vinyl top removal

[ArizonaKid]

Alright, i don't know too much about bodywork, and i know that no matter what i do, this is going to be a big PITA.

I have a (formerly) tan '74 dart with a white vinyl top, but the PO did shots of primer all over it to prevent rust, and to match up a green fender. I want to paint the entire car rallye green, or L5 butterscotch, I haven't decided. the top had a previous (bad) replacement/restoration, i don't know. the top has LOTS of glue holding it down, and i can tell theres a bit of rust under it near the right C pillar.

So my question is; whats the best way to get the top off? Is there a chance i would have to do some metal patching and weld work?

The top has shrunk, torn, and faded, but i can leave it on if its going to be too much of a project. I DO NOT have the funds to replace the top. it is out of the question, absolutely, no discussion.

 

[ssba]

They are not hard to remove. Take the stainless trim off around the glass first.
Then remove any mouldings that the edge of the top is under. Grab a edge and peel
like a orange. It may come off in pieces that's normal if it is dryed out enough.
As for the adhesive that is left behind mineral spirits or Naptha is pretty safe for the paint.
Lacquer thinner works also but can soften and remove the paint if not careful.
If you don't care about saving the paint acetone softens the glue very fast.
So fast infact you will need to do smaller areas at a time or the solvent will evaporate before
you can work the glue off.
The milder solvents mentioned first you can let soak for awhile to give it time to soften the glue before wiping it clean.
I will usually sacrifice a old bath towel. Cut it up into 6-8 smaller rags.

 

[ssba]

I forgot to mention if you take the top off it is usually not painted well beneath
and will be uglier than what it is now. You should probably wait till you can replace
the top If you were concerned how it will look.

 

[roccodart440]

Is there a chance i would have to do some metal patching and weld work?

.

Well every one I've seen with a vinyl top has rust issues underneath. They didn't need metal replacement but needed lots of body work repair and rust work.

 

[1969VADart]

Take it from me, if you peel that vinyl top off now, a lot of repair work will be in your near future on the roof of that car.

 

[ArizonaKid]

I forgot to mention if you take the top off it is usually not painted well beneath
and will be uglier than what it is now.

I dont know man, it already looks pretty ugly, could it get much worse?

View attachment 100_0603.jpg

I'm not too concerned about appearance, I drive it like this. I'm mainly worried about the structure under it. I'm assuming you've done this before, have you run into any major problems (rust or bad repairs) with previously replaced tops? I just want to know what to watch for when i take it off, or if i should just leave pandoras box locked (and contained) for now.

 

[ArizonaKid]

Also, does anybody have pictures of cars finished in that rallye green and butterscotch? I've seen paint chips of both, but i want to see them on similar cars. right now I'm leaning towards the green.

 

[ssba]

I guess you could push on the suspect areas to see if they are soft and want to
push thru before you remove top.. Or you could go for broke and tear it off and if any holes
show up temporary close them with aluminum furnace tape till you can make a proper
repair.

 

[95teetee]

Well every one I've seen with a vinyl top has rust issues underneath. They didn't need metal replacement but needed lots of body work repair and rust work.

my Duster had a vinyl roof from new and it didn't have any rust issues when I peeled what was left of it off a few years ago. And this car had major rust repair back in about 1980 (maritimes car) and some more at the last paint job.
However, the c-pillars definitely needed work at the joints, and there were dents I never would have guessed were there, so the body work part is definitely a 'for sure' lol.

 

[Princess Valiant]

you might be surprised to find only surface rust or no rust under the vinyl. I have a car that I thought was going to be a rusty mess because the vinyl made it look bad.

once I removed the vinyl, I was surprised to find that it was not bad at all

 

[72bluNblu]

If there's rust under the vinyl, leaving the top on it will only make it worse. The vinyl tops trap moisture, which is what causes the rust on the top to begin with. Even in Arizona. They were just a cheap, novel way for the factory to hide the ugly roof/quarter joint instead of doing time consuming lead work on every car leaving the factory.

I'd ditch the vinyl ASAP. Paint coverage under the top is probably pretty minimal though, so once you remove the top and glue you might want to hit the roof with some primer if there's any bare spots. Even just some rattle can primer would be better than nothing until you can do it right.

 

[ArizonaKid]

Yeah, I just decided to get rid of the vinyl top when I paint the car. I can clean it all up, Paint it, and make it look good, without worrying about it later, any work thats going to be involved is going to be worth it.