I have a 36 Plymouth Coupe with the traditional hole in the roof. I made my own steel insert for it but do not want to weld it in. I would like to cover it with Marine grade vinyl or something similar. Can anyone tell me if I must put anything between the steel and the vinyl to ensure it sticks? I want it to look somewhat traditional. I like the cloth roofs. Thanks for the help. I will be posting pictures in my profile of the build.
If you want it to look similar to the original insert I would suggest using a thin padding and cover it with a vinyl top material,glue both the padding and the metal with 3M adhesive,then spray the padding and the top material with the 3M. Spraying both surfaces makes for a permanent bond. How do you plan on attaching the top? HRP
I am working on that as we speak. Thinking about sliding into studs in the front and a hinge system in the back. I would like to remove it during the nice days of summer. If you have any ideas I would love to hear them. Thanks for the reply.
41Stude, Here is the one I made for my current 36 (the coupe in my avatar). I made the top on my english wheel, and it has a 1/4" lip around the perimeter facing down. The inner structure has a 1/4" lip facing up, and is a material thickness smaller so they nestle together and have small spot welds around the perimeter to hold them together. Each piece is flimsy on it's own, but when tack welded it becomes very strong. It bolts into place, and uses a rubber gasket. Technically you can remove it by unbolting it, but once it's bolted in place that's where it lives. Take a look at my albums of my other 36's, and if you'd like to see all the metal work done on this coupe, I can send you a link to my Flickr picture album of the build. Bob
Some thing like this? If you set the height so it compresses the weatherstripping it should seal up. You can find better looking locks, this just came up in a quick search. Maybe align the front on dowels and lock the rear? http://m.woodcraft.com/Product/159297/HD-Table-Alignment-Lock.aspx?gclid=CP_k_vvp8MkCFdcegQodAd0G-A
Thanks for the idea indyjps. I never thought about the latch type. Only concern would be the vibration sliding the latch open and then it would look like an ejection hatch. LOL. I really do appreciate the suggestion. Bobper, thats some serious metal work you did. I am not in that league however I did build something I think I will use. I started by using my shrinker/stretcher building a frame that has a 1/2 inch lip down and 1 inch lip overlap the top. After getting the correct shape I tack welded a piece of sheet steel over it bending the edges around. Very rigid at that point. I plan to cover it with Marine grade vinyl. I am looking at using dowels to slide the front in and using some sort of locking latch on the back. Putting a thin rubber seal under the overlap lip will hopefully seal it. Yours looks great but I dont have that talent. IMG_20151220_162429737 by 41Stude posted Dec 22, 2015 at 8:27 PM IMG_20151220_162422299 by 41Stude posted Dec 22, 2015 at 8:17 PM
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