My first muscle car was a 1964 GTO that I dragged home. Red with black vinyl top. I was prepping the car for paint and I removed the vinyl top, only to find the panel below the rear window to be completely rusted through for about the whole width of the car. Major bummer! This was in around 1976, so the car was 12 years old.

Unless it's a points type restoration, the only reason I can see to reinstall a vinyl top would be if the sheet metal under it is too scabby to have out in the popen. In that case the vinyl will hide the imperfections.

R.