White landau top vinyl

[Steverino]

Not sorry at all... Good info to know.

Part of me is thinking I might see if rechroming my originals makes any sense. At least I would know the quality of the base part is good. I need to find a shop that can do "driver quality" chrome. Librandi is near me and I will ask them for a price, but I have a feeling it will be steep... They quoted $1,200 to rechrome the rear bumper & Q's. That did not include any straightening.

[Steverino]

Well, got the landau irons off today. Bad news. One is fine (but needs chrome), but the other has a broken arm where it joins the round medallion housing. Dang. I went ahead and emailed Librandi for a repair / rechrome price - we shall see. May end up repro after all.

Meanwhile, I sanded down a lot of the original glue for the top padding. Hope I took off enough for the new adhesive to stick well. Also drilled out the rivets for the side drip rail hold-down strips. Small amount of rust along the passenger side drip rail & C-pillar base. I am thinking a good sanding & POR-15 treatment should suffice.

And of course now my headliner is definitely toast.

Am considering having the front & rear windshields pulled for new gaskets - the existing ones are original and cracked. Might as well do them while all of the trim is off (inside & out).

The fun never stops!

[stove]

I'm very pleased with your ethic. Keep it up! She'll make you broke yet lol

[comrade]

Yes, this addiction certainly can be a black hole as one item is connected to another and everything is old and so it goes. Down the proverbial rabbit hole we go.

Looks good!

[Steverino]

Update on SMS & vinyl top...

Well, order was placed April 21. I am still waiting... Each time I have emailed them for a status update it has always been 2-3 or 3-4 more weeks as a response. I wait that time and then email again. Same story. No apologies, no reasons why, no gestures of goodwill. Nada. Meanwhile they have my (not insubstantial) money.

I've googled them and they have a very mixed track record (and yes, I know one needs to take internet feedback with several grains of salt). Some folks claim to have had excellent, prompt service, but an equal number have reported extensive delays, or not receiving product at all, or product received that was incorrect or substandard.

@Stove, I know you said to be prepared to wait and wait some more... Give me some encouragement here, 'cause I'm really feeling uncertain about the outcome, and am about 95% ready to demand a refund and/or start chargeback proceedings. I don't know what I'll do about my top then, but at least I'll have my money back.

It would be one thing if they charged 50% on order and 50% on shipment, and/or if they gave an accurate representation of their delivery time up front. But they've done NOTHING to give me any confidence in any timeline they tell me...for all I know I could still be waiting at Christmas with "just two more weeks" to go...

I'm almost 50 and I can't recall ever doing business with anyone in this manner. (Thanks for letting me vent, guys...)

[stove]

Welcome to the classic car restoration world... It totally sucks, and you are at their (lack there of) mercy.

Your top WILL come. SMS DOES suck with customer relations and at telling the truth.
But I will vouch for those slippery (insert expletive of your choice)'s, that they WILL, WILL, WILL, send you the goods, someday.

Just keep on holding out man, I know it hurts, but hang in there!!

[Steverino]

All right... I'll stick it out a bit longer. Don't worry, I won't hold you responsible if this all goes south...

[Steverino]

Well, for all 1.5 of you following this thread with vigorous interest ( ), a quick update is in order.

Pigs flew, hell froze, and the SMS-sourced vinyl top was delivered today! Upon brief initial examination things look positive. The material appears to be what I ordered, the top was clearly cut to a pattern, and also looks to have the correct seams down each side. I did not lay it out on the car's roof yet as I want to be sure everything is clean so as not to get anything on either side of the vinyl... Hopefully I'll have time later this week to get cleaned up and do that.

So a big thank you to @stove for talking me down off the ledge - looks like mustering up a bit of additional patience may just have paid off.

Stay tuned...

[Karl]

[stove]

YES!!!!!!!!! Sooo glad to hear! I'm sure you will find the quality to be good as well.

Cheers!

Steve

PS... PICS, OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN! Lol

[Steverino]

Very brief update - summer has been busy, so progress has been slow. Got the metal prepped (minor rust to remove / encapsulate), and now have the 1/8" foam padding and contact adhesive on hand. Decided to replace the front & rear window seals since they are original and cracking and I'll have all of the trim off anyway. Waiting for the new ones to arrive and to get time on a glass guy's calendar. Classic mission creep here.

Interestingly, it looks like SMS outsources the top fabrication to someone else. From the guarantee paperwork in the box, it looks to be Acme Auto Headlining Co. (www.acmeautoheadlining.com). Looks like they only deal wholesale.

Anyway, am really hoping to get the vinyl on before weather gets cold, especially if I end up brave enough to do it myself. Would like to let the material warm up in the sun...

[Gagarin]

And?

[ICON 1956]

If you don't have a heated garage, Then I think you ran out of season's.....there's always next year.

[Steverino]

Well, this is moving about as slow as molasses in January. First, I realized that I think the vinyl actually goes on under the windshield gasket, meaning that to do it right I need to pull the glass, replace the top, and THEN reinstall glass. That would mean two trips (double charge) for the glass guy. Not attractive. So I started thinking about doing the glass myself - not attractive either. Then we had some unexpected medical bills & I had to slow down ordering parts.

Fortunately I do have a heated shop, so I can still do this over winter. I really gotta get get back on this thing. The project is suffering from too many "never-done-it-befores" and budgetary constraints. ARGH

[Alan H. Tast]

You may want to get a copy of the '63 T-bird shop manual supplement. It has replacement instructions for the Landau vinyl top. The original installation instructions may also be in the '62 and '63 Body/Trim Assembly Manual reprints. Ford did issue a Technical Service Bulletin for installation of the top during 1962 since the Shop Manual had already been published. If memory serves me correctly the windshield does not come out.