Re: Convertable top for caribbean 55
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Forum Ambassador
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I haven't used their upholstery/fabric dyes but I did use the vinyl and leather dyes. Had a green custom color matched for a 54 Pacific vinyl headliner and Scottish Heather for the 56. The color match was very good and product seemed to work reasonably well.http://www.leathermagic.com/Pages/carpet-dye-prods.htm They could probably supply a good match in a fabric dye to your top color if the beige wasn't dark enough to throw it off. The vinyl dye was solid pigment but I have no idea how the fabric stuff would be.
Posted on: 2015/3/18 21:57
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Howard
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Re: Convertable top for caribbean 55
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Home away from home
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Leeedy- Thanks again for your info. Since you are familiar with the Hughes car and have done several replacements, does the original liner feel like fabric? I am leaning toward spraying the inner surface of a top from Hirsch which comes with a tan interior surface. They are sending a sample.
I have had contact with a supplier in California who asserts that their upholstery spray will adhere to the top and not crack....and can be produced in a color that matches the interior. However, if the sprayed tops do not look like the original liner, I may try to figure out how to use the fabric from the top I received from Kepich. Let me know. Stay well RJR
Posted on: 2015/3/20 21:55
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Re: Convertable top for caribbean 55
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Home away from home
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You are most welcome. Yes, I did this stuff, but I also had involvement with the auto industry and the convertible biz since forever and I used raw materials off of a roll. And I knew many people and companies in the business, so it was fairly easy to pick up the phone and just call. Plus I had involvement with trim shop facilities where these things could be done with good success and the proper tools. But again, this was a long, long time ago.
People here are continuing to talk of "liners" as if this is a separate thing. While a separate color liner can be jerry-rigged, it really needs to be done by someone with serious experience in doing convertible tops. Even on the two tops we actually lined at Robbins, these had to be verrrrry carefully lowered and even then they tended to stack a little high. I don't recommend doing a liner, but rather dye the inner face of convertible top fabric with a tan inner layer. The inner face of the original Caribbean tops was (aside from the color) no different from any other postwar American convertible top in construction. The inner face layer was calendared together with a layer of butyl and the outer layer-which in the case of 1955 was white Orlon. It was all one thing. One piece of fabric. The inner layer was not a separate liner and was not anything unusual. It was the same stuff used on thousands of other convertible tops. Just a thin layer of cotton material (or today a poly-cotton blend), but instead of black or tan, it was a special color. Here is how the Hughes/Peters top looked inside in the early 1970s. The color was actually very bright pink and I assure you the washed-out look here is due to the old faded paper photograph. I took these photos a long, long time ago in Beverly Hills. Yes, I actually drove the car. The biggest problem here is trying to dye the inside of a top that has already been manufactured. One wrong move or one slip-up and you've got a ruined top. With the cost of one of these tops today, this is really something for a pro at an upholstery shop to tackle-or at least to advise. Suggest you look around and find the oldest auto trim shop in your area. Then talk to them about how to go about doing the color on the inside of a convertible top. By the way, the top boot was white, not that crazy pink you'll see on one of the model cars released in recent years. Hope this helps. Attach file: ![]() ![]()
Posted on: 2015/3/21 12:43
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Re: Convertable top for caribbean 55
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Home away from home
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After a considerable delay, I finally got a swatch of comvertible top material from Bill Hirsch for possible replacement of the top on the 55 Caribbean. It took a while,to secure a piece of material that was white on the top and tan on the underside. Apparently the most readily available tops are white with black inner liner color which I anticipated would be difficult to dye to match the interior.
The original swatch ( white/ black) and the material used by Keppich for my original top was clearly bright white pinpoint. The more recent offering( white/ tan) is white but has a tan cast to it. I preserved some material from the "original" top that was on the car when I purchased it. I cannot be certain that this top was original to the car or a later replacement but it is very thin and carries the light green underside which matches the interior......the problem is that this material though aged and dirty appears to also have a tan cast to it. The white paint on the car is clearly white- white. Before making any decision on ordering a top from Hirsch with the tan lining, I am hoping that someone can advise whether the original top color was white or had any hint of a tan cast. It would,appear to clash but I have seen a few cars with tops that were not bright white. If the top is originally bright white, I have to keep searching for appropriate material
Posted on: 2015/4/25 0:08
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