After spraying the primer on the top , I see hundreds of small imperfections. How forgiving is the vinyl top? Will the vinyl hide most of them?
BTW. Is the economy vinyl top really that bad?
Who has used them and what was your outcome?
You should use a sealer or paint the roof with automotive paint.
Mine had a junk vinyl top on it with a fuzzy nylon backing. It acted like a sponge and absorbed all water that hit the edges and wicked it up under the vinyl. It was wet under the vinyl since the first rainy day after the PO installed it. No way to avoid it with that type of a backing.
The economy vinyl top is OK if the car is going to be used primarily indoors, or rushed into a garage with a prediction of rain. It’s horrible if the car ever gets wet because the foam padding of the economy top will get wet, stay wet and then the metal below it will rust like crazy.
The roof is going to get base and clear.
I’ll go over it with some 2k glazing compound for imperfections and I guess I’ll spring for the better quality vinyl.
My $0.02: never use the economy top, for the reasons previously stated. And besides – it’s just as much an effort to install as the good one, so why tempt fate?
If you want to see what the economy vinyl top does to a roof over time, go look at the beginning of my Snowball project thread…
Never use a vinyl top with the felt backing, or someday you WILL be replacing the roof for sure!
Probably no one knows the answer to this question, but why would they even make one that’s felt backed? I assume it must be the cost, but they aren’t that much cheaper.
They were made like that even when the cars were new by the automotive aftermarket because that way dealers could make money on a popular trim option. It’s a cheaper fabric to buy, not as durable, and it ruins roofs. Dealers made lots of money, car owners got screwed.
Every parts dealer has to carry them or they will lose sales to other dealers. Some folks don’t buy anything except the cheapest thing.
I contacted SMS last weekend.
They sent me a sample of the premium vinyl and it looks just like what a took off. Top and bottom.
They quoted me 379.00 for a pre made top.