i have a 70 chevelle with a vynal top . i want to make it a hard top how difficult is this and should i just keep it on or redo it

plumberjc,
Hope you don't mind, but I have that exact same question! More importantly for me is how can you remove the vinyl top without destroying the roof?

I would like to get rid of the vinyl, but don't want to have to repaint just yet.

Thnaks,
Bill C.


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Bill C.
'71 SS (now with 467BBC)
'70 Nova 350/700r4
ACES #2780
Colo Spgs, CO

You can pull the trim off the car and simply pull off the old vinyl. You will probably notice the seams were somewhat off, a main reason for putting on the vinyls on some Chevelle/Caminos.

There are small rivets that hold on plastic clips that slide on to secure the moldings. Try not to damage the parts since you can probably sell them and get some cash for them. After removing, you can grind down the rivets and then fill with plastic filler. You should also get rid of the lead seam from the factory where the roof line meets the 1/4. Once that's gone, use a good plastic filler to smooth the edges.

If you do a search on this topic you should find a whole bunch of stuff on here. Good luck

ss396boy.I also have a question. What is the proper way to remove the moldings without destroying them? I know the corner pcs. are held on with nuts, so thats no problem. What about the other 3 pcs. I need to save mine for reuse, as no one repros these parts yet. Many thanks, Dennis

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Dennis Jones
TC#940 ACES#4918 72 Malibu Project

That's a good question. I'm not sure given my ride is an El Camino. Try doing a search here to see if anything comes up. My came off pretty easy on the Elky, I just sorta slid them off and there looked like there was a recessed area for the plastic holders to slide through. Mine are alot smaller than the pieces on the Chevelle too. Good luck.

I'm not sure about the El Caminos, but I can talk about Chevelles. The trim is bolted on. The speed nuts are inside the 1/4 panels. You'll have to access them thru the door jamb vents. Hope you have a fairly skinny arm. Take a 7/16" deep well on a 1/4" ratchet and remove the speed nuts off of the studs. The rest you can get to in the trunk.
Now, once you get them off, you'll have to weld up the holes, grind the area smooth and use plastic filler to smooth the entire area.
Also, keep in mind that original vinyl top cars had less attention paid to them when it came to the roof to sail panel finish. It will probably be a bit wavey and will need this entire area to be filled and blocked. Primer the whole area with urethane primer filler and keep block sanding until everything is smoothed out to perfection.

A good alternative would be to retain the vinyl top trim pieces and remove the vinyl top, then just paint the top a contrasting color and reinstall the trim so as to separate the body and top colors.

[This message has been edited by Randy Mosier (edited 01-17-2002).]

Personally I like the hair piece on these old brutes, it adds a little contrast to the car. My .02