warrior102

ok so I got tired of my T-tops leaking, rattling and my car feeling like it was going to break into pieces every time I went down a bumpy road also my interior turning into an oven in the summer time imo T-tops are the worst option to get on any performance car specially unibody cars and its nearly impossible to find a rot free third gen let alone without the t-top option my car is completely rust free and ive already put a lot of love into It so why not continue to make it every thng I want it to be so here goes

first I found a doner hard top car on craigslist and convinced the seller to cut the roof off and sell it to me for 200 bucks

step one I made a template of the front roof opening using the windshield as a reference point with masking tape and as for the rear I just cut about a half inch back from the side window opening straight across to the other side to give me some room to play

warrior102

next I dissected the two side supports from the roof skin by cutting about 1/4 inch along the window opening and found some tin worm there so I knew I was going to have to do some patch work



after cleaning up the rust and a good coat of weld through primer I was ready to start fitting the side structures to the car and welding them in

warrior102

this part was tricky but I knew as long as the rear window openings matched then the pieces would fit correctly just as if it were a hard top from the factory only a lot stronger because ill not only have the side structures in place but also the t-top structure as well






now that I got every thing to fit correctly I tacked it all into place while test fitting the roof skin while doing so to make sure it all lined up

warrior102

after it was all tacked into place and perfect I fully welded every thing and put in some extra support pieces to triangulate things and make it even stronger

warrior102

now its time to weld on the roof skin I carefully trimmed it with tin snips and used pieces from the old b pillar as patch panels to repair the rusted sections





its all welded up now with a good coat of primer and paint and yes there was a little distortion from welding it because I used a mig welder and not a tig I was very careful to move around a lot while spot welding but there was no avoiding warping a little but it came out pretty good and should not need to much body filler to make it perfect
the car is now more solid than my 4th gen ever was and the only sound I hear when I hit a bump is a thud from the tires

AlkyIROC

I'm glad someone decided on a project and jumped right in to get it done. Those who ask if it can be done or how can it be done shouldn't really be doing the project. With enough time, money and fabrication skills, any project can be accomplished but you have to know what you're doing first and stay with the project to the end.

My drag car has never had any issues with the T-tops but many people would still rather have a hard top.

I am a little curious. The car didn't buckle a bit when you cut the roof off?

warrior102

Thanks I'm sure the doner car bucked up but I wasn't there when the guy cut the roof off as for my car absolutely nothing got cut off just welded in what wasn't there

AlkyIROC

Ahh. I didn't look at all the pictures. You left the inner structure in place and just put the skin portion in where the t-top openings were. That will be much stronger than an actual hardtop.

lmidden

was the guy you got the roof from in Hicksville. and li roads aren't bumpy at all

warrior102

The guy was in levitown not to far from wantaugh prkwy

86TA355SR

iTrader: (1)

Great job.

Richboll

Really nice work.

Javier87z28

iTrader: (1)

Nice job looks good!

warrior102

Thanks I plan on doing a foe vinyl top using bed liner not sure yet I still have some body work to do

Formula 305

PLEASE please please please please please don't put bedliner on the roof of your car. Paint it to match, its the only right way to do it.

Richboll

What about the headliner? With the T-top bar in place won't it be a little difficult to make it look finished?

ASE doc

With substantial weld in subframe connectors installed, my T-top car has close to zero body flex. I like the option of removing my T-tops in nice weather and my prized IROC Z28 never leaves the garage in anything but nice weather, so leaks aren't an issue. Still, kudos on a job well done.

warrior102

As far as the headliner I'm going to use one for t tops and side trim for hard top and in the midle make panels that tuck under the headliner and trim it should look great with the trim and headliner black and the panels grey

warrior102

Thanks ASE doc my car isn't a prized z28 its a daily driver sport so more of a hot rod than a prety weekend car doing this mod to a z28 would be criminal I'm not woried about depreciating the value of my camaro sport and to me my car is priceless any way every mod I do only makes it better

Richboll

Sounds good. I'd definitely like to see some photos when you get this completed. I know that my vote doesn't count but I could go either way on the faux vinyl top. We'll have to see what it looks like when it's finished.

warrior102

I really like the look of a vinyl on the second gens if I do it I'm going to cover from the bottom of the A pillars to about 3 inches down on the B pillars with a piece of molding across the bottom if I don't.like it I could always just sand it off and paint the roof I'm obviously not scared to put in the work

96BlownSSragtop

iTrader: (5)

You just created WAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY more work for yourself than necessary and not to mention more problems. Eventually you're going to miss the leaking t-tops and the inconvenience of the leaks will seem like nothing compared to what you'll be dealing with. A little research would have revealed that "clipping" the top correctly would've been easy with minimal bodywork. A+ for the effort though.

warrior102

It really wasn't that hard at all and what problems will I be dealing with now that the roof is done every thing is perfectly fitted weather stripping and all I'm interested in the corect way to do this you know like the way every one else who has done there research did it

96BlownSSragtop

iTrader: (5)

You start by locating the factory seam in the sail panels. You can either grind the factory filler out and take the seam apart or make your cuts through the sail panel below the area. The other cuts are made in the windshield pillars; personally I like to center the cut in the pillar but you don't have to.

Hardtop cars are know for cracks developing in the body/top at the back of the side window; now you've comprised this area with a seam/weld that extends completely across the top to the other side. PLUS you now have a similar weld at the front of the side window; not to mention all the filler and or warping that go along with long welds in sheet metal.

This guy did a pretty good job with his conversion. https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/fabr...onversion.html The only thing I can't really tell is if he reinforced the joints (I call it sleaving)on the inside or if it was just butt welded. When you "clip" a uni-body car you compromise the structure so it is always better to reinforce these areas and make them stronger.

Rad Rides by Troy also had GREAT pictures on their website when they did the conversion on the 3rd gen they are working on.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not slamming, just saying....

ghettocruiser

iTrader: (4)

I disagree with it being more work. I might agree on SOME of the problems, but his roof area should technically be stronger than a hardtop car now.

First, if you mate at the a-pillar, the windshield has to come out. I dont know many people that can remove a windshield and reinstall themselves...or do it without the glass shattering. $$$ When you mate at the sale panels, you HAVE to make sure you get things perfect or the hatch glass mounting could be off some. Not hard to do, but another complication. You, as you mentioned, also have to make sure you sleeve, cut back and weld things properly if you want it right. Can be tricky if you arent a fabricator.

What he has now, is essentially a T-top car, with extra bracing, and a roof skin. He certainly hasnt compromised anything. Nor has he affected any of the glass areas of the car. I 100% support the thought of putting subframe connectors on that car. If nothing else, to keep any flexing of his weld areas to a minimum. And because they're awesome haha. But Im willing to be there is WAY more support at the corners than a factory hard top, not to mention being tied together in the center now.

Stinks that the panel warped on you. You can use a damp cloth to minimize that sometimes, but really you just have to go painstakingly slow and move around a TON. Hopefully its nothing too bad.

You lost me with the faux vinyl top But Ide like to see your completed work. Especially how you finish up the headliner area. Also interested to see if you have any issues down the road like 96BlownSSragtop mentioned with cracking and such.

J.

warrior102

If I clipped the roof I would have had to weld in all sorts of brace work so the body won't get out of wack when you hack up a perfectly straight and solid car only to weld on a roof that isn't as strong as if it was done my way seems like more work with less benefit also I doubt ill have the issue of the rear corner cracking like most hard tops do because I reinforced every thing and as for research I did pleanty of making sure every thing would fit before I started the work so who cares what others have done I did it my way and I'm happy with it imo its much better than a factory hard top

warrior102

Oh and I already welded in a good set of Alston sfc there great because they tie in the front and rear frame rails not just beef up the rocker panels like most sfc

ghettocruiser

iTrader: (4)

Good point about bracing the body when you chop the top. I was thinking that as I was typing my response and forgot to mention it. You'd def want to strip some interior and add some cross bracing to keep things squared up. Another pretty important/busy step.

Good call on the Alstons. That should help ya out. You can always add perimeter SFCs if you feel like you need more chassis stiffness, but for general use those Alstons will be fine.

J.

warrior102

I'm going to get started on some body work this Saturday so ill post more pictures this weekend

Arizona IROC

iTrader: (4)

I think it came out great!! Good points on either side but the way you did it was extra strong with only a slight weight penalty. Clipping would have been a nightmare with all kinds of extra work on the glass ect and keeping the factory tolerance the way you did it is the right call. Now it's similar to the forth gen design.

(Troy would have put on fins and still would be working on it four years later)

Arizona IROC

iTrader: (4)

More pics of the roof without all the tools and covers please.

Richboll

Ok, looking forward to the pictures. Nice job so far.

warrior102

I sanded all the paint on the roof down to bare metal there was 2 coats on it so that took quite a bit of work and got all of the low spots filled with no more than 3/16 thick at the worst of the warped area it still needs a light skim coat to make it perfect but for now I gave it a coat of primer to seal every thing up till I get back on it my arms need some rest lol ill post some pictures as soon as I transfer them to my computer

warrior102

its getting there

ghettocruiser

iTrader: (4)

Looks pretty dang good to me! At least from the pictures and distance!

Good job!

J.

warrior102

Thanks it does need a little refinement just a few little spots Im going to prime it black when its done and see how it holds up for the winter if there's no cracking or any other issues ill decide on the next step I know your against the vinyl top thing but part of me thinks it will look great

Arizona IROC

iTrader: (4)

+1!!! That looks great!!

Don't forget to give us the report on squeaks and rattles but I bet it will feel a ton tighter on the road.
I bet you will never see that crack the coupes get at the roof weld.

Richboll

I think it really looks good. If you like the vinyl top look...Why not? I've had vinyl topped 1st and 2nd Camaros in the past. I think it might look good. It would definitely be different.
When do you plan to start on the headliner?

warrior102

As soon as I find the trim work for a hard top I know there's a couple of web sites that have them new but I'd father use ones that I know will fit so I'm in no rush I still have work to do on the top so one step at a time btw the car feels solid as a rock !!!!

carattini

It's looking Grate!!

Jeffs82TA

iTrader: (1)

Nice work, t-tops suck on any car. I bought a new 84 trans am and they leaked even when new. I just bought a 97 z28 with t-tops and is was marginally better then my 84.

pulled all the z28 stuff and put it into my excellent condition 97 3.8 camaro and love the lt1 power without the squeeks and leaks of the t-tops.

Javier87z28

iTrader: (1)

Coming out real nice, Id definetly like to see a third gen with a vinyl top, I personally think it could pull it off, might start a new trend lol

warrior102

Thanks for the support guys ill keep you updated

spencerific93

I can't hate on t-tops too much, but it isn't any fun being under glass when it's 90+ degrees out and the sun is coming down strong. Having metal roof panels to swap out for the glass ones would be another interesting alternative. In fact, I may try that when I feel more secure about my welding capabilities.

Ashton89iroc

Someone, somewhere in the distant future is going to buy this car, and be obscenely confused why the factory numbers come up and say this car is a T-Top car. hahaha

jrhaus76

Lol, I almost did the opposite to my 89 iroc. I ended up keeping it a coupe.

Good job!

85ttopsz28

looks like you did a nice job! in my opinion the T-tops are probably the best thing about these cars, cant beat taking them off on warm day and going for a cruise...but that's just me, again nice job!!!

Kory-88Iroc 350 tpi

iTrader: (1)

I like how you did this. I've been thinking about this for quite a while. I absolutely hate all the squeaks and rattles my Iroc has. I have weld in subframe connectors already. This might be the next step. Any developments since it was done?
Thanks,
Kory