why no paint on vinyl roof cars

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duster360

duster360

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Always wondered why no one paints the roof of a car that they are covering with vinyl. Seems to me it would seal the metal better and help prevent rust. Or am I missing something?
 
I would think it has something to do with the material adhering to metal better than to paint? But I could be completely wrong, since I've never done it. I just think adhesives bond to metal better.
 
Who would have been willing to pay for the labor and paint that was going to be under a vinyl roof anyway?

Not the dealer
Not the buyer
 
Most of the cars I have seen restored have it painted but not cleared, they paint it for coverage not really for a deep gloss. Then They are usually scuffed with a pad before glue and top.
 
EL5DEMON340 said:
Most of the cars I have seen restored have it painted but not cleared, they paint it for coverage not really for a deep gloss. Then They are usually scuffed with a pad before glue and top.
Click to expand...

That's how my car got done.
 

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I sorta wish the darn things had never been thought up!!
 
My body shop did prep, prime and paint mine prior to gluing the canopy vinyl roof. The only work that they would have charged for was if i wanted the roof 'straightened'. The car is a factory Gold Duster so the roof never was perfect. They asked me three times that I definitely wanted the vinyl roof back on as the roof did need straightening if I stayed with just painted.

Dennis
 
My research turned up that the vinyl tops were installed over painted cars at the factory. When I replaced mine, I prepped the top, primed and painted it single stage body color before I had the new vinyl top installed by the upholstry shop. Had them do the top and headliner at the same time, details on my build thread.
Cheers:coffee2:
 
Think of it this way; back then, the Chrysler Corporation put vinyl roofs on tens of thousands of cars. If they could save $20 (time and materials) on each car by not painting the roof, that is a lot of money saved. Same deal with the reflectors in 1969. 68s had side lights, but 69s just had reflectors. Chrysler found a loophole in the law, and went with reflectors in 69. Each car with a reflector saved wiring and bulbs. Maybe only a savings of $5 or $10 per car, but when you sell a zillion cars.... The government shut down the loophole, and 70s Mopars had side lights.
 
During restoration, I had mine finished like the rest of the car. It had no paint under the original top other than primer when manufactured, and it had started to get some surface rust. I didn't want that to happen again, so I had it painted. We did scotch-bright the roof prior to gluing on the Legendary replacement top.
 

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My top also had surface rust issues with a few small holes. I welded the holes and had the whole car painted, I am only doing this car once. There is an article in the latest issue of Mopar Muscle and they say Paint it and do any body work on it.
 
Just pulled my vinyl roof,had it fixed and painted the same original color as the car. Only 69k original miles and only rust was under the old vinyl near the trim areas. No paint under original.
 
Some cars got dealer installed vinyl roofs to cover hail damage.
 
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