painted texture "vinyl" tops

[hemi68charger]

Hey gang..
I'm almost positive they did this, but didn't MaMopar provide an optional painted "textured" top to simulate vinyl around the 1970 timeframe?

[bill440rt]

Uh... none that I know of. 

They DID offer 2-tone painted tops, but they were gloss, just like the rest of the exterior. 

[69 OUR/TEA]

Thought I saw a mopar mag with a roadrunner with this done that was claimed to be factory.

[Charger-Bodie]

I don't know about the factory availability, but My dad ( who had a body shop from 69-87) claims that you could buy a product from Ditzler(PPG) that replicated a vinyl top. My  Dads memory sometimes seems to "create" things though too so ,take it at face value

[UFO]

Textured top? Yes we can do that for you.
  From 1969 catalog.

[Charger1973]

I know its not a Mopar but my 79 K5 Blazer with the removable fiberglass top had the rest of the roof painted with a textured paint to match the fiberglass look of the back.  I thought that was kind of neat. 

[bill440rt]

WOW!!!!                  

Learn somethin' new every day!!! Great!

[Nacho-RT74]

simulates also the seams ? LOL

[Mike DC]

 
I think the painted tops were something usually done by dealers to add a vinyl top to a car ordered without one.  Drill holes & bolt on the vinyl top brightwork, glue on a pair of phony "seams" on the roof, and then spray the paint. 


The ironic thing is that painting the top instead of using real vinyl was a corner-cutting method.  But the paint method will usually cause a lot less sheetmetal rust than the real vinyl tops. 

 

[Ghoste]

Agreed but I don't think it was offered from the factory, just the dealers.

[charger_mike75]

My dad did that on his 71 challenger back in the 70's. By the time he bought it in 77 the original vinyl was trashed so he peeled it off, fixed the rust and had it sprayed with that stuff. Looked pretty good.

[kab69440]

Is that stuff still available? Can I just waltz into the local Sherwin-Williams and order up a similar product?

[THE CHARGER PUNK]

closest thing i could find on the net for it until i got sick of looking for it was this better buy a few cans lol


http://www.vinylpaint.com/Vinyl_Top_Paint.htm

[gtx6970]

Agreed but I don't think it was offered from the factory, just the dealers.

[hutch]

Hmm, It looks like what we use as spray on truck bed liner now adays.  or Schutlzing / under coat?

[NorwayCharger]

Hmm, It looks like what we use as spray on truck bed liner now adays.  or Schutlzing / under coat?

I did a couple of cars in the early 80´s
It is similar to the bed liner stuff, only difference is the gloss.
The stuff i used was satin gloss.
 

[UFO]

Agreed but I don't think it was offered from the factory, just the dealers.

You can get it factory done on pick up trucks(The info I have is on the '69 model year).

[HeavyFuel]

Brought this thread back from the dead......


Anyone out there ballsy enough to do this?   I might give it a try.  (not that I'm ballsy.......just hate the top right now)

My vinyl top is letting loose, and be damned if I'm gonna put another one on.  But I do like the two tone look that a different color top provides.

[Dino]

Any product out there that turns my vinyl top in a smooth glossy paint job?  I'm sorry I just had to... 

[Ghoste]

Hey Heavyfuel you can still peel off the vinyl and two tone it.

[HeavyFuel]

Hey Heavyfuel you can still peel off the vinyl and two tone it.

It goes against everthing I've been trying to accomplish with this car, but that is half temping.

A nice satin black finish would look pretty nice, be more rust friendly (unlikely my car will have to worry about that anyway), but be totally "wrong".   I don't think I could live with the ridicule.

[Ghoste]

Understandable.  I would say its your car do what you want but often being a cheerleader for purism I understand exactly what you mean.

[72Charger-SE]

I had not considered putting on a vinyl top, not even once.   However, now that I am working on the car and am trying to figure out how to 'patch' the roof areas where the vinyl top originally was added (some type of filler was used) this may be a viable option for a nice finish??

I will add that I already cut out the SE style window fillers.

[b5blue]

  My buddy had a (68?)Super Bee in the early 70's with that stuff on the roof. Note in the ad it mentions repair....that was a hint, It was a way to hide rust or dents filled with body filler. That poor old Bee had been flogged, beaten and was full of filler with that stuff hiding really bad roof rust. It would pop off in chunks if you slapped the roof for any reason. It didn't "look like" vinyl or bed liner it looked like orange peel wall texture for drywall inside a home.
  Some may remember how bad old cars could rust quickly back then, not all over but in corners or edges around trim, windows or seams. In 74 I worked for an Olds dealer and we got new cars off the transport trailer with rust holes in these areas now and then.     

[Dino]

  My buddy had a (68?)Super Bee in the early 70's with that stuff on the roof. Note in the ad it mentions repair....that was a hint, It was a way to hide rust or dents filled with body filler. That poor old Bee had been flogged, beaten and was full of filler with that stuff hiding really bad roof rust. It would pop off in chunks if you slapped the roof for any reason. It didn't "look like" vinyl or bed liner it looked like orange peel wall texture for drywall inside a home.
  Some may remember how bad old cars could rust quickly back then, not all over but in corners or edges around trim, windows or seams. In 74 I worked for an Olds dealer and we got new cars off the transport trailer with rust holes in these areas now and then.     

And people think I exaggerate when I say Chargers started rusting on the showroom floor.  Sad, but true.