The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

From what I have heard the Sprint vynl roof was a rust trap and resulted in a roof in poor condition.

I need to decide what to do for my sprint project. Obviously a vynl roof would be best but if that results in a costly job of replacing it regularly, I'm not convinced. I could use a paint perhaps, I know that will offend the purists but I want to be pragmatic.

Would love some opinions please and in particular some advice on :

1. Are there modern materials and adhesives that give a better result.
2. If there are better materials/adhesives, can it be done DIY?
3. Are there specialists around who can do vinyl roofs? If so, can you give me a contact?

Cheers

Terry

I think it depends on how well the Vinyl roof is fitted in the first place.

Triumph may not have sprayed the whole roof if a Vinyl one was going to be fitted. When I had may car re-sprayed the guy sprayed the roof too and used lacquer.

My trimmer fitted mine and spent a lot of time applying the glue in neat straight lines on the car as well as the material.

I also believe the way that the rear roof trim clips are applied don't help as they ruck up the vinyl and scratch the paint.

I doubt there is anything inherently rust promoting with having a vinyl roof, instead it's all in the preparation and maybe not using the clips as mentioned. I suspect that you are going to do a far more thorough prep on your own car than the guys at the factory did with nearly 23,000 to do!

Vinyl,is pouros,not waterproof,which may cause some of the problems.I have used Autoglym vinyl roof proofer on my roof,basically it gives a nice black sheen,and it waterproofs it.No problems in 8 years,and the car is used in all weathers.
Peter Harvey is a good man for supplying and fitting vinyl roofs.You can find his advert in the back of practical classics.

Terry has raised a very interesting point, one which is continuing to cause me a lot of anxiety. I have been debating whether to remove the vinyl roof off my more recently restored Sprint for I have come across several Sprints in this country on which rust has formed under the vinyl on their roofs along the crease line that runs in the roofs above the doors. This is not a part of the country here where we normally get a lot of rain but clearly what is happening is that moisture is being trapped between the underside of the vinyl and the painted surface on the roof.

The photograph shown here is taken from a Sprint which was originally painted white, the colour of the roof you see here, and then repainted later in green, the colour showing on the door frame. As I understand it, the older paint systems used on our cars are porous and the only way of keeping them reasonably waterproof is to apply a polish to the painted (and chromed) surfaces on a regular basis. That of course is impossible under the vinyl covering.

Yes the purists might well cringe if we, in this part of the world, remove our vinyl roof and c pillar coverings and perhaps paint both them black to mimic the original factory specifications but I am personally more interested in preserving our cars. Indeed I wonder about the wisdom of having a black roof which attracts the heat in the summer.

If Terry is keen on replacing the vinyl covering then I would suggest that he investigates using some of the more modern paint undercoating systems for some are considered to be totally waterproof. The system he might use may not be compatible with the paints used on the rest of his car but it would never be seen nor would it stop the vinyl being glued to it.

Robert

looking at the vinyl roof with the rusty edge line, this make me think that the roor was not glued correctly and the profile of roof allowed water to sit in the gap causing the corrosion.

Malcolm

I recently removed the factory original vinyl from a very rusty 78 Sprint. The vinyl itself was in terrible condition and came off in about 2000 small and crumbly bits. But the roof beneath it was absolutely perfect and had at least a uniform, if thin, coat of original colour below the glue traces. Even around the aftermarket glass sunroof the panel was sound. So the quality of original is probably variable (this is news?) with further variables introduced over time by climate, treatment, maintainence (or lack of) etc
The roof panel is so good, I cut it off the otherwise scrap shell so it could benefit another, less fortunate owner. It's in my ad in the for sale section.

My own opinion (for what it's worth) is that the vinyl roof is, for better or worse, a part of the Sprint's intrinsic character and should be kept if possible. That doesn't mean one can't experiment, with colour for example, how about a biscuit beige one on a Brooklands green or Carmine red car to compliment the light interior that normally went with those colours?
I think it's important to get someone who actually knows what they are doing to fit a vinyl. I actually used to do this for a living (though I mainly concentrated on sunroofs) and I still get my tame trimmer to do it! But there are plenty about, if we knew whereabouts the OP is located, perhaps one of us could make a recommendation!

Steve

Thank you guys for your help, very useful.

I will do the vynl because I want to be true to the Sprint where possible and with good preparation plus a trimmer who knows what they are doing should give it a good chance of lasting. I live near Ipswich, Suffolk, if anyone can recommend a trimmer please do.

Cheers

Terry

Only vinyl I've ever taken off a car, which was by that time 35 years old, was the rolled race car. Roof was in very good condition but has obviously been well painted in the first place. The vinyl seams looked original and no signs that the car had ever been 'restored' in any way. Given it was registered in NZ in May 1975, it was likely produced late 74 / early 75.

Moral to this is probably that if you prepare and paint it well, then stick the vinyl on thoroughly, it will last as long as the rest of the car. Having said that, I haven't got around to putting a vinyl roof on the replacement bodyshell!

But then you have a good excuse. It saves you a few kg's on top of your car. Faster cornering on the track.

Jeroen

The "leathercloth" that is used for the vinyl roof is porous.
It should be painted with a protective coating,
back in the 90s I used Vinylcote.





Ian.

I believe I said that.See above.

Sorry Tony,
I should have said that I was concurring with you.




Ian.

Thanks guys again. All useful comments.

Terry