Vinyl Tops

Discussion in 'Color is everything!' started by LARRY70GS, Sep 19, 2021.

  1. Dano

    Dano Platinum Level Contributor

    Thx. Gary! I don't mind buying the material from SMS and having Legendary make it & I'm not in a hurry - I didn't realize they would do that.
     
  2. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    I'm glad I started this thread. After reading about SMS, I may hold off on ordering from them. Back in 1999, when I bought my GS, it had a white top on it. I took this picture when I went to look at it,

    GSinOctober1999.jpg
    It didn't look bad, but later, when I had Wayne Roberts document my car, I noticed it came with a dark brown vinyl roof. Looking around for a brown roof, I found none. I did manage to find and buy one from a club member who was restoring another GS, and had this extra vinyl roof that he did not need. It was a very dark brown, but it was all I could find at the time. I had it installed and was happy how the car looked. Years later, I started to realize that the roof on my car was not like the original brown color, it was quite a bit darker. Many people mistake it for black, but it is brown, just darker.
    Cecil2019A.jpg
    After looking at Carl Rychlik's 1970 Gold car, and Dave Chait's Gold 70, I saw the original brown roof was quite a bit lighter. Here is one of the pictures from the Hemmings article about Carl's car,
    CarlBrown Roof.jpg
    So I saw SMS online, and asked them for a sample of the Brown vinyl for a 1970 Buick Skylark. Looks like the right color, what do you guys think?

    1970BrownVinylTop1.jpg 1970BrownVinylTop2.jpg
     
  3. BUQUICK

    BUQUICK I'm your huckleberry.

    Glen B (Mr Big on this board) bought a brown top for his white '70 GS from SMS. The color was perfect but SMS put the seams below the rear window in the wrong place. Your sample looks lighter than his top if my memory is correct. I'll dig up a photo if he doesn't chime in.

    He was able to cut excess material from the side of the top and take it to a local upholstery shop to do the heat pressed seam. It looks perfect now but shouldn't have been made wrong considering that he sent them a diagram and dimensions of where the put the seams and they acknowledged that it would be made correctly.

    upload_2021-9-21_13-44-36.png
     
  4. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    Gary, I'm going to hold onto that sample until I see Carl or Dave. I'll compare it directly then and see how the color looks. It really depends a lot on lighting. Dave's car is original, so a direct comparison would be best. Dave is on LI, so I'm sure I can do that.

    This is Dave and I at Cecil one year.

    Cecil08B.jpg
     
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  5. BUQUICK

    BUQUICK I'm your huckleberry.

    That's a great pair of cars. Comparing to an original car in the same light would be ideal.

    My '69 GTO has a "Dark Fawn" vinyl top so I requested a material sample from SMS. It arrived and was so ugly that T couldn't believe it was correct. When I shine a flashlight on it the dark brown material actually looks green (keep in mind my car is yellow). So I paid a small fortune for an original 1969 Pontiac Trim & Color sample book and it turned out that the sample from SMS was EXACTLY the same as the original. Now if the seams had just been in the right locations on the top from SMS I'd be all set.
     
  6. Dano

    Dano Platinum Level Contributor

    If I was just going to order the material from SMS to (eventually) send to Legendary (what a PIA but I'd be pissed & never happy w/it if the seams were not correct), does anyone know how many yards I'd need to order? I don't necissarily trust SMS to tell me.
     
  7. Dano

    Dano Platinum Level Contributor

    Post a pic if you get a chance - Yellow w/brown/green top. Good stuff back then. My old Stage 1 4-sp was Sherwood Green w/brown top & Dark Saddle (non-recommended) interior. Saw an identical '70 GS 350 4-sp a few years ago so at least 2 ppl thought that would look good. Had I kept it it would've gone back together like that and I think looked good but... Saw a Racing Green '68 Vette on BAT recently w/a special order brown (tobacco) interior & it actually looked pretty good - Lots of comments on there to that effect. Seller thought because it was a COPO interior (it wasn't actually - Similar approval to Buick's but they used the COPO form for it) that it was worth a fortune.
     
  8. copperheadgs1

    copperheadgs1 copperheadgs1

    Original vinyl tops the seam on the front pillar were folded up. All reproductions I have seen are folded down. The seam is also lower down the pillar now than originally
     
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  9. hugger

    hugger Well-Known Member

    My guy who has now retired,...took a legendary top,....adjust the location of the front seams,...we used the steel tabs for the rear like factory and he adjusted their position as well,..very talented fella,....after 60 years of interior work his hands are so full of arthritis he can't pick his nose hardly,..but to get them 100% takes effort
     
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  10. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    Here are a few more pictures I took of Dave's car and mine while we were at a cruise.

    VinylTopColor.JPG
    VinylColor2.jpg
    And my sample against Dave's top,
    VinylColor.jpg
    Dave's top was replaced about 20 years ago. It looks pretty close.
     
    BUQUICK likes this.
  11. copperheadgs1

    copperheadgs1 copperheadgs1

    Original brown tops were real dark
     
  12. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    Yeah, but mine is too dark. People mistake it for black all the time. Again, my sample against what I have now.

    1970BrownVinylTop2.jpg
     
    Last edited: Oct 28, 2021
  13. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    I'd still like to see a good daytime picture of an original brown top.
     
  14. Does anyone know where I can find the bottom pcs of chrome that goes along the rear of top just above the trunk lid for a 1970 GS for a vinyl top?

    Thank you!
    Steve
     
  15. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    Post in Parts Wanted. Shouldn't be hard to find.

    I did a search in Parts For sale

    https://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/1970-72-buick-skylark-gs-vinyl-trim-moldings.375864/

    https://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/misc-70-72-skylark-gs-stainless.367766/#post-3186327

    https://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/1972-vinyl-top-moldings-7pc.328314/
     
  16. Adsterzcustomz

    Adsterzcustomz Well-Known Member

    what company did you get them from?
     
  17. Briz

    Briz Founders Club Member

    Will try to dig up the info
     
  18. 68buickgran

    68buickgran New Member

    I’m new to the Buick ownership. I have a 70 skylark I’m redoing. On my data tag it shows
    58 E beside paint. I know it had a vinyl top that was removed ages ago. I having trouble with color of the one it had. Is the code on data tag the color?
    Trying to learn.
     
  19. Dano

    Dano Platinum Level Contributor

    58 - Harvest Gold (58)
    E - Sandalwood Convertible top

    Odd since you said it had a vinyl top. If so, the data tag must've been mis-stamped orig. The only way to verify the color would be to get a report from Wayne Roberts or Sloan Musrum depending if it's a late or early built car respectively. Here's the info from the '70 Service Manual: Screenshot_20220331-234156_Adobe Acrobat.jpg
     
  20. 68buickgran

    68buickgran New Member

    There is a very small piece of it left at the bottom of one of the windshield post. That’s exactly what the color is. Looks like a beige color. Thanks for your reply. I guess I can forget finding the exact color for a new reproduction top. Which brings on a whole new question of what to put back on it. This car was put away 30 years ago after owner scrapped an idea of making a drag car out of it.
     

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