Recovering a winshield top rail

Discussion in 'The ragtop shop' started by Carcrazy, Apr 23, 2012.

  1. Carcrazy

    Carcrazy Dan Whytock

    I need some advise/help on how to install this part. What type of glue? how to center it. Just any little secrets I should know about.

    Dan Convertible window cover.jpg
     
  2. flynbuick

    flynbuick Guest

    Is the header bow smooth or lumpy from rust?
     
  3. Carcrazy

    Carcrazy Dan Whytock

    Was rusty but was cleaned up and painted but still a little rough. Far from perfect
     
  4. flynbuick

    flynbuick Guest

    You need to finiish it smooth before you recover it.
     
  5. cjatx

    cjatx Well-Known Member

    Dan,
    I did mine about four years ago. I sanded the top rail down to bare metal. It had small rust spots I cleaned out with a wire wheel then filled with bondo. Get the bondo as smooth as possible and it will save you a lot of time sanding afterward. Once I got everything smoothed out, I painted the rail with a light coat of POR 15. Again keep it as smooth as possible. It's a lot of sanding work to smooth it out after it dries.
    After everything is dry and smooth, I used 3M spray adhesive on both the rail and vinyl. Let it set up for about 30 seconds and lay the vinyl on the top rail. I used a wall paper roller to roll the vinyl smooth. You need to roll it fairly quickly because the glue sets up pretty fast.
    Mine still looks great today.
     

    Attached Files:

  6. Carcrazy

    Carcrazy Dan Whytock

    Any photo's of the work?
    Does that piece require any cutting?
    Is it straight forward as for centering it?

    Dan
     
  7. cjatx

    cjatx Well-Known Member

    Dan,
    I don't have any pictures.
    You should lay the vinyl on the rail to see how it fits before gluing it. You can trim the major excess with scissors. After gluing, you will need to cut it (particularly around the clips for the windshield trim) with a razor blade. I removed the clips before installing the vinyl.
     

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