the board underneath the window and securing it again. I cleaned it up the same way, a lot less moisture this time, dried it and went straight for longer lengths over the worst of it and it works. The vinyl window now looks more like a pen has been over it as the cracks haven’t disappeared but they are sealed and it is waterproof. One final bodge was using a staple gun with short staples in to secure a small section of the hem. Drive the staples in fully, gently pull the staples out of the boarding, still secured underneath, and hammer them flat sacrificing your thumb along the way. £10.99 versus £178. Quids in ……………..You just know something is now going to break