i want to do the roof on my 72 charger, is vinal the only option

[chargercalvin]

i have a 72 charger SE that held the original vinal top for most of its life. when i got the car the top under the vinal was so bad rusty that no amount of metal, glass and plastic could get it strait enough to paint. so i was going to put the vinal top back on it, is that a good idea? i know what they do to a roof and i dont like it, also because of the complexity of a 72 SE roofline it will be very expensive to have done, could i just paint the roof flat black, or spray bedliner on it, i have all the chrome so maybe i can pull it off. i am not restoring the car to its original, i just want it to be a street muscle car, but i dont want it to look halfassed, its no perl but its turning into good street car. what could i do that would last and look ok and not hurt my wallet.

calvin

[Daytona R/T SE]

i know what they do to a roof and i dont like it,

Vinyl tops don't "do" anything to a roof.  The fact that the factory put little to no paint on the metal under the vinyl is what causes the rusting.

Replace the top with metal from a donor car,put a GOOD coat of paint on it and then install the vinyl top...it will last much longer than what the factory did...

[Nacho-RT74]

Vinyl tops on 72-74 Chargers DO HAVE a function... hide the quarter window opening body plug filler and its "gap". You can allways remove and fill the gap with bondo, but IMHO will always break with vibrations, being both different materials ( plastic and metall )

[chargercalvin]

i already filled the gap with fiberglass, how much do u think a vinal top would run me, macco doesnt do tops do they?