I did something stupid......again

[fatboy]

  I decided that I was not going to put a vinyl top back on my car, so I had the body shop weld the holes for the molding. Now I am putting the top back on. What's the best way to locate the hole locations?

[daytonalo]

I was always told vinyl top are for buicks

[69 OUR/TEA]

I was always told vinyl top are for buicks

            My Charger has a vinyl,..... my Buick doesn't

[Ghoste]

Mine has it too.  Never owned a Buick but I hear they have famously spanked a Hemi or two. 

Did you try looking for the holes from the inside?

[hotrod98]

The easiest way to do it is to place good masking tape in the general location of the molding and put the moldings where they fit. It should be fairly obvious. Draw a line on the tape on either side of the molding and then remove the molding. If you're talking about a 68 or 69, I can take a couple of pics of my car and give you some basic measurements of the pin locations.  My moldings are off right now. If you're talking about a third gen car, I have a 73 and a 74 that we might take measurements off of. My 71 and 72 don't have vinyl tops.
Just PM me if I can help.

[fatboy]

Thanks for the tips guys. I guess I should have said that the car is a 69!
I won't be doing anything until after the holidays but I'll let you'll know how it  goes.

[JimShine]

The pot metal 'check mark' pieces are the only ones to worry about as the other part uses sliding clips. Take your time planning the holes as it is really easy to set the trim too far forward, which wont allow the V shape to sit flat on the sail panel. It will ride in the crotch of the V instead and there will be an ugly gap between the quarter top and the trim.

[Mike DC]

 
Here's what I would do in your shoes: 


If you're not making this car uber-original, might I suggest that you just leave the trim holes un-drilled again and attach the vinyl top trim pieces some other way?  Those trim holes are notorious for letting water into the trunk compartment on these cars.

The vinyl top trim is being repro'd these days so there's no extreme value in a set of these pieces.  You could cut the mounting studs off the backsides, and use some kind of adhesive to fasten them onto the panel instead.  Nobody would be the wiser unless they actually looked way up into the trunk. 

[daytonalo]

I was always told Vinyl tops are for Grandmom cars ??

[john108]

I hope these pictures help:
1968 Charger:
1st Pic - Below (Charger Trim):  There are 3 screws that appear to be only holding the vinyl.  At the other 3 visible locations, the trim has sliding spring clips that push through round holes.

2nd Pic – The 2 rear holes are for sliding studs that go thru, for nuts installed from the trunk side.

3rd Pic – The check molding has 3 non-movable studs requiring nuts installed from trunk side.

John