Anybody have any good tips on repairing a vinyl top? ive got one thats cracked up and the original owner has resealed it with silicone gasket maker. any way to do this yourself, can i buy generic vinyl top material and cut to fit? can i find something that i can lay down over the original to seal it up and make it look good? i see a bunch of old cars riding around on 20"s over here with new paint jobs and tops. some of them werent cars that even had vinyl tops originally. the few ive stopped and asked about had bought them that way and didnt know. the rust is very minor and i cant afford 5000$ worth of body work. is it ok to just seal it back up to prevent leaks? will that stop the rust? i know the right way to do this is to tear it all apart have it blasted and repainted and a brand new top installed, i dont think i can really afford that though.
Cant help you with vinyl top but I can with the rust. Try this works like a charm. http://www.therustdoctor.com I was very happy with it. Good luck, Rick
4 steps. 1. Clean the damaged area with a degreaser (used for removing the old and applying new pinstripes for decals) - bodyshop supplier or 3M's label adhesive cleaner. 2. Use a 1:1 ratio of vinegar and water and a teaspoon of salt to attack and neutralize the rust. Just dip the cloth in the solution and let it sit for 2 or 3 hours, then rinse it off. The rust should be gone or turned black (dde-oxidized). If you want to spend about $15, buy a can of Metal Ready, from Por15.com or an autosupply shop, and read the instructions. I does the same as the vinegar, but also leaves a light Zinc coating on the rusty area. Worth it, IMHO. Once it dries completely, use ZERO RUST or a primer like Rustoleum's, to prime the metal and stop the rust. 3. Buy and use this stuff to mend the damage, IF you can get a chunk to fill in where the vinyl is missing: http://www.tearmender.com/ 4. Use a product like SEMS vinyl dye to refinish it. Probably Color Coat or Marine Coat. Most bodyshop suppliers can mix an exact match, but the colors for tops are pretty standard. http://semproducts.com/?home=1
my top is trash, where its not cracking it has been cooked by the sun for 30 years, where do i get a new top, or vinyl roof material?
Ah, now I get the picture. Here's one site that should help: http://www.keeautotop.com/accessories.html Here's an installation manual (PDF file): http://www.legendaryautointeriors.com/files/VINYL TOP INSTALLATION GUIDE.pdf Main page: http://www.legendaryautointeriors.com/ And these guys have a good rep as well, plus they have an NOS section: http://www.originalauto.com/vinyltops.htm
Now i just wonder if i get the material how i get it to meet the contour of the car, it looks like the original pad is custom made to fit the curves of the car perfectly, if its just raw material if i fold it down to the left and then down around that fold i end up with extra meat in the corner dont I? i did find someone who said they would do it for 850, wonder if that includes removal of the old and treatment of the roof before installation. guess if he'll do the whole thing for 850 it might be a good idea just to let the pros do it, prolly be a few hundred in materials if i did it myself anyways.
I agree. They probably haven't done very many in a while, so you might ask them if the guy actually doing it knows how. It's basically a heatgun job to form the vinyl around the roof line. The padding is self-forming with the adhesive. The tricks are at the edges and any edging trim that's needed, AND, like you mentioned, the roof cleanup and prep. The links I posted offer the tops already made up, which, if yours has 'sewn seams' might be the way to go. A local shop wouldn't necessarily have the fake 'seam' rollers (heated rolling dies) to reproduce them.
your right better check to make sure they are really "pros" just because someone has a nametag doesnt always mean they are any smarter than I
Is this for the T-Bird or the wagon? The T-birds had a plastic or chrome trim on the front edge, didn't they? Might want to check if its in decent condition. Also, IIRC, they used a regular body sealant like ProForm's Dum Dum, under the roofracks, so any metal trim would get the same treatment. http://www.proformproducts.com/en/products/listing/?category=9
When you do replace it, you might want to think about putting some sort of underpadding down first. My '81 Parisienne Brouham has a "padded" vinyl top that has held up extremely well. Apart from being slightly grungy (anyone got any tips for cleaning a vinyl roof?) it's as good as the day it came off the line. I read that vinyl tops crack much, much easier when they were installed directly against the metal. Putting something else underneath might make it last longer. Personally I think that the thick, cushy tops look a little more stylish too.
