i have a 70 skylark custom that has a very badly pitted roof. it was originally a vinyl top, but i really like the hard top look better, but i'm not a body man and don't know if the car would ever look right. so my question is how do i make the roof look slick? do i need to find a car with a donor roof? does it have to be a skylark or will one of it's cousins work? or do i need to shut up and put a vinyl top on the car? the sail panels (i think that's what there called.) are really bad on the sharp edge decending to the top of the quarters. there is no rust through yet, but some deep pits. whaddaya do? thanks in advance for any help ya'll.
Hey Clint To go vinyl or not to go vinyl is totally a personal choice. You have people who avidly say stay away from it because they trap moisture and you have people who are avidly FOR it due to the originality and look. You'll get 11 different opinions from 10 people. It's been discussed on this board many times before. As far as what's involved, I'm not a body man, but if you go NO vinyl, you'll need to get rid of the rust and fill the pits and prepare the roof for paint. In doing so, you'll also have to eliminate the studs for the vinyl roof edge moldings that you will no longer need. They will have to be ground off and filled and prepped etc. Once you do that, don't plan on ever going back to a vinyl roof again, because you will have to find studs and weld them all back on again....Accurately. Even if you DO put the vinyl roof back on, you NEED to fix the rust you have on the roof. It would stink to have a new vinyl roof on and have bubbles showing under the vinyl. When I had my car done, I ripped off the whole vinyl roof and put a new one on (or had one put on for me) and they did all the prep work and properly sealed the roof with primer and a basecoat before putting the new vinyl roof on. I had no rust under my original if you can believe that. And it's a Northeast car, which is even more amazing.
thanks mr. mild, my problem right now is that i had the car painted, back in 1995, and the guy who painted it left the studs on the body and put the crome back on the car. so the studs are still there, but he painted over the roof, after putting a 1/8'' coat of rage body filler over the entire top. car looked great for six months and then the painted body filler started to crack and chip off right in the center of the roof. couldn't get him to fix it. so after 10 years of storage(got married,built a house,you know how it is...) i am now trying to fix it myself. when i started stripping the roof i saw the extent of the pitting under all that body filler. i also found about a gallon of it in the pass. quarter. the guy is now retired and shop is closed, and i wouldn't want him near the car again any way. so i guess i'm saying if i post pics could some one give me advice as what i should do. i don't want to junk the car because it was my first car and it has a lot of memories in it. my wife loves it and i hope to keep it till i die. so any help would be appriciated. i guess if some one could see it and just tell me what would be the best way to fix it would help a lot.
Ive done the roof skin thing it wasnt that bad. The problem is finding one with no rust to begin with. If your roof is full of filler and pits it would be easier to get a new roof and glue/weld it in place to repair your damage.
I took my vynal roof off mainly because I don't like vynal roofs on the 70/72 Skylarks, personal preferance and not trying to influence you. If the pitting is pretty bad, like almost through and you want to keep this car a long time, I'd get it reskined by a pro. I took the studs off mine but I've seen cars that had the vynal removed and left the studs. That way they have the trim still on the car and you can paint it all one color or two tone it. Then you allways have the option of going back to the vynal roof if you want. JMHO Dave Berry
thanks mr. berry. i guess my next question would be dose any body know of a pro in upstate s.c. who i could talk to? if so thanks in advance.
Hey Clint, don't know what you're normally used to, but feel free to use our first names. We are all on a first name basis here. :beer
sure thing ken, i write a lot like i talk. and my dad raised me to only use someones first name if they invite you to. my real names clint, but friends call me wilburdean. nick name i was tagged with at an early age, also from my dad, if you wondered where it came from. :beer
