The Monte i just bought Has T tops so naturaly it has a vinyl roof and its completly riped off the top only thing left is the sides but there is a lot of rust on the side panels. If my body man says its beond repair how hard is it to replace the top and where would i find a new top? Thanks
How hard to replace 1/4 top?
- Thread starter Rockstar
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To replace the roof, first you need to get a cordless sawzall at Harbor Freight ( locations in Tampa, St.Pete and New Port Richey) for $35. Then, got to LKQ Cophers in Clearwater, St Pete, Sarasota, Tampa or Orlando and cut you off a roof. Simple!
Rockstar said:
Well, you should fix the rust in the roof before anything else. All a vinyl roof will do is mask the problem.
If you get it done professionally, I believe that replacing a vinyl roof can cost in the thousands. I've never tried doing it myself or heard of anyone who tried. I'd imagine the cheaper route would be to just fix the rust and repaint.
Rockstar said:
I pulled the vinyl roof off of my Grand Prix. It was cracked and beat up and I figured there'd be a ton of rust underneath. It was a big mistake; there was no rust, so I just ended up making the car look uglier. But I ended up keeping the roof off. Easier to maintain and cheaper. All you need to do is get the chrome trim and clips for the rear window, since that doesn't exist when there's a vinyl roof.
Some people have also talked about replacing the side, er, opera windows I think they call them... because the regular hardtop models came with an extra little bit of weatherstripping around them. I didn't do that, ended up kind of fabricating my own little trim. But it's something to look at.
Welding new metal in might be the best bet, depending on how far gone it is. Do you have any pictures of the roof?
srercrcr said:
Really? I was quoted as over $1000 to replace replace one, and I remember reading something on this board about it costing a ridiculous amount of money.
Well, either way... whether you're going to get a new one or not, the roof rust should be fixed first.
a new top should not be over 500 tops. they are not hard to do, i did mine on my regal a few years ago, mine was not perfect but i made the mistake of doing it on a humid night when it was like 75 out side. you need to do them in a garage on a dry night with the heat cranked up so its like 100 or better, sounds crappy but thats how they say to do it. after that you throw the adheisive down through the center section and then you have to glue and stretch at the same time over the corners so that you can get it to wrap around back in to the fiberglass piece around the back window. it really is not that bad to do but it takes time and patients. if you shave the top the only reason to switch the quarter windows is if you had a padded top, if it was not padded i think they are the same as no top windows. personally i ended up shaving mine to get a meaner look but its all about what you want
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