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Old 07-18-2006, 04:59 PM
grnt37 grnt37 is offline
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Default vinly top install

I bought a vinly top and have been calling around for prices to install.I was thinking of trying it myself?Any one do this them self?It's going on a '71 T-37.

  #2  
Old 07-18-2006, 07:50 PM
carcrazy carcrazy is offline
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Haven't tried it myself but have been told by many that it is a job for an expert.

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  #3  
Old 07-19-2006, 11:17 AM
Half-Inch Stud's Avatar
Half-Inch Stud Half-Inch Stud is offline
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Did it myself. Lessons learned:

Was worth doing myself.
Local shops insisted that the car be at their shop, and they wanted ~$450 for starters.

Frontal area is simple and kinda fun. Set the Seams to be "centered", then set the Pillar seams to be "1 dollar bill long" from the top (learned that from Jim Darlington) and memory check of my prior car-top.

Keep loose Top in-position with heavy weight having "bag of sand" conformal surface to avoid ding&gouge tattoo compressions into the top. Glue the flat-central area first. No stretching.

Central roof needs a flat heavy "bag of sand" or conformal cardboard to avoid a wrinkle/bubble in that large-area.
Wrapping down to the roof rail is actually easy but can & will show wrinkles. My wrinkles are fine by me, in those areas. I used a Stanley blade to define the Material edge before tuck&glue into the water channel. Blade ran along Stainless trim to define the material extent. Glue&tuck: GM did an excellent job on the water channel. Let the Top material be the channel gutter and reach the Stainless edge. Optical effect is achieve to perfection with ease.

Wrapping to the Rear window is actually easy also, wrinkles can occur but can be make small/fine to none.
Quarter sails are the tough zone: Material needs to be laid along Quarter sails, assessed for trimming, then trim, then set-in-place, then WORK THE Lower Window Zone. Quarter-sails were the area where stretching can help reduce/distribute wrinkles to the Quarter window moulding & rear window corners.

Lower window zone looks impossible, but is actually easy: Discard the material they provide and use a section of the Top-material to retain the as-made Seams. Then Allow Top-Material to tuck-under a little and set the glue with a significany metal weight on each seam for that real-seam look. Worked very well on mine.

PY has new Pot-Metal corners: they are delicate, and bend like solder lead so be delicate. Factory stainless can be polished.
----------------------------------------------------------
ALLOW maximal material under the Rear&Sail Stainless to account for shrinkage. HIS


Last edited by Half-Inch Stud; 07-19-2006 at 11:26 AM.
  #4  
Old 07-19-2006, 12:30 PM
grnt37 grnt37 is offline
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Yeah I called around and the prices are high!I've done almost everything my self on this car except the trans work.I cant see having someone else do the work,I feel I can do it.Thanks for the reply,I'll let you know how it turns out.

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