Hi everyone, I just had the roof on my Solara convertible slashed and have to have it replaced. I was thinking since I’m forking over a grand for this I would love to have an interesting design or fabric on the roof instead of the plain boring rag top. Anyone have any thoughts on how I can do this? I’ve searched the web and talked to the car upholsterer but do not have a solution for this. Seems like the only option is the stock handful of colors.
Does anyone know whether it’s possible to make a roof out of custom fabric and who might do this?
Also what type of fabric is required?
Or if that’s not possible… can I attach another fabric ontop of the standard rag top either by sewing or contact cement? And if this is an option is there a way to prevent mold or anything like that developing between the two fabrics?
Thanks in advance for your advice.
It wouldn’t be cheap!
First you would need to find a material with the color/pattern durable enough to be used as a convertible top. Then this would have to sewn together by either a custom convertible top shop, or maybe a sail/tent seamster. And if there’s a pattern in the material that would have to matched sewn so it looked good. Besides, in all my years I’ve never seen a custom top like you mention. Just the standard colors and materials.
I would recommend not attaching any material to the convertible top. Any material attached probably won’t be UV resistant and will probably deteriorate in a short time. And any ahesive used will dry hard, and then crack when the top is operated.
Just have the stock top installed, and to keep it looking good, clean it with Lemon Pledge.
Tester
Tester’s right, this would be extremely expensive, if you could do it at all. Convertible top material has to withstand extremely difficult conditions, so it’d be very hard to find alternatives that would work. Find some other way to distiguish your car - wheels, interior, heck even a paint job would be a better way to go.
Never lock a convertible either. Thiefs or vandals will not respect a custom top if there were custom tops. Auto upholstery shops will discuss custom tops. I think that all you will find are custom rear windows.
Why not just take the insurance money and use it for a new Toyota top?