hey guys i was thinking about installing a vinyl top on my maverick... i think it would really make the car look great. i know auto krafters re produces the vinyl top part but i did not see any re production rear side trim for the vinyl top. are those two pieces of trim hard to find?
The drip rail moulding for vinyl top cars carries a different part number than the non-vinyl top trim. The C-pillar trim you speak of is out there, but like most trim and body parts, condition will be key. Locating and drilling the holes in your quarter panels will be the other challenge. Drip Rail Trim part numbers (w/ and w/o roof covering): http://1bad6t.com/Maverick/repair/diagrams/Comet_11.jpg
Also, you should post a WANTED advertisement in the Classified section on this site to help to see if anyone has what you're looking for. http://www.mmb.maverick.to/forums/maverick-comet-wanted.14/
Okay i will post a wanted ad thanks for including the link . But do you think its worth it? I think it will make the car look great and different because there are not a lot of vinyl top mavericks out there to my knowledge. I just dont know if spending the money to do it would be worth it... like you said condition is key, the rest of the trim on my car is decent so id like something close if not better than what i have but all of that comes with a price. And would i have to remove the trim around the front and rear windows? Thanks
im gonna have to check again but I'm pretty sure i have the trim for the vinyl top. pm me if you still need it
Yes, you'll have to remove the window trim (front and back). I could make a paper template of the holes required on the quarter panel if you REALLY needed the hole locations. I am replacing MY vinyl top, only because I want to keep the rest of the car original and not repaint the yellow. If I was painting my whole car, I would almost lean towards getting rid of the vinyl top. I have a new one from Auto Krafters ready to install. There are also a few options for vinyl tops on these cars: 1) Full Vinyl Top, 2) Halo Top and 3) The 3/4 top. Each has it's own unique pieces of trim and layout. There are also small aluminum pieces that fasten to the lower part of the A-pilar in behind the fender/door seam. These help keep the edge of the vinyl from peeling up. This is the other reason why you may not want to go vinyl:
I also have those pieces of trim, removed them from our car when we purchased it, it had the factory vinyl top which we are not going back with, they are in pretty good condition if I remember right, let me know if you might want them.
and this is exactely what we are dealing with, maybe not quite as bad but the top is one area we are going to have to do the most bodywork.
Right now i have my car bare metal my dad suggested i go for the vinyl top look.. he said if i do go that route that we should por 15 the roof before hand to prevent rusting problems... i am painting the car white again but i am using the color off a 1969 boss 429 i like it better it looks almost like cream and its period correct i am not sure how a very bright white would look but is it hard to drill the holes on the rear quarter? I have the back seat and side panels out right now so i have perfect access to them
I have used POR-15 on my cowl, floor, inside firewall and will also be painting my whole roof and front engine compartment of the car that way. I have held-off on the roof right now, as I have painted two test "coupons" on the advice of my vinyl top guy. He has not personally worked with POR-15 before, and wanted to do a couple of peel tests before he comitted to installing the vinyl top over POR-15. I talked with my POR-15 supplier and they recommended sanding with 320 grit before trying to get any type of adhesive to stick to it. If I get out to the vinyl guy, I'll let you know how the peel test went!
Okay great! Thank you cant wait to hear how the peel test went... hope it all goes well.. also the only thing i wanna say is make sure when you use por 15 you pour it into another container and seal the gallon..... if the gallon gets any water in it... even a small drip of sweat it will all go bad... learned that the hard way... painted the frame on my dads old f150 and it all fell off called por 15 and they said that it could be contamination or old paint.. since i had just bought the gallon i am assuming it was contamination so be careful.... expensive stuff dont want it to go to waste
Thanks for the advice. I've used it on a few other projects, and have had similar experiences and warnings given to me by others. For my Grabber project, I actually purchased it in four quart-sized cans. It cost an extra $40 more than a single gallon-can, but to me it was worth it. I used one quart to do the interior, firewall and cowl on the car. I figure two quarts should do the front end and one quart should do the roof with lots of paint to spare (throw away). The front end will get a topcoat of Chassis Coat Black. The rest will be out of and away from UV light.
Cant wait to see it when its done!...i used rustoleum 777 satin black to paint my motor compartment...i love it... very stock looking but i wish i would have waited and color matched the motor compartment to the body lol
