My 70 had bubbling of the paint along the trim where the vinyl top meets the quater panels. After about a year or two of owning the car, they finally popped and more are showing up, even along the deck lid. A local shop said they could fix the problem but would have to totally remove the vinyl top and repace it. Is this true? Also, this car is a daily driver that is uaually covered, but does see some rain every now and again. To save myself the headache of going through this again, would it be wise to have the top painted if it is in good condition(not a lot of rust underneth). The car is non#'s so originality is not a problem, plus I didn't really want a vinyl-topped Velle to start with.

Matt,
I would definitely have the top stripped, repaired where needed, and then painted, no matter whether you want to replace the vinyl or not. When I did my car, it had a vinyl top on it and when I took it off, oh what a mess! There was a lot of rot on the panel between the rear window and the top of the trunk lid and it had been bondoed over with no success. I ended up having to replace that panel. I did not put the vinyl top back on (don't like the look). Fix it right the first time or you will probably get to fix it another time. Good luck!
Duke