I have see a lot of cars, not just Buicks A body's that has their vinyl top installed Incorrectly, many of those are Concours cars as well. So , I thought I would point out a correct ( factory) install on a Original 1 owner ( still) 1970 Stage 1 hardtop. You will notice the back seam follows the leaded line from the quarter panel to body . Many of the after market installs are offset and do not line up correctly. I hope this helps when you are replacing your top. Thanks, DL
DL, But are the new tops made to allow you to do that? Also is the seam on the windshield pillar folded up or down. I believe originals were up but they are not made this way anymore.
Dave, I have not compiled a list of vendors as of yet. I understand Legendary is correct. I will be ordering from them when the time comes. They also make the correct cross hatch well liner for convertibles. Okay, not exact to original , but close as you can get. I'll have to check and see If i have a pillar post photo of this car. DL
This is an interesting topic. However, does this information also apply to a halo top? The moldings on the roof about line up with the qtr panel seam so I think a seam on the vinyl top would look funny there. I haven't seen any real good close pictures but the ones I have kinda look like the lower seam would line up with the roof seam. What say you guys? Thanks, Lou
Lou is referring to my top and pics, I believe. I looked in my chassis manual and while there are not specifics in the book pertaining to seam placement or measurements, it does show a rendering of the seams inboard of the body seam. My seams are just inboard of the quarter panel seam. If I look back to front using the trunk filler seam as a guide, it runs right up in line (or nearly) with the halo top moldings, which to me the seams would look weird had they followed that line. Have a look - my top was from Year One and before I knew about such places as Legendary, etc. Mark
Dave- my top guy (who is now retired) has been performing auto upholstery for ~ 45 or so years.. (he installed my top in 2 hours!!!). He placed the windshield seam folded UP- as 'all of the GTO's, Chevelle's and those types of cars had them up'.... As I questioned why it was up and not down.. HTH.
Was your original top still on when you replaced it ? Halo couldn't say, fairly rare top. Have documented several Original tops from different plants for 1970 and they are All as my photo In post #1 DL
Unfortunately, no the original top wasn't on the car when I got it - they did some adhoc repairs around the window and slapped a black top on. I looked harder at the alignment of the halo top moldings and the body seam, and if the top seam was aligned to the body seam they would be within an inch or so of the top moldings. I now want to call Legendary - for this question and also because I am not completely pleased with my current top install. Mark
I have done a couple of Flint built cars with original tops and the seam was covered with a flat plate wrapped in vinyl. There was a stud welded to the plate to hold it in place.
Ok, thanks. Well I know mine didn't have that (Freemont car to add) as I removed the top and there was no hole for that underneath. I called Lengendary and will call "Ron" tomorrow to see what he knows..... told he is the man to talk to there? Worst case I leave my top alone with misaligned seams.......not concourse anyway! Mark
So I have not connected with Lengendary yet (the tech they recommended I get with) but I found a pic of a halo top out in WWW land, and it seems top seam is in the same place as mine but, the seam under the window is with the body seam - meaning they are not in line with one another and I guess made independently of one another. Still want to talk to this guy at Lengendary but now this is making sense, I suppose. Assuming this to be the correct situation, now I have to ponder pulling this 3 year old top off and replacing. Mark
Yeah I got wth the tech at Legendary and confirmed what you guys are showing. My Year 1 top was not exact. Will see how long it lasts and the. Get the right one n Mark
DL & DAVE69 do you know a good replacement for the plate & stud for the rear seams. My halo FLINT stud hole is 3/4" inward from weld seam.
Update : I measured my new Legendary vinyl top . The rear valence appears to have the correct width as original . Nice to have a repo part correctly made for a change . Kuddos to Legendary Auto Interiors . DL Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
