Hey Guys - I'm usually on here for my 51 Plymouth but had a quick question about a 72 Cadillac Sedan Deville. I know that's not an appropriate car for this site but I figured with all the expertise on here - I'd still be sure to get some good advice. I hope you don't mind... I found a website that has the vinyl top for $150. Anyone know how tough these are to install? What the process is? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
I used to do them when I did regular body work. It has been a long time since that ,so -in a nutshell...... warning these descriptions are much harder to do than type...... Remove old Vinyl top. clean up any peeling or rusted ares. REPAIR rusted areas especially in the window openings... straighten up the factory's glossing-over of those seams that were too bad to paint thus WHY they decided to be Vinyl top car..... remove and clean all surrounding trim items sand down or remove old adhesive position new top on cleaned and let it lay overnite to smooth out the "folds" from shipping. use a good adhesive meant for this not spray can 3M ****- usually sprayed thru your gun.... center the new top frt and sides and then fold it over directly down the middle across the length of roof with the frt half folded back. then you spray the glue on the front of car roof and the underside of vinyl top that goes there. with a helper fold it back up and lay it down to front of windshield opening. smooth it out with hands and a roller. fold rear half forwrd now. spray the rear roof and undersides of rear top.... raise that up and pull slack out and then lay it down on the glue. Now you both pull it in all directions to straighten out the little buckles and puckers before glue sets. THIS is where a glue with appropriate OPEN time is a must so you can adjust the fit.... IF A PADDED CADDY TOP you have very little room for error as it can tear the padding when pulled to tighten the surfaces after glued down.... after it is smooth you then respray the edges and tuck it into the drip area and respray the windshield and rear gl*** holes and tuck the vinyl into them and trim excess off.... NOW=..... So after that ....the cost of having Vinyl tops installed seems a fairly minor amount doesnt it?
I agree! The price of the vinyl top itself seems to be about $200. I guess i just need to find a body shop who still does that and price it out. Definitely would prefer to 'out-source' this if it doesn't break the bank. Thanks for the detailed reply! Either way - it's great to see the process, even if I have it installed.
If you haven't removed the old one yet, once you see what it does to the top sheetmetal underneath, you may want to leave it off permanently.
The Jalopy Journal
