What adhesive do I use on vinyl Top ?
Let me put it this way. I turned 50 this year. I glued my first vinyl top on when I was
16. I could not begin to make a guess how many hundred vinyl tops I have made and installed
on everything from muscle cars to limos to pickup trucks.
Every one of them was put on by spraying contact cement. Yes you can brush it on but spraying works best. Small acid type brushes work for touching up small areas or loose edges.
When using contact cement you spray it on one surface and let dry. Then spray it on the mating surface and let get mostly dry or tacky enough it stays on surface and doesn't
lift with your finger. Position your piece and press to set position when you are sure it is where
you want it to be.
When doing your vinyl top you need to have a center line drawn on the roof of the car and
on the underside of the fabric. I use a sharpie if the new vinyl top is black. Lead pencil if white.
China markers for colored tops.
Next you set the top on the clean roof. By clean I mean no oils and run your hand over every inch to ensure their is nothing that will create a lump once trapped between roof and new top.
With top in position on roof so both the lines you have drawn are stacked you fold top over to one side and work half or one side of car at a time. Do not press down on top until it is where
you want it.
Its not really that hard. I do them by myself all the time. It can help if you have a helper depending on the size of top you are doing. But I have learned to do limos by myself.
I guess my point is do yourself a favor and use contact cement. It is how it was done
at the factory and how it should be done today. Nothing has changed. Aerosol
adhesives arn't up to the task. On a hot day the uncured glue will boil and can even
bubble a new top. Not a job you want to do twice as it will be harder the second time
around because now you have to remove all the uncured clue.