Making Vinyl Top

Starting with a 70 GTX hardtop kit

gonna add a vinyl top to the build

i could do this only with tape but i prefer to have the top ribs at the joins defined a bit more as to me they look more “right”

i use a few .010 strips of styrene and affix them to the roof

once the glue dried i trimmed the ends short of the front and rear window molding

i also needed to add the lower trim strips to define where the vinyl will be

i did this the same way, lay down the strip and glue them in place

then trim them down to size, i also use a sanding stick to knock down the edges of the roof rails so they blend in a little bit

now out comes the masking tape, i use masking tape because of the texture in it closely resembles the texture of real vinyl

does not matter what color tape you use because it will be painted later. do the center section between the rails first

i used my fingernail to burnish the tape down tightly around the rails and also aroung all of the molding

then with a sharp hobby knife trim the tape and leave only the vinyl portion on the build

make sure you reburnish any edges to make sure they are down tight. now using the inner edge for the roof rail i line up the tape for the sides. being careful to have it long enough to cover both the a and b pillars

slowly working my way from top to bottom burnishing as i go. i then use the hobby blade once again to trim up to any moldings

repeat on the other side

i prefer to use acrylic paint if painting vinyl tops, it dries quickly and covers well

once you start painting you will see the grain of the tape

i am not so much worried about the brush wandering when i painted this because later, after i get the body painted, i will be foiling the trim and moldings and you will never see it

in the above shot, things are not quite all the way dry but you get the picture. you will see more of this later as i do more work on the car.