1989 Marquis Vinyl Removal
 

hey there guys i have a 1989 grand marquis now im not a big fan of that vinyl roof any way i can take it off i know people have done it but do you have a step by step guide or some thing that would help me out thanks

ooo... I have an 88 and I was wondering how much it would take to do that myself. as far as I know it would just be pull pull and pull some more to get it to peel off the car and of course remove the trim pieces before doing so. the problem I would think that comes into play are the side marker lights and the massive amount of adhesive under the vinyl. Clean up would be a booger and then having to sand and paint it to make it look good.

Yeah like Slymer said. A good amount of elbow grease to get it off. Then some more to clean it up. On to the body work and paint to make it look like it was a regular hardtop. And maybe even changing some trim pieces. Don't just rip it off and leave it cause it will look like hell. Good luck.

ummmm... depends on the type of vinyl roof you have... they made 3 types of vinyl roof setups on the cars. there was the big window rear, coach window rear and full top vinyl. the last 2 you problay wouldnt wanna mess with the vinyl since you would need new rear glass. the last 2 options i mentioned have a fiberglass shell that extends the roof line and surrounds the glass and is different than a more standard big rear window. trim removal would consist of removing headliner, rear sail panels, and b pillar accessories. you will need access to the nuts and such holding the trim to the roof. if you have questions, ask, i have removed a vinyl roof from a standard rear window type, but fiberglass small windowed ones are a bit more of a pain. to get all the adhesive off you will need aircraft stripper. the rear seams where roof meets the sides arent filled in all to great either since the seams just get covered by the vinyl from the factory. below are some pictures i took during my vinyl removal.

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below is a picture of some rust that was hiding under the vinyl... i knew there was rust from how it was turning the vinyl orange over the rear window.

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here are pics of the top already been stripped, sanded, and primed.

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Now there is a detailed answer for you 89, (with pics). So which one did a 1989 Grand Marquis have? Either way, you found the man with first hand experience. I've taken two off in my life. One was a '86 Riviera and the other was a '80 something Cutlass Supreme(adhesive nightmare). The Riv had like a fabric/rag type top with a big piece of sheet metal underneath that was not even welded to the roof or attached to the coach top. Weird. But the rear window never looked right after that. We found some big pieces of trim off something at the junkyard and custom fit them to minimize the countersunk/recessed look to the window.

i have the half roof vinyl with side light where are you at by the way CA or US

ok... you dont have the coach rear window with the fiberglass under the vinyl. you have the large window so it will be a lil better for removal like i pictured. you will need a screw driver for door trim removal where vinyl meets the door areas, and be careful with rear window trim, it tends to bend when looked at funny. the side interior pieces need removed by rear dash to access nuts holding side trim on and same with ceiling in the car. the side lights on the car are easily removed by popping the chrome pieces off above and blow the plastic ligh and then it is held with 2 screws. it isnt that hard to do, but the prep work is worst. you will need a couple crappy brushes and a can or 2 of aircraft stripper to get the adhesive crap off the roof. after brushing the stripper on the roof, let it sit for a lil bit and go back with putty knife and trash can to scrape and throw away the stuff being removed. your picture of the car posted will be pretty much like the photos above ofr some of the stuff. dont be surprised if you find rust or bad seams where the factory didnt care because it was just getting covered....

by the way, i am in Nebraska in the Omaha area somewhat

sorry i haven't gotten back to you in a while lots of work but ya im going to start to take it off i have no idea what im doing but ill learn along the wayjust want to take off that vinyl and i guess fill in the holes for the side lights