[Harvey]

Tonight I will be taking a couple tylenol PM's I really need a good night sleep. They finished installing the vinyl top last night and sent me pictures. I didn't get the pictures till almost three a.m. bad internet conection maybe. This guy is a mopar gurue, Cept this time he was not working on a Mopar!! They ended up running the vinyl top completely up and over the drip rail! Painter told me no big deal on that just trim it and peal it off. But the seam on the A pillar is thick and bulky looking. I looked at a 70 Charger the painter is working on. Looked identical to that. My original seam on the A pillar was so tight and flat you wouldn't know it was there! I can not accept the bulky look. Instead of flying off the handle on the people that did the top I went over and yelled at the painter so he could talk to the others civilly. That way he doesn't loose business. He agreed and sent them a text. He said he would get with me as soon as they figured out what they were going to do. The rest of the top and the headliner look fine. Now I think i will eat and maybe lay down for a while before work. Need another smoke first. Should have done the top myself! Maybe...

 

[1969XR7Vert]

And here I thought it was a crowing post/thread about how the vinyl top/installation WOW'ed you!

You mean Vinyl Top Woe's, not WOW's! Hang in there, it's all in the details and to win you have to go through this with each and every thing you can that is sub-par if you want the end result you are after. That's my creed.

 

[jshcobra]

Who supplied the vinyl top for the project? I installed a vinyl top on a mustang a few years back and was amazed at how much thicker and more heavily padded the repop was compared to the original that I peeled off. How 'bout posting the pics they sent and let's see what you're up against.

 

[restomodcougar]

Doesn't the vinyl top go over the drip rails??? I thought when I peeled my old one off on the 69 XR7 it definitely went over them. I'm confused!

 

[1967 S code]

It's always good to take a deep breath and wait to see it in person. They say a camera adds 10 pounds. Maybe thats why it appears bulky. If they messed it up the top because of improper installation then installer should replace it. If it's to bulky because of the material....then you might be stuck paying for the work. Either way make sure it is what you want and don't settle for anything less.
Steven

 

[jshcobra]

Doesn't the vinyl top go over the drip rails??? I thought when I peeled my old one off on the 69 XR7 it definitely went over them. I'm confused!

Now that you mention it, my 68 was the same way.

 

[Harvey]

No the vinyl is trimmed at the bottom of the inside of the rail. I really haven't even paid attention to the rear seams, I saw the front and that was enough. The original was flat. So much that you had to be right on the car to see the seam. These look like softballs on the A pillar, They did it just like a Mopar! The painter talked to them today, I was to mad too. Tomorrow I may go see the car in person before work. I might be able to post a picture give me a few they are stuck in my work e-mail. The vinyl top was from Johns Classic Cougars. It was the one recommended by a lot of people on here that do restorations. Yes it did have a backing on it but I sent very good pictures of the seam to go off of and they could have should have shaved the padding so that it was flatter.

 

[CougarChick68]

thats wierd cuz when i took the vinyl top off my 68..it was over the drip rails also then the chrome trim was on over the vinyl..lolsure was hard to get off!

 

[rutter0907]

the original top on my 68 looks to be the a non padded top and I don't have seems on the pillars. I will definately will keep this in mind for my car.I'm sorry this happened to you and yes I'd be very unhappy with the results if my top looked like that!!

 

[cougar2]

If the top was padded, couldn't the padding be taken off in that area where it needs to be folded? As rutter0907 has said, I think I heard the same thing about the 68 not having a seam on the pillar. My 71 had a seam on the pillar and the vinyl went over the drip edge, but that's a different car.

 

[jshcobra]

I think that could be remedied fairly easily by cutting just under the edge of the seam, trimming out the padding and gluing it back down with some clamps to flatten it out. My 68 had a seam there but it was flat like what you describe in your original post.

 

[DrCougar]

The material does not got over the drip rail on a 67/68. It is trimmed along the upper edge. The roof rail moldings were not designed to go over the material. Don't forget that most original 68's had a piece of stainless trim (67 were aluminum) in the roof gutter to help hold the vinyl down in the channel. The majority of original cars I have dealt with and restored do not have the A-pillar seam. It costs a bit more for the material but looks much better. The thickness of the seam on Harvey's top may be because they used the felt back vinyl material which is thicker than the original. Again, I use NOS type material which costs 2-3 times more but does not have that bulky look.

I would get the top problem resolved as you will have difficulties installing the trim around the front and rear glass.

 

[johnboy]

Mine looks like this

 

[1969XR7Vert]

Mine looks like this

The attachment photo is too low res to see anything Jean (probably not your fault as there is a size limit for attachments). Perhaps you could link to somewhere you have the photo online?

 

[johnboy]

The attachment photo is too low res to see anything Jean (probably not your fault as there is a size limit for attachments). Perhaps you could link to somewhere you have the photo online?

[email protected], for once I could try to help :sigh:

how about one of my albums like http://www.classiccougarcommunity.com/forum/gallery/image_page.php?album_id=25&image_id=144

 

[1969XR7Vert]

[email protected], for once I could try to help :sigh:

how about one of my albums like http://www.classiccougarcommunity.com/forum/gallery/image_page.php?album_id=25&image_id=144

Jean,

While much more "betterer", the CCC image doesn't show the seam well at all.
The car, however, looks quite nice! :beer:

 

[johnboy]

Thank'ye, Bob, BUT isnt'it the point to see that it isn't all that visible?

(that went rather well didn't it?...)

 

[Harvey]

Sorry I posted new pictures on another thread, they guy that did the new top reworked the seams and they look good now. However, although I have seen several pictures of 68's with the seam from the factory and it is something I didn't photograph well enough when i dis-assembled the car. I don't believe my car originally had a seam? Maybe but if it did it was not noticable at all. I did find that a top can be ordered from Kee Auto Tops that is one piece including the piece below the rear window! If I have to do it over I will go that route but am now pretty happy with these seams. Once the chrome is on I don't think you will see the seams at all.