To Vinyl Top or Not to Vinyl Top

Moseman

Senior Member
FCBO Gold Member
Joined
May 21, 2014
Messages
1,298
Reaction score
2,938
Location
Chancellor, SD
I have a 72 2 door, sunroof car. I am having it restored, so we are talking about the whether to replace the vinyl top, or to paint the top. Any opnions out there? We are looking at a brown metallic color with a lot of pearl in it. PPG Sunset Bronze Metallic. Looks great in the sun. The car is solid, some issues with the sunroof, but all else is good. Ignore the wheels, we will go back to original wheel covers. BTW, the blue one I am thinking of selling. It is a 73. (I remove the skirts to put the wheel straps on the rear)

20190609_190045.jpg
 
My opinion is if you are going back to original with a rareish sunroof car Wayne to go back with the vinyl.
Modern day prep and paint on the roof prior to vinyl will help protect it. If storing inside when not in use it should last another 100 years.
My thoughts. I may be biased as I re-did my vinyl.
 
I'd put the vinyl back on. There is so much quarter panel on a 2 dr that it needs the vinyl top to break it up. Beautiful imperial!
 
Put the vinyl top back on, also use the stock paint formula. Sounds like a great idea to jazz up the paint, but it seldom looks good on a stock vehicle. And is really a turn off when time to sell the car.
 
I fully understand the orientation of using factory paint formulas and such, PLUS finding something close to them in a more customized paint formula. Not to forget about single-stage acrylic enamel or basecoat/clearcoat paints! ONE side issue is that using modern formulas and such is something the "young 'uns" know how to paint with, so going that way can be a plus. Additionally, they'll know how to fix it if need be.

Of course, many in here are aware of why OEM vinyl tops had their issues, from those earlier times in the later 1960s when they were an upscale luxury option. That they made the cars quieter due to their damping of noise, by observation. So an Imperial with a vinyl top is "a given" of sorts, in that respect.

To be a little bit different, you can go ahead and get the car painted in your chosen color and paint system. But to be a bit more different, you can keep all of the vinyl top moldings on the car, then color the paint for the top in a few shades darker paint, for a bit of color contrast, kind of like the vinyl top's texture might do. Might even add a little bit of flattener to the paint for good measure? Still slick, but not quite as glossy as it normally would be.

At our recent Cowtown Mopars Performance Team show, there was a black '58 New Yorker 2-dr hardtop, in black. Looked fantastic, but walking up to it, I noticed something was a bit different. Getting closer, I noticed that the top was a black metallic paint that was not quite as glossy as the rest of the car. One of those kind of incognito things, it seems, which looked very good to me. It was different and tended to be a two-tone that was not a real two-tone, so to speak. Anybody can have a solid black '58 New Yorker 2-dr hardtop in all of its glory, but this one went a few steps above that, to me.

After doing the repaint, after it's had a year or so to cure, THEN if you still want a vinyl top, do it.

Enjoy!
CBODY67
 
I would agree on keeping a rare sunroof car original. But since those Imperials came with a vinyl top because of the rear window plug, how would you plan to cover that when painting the roof? It looks quite ugly and I'm not sure whether paint will stick to that material
 
If staying with the original look, the Imperial roof grain on the vynal material is called levant, which has a different pattern from the boars grain that came on the Chryslers.
I'm with everyone else, keep the vynal top.
 
I would agree on keeping a rare sunroof car original. But since those Imperials came with a vinyl top because of the rear window plug, how would you plan to cover that when painting the roof? It looks quite ugly and I'm not sure whether paint will stick to that material
Could that plug not be "body worked" into the existing sheet metal, as the factory might have done IF they had wanted to spend the money to do it? Although it is easier to cover it with vinyl and some filler than to do the additional work. Which is why all Superbirds had vinyl roofs.

Just curious . . .
CBODY67
 
Could that plug not be "body worked" into the existing sheet metal, as the factory might have done IF they had wanted to spend the money to do it? Although it is easier to cover it with vinyl and some filler than to do the additional work. Which is why all Superbirds had vinyl roofs.

Just curious . . .
CBODY67
 
No vinyl. Ever!!!!!!!
Vinyl is the Devil's work.
Evil stuff.
A hairy mole of the face of a beautiful supermodel.
A boil on the *** of society.
Just say, No.
 
I have a 72 2 door, sunroof car. I am having it restored, so we are talking about the whether to replace the vinyl top, or to paint the top. Any opnions out there? We are looking at a brown metallic color with a lot of pearl in it. PPG Sunset Bronze Metallic. Looks great in the sun. The car is solid, some issues with the sunroof, but all else is good. Ignore the wheels, we will go back to original wheel covers. BTW, the blue one I am thinking of selling. It is a 73. (I remove the skirts to put the wheel straps on the rear)

View attachment 527984
Vinyl = Class, Non-vinyl=no class! Your decision!
 
Could that plug not be "body worked" into the existing sheet metal, as the factory might have done IF they had wanted to spend the money to do it? Although it is easier to cover it with vinyl and some filler than to do the additional work. Which is why all Superbirds had vinyl roofs.

Just curious . . .
CBODY67
I highly doubt that´s possible in a way it looks all perfect afterwards. Only thing I could imagine if you´re a really talented body man, you could replace the plug by welding. BUT you would have to fabricate a frame for the rear window an make sure the trim fits afterwards... I doubt that filler or fiberglass would work with the paint on it without cracking after a while
 
No vinyl. Ever!!!!!!!
Vinyl is the Devil's work.
Evil stuff.
A hairy mole of the face of a beautiful supermodel.
A boil on the *** of society.
Just say, No.
But, tell us how you really feel and don't hold back this time....
 
Back
Top