Sail Panel Vinyl Installation, ...Step-by-Step Options

[Eric_Shea]

I searched the site for a step-by-step on installing sail panel vinyl. I found people who had done it but no detailed instructions to give you an idea of what’s involved and/or give you the tools to carry on for yourself. With cars that are 28-34 years old, I’m sure there’s more than a few of us driving around out there with peeling, unsightly sail panel vinyl. This is a “Big” job when done right. You’ll have a good portion of your car torn apart. Plan on a weekend where you prep one day and assemble the next. Here’s what it will take to get yours back to new.

Tools and Supplies:

 Phillips Head Screwdriver – Medium
 Phillips Head Screwdriver – Small
 Phillips Head Screwdriver – Short
 Flat Head Screwdriver – Medium
 8mm Socket with Long Extension
 10mm Socket
 17mm Socket
 Small 1” Putty Knife
 Utility Knife with Plenty of Sharp Blades
 Blue Masking Tape
 Regular Masking Tape
 Roll of Butchers Paper (or a bunch of newspapers)
 Spray Trim Adhesive
 Adhesive Remover
 Sail Panel Vinyl Kit (various vendors)

Step 1: Remove Trim

You’ll obviously need to take off all the trim pieces before digging into this task. Remove your (cars) top and start with the large pieces that trim the back of each sail panel. You may want to remove the rear wheel to access the 8mm nut underneath the car. This holds a clip that holds the trim piece at the base. There is one other mount and that’s a Phillips screw. Next would be the front side of the sail panel where you’ll need to remove the rubber weather strip at the back of the door and then remove the Phillips screws holding the mounting track. Use the putty knife to get under the mounting track trim piece as they are glued on with a nice sticky tar substance. I’ll let you work your way through the remaining pieces (basically un-screw, un-screw, un-screw…)

[Eric_Shea]

Step 6: Trimming the Vinyl

Next you simply trim off any excess vinyl. Starting with the top piece. The factory simply ran a blade along the base of each bend on the front and back of the hoop. I used a piece of angle iron to press the vinyl into these dips in the metal. This little homemade tool worked great. If you decide to use this make sure there are no sharp edges that would mar the vinyl. A word about blades; KEEP THEM SHARP. By cutting and dragging across metal your blade will dull instantly. Feel free to change them after each long cut or whenever they begin to show a sign of dulling. My first job was hanging wallpaper professionally (years ago) and a sharp blade is one of the most important things when working with vinyl. Trim the sides in a similar manner leaving the bottom for last. When trimming the bottom, you’ll want to test fit the bottom trim piece (without the clips in it) and draw a line on the vinyl in pencil. The line should be made “under” the trim piece on a portion of the vinyl that will be trimmed anyway. Remove the trim piece and cut roughly 1/8” of an inch above your newly drawn line. This is “very” tricky and requires a patient hand and an extremely new blade… better yet, a very sharp, single-edged razor blade. You want to try to cut the vinyl only and not dig into the paint. As you know, water can gather here and any slice through the paint and down to the bare metal will… rust.