Going from soft top to hard top

[CasualCrusing]

I'm kinda new to all of this, and was looking at buying a 69 charger that has a soft top, but would really prefer a hard top. How would I go about converting it to a hard top. Is it as simple as peeling up the vinyl and re painting it?

[birdsandbees]

There will be a LOT of sanding... priming.. block sanding... priming.. block sanding.. involved! That and welding in the trim holes!

[CasualCrusing]

Haha, thanks. I think it'll be worth the effort.

[csx4590]

I went from vinyl top to painted top. If the roof is bad underneath the vinyl top, Auto Metal Direct (AMD) reproduces the roof skin. I got the 2nd or 3rd one they produced and it fit great. It still requires someone that knows what they are doing to get it right... 

[CasualCrusing]

I didn't know they made them. Thanks, that's good to know. Nice charger by the way.

[NickJ]

I actually just went through this with mine. I lucked out and my roof was still good although wavy as hell. Welding the trim holes was the easy part. it was getting that roof straight that took the most time. It literally took 3/4 of a can of filler, 99% of which ended up on the floor. I'm sure it could be done faster but I didn't want acres of bondo so I skim coated, blocked it down, skim coat, block, and repeat. My arms were jello by the end but it was definitely worth the effort. Also, I welded the pillars seams after I got the lead out and this really minimized the amount of filler I needed to finish them off. Hope this helps.

Nick