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1955 Caribbean top material
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Home away from home
 
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Where does one go to purchase a top for a 1955 Caribbean? I searched this site, and nothing came up. So, either my searching abilities are poor (very possible) or it hasn't been discussed (hard to believe).
Posted on: 2021/2/1 17:54
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West Peterson
1940 Packard 1808 w/Factory Air 1947 Chrysler Town and Country sedan 1970 Camaro RS packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=4307&forum=10 aaca.org/ |
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Re: 1955 Caribbean top material
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Just can't stay away
 
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aro2000.com/
check this website for a conv top
Posted on: 2021/2/1 18:57
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Re: 1955 Caribbean top material
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Forum Ambassador
 
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West perhaps try searching again, there has been so much written about these tops. Also consider speaking with Eric Haartz and Leon Dixon. The link below by Leeedy will give you info on the original top construction, which is NLA. But premade top kits with a reasonably correct external appearance are available from several top makers who have accurate patterns, Bill Hirsch is one of several agents for these makers. Elektron and E-Z are two that come to mind. I bought my '56 top from EZ via Bill Hirsch and it was excellent, just being replaced after 20+ years. But note these tops will not have the colored inner layer to match the center paint color though there has been plenty published about attempts to simulate that feature though to my knowledge none have been particularly satisfactory.
packardclub.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=686&start=30
Posted on: 2021/2/1 21:15
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Re: 1955 Caribbean top material
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Home away from home
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Your upholstery shop should have a swatch book of available material for the inner ply so you can specify for E-Z Top the color you want. You can't buy from E-Z direct, but your shop can. I believe E-Z makes up the tops to order from the patterns they have. They can also make it unfinished on the edges so your shop can cut and fit the finished top precisely to your car. I choose special material for the inner ply and ordered the top rough so the shop could finish it to the Duchess. I have photos of what that looks like.
Posted on: 2021/2/1 23:09
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Re: 1955 Caribbean top material
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Home away from home
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Quote:
It just doesn't work that way. "Inner ply" (which I presume you mean inner facing of the top fabric) is not orderable from anyone separately. Not unless they are making some kind of headliner–which would be disastrous on a Caribbean. And even moreso for 1955. Convertible top fabric has at least three layers... all calendared together as one piece at the time of manufacture. Nobody sells "inner plys" separately– unless there has been some radical new development in the industry (one that I have not heard of). And fabric suppliers are not going to make a run that would be long enough to be doable and yet short enough to be affordable too. Especially not in today's environment. Cost to do custom-made fabric (the right type) in the right inner and outer shade would be astrobucks. In the end the top would be so expensive and consume so much time and labor, it could only done with very deep pockets and a lot of time. I used to get these things made back in the 1970s when I had part interest in a trim shop. But most of the sources for fabric and people to make it and accomplish the coloring are all gone now. A mini-nightmare to do these days. I know and I've vowed never to do another.
Posted on: 2021/2/1 23:56
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Re: 1955 Caribbean top material
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Home away from home
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Quote:
No. Original 1955 Caribbean tops were made of Orlon–a very tightly woven, slightly silky material. NOT vinyl and certainly not "diamond pinpoint"... "Diamond pinpoint" vinyl is not a material so much as it is a convertible top grain. It is the fabric that I have always suggested comes closest to the appearance of the original Orlon. But diamond pinpoint grain vinyl is certainly NOT the factory-installed original stuff. Diamond pinpoint grain was the most commonly used convertible topping for most (not all, but most) American post-1940s convertibles. I also recommended (and Mazda adopted) a diamond pinpoint grain vinyl convertible top fabric for RX-7 convertibles during development in the 1980s. I also did a re-design of the clock and warning light unit atop the instrument panel on the same car. RX-7 production convertibles used the diamond-pinpoint grain fabric I specified in black with a headliner. Finally, I had a prototype built using color-keyed canvas supplied to me by Robbins Auto Top Company, who I knew well. I have photos. And as far as I know, it is still possible to buy American-made vinyl convertible top fabric in diamond pinpoint grain. But almost always this stuff is going to come with a black inner facing. Almost impossible to dye. Back when it was possible to get white vinyl in diamond pinpoint grain AND light tan inner facing, I used a couple of these to simulate 1955 Caribbean tops. I used to have a very good dye specialist in Long Beach, California. Unfortunately he passed away many years ago. Now. As for 1956 convertible topping... very different stuff again. The originals were made of Hypalon– a kind of rubberized vinyl, for lack of a better description. The Hypalon tops had a kind of leathery grain commonly known in the industry as "crush grain." Some people use other terms. I made perhaps 20 of these tops with colored insides back in the 1970s, using two companies located in Southern California. At one time I owned the original factory patterns for 1955 and 1956 Caribbean tops, but I gave these to one of the companies doing work for me in the 1970s. No idea what ever happened to them. I was able to substitute a vinyl used on Rolls Royce Corniche tops for Hypalon and this worked put very well in both operation and appearance. One of these tops complete with colored pads was folded new in the box IN my 1956 Caribbean when it was stolen out of my barn years ago. No such thing as "liners" for Caribbean convertible tops. This is a myth. A popular one, but a myth anyway. A friend and I had a liner made as a desperate and VERY expensive solution in the early 1970s (as I recall, It was over $1200 THEN–which was more than some of the cars were bringing in those days). All Caribbeans had whatever color or shade you saw on the inside as the integral inner layer of the outer fabric. I still have my binder books of convertible top fabrics that once were my lifetime reference source. But most of the fabrics and a lot of the companies are now long gone...
Posted on: 2021/2/2 0:34
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Re: 1955 Caribbean top material
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Home away from home
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Yes, but 1955 Caribbeans didn't have tan canvas tops. As in never. AND the rear bow outer should be covered by a stainless trim piece, not an aftermarket universal trim Wire-On or Hidem...
Posted on: 2021/2/2 0:47
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Re: 1955 Caribbean top material
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Just can't stay away
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u are correct, it takes a stainless strip
i believe Merritt has those strips ,i wouldnt put the top on without the stainless strip,looks cheap without it, u can dye the inside, me and a guy did one comes out nice ,the company made the dye ,mixed it the color wanted , and like i stated good place buy the top is from aro2000.com they show one on there site in vinyl looks good i have installed many conv tops in my day believe me
Posted on: 2021/2/2 2:46
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Re: 1955 Caribbean top material
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Forum Ambassador
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Yes, Max Merritt did reproduce the stainless trim piece for the exterior of the rear bow. It was a decent reproduction, not quite OEM quality but satisfactory.
Posted on: 2021/2/2 9:06
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