Rear window vent panel removal, 1969 Riv

Thanks Randy, sounds like it looks good. Im going for a little bit of a custom look too with all filled in emblem holes and shaved handles.

 

Hard way was right! What a PITA! but I have perfect sail panels and didn't wanna risk screwing up a 40+yr old part that I couldn't replace. when I replaced my top I just cleaned the area really well and put some HVAC foil tape over the holes and the the new vinyl. I didn't want the emblems on there. Looks cleaner without.

 

I hear yah Steve ! :laugh:
My sail panels were pretty well trash from leaking rear glass, so I made new ones from tempered masonite, using the originals as a pattern, and covered them with the original black vinyl.
A splash of rattle can black vinyl paint, and they looked brandy new !! :TU:

 

well finally making some headway on the Riv and looks like they had the glass out years ago because it had some rubber spacers between the glass and the vent panel that kept the glass in place. No rust on the bottom, yet. But it looks like someone tried to repair a rust issue years ago on the driver side upper left hand corner and filled it with bondo instead of welding in a new piece of steel... grrr. So that will have to be addressed later on. Still trying to source a water leak on the driver side firewall, but I think it is the kick vent.

 

Rubber spacers are factory, used to keep backglass from sliding down when adhesive gets hot, and sets

 

How can I figure out if my car had a vinyl top or not factory? There does not seem to be any evidence that it did. It just seems like an odd spot for the car to rust.

 

Good to know! Thanks.

 

Riviolli, good luck with your project!

 

Riviolli,
If your car came with a factory vinyl top it will be indicated by the paint code on your trim tag. Double letters are solid color painted; letter plus a number indicates vinyl top.

I didn't read thru the whole thread, but if you haven't tackled the vent panel removal yet don't be afraid of it. I've been thru this on several cars and there was adequate clearance to get the screws out. If in the worst case scenario you broke the glass---they are the same 66-69 so it's not hard to find replacements!

John

 

Spacers are also used on the front windshield in addition to the rear glass. They are used to position the glass in the openings, and ensure the glass is properly supported when it is installed, before the adhesive caulking material cures. :TU:

 

If your louvered panel below the rear glass has an embossed pattern in it then it had a vinyl top. if its smooth it didn't.

 

ou: o No: :beer :laugh: :TU: :TU: Steve !!
(. . . along with all the stainless vinyl top trim pieces.)

 

Cool, thanks guys. Appears it never had the vinyl roof, thankfully. Got the windshield trim pulled and so far so good, just need to clean and reseal the front cowl seams in the vent area. The Pacific NW weather has not been friendly to this poor car. Of course after I pressure wash the underhood and let it set in the sun to dry out just to come back to find a few hundred spider babies crawling around the fender wells.... Oh joy! Haha.

 

Great idea. Got any pics of them after they were finished? I'll be making some myself and hadn't yet looked into what material to use. Mine are so wavy, they look like a roller coaster.

 

Probably, but I'll hafta do some digging to find one Brian. Real simple to fabricate though, just use the old wavy cardboard original as a template. They are 'mirror' image, and the original vinyl covering, with the piping can be carefully removed 'off' the old ones to recover the new ones, if it's not ripped or torn. A little 3M spray adhesive works great. Use a hole cutter to cut out the opening for the courtesy lamps in the masonite before they are recovered. Spray paint them (...if needed) to get rid of the faded look. I also added the 1" or so, thick foam padding to the base and a portion of the rear edge (...as per the originals) to fill the void behind them. They are pretty well fastened in place once the interior sail panel courtesy lamps are installed, and they will certainly last a lot longer than those funky, wavy, rotted, smelly, thin cardboard originals !! :TU: