Vinyl top replacement

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1930

1930

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Maybe there is an even higher quality version avail? these two vendors only offer black, Id maybe like the original white?
 
A sport top won't work on a sedan or coupe. A sport is a fastback like a Duster.
Legendary Interiors sells a nice vinyl top. I bought one from them and it looks great.
 
jimjimjimmy said:
I think legendary has an assortment of colors .
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http://legendaryautointeriors.com/catalyst.aspx
Dante's (one of your links)does sell Legendary - usually at a discount. Not for my top, but I found them to have very good customer service by phone. Not sure what he had in the pic - looks like a crumpled up mess :eek:...
Regardless who you go with, I would get on the phone and tell them exactly what car you have and let them tell you which one you need, especially if you want to look original. If you look at legendary link, there are two different 'deck' sizes. I believe that is the distance between the side seams that run front to back.
I got my top from Legendary. Only complaint - I waited a couple months and it had some wear marks on the folds like it had been stored for a while - otherwise it is a good quality, original look. If you can wait, Legendary runs big holiday discounts. Probably next would be Memorial day?
 
gunbunny said:
A sport top won't work on a sedan or coupe. A sport is a fastback like a Duster.
Legendary Interiors sells a nice vinyl top. I bought one from them and it looks great.
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I did not know this but makes sense now, thanks for the info guys
 
I see you are from Brandon. I got my vinyl from RPM Automotive in Saskatoon Saskatchewan. He is a reseller, and I don't remember the brand I got, but he sells good quality stuff and really knows his ****. I'm sure any of the mail order places are fine, but he is in Canada, so some of the border issues do not exist when dealing with him.

Cley
 
I bought the top thru jegs, they can sell a legendary top cheaper than legendary can evidently.
 
1930 said:
I bought the top thru jegs, they can sell a legendary top cheaper than legendary can evidently.
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Lol, yeah I called legendary to ask them what exact model I needed and they gave me a price almost $50 more than the one jegs was listing for the exact same legendary top that legendary was trying to sell me. So I bought it through jegs and it shipped from legendary. Very odd for sure.
 
Well, so much for saving money with jegs. I ordered the top, got the wrong one sent to me. Was for a dart not valiant which is different behind the bottom glass. Sent it back, was told no worries no price difference. Then before they sent it out they called and said prices just changed and they are i their new 2 month catalog. Went from $211 to $291 because of legendary asking more for them now. Wtf?!? Then two minutes later they send me a text saying they were turning our $211 credit to a gift certificate. I don' expect them to eat the additional cost, but how can they go from telling me it' an equal swap to $82 difference in just 2 days?
 
I am going to revive this thread because I am in the process of ordering a top for a 69 Swinger. I need a Black Boar skin for my car. I had the question about the 38" and 43" width and was told they've seen them both ways. My car still had some vinyl on it so I should be able to tell which top it had and obviously which plant built it. Now I have been pricing things out and currently Dantes has the regular price of $239.99 listed. Legendary has a regular price of $237 and they are on sale for $189.60. Actually many of the products they carry have sale pricing right now. I looked at quite a few. Headliners were not reduced for one example. However, the nearly $50 discount on the top can't be found anywhere else, that I have seen yet. Once I determine my measurement, I will be purchasing from them.

Just an FYI for those with upcoming top jobs.
 
While I was a bit mad or at least unhappy with the cost changes on the legendary top, I cant say anything bad about the quality of it. I will say this, be very sure that when you do the top that you can control the temperature when you're doing it. It made a world of difference with the install. The roof metal can very easily be too hot. While you do want the vinyl to be warmer for ease of handling as the material is thick and doesn't flex or stretch if it's cold. Not that you want to do alot of pulling and stretching.
You do need to be able to get it to stretch flat in some areas. And I tried using the rattle can glue with minimal success, but using the 3m glue in a cup sprayer where you can really lay down some thick layers is key. I laid the top out in the sun. Had the car out in it for 30 minutes, pulled into the shop and laid the top out loosely in place and got after it. The top should be laid out on top of the car or something like that to get the shipping creases out days in advance. Good luck, should be very doable for you.
 
I have determined my car came from Hamtramck, MI, USA and had a 38" vinyl roof on it. It is clear to see as the seam left marks on the roof and pieces are still in the windshield molding. Now I can place my order.

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1930 said:
This is going on a 71 Swinger 2 dr

Im looking at either this vinyl top 1971 - 1976 Dodge Dart Vinyl Top - 2 Door Hardtop - Full Top - Sport model only | eBay but it says sport model only....not sure what that means?


or this one 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 Dodge Dart Plymouth Scamp BLACK Vinyl Top/Mopar | eBay

Anyone here know if there is a real difference in quality and how do I tell if the car I am working on is even a sport model?

Thanks
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Whichever top you use, be sure that the tail ends of the fabric on the backside of the two sewn seams is cut straight and equally. In other words, flip the top over and verify that the vinyl fabric was trimmed straight along the length of the seams. They are folded under the top when it is glued down, and if they are not trimmed perfectly straight you will see the variation through the top.

The commercially available glue is hard to equal/find for the do-it-yourselfer.
 
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