The reasons vintage Mopars with vinyl tops RUST

Chrysler's poor assembly techniques directly lead to swiss-cheese roof skins if the vinyl top isn't cared for and replaced.

[@millionmilegarage9587]

That will be a nice one! Last of the line and nicely optioned with a great color as well.

[@olikat8]

Just peeled the vinyl off the roof of my '76 Valiant sedan. Luckily, no rot. We just took the drip rail & roof trim off, cleaned it all up (the windows were out) and painted it gloss white. Used the roof trim as the dividing line, too!

[@TylersNeighborhoodGarage]

Haha, that's what I plan to do with my Swinger. Peeling that drip molding off is fun, isn't it?

[@HODGEPODGEDODGEGARAGE]

Happy wrenching Tyler 🔧🔩

[@MisterMikeTexas]

Hopefully the happy wrenching will become happy motoring.

[@TylersNeighborhoodGarage]

Thank you.

[@bradhampton6457]

Tyler I had a 73 Dart 4 dr Custom several yrs ago. I had the reverse problem. The floor pans were in very solid shape as was the trunk pan. Problem was the car had a vinyl roof that had developed rust under it but only around the windshield. I sold it several years back after I realized it was going to t require more work than I could manage.

[@TylersNeighborhoodGarage]

That's what happened to that '75 Duster I parted. It was a coastal car and the salty dew just killed it.

[@towbar2]

Nice project!

[@timothykeith1367]

I have a '71 Swinger that once had a vinyl top but its not bad except the lower rear window edge

[@brianandrews7099]

I have been seeing people who like the look of a vinyl top that are now stripping the top off, repairing the metal, priming, painting, then applying bedliner to the top. It does seems to emulate the look of a pebble grain vinyl top very well. I suppose it’s paintable and has some UV resistance but I don’t know how well it holds up in the long term, but I would think it would do ok on a garage kept, sparingly used classic car. I have never really disliked the look of vinyl tops in general, but for the reasons outlined here, generally avoided them. There are only a few factory equipped models I would be willing to bother to put a vinyl top “treatment” (either real vinyl or a liner treatment) back onto once stripped off. I have never been a fan off those late 1960-1980s half vinyl or carriage style roof vinyl tops that were once applied to so many high end makes or high end models of cheaper makes. I have only owned one car with a vinyl top and that was a late 1970s Oldsmobile that I owned over 30 years ago and, even at that time, the old vinyl top cleaners, treatments, and conditioners that were so common back in the 1970s-80s to put a shine on the material were no longer available and traditional vinyl products like Armor-all would either evaporate in the sun or get absorbed into the material; so the shine would last 15-20 minutes before it disappeared!

[@MisterMikeTexas]

I didn't think rust was much of a problem in the South, away from the coasts. But, that's some pretty involved tin cancer there. Looking forward to the video drives once this car is back on the road. Phil will like this car, since he likes 2-doors.

[@brianandrews7099]

Most of the mid south has a great deal of rain, moisture, and humidity … so cars definitely rust; especially in ares that water can seep into, like trunks, floorpans, under body seals and gaskets, and vinyl tops. People love to believe Florida cars are all rust free, but wetness, humidity, hurricane flooding, and salty sea water that get pulled into the air will rust those cars from the inside out! There is no rust like Northeastern rust and Florida rust!

[@TylersNeighborhoodGarage]

Once the seals around the windows go, it's only a matter of time.

[@bradhampton6457]

@@TylersNeighborhoodGarage Right you are!

[@Bill340s]

@@TylersNeighborhoodGarage wiper pivots can leak and keep the carpet in front foot wells wet. My '69 Barracuda suffered leaky wiper pivots and leaky windshield very early in its life and by 1982 or so floor had rust holes. Last year I did full floor replacement so finally got around to fixing it. But yeah water leaks rusting from the inside out happens regardless of where the car resides.

[@MisterMikeTexas]

Hey, are you all OK out there? I just heard on the news about the severe weather in the South.

[@TylersNeighborhoodGarage]

Hangin in. Thanks!

[@MisterMikeTexas]

@@TylersNeighborhoodGarage Good to know y'all are OK.

[@Chubbycat747]

Paint it purple.

[@MisterMikeTexas]

Deep Purple? Purple Haze? Or Purple Rain?

[@TylersNeighborhoodGarage]

It has been said that there are more purple, green and yellow mopars now than Mopar produced!

[@michaelcook9939]

Uh oh there's another car just all blown apart. Hmmm 🤔

[@TylersNeighborhoodGarage]

Well there's blown apart to fix and just "blown apart". Its overwhelming for the average person to see a car in pieces, knowing it has to be put back together. Too easy to give the hell up! By my count this is A-body #3 to get rebuilt. Sold the first one for a chunk of cash. Driving the second one, could be another chunk of cash. Maybe I'll buy another Catalina with some of that dough!

[@TylersNeighborhoodGarage]

In between all those I rebuilt my Tahoe, rebuilt my F-350, painted the porch, drove 257,000 miles for work, suffered through covid thrice. I should have gotten smart and sat around buying and smoking cigarettes instead. Keep em coming!

[@michaelcook9939]

The Catalina was "blown apart" to be fixed. Life doesn't always go as planned. I understand you value your cars more than you do other people. I had choice to keep the car or provide for my family. Once again so sorry that you are disappointed.