o.k. where do i start ? i wanted to strip the vinyl top off my car so that i could paint the top. the plan is to paint the body satin black and the top bright red.
if you are ever going to strip a vinyl top, get a windshield trim removal tool and figure out how to take off the trim first. i've never had much luck with removing and reinstalling trim, so, i thought i would try to do all this with the trim in place. basically i just made things alot harder by leaving it on.
my vinyl was starting to peel at the right rear of the top, so thats where i started the removal process.
the first thing i did was use a utility knife to cut the vinyl around the edges.
then i started to peel and scrape with a putty knife.
i was afraid that the vinyl would peel off in little one inch strips and it would take me forever to get it to come off. taking off the vinyl turned out to be the easy part.
removing the 38 year old vinyl adhesive turned out to be the tough part.
my angle grinder with wire brush cup worked pretty good, my youngest son shows one of the reasons why i had children, cheap labor! be careful if you use one of these things, the wires can come loose and go flying. wear safety glasses. also be careful not to put the brush at an angle, because it can make some deep scratches. i also used an inline pneumatic board sander. these are good for use on large flat areas. 90% of my car is large flat areas, so one of these comes in real handy.
this is a craftsman brand sander that i borrowed from my brother-in-law about 10 or 15 years ago.
the putty that was on top of the factory seams in the top was cracking, so i ground it out so i could put in some fresh stuff.
not a pretty sight. anyway, i used fiberglass reinforced filler over the welded seams.
in the pic below you can see the dent in my rear deck lid. i worked the dent from the inside, pushing, hammering, and using a hammer and dolly to get as much of the dent out as i could.
i used fiberglass filler in what was left of the dent in the trunk lid. i used a grater and some 60 grit sandpaper to smooth out the filler. then went over the top of that with some regular bondo to fill in the pits and low spots. then sprayed some rattle can paint over the putty and on the exposed bare metal to keep moisture out.(my garage is full, and i'm doing this in my driveway)
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