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Wolfsburg West Vinyl Sunroof - Color and Experience
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DeVertible
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 19, 2014 8:15 am    Post subject: Wolfsburg West Vinyl Sunroof - Color and Experience Reply with quote

I am getting ready to purchase a replacement sunroof for a pearl white 62 bug. I would like to replace it with white rather tan. Although they both look great, I have come to the conclusion that white was original rather than tan as indicated by various websites. I would like to hear from anyone who has purchased a white vinyl cover from Wolfsburg West, wanting to know if the cover is stark white or off-white. If there is another source for a definitively off-white product I would also like to hear from those folks too. I am hoping to closely match the pearl color of the car rather than ending up with a large, bright white square on the roof of my car. Any other information regarding the installation experience and quality of the product would be appreciated. Source for a DVD or online video of rag top cover installation would also be gratefully appreciated. Thanks, Carl
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glutamodo Premium Member
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 19, 2014 3:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think the ones they sell are pretty white. I gave up on vinyl tops over 20 years ago though, and go with canvas. Last time I got one, I bought one of the (special order color) off-white canvas tops that Sewfine sells. It's not an exact match for Pearl White but it is better than white.

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It depends on the ambient light as to how close it matches the paint.

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Now, I don't know accurate this sales photo was, because it appears to have the wrong color running boards, but here's a vintage 1963 ad showing the top being a little darker than the paint.

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62ItalianRagtop
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 21, 2014 3:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My og pearl white sunroof cover was pearl white
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glutamodo Premium Member
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 21, 2014 8:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The factory installed tops were always supposed to be the same color as the body... however a "named color" in vinyl may not have always been a 100% match but I'm sure it was intended to be close. Which is why I cast some doubt on that advertising photo I posted above.


I have no idea if this was an original top or not, over 20 years ago, this kid stopped by when I was at work one evening. He had a 63 quite like my 62 and I took a few photos of the two cars. His vinyl sunroof top matched that car and I don't know if it was original or not, it wasn't attached very well at the front.

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gondiwindi
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 21, 2014 6:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Are these a nightmare to install or is it better to outsource to an upholstery shop? I guess that it's a skills issue, but I have a black canvas top that has been staring at me for the past few weeks.
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SBD
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 6:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I installed a vinyl one on my '63 back around 1990 and it was simple. No real skill required. IIRC, you just pop the headliner loose behind the sunroof opening. It's held in by spring clips. This gives you access to the nuts that hold the back end of it to the body. I think I got to the front ones through the sides with the sunroof open. It was pretty painless, and self-explanatory once you got started. Cool
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Last edited by SBD on Wed Oct 22, 2014 6:08 am; edited 1 time in total
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62ItalianRagtop
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 6:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

DeVertible let we know Wink
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DeVertible
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 7:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well I talked to WW and basically said white was like typing paper white. Got tired of looking and decided on tan vinyl which will match tan runningboard covers. I am glad to get a little ecouragement regarding install. Hoping to find some instructions somewhere. Thanks all. I'll let you know how it goes. Ordered today
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stale air
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 8:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DeVertible wrote:
Well I talked to WW and basically said white was like typing paper white. Got tired of looking and decided on tan vinyl which will match tan runningboard covers. I am glad to get a little ecouragement regarding install. Hoping to find some instructions somewhere. Thanks all. I'll let you know how it goes. Ordered today


http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=564358&highlight=ragtop+installation
^^^Here you go...

Oh, and I have a tan WW cover on my 61, and have no issues.
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DeVertible
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 9:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Awsome that will be a big help Thanks much !
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glutamodo Premium Member
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 11:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Back around 11 years ago the only tops I could find were bright white and tan in the color range I wanted... (in cloth) and I went with the tan one. It took a lot of work to get it to fit good, but once it did it was good for several years. The stitching started to disintegrate though after a while and that's why I changed to that off-white canvas top from Sewfine mentioned and shown above.

But here's a photo of my 62 with that cloth tan top in 2004:

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I do prefer the off-white top I have now (and the different style of wheel beauty rings). But that tan top is a lot better than the black top I had on before it!

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Dwayne1m
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2014 6:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I personally like a tan top on that model car for 2 reasons, 1-to give it some contrast, 2-to match the tan running boards, but to each his own. I do agree the black top looks bad. What about fender beading? What was the original color, black or white? I've seen both.
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glutamodo Premium Member
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 9:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sorry, I was looking back through some old threads and realized I never saw the last question in this thread.

The answer is... stock fender beading (up to around 1975 or so, IIRC) matched the paint color.
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nvrgvupjw
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 8:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dwayne1m wrote:
I personally like a tan top on that model car for 2 reasons, 1-to give it some contrast, 2-to match the tan running boards, but to each his own. I do agree the black top looks bad. What about fender beading? What was the original color, black or white? I've seen both.
My first 63' Bug had black vinyl which fell apart in the AZ UV sunlight. I rebuilt it with the tan canvas and (surprisingly) that is still pretty good after 10 years (but some years in storage). The tan canvas is more bucks, but I'll use it again.
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