Ok, so I've been debating for the longest time whether to put a vinyl top back on my car, or repaint just the top of the car. The car was originally silver with a black vinyl top. It is now a black hard-top, but it still has the vinyl trim, just no vinyl. Like I said, I decided to put the vinyl top back on. I decided to go with a shop in Madison, WI because I live fairly close and I've seen their work...they do good stuff. Without seeing the car, they quoted me $750 to put on the top and re-install the rear windshield...this sounded reasonable. Now, after seeing the car, they say it's going to be $2000 to $2500 because they want to replace the entire "sill" that the rear window sits in. Now I removed the rear window, and it didn't look that bad to me, but I'm not really a body guy. There were a few SMALL holes that I thought could just be filled in, but I'm pretty sure they said they were going to put all new metal on for the sill. They also want to replace the front windshield...does $2000 sound like a fair price? He said he figured 10 hours labor at $80 an hour, plus parts. The problem is that I know a guy in town that said he'd put the top on for $150, not including parts, and I don't think he'd put the window back in for us either. it would probably cost $500-$700 instead of $2000-2500, but I know the shop in Madison would do an outstanding job...ahh decisions...does anyone know what kind of "goop" was used to hold the rear window in? We found some really tacky black stuff (which I think was factory) and then some run-of-the-mill silicone, which the guy in Madison said would actually hold moisture in and cause damage...anyone know anything about this? Thanks for listening to the rant...

Windshields and back windows go in with a kind of "rope caulk" as an adjustible seat for the glass. Then it essentially is caulked in (around the edges) with a black or charcoal silicone. The chrome surround is held in by spring clips seated on small steel studs that sick out of the body well (around each window). If those stus are broken or rusted off, it gets complicated in a hurry. Glass installation kits can be purchased at most any automotive shop. It is way easier to put new glass in than it is to take old glass out. It is a two man job though because you need to have hands inside the car and outside the car to set the glass in the proper location. If you stick the glass in the wrong spot, it can be kind of hard to move it.

If you have rust trough at the window sills, it really needs to be fixed before putting the glass back in or it will just keep coming out. Bondo is not a good solution here. New metal is well worth it.

Talk to Joe (68firebird400) he did his own vinly top installation. But $750 is somewhere between high and OK. (if they supply the parts, I'd say the $750 is good.)

I'd shop the metal repair around a bit. That seems high to me. I think the vinyl top and glue could be $200 for materials alone. If you mess up setting the vinyl on the glue, you don't get much of a chance to move that around either. You have to be a bit of a perfectionist to get vinyl tops looking ggod. I'd ask the $150 guy to show you some of his past work, cuz it can look bad in a hurry.

If they removed the trim and glass and there is a significant (more than a couple of pinholes) amound of rust in the window channel, don't bother putting the vinyl top on as it'll be blistering soon from moisture. The only way to fix it properly is with metal, and if the studs are missing new clips with screws will be needed.

Those prices sound high from that shop (that's front and rear glass R&R, all the metal repair, top install, and trim R&R for $2000-2500?) Does it also include replacement glass if it should break on removal? Good job or not, they really may be trying not to do the job, or to make it well worth their while if they do.

I was in the process of responding to this thread. I typed about 6 paragraphs and then hit a key on the keyboard and lost it all. I will respond tomorrow with my $.02. I can not beleive that happened, I had a ton of info to offer and bang it was gone!!!

A quick repsonse. First 2k sounds aweful high. Second, this is something most anyone can do IF you have a TON of patience. Material costs are minimal, one piece stitched vinyl top $70, can of contact cement $10.

As mentioned above I did do my own top with the help of my wife. I beleive I have a few pics on my photobucket site. First your window channels should be cleaned out and repaired. I also did this on my own. What I did was removed the front and rear window, wire wheeled the channels to bare metal. Filled all the holes/pin holes with bondo and sanded them smooth. Primed them with a high quality rattle can primer. Then brushed on a few heavy coats of POR15.

While I had the front window out I replaced the metal dash section. Again, cheap part and some time and yet another project completed. Next, and this is key. The front and rear glass on our cars are NOT to be caulked in place or siliconed in place. I repeat, when properly installed front and rear glass on our cars DO NOT require ANY caulk and or silicone.

The front and rear glass are sealed and held in place by a 3M product that comes in a roll. It is SUPER SUPER sticky rubber type bead of sealer. It is rectangular and gets laid in the channel on it's wider side. Then it comes with little rubber stops in the box, these get placed at the bottom two corners and the glass rests on them as you place the glass in place. That is ALL that seals the glass in place. If done this way, you will NOT need silicone or caulk etc. Mine have been for 8 years and have NEVER once leaked air and or water.

Now, there are installers out there and many shops that will now use a butyle sealer in a huge caulk gun type thing to install glass into our old cars, this may work for them, but the 3M stuff is MUCH easier for the DIY person as you can not get too much or too little etc.

Ok, on to the top now that the front and rear glass are replaced in sealed in properly. Now, if I had an unlimited budget would I do the top myself? NOPE! Would I take it to the best shop in town? YES. However, for me, I received a quote 8 years ago from a very good shop for $700 to supply and install a new top. In my simple mind I thought, hmm, a one pices stitched vinyl top is $55 (back then) and $10 for a can of contact cement. So, in my mind I figured if I screw up I loose $65 but if it works I save $635 which meant I could then spend that on yet another project!

Well, with $65 in materials and one ENTIRE day (7am to midnight) with the help of my wife, we did in fact install our own top. Never before had we done anything like this. I beleive I offered up step by step instructions once before on this topic with some very percise detail. I will look for it and post tomorrow.

All in all IMO it comes down to budget. If you have more money than time, have someone else do it. If you have more time than money, try it yourself. I have always found the later to be more appropriate for me, therefore we have done almost EVERYTHING on our car ourselves. Is it perfect, nope, does it look good, I think so and I am quite picky I must say so myself. So if it looked like crap, it would have been torn off at 12:15am the night it was completed. LOL It has now been on the car for 8 years and will this fall be redone again due to a repaint...

Please fogive the Camaro spoiler on the trunk. This was before I realized that this was a Camaro part! LOL Mind you the car we owned just before our FGF was a 68 RS/SS Conv. Camaro!!! That was before we moved UP to the FGF and was unaware of the worng doing of the previous owner. Oh yeah and bullet mirrors as well... OMG!

As a side note, our car was delivered back to us after paint on a Friday afternoon, by Friday night, the interior and almost EVERYTHING on the exterior was reinstalled. Then we got up at 7am Saturday and installed the viynl top. We took the car to a show on Sunday and took three trophys with the car. My point is, if we can do this project in a day, anyone else can as well...

[quote=68 if we can do this project in a day, anyone else can as well...[/quote]

Hopefully you found time to drink beer?

There is always time for beer! LOL

DD69. You asked for suggestions so...if it were me(actually it was at one time) I'd shave the rivets for the bottom trim and just forget about putting it back on. I really like the way they look but they are so problematic with rust issues that they aren't worth the hassle. IMO.
The rust issues in your window channels will never go away until fixed correctly. Only by removing ALL the bad and replacing it with good metal will you not have to worry about it again. That's where the good money will be spent. IMO.

My top has been on for 8 years, no issues. The repvious top was on for 14 years, when I removed it there were no issues (caused by the vinyl top). According to all of my research if the tops are applied correctly (this is key) they can last MANY MANY years and should not cause ANY problems. However, there are several things that can go wrong or be done incorrectly during the application. This is what causes the tops to fail and the rust to set in.

Here is just one example, when trimming the vinyl if you accidently cut into the clear coat or base coat with your razor blade, IT WILL CAUSE a rust spot. This is just one small example of an installation error. I've seen this frist hand on a top the was professionally installed.

The best advice is to research installation proceedures and have some clue what you are doing before jumping in. The time is well worth the effort in the end. If you had a vinyl top car and a painted top car side by side at a show, the vast majority of spectators always comment positively on the look of the vinyl vs. non vinyl car. I've seen it happen many times over the years. I've even won at shows in first gen "f" body classes and have been told this was one of the deciding factors. IMO if your car had it originally, go for it and you will be happy you did!