69 Catalina Rescue

[milner351]

Progress is good!

[TheSilverBuick]

Awesome. I've been rolling around in my '72 Centurion lately, fun cars! I've come to the conclusion I'm likely just going to pay someone to install a convertible top on my Centurion every ten years or so. The price wasn't as bad as I expected when I had it done in 2006. It was pretty cool when I went to the shop to get a quote there was a '71 Pontiac Granville Convertible that just got a top done, that was all I needed to see to know I had the right place.

[mrocketscience]

Yeah.. I'm taking it to a shop thats been doing this sort of thing for 40 years. He gave me a quote of $350 to install my top, and I think it's worh it to make sure it's done right. I'm driving it to the shop first thing in the morning and I'm bringing a book and a camp chair to hang out all day while it gets done.

[milner351]

Man that sounds cheap for all the labor involved! I know a guy that insisted on doing his own and it took him an entire weekend, and he wasn't happy with it when it was all said and done. You're doing it right! I hope you're ecstatic with the final outcome.

[TheSilverBuick]

^^ That's exactly it. I know a guy that said he and his brother took three days to do the non-power one on a '68 Camaro and swore never to do it again, let alone tackling a power top on a full size car.

[68scott385]

Yeah.. I'm taking it to a shop thats been doing this sort of thing for 40 years. He gave me a quote of $350 to install my top, and I think it's worh it to make sure it's done right. I'm driving it to the shop first thing in the morning and I'm bringing a book and a camp chair to hang out all day while it gets done.

Sometimes you can't put a price on peace of mind.
Sounds like a deal to me.
Sweet ride...love the hood tach too...is it original?

[Scott Liggett]

Something tells me the convert top guy is going to find more rat turds and acorns.

[mrocketscience]

Sometimes you can't put a price on peace of mind.
Sounds like a deal to me.
Sweet ride...love the hood tach too...is it original?

As far as I know the tach is original. It was an option on these cars.

[mrocketscience]

Something tells me the convert top guy is going to find more rat turds and acorns.

Indeed... That's a definite!

[mrocketscience]

And here we go! New top installed.. check! There is no way I could have done this myself. It took 2 guys all day to do this job. And these guys do this all the time. Wound up being $400 total and worth every penny. So, thats all the money I can spend on this car for a while .... Got to get back to the other cars needing attention!

[TheSilverBuick]

Slick! And great price!

[Blazerteam]

It looks great with the new top!!

[milner351]

Looks fantastic! Now you don't have to worry about the interior in bad weather either.... and hopefully there's no more rodent mess left in the car.

Fabulous transformation in a short time!

[mrocketscience]

Thanks! It took nearly 3 months of weekends to get to this point, from a non running sad looking pile to a nice driver that needs paint. I'm pretty happy with it. Adding everything up, I've spent just under $1700 total on it. As for rodent mess, I think it's all out but won't be surprised if it shows up somewhere else. Lol, there were 2 still in the car when I brought it home. Found em dead in the yard shortly after. My cat took care of it for me. Good Kitty!

[milner351]

I've thought about getting a barn cat for just that purpose - but I'm not around the property enough to take care of an animal - even an "outside" cat - there are a few I see in the yard occasionally - hopefully they are doing their job around the barn.

Enjoy the car the way it is - don't let the paint bring you down, just drive it.