Vinyl top or go for hard top?

[foothilltom 33]

Hi guys,

 

As you may recall, my "donor car" had a vinyl top that concealed a roof that had essentially turned to sand due to years of rust. The entire roof was useless.

 

Because I ran into a snag with my son's car (the true restoration project here), I decided to tackle the roof and see if I could resurrect this baby.

 

I cut off the remnants of the original roof and created a fiberglass panel using my son's car as a "mold". I then sort of "laminated" the roof I made from fiberglass onto the good steel still in place on the donor car. If I don't say so myself, the result is perfectly solid, if not a bit ugly.

 

Here's a picture of what it looked like before and after:

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/tdayton/MustangStuff/photo#5152884768363867970

http://picasaweb.google.com/tdayton/MustangStuff/photo#5158565280943558450

 

My dilemma is whether I could ever get the result smooth enough for a hard top. It's difficult to see from the picture, but I've got a million little areas that need to be smoothed out with more filler and I'm concerned I'm just spinning my wheels.

 

So the question to ye wise gentlemen is this:

 

* Any recommendations on how to get this baby smooth enough for a hard top?

 

* If a Vinyl Top will hide the sins, how much should that be to have on installed?

 

Thanks a lot, guys. I do appreciate the feedback.

 

Tom

[foothilltom 33]

Hi guys,

 

As you may recall, my "donor car" had a vinyl top that concealed a roof that had essentially turned to sand due to years of rust. The entire roof was useless.

 

Because I ran into a snag with my son's car (the true restoration project here), I decided to tackle the roof and see if I could resurrect this baby.

 

I cut off the remnants of the original roof and created a fiberglass panel using my son's car as a "mold". I then sort of "laminated" the roof I made from fiberglass onto the good steel still in place on the donor car. If I don't say so myself, the result is perfectly solid, if not a bit ugly.

 

Here's a picture of what it looked like before and after:

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/tdayton/MustangStuff/photo#5152884768363867970

http://picasaweb.google.com/tdayton/MustangStuff/photo#5158565280943558450

 

My dilemma is whether I could ever get the result smooth enough for a hard top. It's difficult to see from the picture, but I've got a million little areas that need to be smoothed out with more filler and I'm concerned I'm just spinning my wheels.

 

So the question to ye wise gentlemen is this:

 

* Any recommendations on how to get this baby smooth enough for a hard top?

 

* If a Vinyl Top will hide the sins, how much should that be to have on installed?

 

Thanks a lot, guys. I do appreciate the feedback.

 

Tom

[SlimeGold 69 15]

Tom, it's hard to get fiberglass to bond to steel. It may look ok now but in time it will crack around the edges. Scince the top is a big flat body panel, it would take alot to get it strait enough for paint. A vinyl top could cover alot, but the roof underneath would still need to be strait for it to look right. I would take both cars you have and make one. A good body shop could take the roof from the other car and use it to replace the bad roof. If the rest of the car is nice and solid it would be worth it to replace the roof. It may not be cheap, but in the long run you would have a much stronger, nicer car.

[SlimeGold 69 15]

Tom, it's hard to get fiberglass to bond to steel. It may look ok now but in time it will crack around the edges. Scince the top is a big flat body panel, it would take alot to get it strait enough for paint. A vinyl top could cover alot, but the roof underneath would still need to be strait for it to look right. I would take both cars you have and make one. A good body shop could take the roof from the other car and use it to replace the bad roof. If the rest of the car is nice and solid it would be worth it to replace the roof. It may not be cheap, but in the long run you would have a much stronger, nicer car.

[bnickel 10,004]

honestly, i would fix the shock tower on the other car rather than messing with the roof on this car. you'll never get it right with a 'glass cap like that, even with the vinyl top covering it and the cost to replace the roof from the other car will be more than just fixing the shock tower. what ever happened to third car you were going to buy for $400?

[foothilltom 33]

My wife stepped in, that's what! She was growing weary of having her car out in the elements while I have about $3,000 worth of Mustangs jammed in my heated garage!

 

Seriously, I am going to buy that $400 70 coupe eventually. but I just need to free up one space in the garage for my wife's car to keep her happy (quiet)...

 

...which was why I thought about "weather-proofing" the crappy Mustang so that I could get it back out into the driveway. The whole "glass cap" thing was just a way to stay busy while we figured out the plan with my son's shock tower issue.

 

As I worked on the donor roof, I began to grow attached to it (part of the psychology of this hobby, methinks) and now want to make it look reasonably good.

 

So in short, I'm sticking to my "donor car" philosophy, but would prefer to get the car outside during the restoration of my son's car -- hence the need for a water-tight roof. I figured I could at least get a Vinyl top installed and roll the car outside.

 

Hopefully, that clears up my question. In short, I will be fixing my son's car...just need to get geared up for the job. In the meantime, I wanted to resolve the donor car leaky roof.

 

Thanks!

Tom

[bnickel 10,004]

if you're still planning on reselling it later i'd go ahead and install the vinyl top unless you plan to spend a lot of moneyhaving a new panel welded in.