I'm going to start working on my Challenger Convertible and will be changing the Black Top and Rear Window assy. Are there any better tops than others out there? I'm looking for correct look, but not at the expense of quality, because I'll be keeping this car. It is a 1970 model car.

The main supplier that YO/Legendary/Dante seem to use is Key.. Many installers won't use them.. Wish they had told me that before I bought it.. Robbins appears to be the top of choice by the better installers.. About twice the price of Key and Robbins will only sell to established shops... I wonder if theres any connection...

Randy, Do they give a reason for using Robbins instead of Key ?

logan426

The story I've gotten from three different installers.. All three are known as top notch BTW.. Is Robbins A) fit better B) have referance marks already labeled on the top to assure the alignment is right before it is tacked to the bows, header or rear tack strip... C) If theres a problem with the top not only will Robbins replace it, they will pay the shops labor... There is value in looking at the Robbins option, I have a Key on my Challenger, it has a couple wrinkles in the back that most E bodies seem to get.. My buddy got his replaced by Key as a defect but no help on the labor side & face it the labor is considerably more than the top...

Now I find out! I'm just about to install my Key top which I bought several years ago....anything wrong with that and I'm sure they will not want to know by now!

FWIW the quality of construction looks as good or better than the last top I bought (Y1 in early '90s), and that looked fine when installed and lasted well over a decade (actually is still fine but it's white & I need a black one now).
But obviously it's the quality of the fit that will be the proof of the pudding. IIRC when I bought it Key were touted as the manufacturer of choice

I've got a Key on my Challenger & I bought a key for my Coronet... The installers don't like them but as far as I'm concerned the top is down 90% of the time anyway sooooo......

My Challenger conv has a Kee top on it. It's been on the car since 92, and looks as good as the day it was put on. I plan on using a Kee top on my wifes Dart conv.

http://www.keeautotop.com/

I will have to see what brand I have it is still in the box it came in. The Rear window is PPG with a nice zipper{brass}

Thanks for the info on the Robbins Convertible tops. I'll check around locally and see if I can have a shop buy one for me.

Attached is a picture of the top I had put on my 70 Challenger. The shop I used bought an Electron top and back window. He told me that he prefers the Electron for cars of the 60 and 70's and uses Robbins for the newer cars.

The philosophy I used when finding a shop was to go in and talk to them about their experience and how they would deal with the problems I've seen on other installed tops. Ask to see some of their work. Also ask how many tops a week, month, year they do. The fellow I used does at lease two a week and does some work for high end restorers in the area When satisfied about that ask for a ballpark price on getting the top installed. I also wanted the shop to buy the top rather than I buy the top and give it to them because it leaves out the excuse of a problem with the top.

Prior to taking my car to the shop I installed the top bows, fitted the windows, set most of the adjustments on the top bows (There was a couple the installer had to change), rebuilt the hydraulic pump, and put in new lift cylinders. I also cleaned out all the tack strips and saved the remeants of the top at these points so he could see how it was attached originally. As with any job the prep work makes for a great finished product. The installer said is was a good thing that I put in new hydraulics as this helps to keep tension on the top.

I am very happy with the top and install job. One thing I emphasized with the fellow was that the main problem I saw with E-body convertible tops was the wrinkles over the back window. In installing the top he kept this in mind and adjusted the taughtness of the top in different areas to combat this problem. The other thing I've found is that by unzipping the back window before lowering the tops releaves a great deal of stress on the fabric above the window and most likely on the tack strip in the rear bow. I found this out by lowering the top almost the whole way before I installed the well liner. With the window zipped up the portion of the top above the window is wrapped around the rear bow pretty hard. With the window zipped out the widow lays below the top and the upper portion of the top hangs freely.

Mike Afflerbach