Same problem with mine. So I finally bit the bullet last month. Stripped it in one day. One day of prep, then one quart of paint to respray it. So I was down for three days. Cost me $100 and it's done right. vinyl roof. In my opinion NO. What's it going to cost? No easy to go back either.
Band-aids on cancer won't cure the disease itself. Fix it right, don't just cover up a flaw. You'll feel much better knowing that you did it right.
I used to install vinyl tops and I would vote NO, they were OK on cars during the 70's and 80's but don't belong on a 49 Merc
If I saw a chopped Merc with a vinyl top, my first impression would be that it was covering a bad chop. I think I'd cut the roof off and do a Carson top instead.
As cool as I think it would be to have a stock but chopped Monterey I couldn't do if fore the sole reason everybody would think there were issues under that vinyl with the chop and that just wouldn't fly with me...
Wanted opinions -and i gotem! The top would just do this again i am afraid.w/o stripping the mud out and replaeing with allmetal type filler .Ido appreciate the no' s also.thanks bob s
Damn!!! I STEPPED ON SOME toes here with this post? getting it redone[top only] every few years don't sound good to me.Maybe will just sell it .
wanna see how fast you can makit completely rot out? if yes go ahead and put a vinyl top on it. if no then fix it RIGHT. dig out the filler and cut out anreplace bad panels and repair them correctly and be done. i've pulled vinyl tops off ot cars and had pieces of roof skin come off with the vinyl where moisture trapped and rotted it out...
All I have to say is remember every one of those mid 70's vinyl roof cars that you have seen with the cure the problem and will sure draw extra attention with guys trying to figure out what flaws you covered up.
Just had some friends that pulled the vinyl top off their Monterey Merc as they thought it was rusty underneath but it was the old glue. The Vinyl won't be going back on, not pretty.
If that's the case you may want to consider using "kitty hair" fiberglass reinforced filler at first, bringing up the surface somewhat near where it needs to be. It is waterproof (unlike regular filler) and resists cracking in thicker applications (but doesn't sand very easily). Then skim on a quality product like Rage over that (sands like a dream). This is, of course, in lieu of fixing the sheet metal work which necessitates such thick filler.
Oh no. Please don't do that to a 49 Merc. If you do, the other Mercs at a car show will talk to each other and say bad things about it.
Do what you must if you want to keep the car. Ford and Mercury had vinyl tops available in 50-51. Why not be different if it solves your problem?
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