Though my bird came from factory with a vinyl top, a previous resto/paint was done without it. I would like to put one back on.

Anyone have experience with what it takes to do this? I will have it professionally done but am wondering just what it takes. I assume new studs to hold the rear moldings would need to be welded/screwed in. All other required moldings are in place.

Also I am putting together an order with NPD and would like to include the 2 rear molding (set) pieces but they only show it for 67/68. 69 is different I assume? Thanks

The rear glass reveal moldings are the same 67-69. The vinyl top molding are different for 69's....

Miss it on my 68 also.
Was black on black when i bought it.
Had rust bubbles underneath, and a few tears.
Found out it was originally Verdoro Green.
Still have the moldings, so after new V.G. paint...

having owned two 75 Cutlasses with Landau vinyl tops , I`d never ,ever again own a vinyl top....I`m not trying to tell you what to do, but in my experience you are asking for leaks in under the vinyl, or moisture, then rust....

IMO vinyl tops look awesome. Also, I think when properly installed, you will not have any issues. My wife and I did our own several years ago (pics on photobucket link below) and we have not had any issues. The top we pulled off the car was 11 years old and everything underit was perfect. In fact we cleaned off the glue with Naptha and the paint was flawless after 11 years. We tore it off so the car would be silver under the new top and to be sure there were no rust issues.

The only warning I offer is to be very cautious when trimming in the vinyl and not to score the paint with the razor at it will cause issues down the road...

some look GREAT with it some look like grannymobiles. They all cause rust underneath in general and probs around rear windows with moisture and rust. Good luck, keep your car dry!

Still trying to figure out what moldings/clips I need. The 69 Firebird/Camaro molding sets come with 4 pieces (67/68 sets are 2 piece)

can't figure out why I need 4 pieces, any suggestions? thanks

With our cars and the way most take care of them, I seriously doubt if you installed a new Vinyl top (especially over the nice sealed paint) that you would ever have any issues as long as you own the car, and then some. Especially with products like 303 Vinyl protection/cleaner and the fact that I bet the car is garaged, probably covered etc.

It will never get the dry rot, it will never have the moisture on it long enough to penetrate the top etc...

It might be a little more work to install after the fact (after paint) but I'm sure it could be done well...

Let us know what you find and how it goes!

Brett!

You better not get caught in a rain shower....on both my cars ,the moisture got driven in from under the front edge,( of course , much easier to happen with a "landau top")....expanded later in sunshine and made bubbles...

When we bought our car back in 2000 the top that was on it had been on the car since 85. When we peeled the top off there were NO bubbles & no rust. In fact, I used a rag and laquer thinner and removed all the glue/felt backing etc. and the top was perfect. There are a few pics of this on my photobucket site.

In addition, the top my wife and I put on has now been on the car for almost 8 years. Aside from the fact that we had never installed one before and a few very small mistakes, the top is still excellent. We will be removing it once again as we want to repaint next year. This time we are going for nicer paint job as the paint on the car now was done in 01 and was painted by an Amish guy in Lititz, PA for $2,500.00. The car is in need of a repaint due to the daily driving and battle wounds etc.

We will once again reinstall the viynl top as I can not imagine the car without it. IMO the viynl top makes the car...

One other point, when we lived in PA for a couple of years, the car sat outside for two winters with NO COVER if you can beleive that. I don't know what we were thinking, but nonetheless, all has held up well...

I am determined to put one back on (sorry Bjorn) but I still don't know why the 69 moldings set comes with 4 pieces. Anybody?
Thanks

Doesn't the 69 have mouldings up around the top of the car as well as down around the back/bottom area. I know on a 67-68 the viynl top goes right into the drip edge/gutter/lip whereas on the 69 I beleive the top doesn't go all the way into the gutter.

That makes sense, sounds like bigger job than I thought. thanks.

Back when my wife and I did our top the local shop wanted $600 to do the job. On the otherhand, the top from Ames was $55 and a can of contact cement was $10. So I figured all I had to loose was $65. All in all the job is very time consuming and you really have to be cautious with every step. If you decide to attempt to do the top yourself, I'd be happy to give you as many hints & tips as possible (not that I am an expert by no means).

yes, makes a coupe look more like a vert....

LOL ok, not IMO, the car we owned before this one was a 68 Camaro RS/SS Conv. Personally, I like the coupe look much better on a muscle car I also like the look of the viynl top simply becuase I don't like a pinted roof. But that's why they made them both ways I guess...

Luckily we all have different tastes...otherwise these cars would be boring, same color, same stle ,everything the same....go for it!

I really like the look of the vinyl top and will reinstall mine after the repaint.

Randy, what color is your car? Crystal Turquoise?

Amish guys paint cars? I didn't even know they drove them (well when no on was looking I bet they took the Firebird for a drive in disqiuse) OK lighten up-no religious prosecution here-I like the Amish!

The one thing I can say with 100% certainty about cars with vinyl roofs is this: the moisture issue is generally a problem AROUND THE REAR WINDOW more than any other place. Of course some people "sand" the paint before they install the top which is not a good plan. Don't do that. CLEAN it with solvent carefully. Water tends to sit in the window frame at the bottom just above the rear decklid.

This is an area that, when you have a VT, you need to be careful about- one thing you can do is after a washing, use an air hose attached to a compressor to lightly blow the water out of that spot and you will be surprised at how much water is sitting in that spot, right underneath the stainless molding that goes around the window.

I can say that after 25 years of owning different cars with vin. tops and restoring them, that this is a place, even in cars that come out of dry climates, that you may find an issue if you aren't careful.

Hope this helps

Kerry
My car is not crystal turquoise, actually not sure what it is but not original which was limelight green with black vinyl roof.

I bought some crystal turquoise touch-up thinking that might be it but it wasn't. I am thinking possibly liberty blue or something close to it.

I like that color blue.

I have a two piece molding set on my 69 and the top goes into the drip rail. It could have been changed by a previous owner so not for sure if correct but I was thinking the camaro had the shorter sides with the extra chrome pieces.

From what I have found out so far the firebird was the same 2 piece for all 3 years. The 69 camaro was the only 4 piece.

Thanks Kerry, That makes sense to me but I don't see why the 2 piece sets they sell say 67/68, and the only 69 sets I see are all the 4 piece.

1969bluebird, I'm definately not trying to tell you what to do, but I like the way you're car looks without the vinyl top. Some cars look great with a vinyl top, others look horrid. With you're color, I like yours the way it is.

And this is coming from a guy that has a vinyl top on a Carousel Red 69 Bird.

Darn sick of February... So, leap day or not, I flipped the month on my official First Generation Firebird calendar and 'low and behold', a beautiful blue 'Bird with a white vinyl top! What a sweet car!

So what is the final answer on the 69, does it sit back from the drip edge like the Camaro or no? I always thought they both did.

From looking at the 'calendar' ..lol.. the 69 has about a half inch less vinyl at the bottom edge than the 67. The 67 top sits a little lower on the car.

Are you talking about the vinyl top not touching the side drip mouldings? The 69 Camaro was different than the 69 Firebird. On the Camaro, the vinyl top was about an 1" short of the drip moulding, and they used a chrome strip. See 3rd and 4th photo down:

http://www.firstgencamaro.com/vintageads3.html

Can also see the top trim on the 3rd photo of a Garnet Red Camaro:

http://www.firstgencamaro.com/vintageads.html

Mike

And you just solved the trim question/problem. It does look like the 'four piece trim' would be only for the Camaro. Isn't it great you have to figure out what the vendors have for sale? Since they can't tell you themselves.

Why not just look here: http://thefirstgensite.com/library/partscounter/trim/trimdex.htm

Or here: http://thefirstgensite.com/library/partscounter/number/abc/abc2.html

Just one piece per side.