Has anybody ever removed there vinyl roof? how did you do it? should I just break out the scraper? I 'm going to repair the rust with por 15 and replace the vinyl.
Grab ahold of a lose edge and start pulling! Ok, seriously now, you need to remove all the mouldings that the top is tucked under. That would be the front and back windshield chrome, the drip rails and the chrome pieces on the quarters . Pull off as much of the top as you can and yes, you will need a scaper and a LOT of razor blades. What will not pull off you will have to srape off as much as possible. The vinal top glue is pretty tough stuff. We sand it off with 80 grit sandpaper or use a grinder on the really bad stuff. It will not only remove the glue, but sand down the rusted areas so you can treat them. You will have to repaint the roof before putting a new top on. You can not glue a top down on bare metal or on primer.
I did this exact job about 2 years ago. You will probably end up removing the windshield and back glass to do the job right, since the top is stretched thru the window channels.(You may want to replace the headliner at this time if you ever intend to for this same reason. ) The drip moldings are not real easy to remove...I ended up taking a small screwdriver to start the process at one end and slowly worked bit by bit until it came off. The roof on my '72 underneath was very pitted and had a few pinholes. I used a grinding wheel to get all the loose rust off and knock down the high spots and then I coated the whole thing with POR 15 Silver. I opted to have the top replaced at a shop near me that is known for really good work and it cost me around $500 by the time I was done. I have been told I coulda got it done cheaper, but this place did a really good job and I am very happy with it. Here is a picture I took a few months back on the day I got it back from the shop:
Your top looks great! I am just about to order the POR 15, I will get the silver. Did you have to replace the rubber for the windows? is it available?
The front and rear windshield gaskets do tend to crack and split with age. If your's are in good shape and you have no water leaks, you might be able to reuse them. On the other hand, if you plan to pull the windshields, this would be the ideal time to replace them. AutoKrafters carries both of them.
