The Upholstery Forum

Just curious if anyone on here has ever repaired or replaced cloth tops before?
I had a customer call about a 2000 Town Car with the cloth starting to come off at the windshield. They are the ones like the old vinyl landaus just with cloth material instead. I've never removed or replaced one of these and would like to know what to look for. Also if anyone knows where to buy a replacement that would be helpful to at least give the customer some info. Thanks!

Never done a cloth one before but if they are the same concept as a vinyl landau top it should be pretty easy. On landau tops you need to inform the customer that there is a high chance of the roof under the fabric top will be rusty and may need additional repair or need repainting.

@John
Sounds like he is coming by today for me to look at it. In my research it looks like they actually have a fiberglass shell that mounts on top of the roof and down the pillars. Guess ill look at it and see whats what. Just haven't found premade cloth tops anywhere. I have a feeling it'll turn into a nightmare of a job, but who knows.

I’ve done a few of these but on Towncar limousine and ford excursion limousines, most of the time the roof will be rusty and you will need to sort this out before laying the new roof because overtime it will show through the roof
But of a messy job removing the off leather/vinyl and removing glue and I was advise that it’s a 2 person job and don’t be shy with the glue also be careful removing the chrome trims that you don’t damage them
Getting the material warm also helps

Customer came by. His main concern was a small piece that is glued to the roof underneath the fiberglass top that just gives it a finished look. Would have to remove the top to do it. The entire top has issues in corners and seams coming apart. Especially at the rear window and the door trims. I gave him a starting price and told him the risks and what could be possible with additional issues like the roof or fiberglass. All while trying to keep it at a minimum but helping him understand it isn't a quick and easy turnaround. Wont know until we get into it what it did or didn't need done. He decided not to mess with it cause the value of the car is not that much to him. But we are going to remove and recover the door trims on the top. Maybe he will change his mind once he sees how they turn out, but either way i will do the best i can to make him happy.

Given that it is cloth, is there a particular type of cloth required, or will a canvas such as sunbrella be the right choice?

Good on you for being up front with him! That could have easily turned in to a disaster if you promised a price.

I would assume sunbrella would work just fine for that application however I would probably try to convince the customer to go with actual automotive convertible top canvas.