sail panels? vinyl top rust 75 Valiant

[Valiant Vince]

Hey everyone! i recently acquired a 75 Valiant Brougham 2 door. Its actually pretty clean and straight except for some rust under the vinyl top. (PNW rainy weather) I plan to fix all the body issues and paint it, but i have two questions regarding this rust.

As far as im concerned (im new to A-bodies and Mopars in general, so this is just my thoughts), I have two options:

* Tear the red top off, fix rust and put a new black vinyl top on it
* tear off the top, fix the rust and convert to a hard top. (is this possible?)

I plan to paint it a gunmetal silver, so a black vinyl top wouldnt look bad in my opinion. It seems it would be easier do this rather than make it a metal top.

is this rust common? did i buy a heap or is this fixable?

thanks in advance guys!

 

[Bad Sport]

tear off the top, fix the rust and convert to a hard top. (is this possible?)

Not sure what you mean there, isn't a 75 Valiant already a hardtop?

Rust under a vinyl top is very common.

 

[Valiant Vince]

Not sure what you mean there, isn't a 75 Valiant already a hardtop?

Rust under a vinyl top is very common.

by that i mean have a painted top like the rest of the car. no vinyl on the roof.

just a thought, i dont mind the vinyl top but id prefer black i guess.

i just have no idea how the panels would all match up, if there was a difference between the two roof designs.

i should have just googled sail panel replacement but i thought i needed some reassurance from guys that know these cars.

 

[Bad Sport]

Gotcha, typically hardtop means there is no pillar where the door opens.

Yes, you can leave it off and just paint the roof.