Vinyl or Not?

[lakeholme]

I've heard pro and con on vinyl roofs for the first generation Camaro.
What do you think?

[MMMM_ERT]

I don't care for it so much.  MY car had it when I bought it, but I removed it when we restored/restified her.

I've only heard bad things with the vinyl roofs...rust etc.

[dab67]

I have a 67 SS with Vinyl roof and it looks great!!!!!!!!! haven't had any concerns with rust as of yet. And if I do, I'll pull the top, repair what needs to be repaired and put a new Vinyl on.

dab67

[drdave69]

If the car originally had one, leave it on or replace it when restoring. I think they look great.

[lakeholme]

MMMM ERT, did your car have rust when you removed the vinyl and was it at the bottom of the back window (like most 60s chevys) or elsewhere?

Dab67, what colors? Post us a picture...

Drdave, as you can see my car has a vinyl roof.  The fellow who had it before me put it on and did a great job.  But my trim tag says YY, so its not original.  Still, everybody tells me that Butternut Yellow looks better with black vinyl.  The next time I have it painted, I need to decide whether to take it back to original.  That's the reason for my poll.

[MMMM_ERT]

MMMM ERT, did your car have rust when you removed the vinyl and was it at the bottom of the back window (like most 60s chevys) or elsewhere?

There was some slight surface rust under the vinyl in spots all over the roof.   ...and yes, the rear window tray had rust which is standard for any 1st gen.    Fortunetely, my car was an original Cali car and rust damage was minor.    The trunk pan was totally rotted out, had to replace it...someone left water in there.

I don't dislike the vinyl look...but I prefer 1st gens without it. 

[69 4 Speed]

I came close to not putting the vinyl top back on my 69 but am glad that I did now.  I wanted to go Hugger Orange with white stripes but ended up replacing the black vinyl to top to maintain it's originality.  Just wished that I had'nt put that rear spoiler on it.

[lakeholme]

MMMM ERT,
Was it much trouble (beyond the rust) preparing the roof for painting?
I've know guys would did away with their vinyl, but never heard them talk about sanding the roof to get it ready to paint.
Thanks for the info.

Please vote!!!

[dab67]

lake:

My car is Royal Plum with a White Vinyl (M-1) SS350 with SS hood and white stripes, black standard interior, powerglide with console and gauges. As soon as I can get a decent picture of it in the sunshine and no snow (Wisconsin here) I will try an post it. Car is basically stock except for headers I just put on. 

dab67

[MMMM_ERT]

MMMM ERT,
Was it much trouble (beyond the rust) preparing the roof for painting?
I've know guys would did away with their vinyl, but never heard them talk about sanding the roof to get it ready to paint.
Thanks for the info.

Please vote!!!

Honestly, paint and body work is BLACK MAGIC to me...I let the body shop take care of it.  I know it wasn't too bad...the hardest part was getting the roof perfectly smooth for paint.

[lakeholme]

Thanks for the posts!  I've been out of town a few days, but now I can see a pattern to the voting.

Please vote!

[vmdoc2106]

i have already voted on this, so now i guess this is just my opinion.  some colors look good with a vinyl top.  some colors don't.  i just found out alot of information about my 67 camaro.  it was purchased in dire need of repair 18 years ago with my understanding that it was an RS with a vinyl top.  after decoding and all that, i found out it is a base model butternut yellow without a top.  not a bad color, but the black top would look alot better in my opinion.  maybe if it was a diiferent color...i.e. black, red or blue, vinyl probably not

[ChevyThunder]

I asked this same question about m own car that is Daytona Yellow with a black vinyl top. At first I really wanted to not put the top on. But after asking this same question onTeam Camaro and paying more attention to cars with vinyl tops I started to appreciate the unique style of the top. I am now in the middle of a frame off on the car and am definitely putting the top back on.

[lakeholme]

I guess that is an important point.  First, yellow cars do look good with black vinyl.  Second, vinyl is a 60s and 70s look.

[Daniel Cate]

My 68 R/S is tuxedo black with a black vinyl top and pearl parchment deluxe interior. It'll be done in about two weeks and the top looks cool because of the continuing "beltline" stainless moldings. Also, my dad used to run an upholstery shop and he pointed out that the factory didn't put a lot of time into the roof bodywork due to the soft backing of vinyl tops which hides many small imperfections. My upper quarter seams show the lead areas along with many little waves etc. It's a bunch more body work (which I hate) that you have to pay for if you delete the top. I voted to keep a factory top vinyl if it came that way. Besides, we all keep our cars in out of the rain right? ;-) Dan