Day 5 - Removing vinyl top

Sorry guys for not uploading these after I got home from the garage two days ago, I've been busy and the cold is killing me. Turns out removing the vinyl took a little more time than I expected, I took it really easy since I don't want to ruin anything related to this.

Vinyl top. Looks really rough and has been sitting there
for 37 years so it needs to be remade.

I started by gently bending the mouldings out with a screwdriver.
I believe it's important to just bend a little bit and then move along
around the mouldings to easen them all the way around.

My first screw-up. I figured removing one of the moulding corners
would probably be the best way to start, turns out it was fitted with
a bolt that could be removed from inside the luggage compartment
and as visible on above picture I actually broke it. I do think this
can be fixed quite easily though.

Close-up of the screw-up. :)

When corner piece was gone, removing longer pieces were
easier, they are all fitted in with clips and can just be snapped off.
The mouldings seems to be made out of steel so be careful not
to bend them to much or they'll get distorted.

I found some pieces of moulding were easier removed by just
sliding them off the clips. Above I'm using a screwdriver to
slide off the entire bottom moulding closest to the trunk.

Rear window bottom moulding removed from clips.

Close-up of the clips. I think I might get some better shots
of these so that I can better explain how they work for you guys.

All the mouldings were fitted with clips and the only divergence
was the corner pieces. The two closest to the trunk are removed
from within the trunk and the ones on pic above(just in front of
Opera  Windows) are removed with a screwdriver.
There is one screw on each side.

Entire roof moulding removed.

This was kind of scary. I wasn't sure at all the same procedure
would apply for the window mouldings, but after VERY carefully
bending around the sides of it, I could see it would work.

After removing the window moulding it's visible
that some kind of weather sealer has been behind
but is seriously damaged from age and removal
of moulding. I would really appreciate tips on what I
can replace this with... Silicone?

The back side of the window moulding. As seen there are seven
"wings" around the edges that keep it in place. I haven't fully
understood how to replace this. Maybe the wings are bent in
place by pressing the moulding back on, or maybe they need
to be bent from the inside of the car. Anyone knows?

Removing the rear window moulding was probably the scariest
part. I did NOT want to damage the window, but the earlier approach
worked fine here as well. Trickiest part was to get one piece off
and required quite a bit of force, but once one was gone it was
easier removing the other ones.

Yet again fitted with clips and easiest removed by sliding off instead
of snapping off.

All vinyl top mouldings removed and labeled for reassembly.

Evidently it was time to remove these. Several years of nature
hid behind most of the mouldings. :)

As a side track. I was confused as to how the window mouldings
should be removed and I first thought they might be secured from
the inside of the car. So just in case I actually started by removing
the trim around the window from inside the vehicle.

It was fitted with screws and I think the below part has some kind
of clip in the middle because I haven't been able to remove it
fully just jet.

These are the screws for the rear window interior trim:
5 on the top, 2 on each sides and 2 on the bottom.

The top part of the rear window interior trim removed.

At the end of the day I had removed all of the mouldings, but I left the vinyl on. The reason is I need to check with the company that's going to redo these for me if they need it intact to get all the measurements. I tried carefully removing one corner of it but noticed it cracked very easily so I'm not sure I can remove it as one piece.

In two weeks a very good friend is visiting over the weekend and we are actually thinking we might use that time to remove the engine from the car. So I will spend the next two weeks removing anything obstructing the work(hood, fenders, front, bumpers, etc). Stay tuned for the next post! :)