I still need to reinstall the trim ... gonna get new clips ... Once lesson I learned ... DON'T REMOVE THE RAIN GUTTER TRIM ... IT WILL DRIVE YOU INSANE PUTTING IT BACK ON! I figured I would tuck the vinyl under the trim ... wouldn't fit so I ended up popping it off for no reason. The driver side went on fairly well. I screwed up the passenger side pretty good and out of frustration I dented the roof (don't ask) . Here are some pics ...
That is going to be one good looking car. You ought to drive it up to TN and let that nice old lady see it.
I let my temper get the best of me. I got up underneath and pushed the dent out so it isn't nearly as noticable ...
Looks sweet! Great job! Can't wait for a how-to.. if it's easy enough, I'll replace the one on my Grabber myself when I get to that stage... -Corbin
Hmmmm.....I think it looked better without the vinyl top. Take it off and let me see it again. j/k-Looks great! Nice Job.
I was gonna take a whole bunch of pictures for the how-to ... but once I got started I didn't. I can tell you that if you go to your local Barnes an Noble and take a look at the Camaro restoration book there is a Chapter on Vinyl Tops. I followed those directions exactly. Here are some pics of where I set up the center line to make sure the top and seams were perfectly centered on the roof. I use a chalk line to snap it and then a marker. I did the driver side first and then the passenger side. The passenger side came out slightly better because the driver side has some wrinkles near the rain gutter. I have some major tips ... Glue down only 6 inches of top at a time. If you do more it will be hard get it down without wrinkles. The key is to lay the vinyl down flat and stretch it as little as possible. Also ... the adhesive sets almost instantly ... you have maybe 10 seconds if you want to try and lift and and put it back down. Once you have the top glued down roughly trim out the sides and front and rear windows. Trim big becuase there is no way to repair it if trim short. Use a piece of chalk and trace out the outlines of the windshelds. Then trim 3/4 inch outside the line for the correct overlap. I used a kitchen rolling pin to smooth it out. I use weatherstripping adhesive in the rain gutters for a better bond (as per the Camaro book) and will use it in the window channels as well. I have not glued them down yet. Once I had everything glued down I went back and did a final trim around the rain gutters.
