Just picked up a 72 sedan got it home and was decoding the body tag when I discovered something new to me... Because of the trim I presumed the car came with a vinyl top, but the cowl tag reads 43 43.......which is a Seamist Green car with no vinyl top Correct? Now heres the part thats odd...... It has this trim... It's attached exactly where the (5) piece rear vinyl top trim usually goes, but its only (3) pieces and is entirely made of stainless steel.
Glen - You decoded your cowl tag correctly. Did Fisher, by accident, put a vinyl top on anyway??? o No: Mistakes happen. I wonder if those trim pieces are date coded? :Brow:
its only three pieces, ? and made entirely of stainless ? hmmm, thats a new one on me. i hope we can learn more about this one. seems odd that they would put any trim on a car when the upper & lower body are the same paint code, but i've never heard of 3 piece stainless. henry
I'll get some good pictures of the trim, it's still on the car......the picture above I ran across on evil bay and from the description came from a 71 hardtop skylark... Don't think the car had a top as there are no signs of glue on the top paint...but it is very thin with some surface rust so I could be wrong....any body have a 72 Fisher Body manual......it may lend a clue of possible trim types.
Hey Glen, maybe your car had an aftermarket top added, like my project car and one of my parts cars, although they had flimsy stainless in two pieces, bent around the corners. (78-78 and 14-14 cars) Also had screws/holes in the quarters instead of the factory studs where the trim retainer was supposed to fasten. Factory trim had a black line down the middle (a groove there, paint may be gone) Are the metal studs on the car or screw holes???
I looked close at the roof last night... if it ever had a top installed they didnt use glue...and there are no traces of top material under the drip rails....very strange indeed... An aftermarket top is possible........maybe the previous owner started to put a top on it, and changed their mind "mid stream" I'll look inside the trunk for the screws this evening.... Hows about that 72 Body manual? Anyone have one they can check? Thanks for the ideas.
What I was hoping to prove or disprove with the body manual was: Is there a second style of vynle top trim for an overal top..one that uses (3) peices instead of the usual (5)... I think I found the answer.....it must be aftermarket. Last night I checked inside the trunk at how the trim on this car is attached, and sure enough it was installed with screws through the outside... Apparently someone had ideas about installing a top on this car, had the lower trim installed on the rear, then something happened, or they changed there minds? I'll just remove it, weld up the screw holes and move on. Never occured to me it could be aftermarket...someone did a good job installing it (looks factory). Thank for the help.
Yea Glen, The GM Buick A-body should have more than 3. There are about 3 pieces on the trunk, more along each side of the car. I'll post some pics.
I remember reading in old car magazines that you could get a spray paint that mimiced (sp?) a vinyl top. Maybe the trim was part of that kit and was a dealer add on? Or maybe they wanted a different colored roof and added that trim at the dealer.
Rob thanks for the great pictures form the body manual. Since I got the car from aires of the previous owner who passed, I will never know for sure why the top job was not completed... It doesn't look bad though and I could put it back on, just to create conversation... Questions like: What happened to the vinyl top? or comments like: That trims not factory! Could be fun. Maybe I'll paint the top some ugly contrasting color? :grin: At least I know it's not GM so I'll prolly just leave it off.
