ternadorex

I have had my 92 rs since I was a freshman in high school. I havent done a whole lot to the car in the 12 yr i have had it, interior wise it is in great shape and have only replaced the headliner. I did have the car pained about 8 yrs ago. The only thing on the car that is not really up to snuff was the t tops. After a few hrs work they now match the rest of the car. Here are a couple of pics of befor and after. If people are interested i can do a step by step on how i did this. Now there is no way to get the cracked look out tof the tops from the inside but they look great from the outside. I will get a better after pic up later.

jimmyj2000

I actually had to do that to mine too. I took them in the bathtub and wet sanded them up to 2000 grit. Turned out pretty good, still need to take some polish to them and paint the trim pieces on the edges. As far as the cracked up look from the inside, I have only had one person ever notice that, and she actually thought it looked pretty cool.

Jason1313

iTrader: (3)

Looks good!!

I have a 92 RS and my T-tops could use a restore. I am getting it painted this week and I am in the process of refinishing my rims, 3 down 1 to go.
After getting it painted I thought I was going to have buy T-tops, but if I can restore them myself I would love to know how. I would appreciate any info you can give me. Thanks!!

ssean92

iTrader: (10)

looks nice, I just converted to glass

ternadorex

First thig is to sand down the old clearcoat off of the tops. I used 1200 wet sand to get it off. You can use more coarse paper but it will warant more sanding after you get the clear off. (You can sand the side and fiberglass parts befor you finish the lexan incase you hit it.) If you use more coarse paper to get the clear off just sand it with a lighter paper afterward. eventualy steping up to 2000 wet. after this i used turtle wax polishing compound and a 3m foam pad. spread a thin layer of the polish over the top and hit it with the pad. I use a porter cable 2000 rpm. Keep the pad as level as you can and run over it untill the polish dries up. Afther each time i polish i rinse the top off to get all the polish out of the creveses.(alot easier to get it out while it is still a little wet) and wipe it down to see what it looks like. repeat as needed. when it is as good as you can get it i use 3m final glaze to bring the shine out a little more. Now i taped up the tops being shure to get the tape as close or under the trim as i can. wipe the trim with thinner and spray the trim. I used sparvar paint it matched the other black trim on the car very well. I try to get the tape off as soon as i can to make shure that if any paint is touching it wont pull the paint off the trim. after the paint is good and dry i used some mcguiers cleaner wax on the lexan tops to get any polish or anything off.

ternadorex

if any one has any other tips of ideas please chime in. Now my tops look pretty good. They are not absolutely perfect but it is cheaper and easier than finding and buting new ones. you can skip the polishing and get the tops reclearcoated this may even look better.

LT4Hawk9

iTrader: (1)

They turned out nice! I had a '92 Firebird in High School, too.Zaino makes plastic polish that I know works really well on motorcycle windshields and 3rd gen tailights. I'd imagine it would do well on the tops after you wet sand, too. I believe it has UV protectant in it as well, so it may last longer than the compound.

Jason1313

iTrader: (3)

Sweet, I will have to try that out. Thanks for the instructions and info.

Timinsk

iTrader: (9)

i know this is a very old post but i have the same ttops, mine are needing a restore but i dont have that 2000 rpm power wheel thing :\ what should I do? i heard someone tell me like 1000 grit then 500 grit then 1000 wet sand after and then some cover up polish so it doesnt get ruined again or something, anyone to help me with this?

omnipotentgoku

iTrader: (1)

Is anyone looking to get rid of a set of lexan t-tops ?

Justin89Formy

iTrader: (26)

PM 1brd2brd3brd4 I know he has a bunch of sets for sale.