baked on vinyl top...glue cleanup

70Tom

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OK, so I'm about to remove my vinyl top and put on a new one. This top was fairly baked in some places, fine in others. I wanted to save the paint under it as I didn't want to have to repaint the whole roof. Only issues are on the c-pillars at the seams, which will be stripped and filler replaced with metal filler then primed and painted.

The more I read, however, it seems like I might not be able to remove the old glue very well as the car has been outside a long time and it's probably fairly baked.

Just wondering if anyone has experience with this. Sand down to bare metal or use an adhesive or wax & grease remover? I've also read of people using gasoline.

Thanks
 
as someone who has peeled a top before -

go spend the $40 on a dewalt sander and another $40 on about 10 boxes of 80grit pads.

everyone warned me that 80grit would go thru the metal, but after doing the work, i dont see how it would.

i beg you reconsider putting another top on there. please dont.

if you MUST put a rag top back on, PLEASE do a proper prime/paint underneath. even let it sit a month or 2 before putting vinyl back over it.

trust me on this.

try not to die -

- saylor
 
peeled mine off and used a DA with 80 and then 120 on the heavy spots, then 180 over the entire roof--mind you, you do not have to get the ALL of the glue off, just get it level. the places I broke through the paint, I sprayed with primer. go over it once it's dry with a tack cloth and attach vinyl (if you must-I know I had to :()

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peeled mine off and used a DA with 80 and then 120 on the heavy spots, then 180 over the entire roof--mind you, you do not have to get the ALL of the glue off, just get it level. the places I broke through the paint, I sprayed with primer. go over it once it's dry with a tack cloth and attach vinyl (if you must-I know I had to :()

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Looks great Mar
 
peeled mine off and used a DA with 80 and then 120 on the heavy spots, then 180 over the entire roof--mind you, you do not have to get the ALL of the glue off, just get it level. the places I broke through the paint, I sprayed with primer. go over it once it's dry with a tack cloth and attach vinyl (if you must-I know I had to :()

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Interesting that you had paint under your vinyl top. I had bare metal underneath mine.
 
peeled mine off and used a DA with 80 and then 120 on the heavy spots, then 180 over the entire roof--mind you, you do not have to get the ALL of the glue off, just get it level. the places I broke through the paint, I sprayed with primer. go over it once it's dry with a tack cloth and attach vinyl (if you must-I know I had to :()

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don't believe lve seen your car before...looks nice....few more pics would be appreciated if you have a moment..thanx
 
peeled mine off and used a DA with 80 and then 120 on the heavy spots, then 180 over the entire roof--mind you, you do not have to get the ALL of the glue off, just get it level. the places I broke through the paint, I sprayed with primer. go over it once it's dry with a tack cloth and attach vinyl (if you must-I know I had to :()

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This is exactly what I did, and had no problems. Took a little work, but came off much easier then expected. I had to get it all off though, as top was not going back on, and being painted.
 
The Vinyl top looks Fantastic! I Hate those wheels though. Sorry.

thank you! no worries my man, the wheels will be coming off soon and will be replaced with these...still not quite right, but much better! lol

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This is exactly what I did, and had no problems. Took a little work, but came off much easier then expected. I had to get it all off though, as top was not going back on, and being painted.

thanks Zack. and you're right, it really wasnt that bad to peel off. if it was in the cards at this point, I would have definitely painted the roof (even though it was already factory painted and the dealer put a vinyl roof on anyways :mad:)...along with the rest of the car.

gotta figger out my ROI on the vinyl installation and then ill paint it. probably about 5 years or so. :rolleyes:
 
peeled mine off and used a DA with 80 and then 120 on the heavy spots, then 180 over the entire roof--mind you, you do not have to get the ALL of the glue off, just get it level. the places I broke through the paint, I sprayed with primer. go over it once it's dry with a tack cloth and attach vinyl (if you must-I know I had to :()

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What a fantastic job! It looks really great! I wished I could do any work like that...I am to chicken to try. I like your choice of the steel wheels too. It will look great.
 
make sure you install it in the sun and that it is hot out that day...80*+


So I have to drive to the Southern States to install my vinyl roof???? It doesn't get over 80 to often round here....
 
On mine I peeled it off and found that there wasn't much adhesive left on the roof itself. As for paint you could say there was a light dusting of it on the order of a 1/2 coat. Then used a 3M stripping disc on my angle grinder to remove all down to bare metal. Took care of the seams, went over the surface with Picklex 20, two coats of epoxy primer and finally two coats of color. After painting the car the new top went on after a few months. I really like those discs. They easily remove paint and leave a nice surface for painting. Hard to find locally but Eastwood has them for $7 a piece and well worth it.
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So I have to drive to the Southern States to install my vinyl roof???? It doesn't get over 80 to often round here....

lol 80*+ is optimal (so I was told). I did mine in 60-ish degree weather in a mad rush before winter reared it's ugly head. It turned out fine on the large areas, but now the edges are pulling away. it's not a big deal though, Ill just re-tack it in the spring.
 
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