i am looking at a 72 it has a vinyl top .it looks sort of puffy .what my question is if i removed it would a body man be able to cover it up so no one could tell it was ever on.i have a rust bubble on top of the 1/4 ,you know where ,so it needs attention anyway.its not that i dont like them [vinyl tops]but i like hard tops better no moisture.thanx steve 72

sorry about the double post .i just hit the back arrow to check out some more team chevelle and guess what

My 72 had a vinyl top. The only way you can tell now is that the molding was left on.
kevin d

I have a '70 Malibu that had a vinyl top. The top was off the car before I purchased it but no bodywork had ever been done. I have no intention of putting the vinyl top back on.

There was alot of glue on the roof. This came off with a DA sander. The bigger problem, though, are the roof seams (where the roof is welded (or probably braized) onto the quarters between the side and rear windows). When GM was producing a car slated for a vinyl top, it did not always take the time to smooth this seam out. It can certainly be done by a compentent bodyman though. In fact, with no experience prior, I did much of the bodywork on mine to smooth these seams. I still need a pro to do the finishing touches, though. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

The other problem may be the stainless trim around the vinyl top. Without a top, this trim looks out of place. It is held on with a combination of rivets welded on the body and holes drilled in the body. The rivets need to be ground off and the holes need to be filled.

In short - it can be done. You can probably do alot of the bodywork yourself - as I did - and just let a pro finish it up. IMO, vinyl tops do not look all that good on Chevelles.

What's wrong with vinyl top's? I think they add a little more style to the car and a little more chrome doesn't hurt either! IMO

My 70 had a vinyl top on it when I bought it, but I removed it. I replaced both 1/4's and the rear cwol piece, so the welded studs were not a problem. but what I did haveto remove was all of the little "nails" that were used in the space next to the glass. I found that most of mine had started to rust around the hole that they made.. I would suggest pulling out the nails then drilling out the rust and welding the hole shut. You can just grind it smooth since it will never be seen. And if you go to sell the vinyl top trim be sure too keep the drip rail mouldings. I'll give you one guess who sold his first set. Mat ACES #2424

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You're better off leaving the top on. They are VERY HARD to remove complete. I did mine last year and spent days with adhesive solvent and a putty knife. The unfinished joints and trim rivets are also an issue if you don't recover with vinyl.

IMO the cars which have "lost" their vinyl are worth much less. Simply because someone has altered the originality of the car.

A new top would run less than $200 to have done and would not cause any worse deterioration when done right. (there was none underneath mine when I pulled it up).

>>What's wrong with vinyl top's?

Its all a matter of opinion, some people like them and some don't. The big reason that I don't like them is the rust problems that they cause if your climate is less than ideal. I have a later GM car with a vynl top and I can stick a screwdriver through the roof because of the vynl top. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/frown.gif I have also seen a couple of muscle car era Chevelles and Novas with large rust holes in the roof from vynl tops, that's a sad end for the cars that we love.