Vinyl top questions

[thor4sur]

My 79 malibu landau is going into the body shop next week to fix the ice storm damage . It will be repainted at the same time .
The Vinyl top allready has some cracks in it and I was offered the strip and paint the area at no further cost . Putting the trim back on so I can do the top at a later date .
I have 2 questions

1- any problem that you can see with the lack of vinyl with the trim ?

2- I will be moving to the Fla. panhandle this year andwant to know ; any problems with vinyl tops in the south ? Are they more prone to problems than they are worth ?

Thanks for any input ; Bill

 

[Longroof79]

Hey Bill,
You may want to consider removing the vinyl top, especially if you're moving to Florida. Unless of course the car will be garage kept most of the time. Besides, I think these cars look stupid with the half vinyl roof.
There might be an issue with the trim around the quarter windows. Someone else would have to answer that.

Sorry to hear that your nice clean Malibu sustained storm damage,

 

[joesregalproject]

If you can have it stripped and painted for nothing more, Id do it. I have no opinion on vinyl tops, I think they look nice, but most people dislike them. They also can cause some rust issues so sometimes it's best to shave them.

 

[ck80]

Basically, here is my take on the trim with no-top idea.

#1: if there have been cracks in the top already, that means water probably got in and under it. this also means there is probably rust under there, the question is whether it is surface rust, or rotted metal.

#2: they may strip and pain the metal at no further cost, but I bet rust remediation/repair comes at a higher price.

#3: remember that the orignal trim is held tight two ways: plastic clips, and, the fabric of the vinyl roof pressing outwards on the trim from underneath. If you are in a windy area, and there is now a gap for wind to get underneath the edge of th etrim because the 1/16 to 1/8" of vinyl and padding are missing, then the wind force may rip a piece of trim off the car randomly. Again, #3 is conjecture, but, you are going to have a cheap piece of plastic holdong on a large flat lightweight piece of trim with wind pushing from beneath.

Also, your original clips on teh plastic trim will likely break for the most part in removal. I bet the cost to strip and paint does not include buying you new clips to re-attach the trim.

 

[thor4sur]

Thanks Guys ! As Jack knows ,the history of this car is a little wierd . I got it 2 years ago after it spent 12-15 years in a garage . The owners wanted to make a drag car out of it and life interupted . Also the roof cracks were filled with something ,what I dont know ? But after waxing and leaning on the roof I have never felt any soft spots that would fortell rust . Something my old malibu had a lot of !!!!
When I get to work tomorrow I will try to post pictures of the damage and the cars roof .

Thank you again , Bill

 

[thor4sur]

Here are some pictures

This is thedamage done in ice storm.

This is the best shot of the Roof that I have .

And this is one of the last shots before the winter !!

as you can see It's in good shape but you cant see the lacquer cracking on the hood and trunk . there Is also some oddball fading only on the painted sections of the roof .
ah well winter sucks !!!

Thanks for looking , Bill