Vinyl top

[Blitz]

@devildog

Even the pro in the vid has trouble lining everything up once that glue starts setting and he is pulling it tight, the side seam gets a bit crooked.

I have seen Andrew’s in person, and it doesn’t look too bad, but I can imagine myself screwing it up much more.

Yeah, that crooked line bugs the crap out of me. I noticed pretty soon after it happened, but it was already too late for him to pull it back up and adjust it. Lots of glue. It’s not that bad, but of course I’ll always notice it. Oh well!

@CatVert68

There are different tops available. I’ve used the economy kit that’s sold by many of the Cougar vendors and I’ve used a top from SMS.

The economy kit has more padding and thinner vinyl, IIRC.

The SMS kit has less padding, thicker vinyl, and takes more effort to stretch into place. However, it is more like the factory tops, with the seams all in the correct places. It’s also more expensive, SMS is not as easy as WCCC to work with, and the lead time is longer.

Kee Auto Top does something similar to SMS, but the A-pillar seam that the factory used isn’t designed into their top so it’s not quite as correct as the SMS top. On the plus side, they’re friendly and have a short lead time. For B3Cat, I’m going to get the top from Kee and have the trim shop create the seam to make it look factory correct.

I’m not familiar with WCCC’s concours top, so I can’t comment on that but it would be worth it to call them and have someone explain the difference if it’s not already spelled out on the website or in the video.

For what it’s worth, my top is from SMS, and that’s what WCCC now sells as “concours.” We try to keep one in stock at all times to compensate for their lead time. As you saw in the video, when you hold it up to the economy version, you realize how cheezy the economy one is.
We did order a Kee top to check it out, and it was kind of in between the other two in terms of quality. Better than the economy version, but still not nearly as nice as the SMS. Also, the one we received from Kee appeared to be cut wrong; the A-pillars were splayed out too wide and it didn’t look like it would fit right.

Also, about the seams, not all Cougars had a seam at the A-pillar. I’ve seen a couple 67’s with original tops and no seam on the A-pillar. XR7-G’s were that way too, weren’t they? I actually like that look better and kinda wish mine came without the A-pillar seams. They were just a way for the factory to save a bunch of material / money.

I took comparison pictures back when we were researching which manufacturer was best, and forgot to do anything with them. This seems like a good time to share those! Here’s an original top:

Now, the SMS “concours” / “premium” top I put on my car:

Followed by the Kee, which I’ll call “Mid-Grade” (shown loose, not installed on a car):

And finally the “Economy” version, again not installed on a car:

You might notice that the two cheaper ones are quite shiny. All the above shots were taken with flash, so the sheen is pretty clear. I like the more natural look of the SMS. However, you’ll also notice that the texture of the SMS doesn’t exactly match the original, but none of them do, and it’s definitely the most detailed of the repros. When you compare them from a distance, I think it’s obvious that the SMS looks the closest to the original. That said, if you aren’t super picky and just want something new to replace a tattered old one, it’s nice to have cheaper options.

Oh, and here’s the problem I was talking about with the Kee top. Here it is sitting on my car. Notice the angle of the A pillar.

And for comparison, here’s the economy version on top of the Kee. Clearly the angle is different.

For all I know, Kee may have already corrected this problem, but this is what I found and thought it was worth mentioning. Hope this was helpful! Oh yeah and here are links to the relevant vinyl tops at WCCC:

Premium / Concours Vinyl Top (Black) - 67-68
Economy Vinyl Top (Black) - 67-68

(And yes we have other colors and years but I’m too lazy to paste all the links)