vinyl or cloth tops for C-3
03-08-2014, 07:30 PM
#1
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vinyl or cloth tops for C-3
Hi - i am a new member, i have a 73 C-3 convertible that i am restoring. It was a bit of a barn car, having not been drivin in 20 years, so the soft top is quite rotten. I was considering putting a cloth top on it rather than the original vinyl. Have any of you done this? How does it look? Who did you buy it from? I am looking at a Robbins stayfast cloth top.
Good post...I'd like to know too...fixin to replace mine on the 75
03-09-2014, 09:50 AM
#4
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Original folding tops were vinyl. If judging is important to you, stay with vinyl. I agree with Phil: Al Knoch makes a quality product.
03-09-2014, 12:22 PM
#6
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cloth tops
we have a classification in Canada that allows you to put collector plates on a car 20 years old if it is completely original. they allow you to put soft tops on that do not have the date codes from your particular year, and from talking to other gear heads, they apparently allow you to upgrade the top to cloth and still qualify as a collector car. I am not sure about how judges would feel if you have a trailer queen and show your car. The biggest advantage to having collector plates on your car is that the insurance for driving is about 1/3 of normal, which does not make much sense, but i guess they figure that you don't drive the car as much
Last edited by r7simpson; 03-09-2014 at 12:28 PM.
03-09-2014, 01:29 PM
#7
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Here is the Al Knock Stay Fast installed by me on my 69. Fit with no issues. I followed the AK video instructions for the install. The video is a bit dated and does not reference the cloth top. There is a couple of places where you should not follow the video to the letter if installing the cloth top.
03-09-2014, 06:54 PM
#8
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You can't go wrong with StayFast. It is durable and will not shrink like vinyl. Pamper it occasionally with RaggTopp and it will last a long time.
On collector plates, Ontario left yearly plates behind in 1973. It was stickers after that. And your insurance rates here have nothing to do with your licence plates.
http://www.lant-ins.ca/
On collector plates, Ontario left yearly plates behind in 1973. It was stickers after that. And your insurance rates here have nothing to do with your licence plates.
http://www.lant-ins.ca/
03-09-2014, 09:45 PM
#10
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Here is the Al Knock Stay Fast installed by me on my 69. Fit with no issues. I followed the AK video instructions for the install. The video is a bit dated and does not reference the cloth top. There is a couple of places where you should not follow the video to the letter if installing the cloth top.
03-09-2014, 09:54 PM
#11
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Here is the Al Knock Stay Fast installed by me on my 69. Fit with no issues. I followed the AK video instructions for the install. The video is a bit dated and does not reference the cloth top. There is a couple of places where you should not follow the video to the letter if installing the cloth top.
03-09-2014, 09:57 PM
#12
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You can't go wrong with StayFast. It is durable and will not shrink like vinyl. Pamper it occasionally with RaggTopp and it will last a long time.
On collector plates, Ontario left yearly plates behind in 1973. It was stickers after that. And your insurance rates here have nothing to do with your licence plates.
http://www.lant-ins.ca/
On collector plates, Ontario left yearly plates behind in 1973. It was stickers after that. And your insurance rates here have nothing to do with your licence plates.
http://www.lant-ins.ca/
03-10-2014, 01:32 AM
#14
These cars look great! Thanks for asking the question. I've given this topic some thought and was wondering if the material looked to modern, too European...now I need a StayFast top!
03-10-2014, 08:37 AM
#15
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Yes I replaced everything. The tension cables did not come with the top kit, but the tips, pads and straps did come with it. The tack strips and weatherstrips are new too.
03-10-2014, 09:54 AM
#16
Team Owner
Do you have a different plate for collector cars, or are all cars equiped with same plate?
You can use year-of-manufacture plates for cars pre-1973. After 1973 yearly dated plates were no longer used, only annual small sticky tags. So you can choose to use a modern plate with 2014 sticker on a 1932 Ford.
In my case no year plate was produced for 1974.
http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dan...icle/yom.shtml
You can use year-of-manufacture plates for cars pre-1973. After 1973 yearly dated plates were no longer used, only annual small sticky tags. So you can choose to use a modern plate with 2014 sticker on a 1932 Ford.
In my case no year plate was produced for 1974.
http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dan...icle/yom.shtml
Last edited by Paul L; 03-10-2014 at 09:57 AM.
03-12-2014, 09:26 AM
#17
I came oh so close to getting the cloth top when I replaced mine a few years ago. At the last minute I went back to the orignal just because everything on the car was original and I wanted to kerep it that way. Not real good pics to compare since mine is white but you get the idea. I personally don't think you will go wrong with either choice. Good luck
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03-12-2014, 09:34 AM
#18
I came oh so close to getting the cloth top when I replaced mine a few years ago. At the last minute I went back to the orignal just because everything on the car was original and I wanted to kerep it that way. Not real good pics to compare since mine is white but you get the idea. I personally don't think you will go wrong with either choice. Good luck
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03-12-2014, 03:32 PM
#19