Looking for help with the next step of my redo

by bitterfitter Sat Aug 08, 2015 9:54 pm

My '74 is coming along nicely. Slowly, but nicely. I have the paint finished and I am about 95% done buffing out the body. I am putting the white vinyl top on next, which should start this fall. At that point, I would like to have all my stainless trim ready to install. Here is where I need some help...

I originally planned on finding soeone to send my trim out to and have it polished. Most of it is straight and usable as is. Then I started thinking I may want to polish the trim myself. Is polishing stainless at home harder than it seems? Would I get the same results as if I sent it out?

If I did still decide to send it out; does anyone have any recommendations as to who would perform this work well? ANy companies near Buffalo, NY that would be recommended?

by Joe73 Sun Aug 09, 2015 7:06 am

Ive had good luck with mothers polish and nev-r-dul both from walmart. Maybe try some with a rag and if u like the results get a polishing wheel for a bench grinder an go to town. Like buffing the car, dont let it dry or it will burn. I think you will like the results.

by Roadcaptain S3 Sun Aug 09, 2015 9:19 am

I use Mothers and one of those little dremel type rotary tools on the skinny and hard to reach stuff too. They have a lot of attachments that help.

by dynchel Sun Aug 09, 2015 9:57 am

I always get good results using mothers mag polish in the small can.

by chevellelaguna Sun Aug 09, 2015 2:00 pm

The mothers mag polish works great! I use it on aluminum parts. Get a cloth buffing wheel for a bench grinder... I usually double or triple the wheels up cause the thicker pads are more expensive.

by thatfnthing Mon Aug 10, 2015 9:11 am

bitterfitter wrote:My '74 is coming along nicely. Slowly, but nicely. I have the paint finished and I am about 95% done buffing out the body. I am putting the white vinyl top on next, which should start this fall. At that point, I would like to have all my stainless trim ready to install. Here is where I need some help...

I originally planned on finding soeone to send my trim out to and have it polished. Most of it is straight and usable as is. Then I started thinking I may want to polish the trim myself. Is polishing stainless at home harder than it seems? Would I get the same results as if I sent it out?

If I did still decide to send it out; does anyone have any recommendations as to who would perform this work well? ANy companies near Buffalo, NY that would be recommended?

Glad you're making progress!

Hate to be a cold water thrower on the polishing, but if you looked at my Vintage Air thread, toward the end I was looking around here to have the parts for all the bracketry polished. I must have called over a dozen places in the area, and they all gave me the same story: "We only do commercial work. Try so-and-so." Eventually I came full circle. I wound up getting them chrome plated at Niagara Plating, but I was just dealing with ordinary steel pieces. If I had SS, I probably would have gone through the effort of polishing.

You will be able to get good results on your own, but plan on spending hours at the buffing wheel. Get a rubber mat to stand on or a nice bar stool to save your back. Also, something like this will have a lot of helpful tips.

by bitterfitter Mon Aug 10, 2015 8:50 pm

Thanks everyone for all the help. I am going to take on the buffing and polishing myself. Good to hear about niagara plating. I want to get my front bumper re chromed. It is straight but dull.
Next issue----- I took my new vinyl top out of the box and spread it out on the car. 9" too short!! SON OF A $&@#$ !! This is why I do everything myself. Now to make a phone call and see what is going to happen with the top

by Pontichev327 Tue Aug 11, 2015 1:10 am

I have a white vinyl top still in the box I bought, but the vinyl top guy used his own material, and he put a one piece on with no seam. Looks great. If you get your money back and want to try mine, It is a part #6004 levant grain center seam from NPD. $50.00 plus shipping from Az. Either way, nice car!

by thatfnthing Tue Aug 11, 2015 8:50 am

bitterfitter wrote:Thanks everyone for all the help. I am going to take on the buffing and polishing myself. Good to hear about niagara plating. I want to get my front bumper re chromed. It is straight but dull.
Next issue----- I took my new vinyl top out of the box and spread it out on the car. 9" too short!! SON OF A $&@#$ !! This is why I do everything myself. Now to make a phone call and see what is going to happen with the top

Yeah, NP does a wonderful job, but they're not cheap. The bracket pieces I showed in my thread cost me $350.00 to do. I'd expect considerably more for a whole bumper...

9"? Yeah, I'd be pretty annoyed too. Where'd you buy it from?

by bitterfitter Tue Aug 11, 2015 9:55 am

Perfect Fit is the name of the business. Guys name is Mark Roddy. He is out of the state of Washington. Very nice guy; he helped me get the correct spacing for the seams. I have the skyroof on this car and I did not want the single seam up the middle. Thought it would look funny running across the center of the skyroof. So I asked for the seams to be 44" wide on center. This placed them 1/2 way between the skyroof opening and the roof above the doors. The top is very nice, just too damn short.
I am pretty sure I got this companies info from people on here. The top was also ordered as having padding on the back. Just a thin little bit to smooth things out I guess. I was told that this was correct for GM starting in 73. The top I received was non padded. At this point, it really makes no difference to me other than the factory sent the wrong thing.

by Pontichev327 Wed Aug 12, 2015 1:37 am

This is my Laguna that got the one piece vinyl top done by Kermit's vinyl top service. I love the look, he even brought it down the pillars and tucked it in nice at the bottom. I know it's not factory,... it's better. With the sunroof i can see doing the double seam, but i bet it would look better without one at all. Looking for help with the next step of my redo <a href=

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by bitterfitter Fri Aug 14, 2015 9:52 am

I need help with this vinyl top! Can anybody tell me if I am supposed to have seams under the rear window on a car with a full vinyl top? I can't find the pictures of this area I took before I removed mine. The guy I got my new top from is insisting that I have to use a separate piece of vinyl for the area under the window and glue the seams myself below the bottom corners of the rear window where they would met. This may be correct but seems that these are the last place I would want seams and the last place I would want to glue vinyl together. The water will sit in the rear window channel and work its way around that seam!!
Can anyone get me a picture of what their cars vinyl top looks like at this area? And let me know if there are seams here and if they are factory sealed?

by alowerlevel Fri Aug 14, 2015 9:25 pm

bitterfitter wrote:I need help with this vinyl top! Can anybody tell me if I am supposed to have seams under the rear window on a car with a full vinyl top? I can't find the pictures of this area I took before I removed mine. The guy I got my new top from is insisting that I have to use a separate piece of vinyl for the area under the window and glue the seams myself below the bottom corners of the rear window where they would met. This may be correct but seems that these are the last place I would want seams and the last place I would want to glue vinyl together. The water will sit in the rear window channel and work its way around that seam!!
Can anyone get me a picture of what their cars vinyl top looks like at this area? And let me know if there are seams here and if they are factory sealed?

Yep mine has a seam on either side under the rear window

Crappy pic but the best one I could find of that area (I circled one seam in red), could take more tomorrow if you want

Looking for help with the next step of my redo Seams11

Looking for help with the next step of my redo Seams11

by bitterfitter Fri Aug 14, 2015 9:29 pm

Are these factory sealed seams? Like the center seam?

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