Full Vinyl Top ? Pics??
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That looks very nice on that Malibu!
I am a longtime fan of the full vinyl roof treatment, if done right.... otherwise it looks terrible... On '78-88 G-Body's, Id have to say the best-looking stock Landau vinyl roof goes to the Grand Prix.. just adds to the bad *ss look, but only if the car is in good shape. Ive also seen hideous examples... like a 3rd Gen Bird bastardized by some shop with a cloth landau top... Most factory vinyl tops were the same idea, but some tried unique stuff... AMC had a couple cool ones...like the faux Ttop option on the '71/'73 Javelin and their version of the landau roof... My personal favorite style is a full White vinyl top with dark contrasting paint and matching interior scheme... always impresses me. The image that immediately comes to mind, a very clean unrestored, Forest Green '70 Chevelle SS 396... White vinyl roof, White racing stripes, White buckets/door panels, & Dark Green interior/carpet... even in its aged but cared for condition, it was a stunning car... the sad part was the SOB that bought her from the original owner, he was sitting in the car as he told me how he bought it for $1400 while he smoked his cigar... Avg price for most nice '68-up muscle cars was still under $3-5k back then. I was still a teenager, musta been '93/94, had my '72 Chevelle at a local car show... he was the only other post-68 Chevelle... we were in the '68-up catagory because they were not considered old enough or even really worth very much then... today there are tons of '70-72 Chevelles at every car show...LOL.
Anyway, the downside to vinyl tops is that the passage of time conspires with their mass production assembly... it usually leads to roof damage. Once the material drys out and cracks, or the edges start to pull up, it becomes great at trapping moisture between itself and the roof. Unfortunately for '78-88 G Body's, GM's choice of offering only the "Landau" roof treatment can be a much more serious problem for these cars... ("Landau Roof" was GM's '73-up disco-era name for the padded half-vinyl roof treatment).
It looks cool on some cars, but unfortunately, over time, it really only promotes rust issues... GM didn't add much protection along the leading seam's edge, save for a little glue and the trim... so as it ages, it contracts, the edge of the vinyl pulls away, and water gets pushed into it as you drive.
I came across a sad sight at a local boneyard some years ago... '78-80 Cutlass. My guess is that that the owner had water leaking into the car from the roof somewhere.. they attempted to peel the Landau top back, discovered rot-thru, and globbed a tube of silicone into it... from the inside, you could where the owner tried peeling out the factory sound deadening...rotted pretty much all the way across the roof, just behind where the edge of the seam should have been. The car also had other significant rot issues.... I've also seen a few '64-72 A Body's that needed roof transplants because of vinyl roof related rot.
I am a longtime fan of the full vinyl roof treatment, if done right.... otherwise it looks terrible... On '78-88 G-Body's, Id have to say the best-looking stock Landau vinyl roof goes to the Grand Prix.. just adds to the bad *ss look, but only if the car is in good shape. Ive also seen hideous examples... like a 3rd Gen Bird bastardized by some shop with a cloth landau top... Most factory vinyl tops were the same idea, but some tried unique stuff... AMC had a couple cool ones...like the faux Ttop option on the '71/'73 Javelin and their version of the landau roof... My personal favorite style is a full White vinyl top with dark contrasting paint and matching interior scheme... always impresses me. The image that immediately comes to mind, a very clean unrestored, Forest Green '70 Chevelle SS 396... White vinyl roof, White racing stripes, White buckets/door panels, & Dark Green interior/carpet... even in its aged but cared for condition, it was a stunning car... the sad part was the SOB that bought her from the original owner, he was sitting in the car as he told me how he bought it for $1400 while he smoked his cigar... Avg price for most nice '68-up muscle cars was still under $3-5k back then. I was still a teenager, musta been '93/94, had my '72 Chevelle at a local car show... he was the only other post-68 Chevelle... we were in the '68-up catagory because they were not considered old enough or even really worth very much then... today there are tons of '70-72 Chevelles at every car show...LOL.
Anyway, the downside to vinyl tops is that the passage of time conspires with their mass production assembly... it usually leads to roof damage. Once the material drys out and cracks, or the edges start to pull up, it becomes great at trapping moisture between itself and the roof. Unfortunately for '78-88 G Body's, GM's choice of offering only the "Landau" roof treatment can be a much more serious problem for these cars... ("Landau Roof" was GM's '73-up disco-era name for the padded half-vinyl roof treatment).
It looks cool on some cars, but unfortunately, over time, it really only promotes rust issues... GM didn't add much protection along the leading seam's edge, save for a little glue and the trim... so as it ages, it contracts, the edge of the vinyl pulls away, and water gets pushed into it as you drive.
I came across a sad sight at a local boneyard some years ago... '78-80 Cutlass. My guess is that that the owner had water leaking into the car from the roof somewhere.. they attempted to peel the Landau top back, discovered rot-thru, and globbed a tube of silicone into it... from the inside, you could where the owner tried peeling out the factory sound deadening...rotted pretty much all the way across the roof, just behind where the edge of the seam should have been. The car also had other significant rot issues.... I've also seen a few '64-72 A Body's that needed roof transplants because of vinyl roof related rot.
Here's a couple of that poor Bird... took it a few years back... all of the mud on it??? I visited several weeks after Hurricane Irene floodwaters receded from this particular boneyard. Appears it became a submarine for awhile...LOL
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