Thank you to all for your feedback,

The overall state of the curling may well have been caused by the method of storing them. I have the bag for them, is there a trick / best practice for storing them on board? As there is not a spacefor them under the boot rack I assume that they would have to go behind the seats, which may have been the cause of the curling if stored upside down against the propshaft tunnel? The net result on further investigation is that rubbers have actually split at the seams where they join on the top edge so I think it is time to replace them. Allon White and a few others sell these, so it looks like a job I could do myself in the shed.
I must confess I had to google U section rubbers as I did not understand what they were

. Now seeing them I can understand why they would be superior to the current installation. My next question would be where is best to buy them, I've looked on several of the popular sites and have not been able to recognise them from the various pictures displayed,and suspect it is one of the items on sale without pictures.
Finally last mystery for my befuddled mind is the advice to "stick Neoprene pads on top of the windscreen pillars" I do not see "Pillars" just a continuos edge to the windscreen that surounds the glass. Is it just a case of lining the forward roof clamping system with additional thin neoprene run inside the section that goes over the windscreen suround?
(I did say I was new!)

Ribbing and merciless mocking is allowed from the

as long as i find the solutions!
