Vinyl Top?

I'm starting on the cosmetic portion of my 76 Maverick budget build, and can't decide what to do with the vinyl top. It's in pretty rough shape as you can see, but I'm afraid of what I'll find underneath if I take it off. I have heard of of people painting, of dying the vinyl, but how would I handle the torn places. Is there some sort of product that will fill in these cracks? Also what do they call this type of top? I kiinda like the way it looks, but I'm not married to it. If it's to messed up to save I'll just have to redo it or remove it.
What do you guys think?

 

Better to find out now before you spend a bunch of money on paint, etc.

Take it off and see what you have.

 

It's called a Halo top. I'm not really a big fan of them, the full top can be made to look good though.

 

I'd say pull it off. It's better to find bad spots now instead of when the 1st good rain hits it and you end up with a lap full of water.

If you like original, put it back, if you don't care, take it off and paint it. I personally like the full top, but I'm biased. I've had 2 cars with the full vinyl top. Currently mine is painted because the hailstorm broke the bonding of the glue and 75mph down I-285 blew it off...

 

Not my choice of top either.. I would remove it and paint the top. It's up to you tho..

 

Id remove it asap. Mine reveald alot of holes and rust.

 

Vinyl top removal?

Whats the preferred method for removing a vinyl top? Would a right angle grinder with a twisted wire brush attachment do the trick? I know it chews the hell out of anything else it comes into contact with

 

Once I got a corner started, it peeled off in chunks. I used a scraper to loosen the stubborn spots and an abrasive disc(one that is kind to sheet metal, not too aggressive) to remove the glue. Try to limit concentrating on one spot with a power tool(right angle grinder, etc) to prevent overheating the metal in spots, otherwise, you'll warp the metal. You can also finish up with contact cement remover. To my knowledge, they all tuck under the windshield gasket ( and back one if you have the earlier roof) so I lightly ran a boxcutter along the edge of the moulding in the front and rear to prevent disturbing the seal. I wasn't ready to paint, just trying to protect the rest of the motoring public by removing the parts that didn't blow off at speed on the interstate.

 

Disregard my last post.

This morning while taking out the trash, I noticed a loose corner on the vinyl top. To make a short story even shorter, I had all the vinyl peeled off the car in about 5 minutes. It looks really good under there. There's only one little tiny pitted area, right where the biggest torn spot was. There doesn't even appear to be very much adhesive. I think I can get the whole top cleaned up and primed this afternoon after work.

 

What's the "official" style of vinyl roofs for our cars as pictures below, is it (in order) full; half; halo?

 

I have a 73 brochure that labels the last one as the "halo" roof. I don't know anything about the "half"

 

heh, i feel your pain. mine was originally a vinyl top car and was in rough shape. I found out that apparently mine was chosen to be a vinyl top car due to some buckling on the roof so they hid it. when i took it off i had 3 rings of creases pushing through the roof. lots of body work involved to smooth and straighten. welding up holes from trim and etc. glue removal was fun lol.

**mine was a full top.

 

That's what I understand..

 

congrats on being able to take it fairly easily.

i know im still new to all of this but i know that ive never like vinyl roofs on classic muscle cars. just looked weird to me, i guess. However, the half vinyl on the example given, surprisingly, has my attention. i...actually....kinda...dig it. im not sure yet. haha

 

I dont know the official names. I have just always refered to both of the non full one's as Halo tops.