I love the t-top camaros, but know deep down inside i should get a hardtop one, just please give me reasons to stay away from t-top that i might not know, to convince me to get hardtop lol. i like the pro tour set up on cars, so dont know if it would hurt t-top or not.

leaking. imo a hard top car will beable to handle more power

There is no difference in the structural integrity on hardtop vs ttop. Take the headliner off of a hardtop car and you will see.

I'm going to go against the point of this thread and say:

Get a T-Top. T-Top leaks can be fixed, bit more interior noise sometimes with them but trust me, in nice weather you'll be glad you got one

They tend to leak, but theres nothing better then cruising on a summer day with the ttops off. I wouldnt want a hardtop camaro... They may be a little more rigid, but nothing you cant make up for with SFC

I have a hardtop and a t-top and guess what I drive in the summer..there really is nothing like having the tops out in nice weather. My tops leak just a little bit but I couldn't be more happy on the open road on a nice summer day.

if you're bald.... sunburn

get a transformer, hardtop all winter, t-top the rest of the year

robots in disguise!

i wish they made em

just a thought but weatherstripping for hardtop cars is lot cheaper.

Though the t-top is very nice to drive in good weather......

T-Top loosely translated in some language
T- Top (tee top) 1. noun, two removable panels set side by side in a roof of a vehicle. 2. verb, having the ability to leak.



1. The T-top cars weigh more (bracing for the lack of a solid roof)
2. T-tops 3rd gens are not as strong as a hardtop
(ie:twisting and sagging) subframe connectors help!
3. LEAKAGE! -
true they can be sealed not to leak at a cost more than a hardtop.


I have both t-top and hardtop 3rd gens. the interior in the hard top is cloth, the t-top vynil - it can handle water better!
There is a difference in the handling, though both cars do well - the hardtop has a more "tight and firm" feel to it. My preference in the warmer weather is the t-top. The disadvantages balance out with the driving pleasure.

I couldn't decide, that is why I have one of each!

Good luck with YOUR decision.

• You have to clean them when you put them away or the inside of the bag gets dirty.
• They can get really hot when you go to take them off in the summer and you either burn your hands or drop them.
• The open air noise can get annoying on long trips.
• The A/C never seems to work very well with them off.
• The bag and everything takes up a lot of room in the back and the zipper tends to break making it useless.
• The helicopters light up the inside of the car during high speed chases and I can't see how fast I'm going.
• If you leave them off at work it always rains.
• Women are always inviting themselves to ride along when the T-Tops are off and it's difficult to decide who to bring with.

But get what you want. I have really good memories driving with the T-Tops off and they stay with for a lifetime.

I can't give you a single good (enough) reason - I love my T-Tops!

i know why! old people always try to get in when the tops are off!!!

My GTA had t-tops and I have had three other 3rd gen hard tops. I can honestly say that I loved the t-tops. No matter how much trouble they are they seem unbeatable. Wish the one I have now had t-tops.

I've had three third generation Trans-AMs. All of them are T-Top cars. None of them leaked under normal conditions but under high pressure washing or rain they can leak a bit. So that's something to be concerned about if your car is to be kept outside and driven daily. Honestly though I've never used a third gen as a daily driver and I keep my cars in the garage. As a result I only take the cars out when the weather is nice.

If I had to drive one daily and I lived in an area where rain was a concern, then I'd opt for a hard top. For track cars I'd opt for a hard top car. Otherwise, T-Top all the way. Nothing like driving with the tops out on a cool day and nothing like being able to look all around the interior of the car and seeing glass at every turn. It reminds me of an fighter cockpit canopy.

The reason is because, I have the opportunity to buy an 89 iroc 5 speed hard top, which i never see (5-speed wise) for $1500 and is in good shape. I am trying to talk myself into buying it but i gotta get rid of my 2 1992 rs's first. one of those is t-tops and i love it the other is hardtop 5 speed but dont run. but i guess i shall go with t-top iroc. but the search for a 5 speed t-top one is impossible.

I love the T-tops! Nothing better than driving around in nice weather with the sun and wind. Personally I wouldnt buy a camaro that didnt have them (but thats me) regardless of the price or condition.

lol where you live XD ill giv ya 300 for the 5speed if its not completly thrashed XP

dude i love my t tops i cant wait till the next 70-80 degree day to take the car out with em off they are so bad a*s who doesnt love em?? plus not to many other cars have them. A super plus is when you have them off and your windows down you can jump in your car without opening the door like a true red neck

Not much that has not been said. I have had two hardtop irocs and one T-top T/A. The T/A lasted 2 weeks. I hated it mainly cause it was really beat and more of a project than i wanted. I thought i would like T-tops more than i did but i drove down the road and around my block and it didnt do it for me. My hardtop is a lot more solid feeling. T-top cars have more rattles than hardtops..some will disagree but ive had both and the hardtop i have now barely rattles at all! Doors close with a more solid thud. No chance of sitting on a wet seat unless you have a weak blatter. Less chance for rotted out floors. No places for water to collect under the t-bar. IDK man a LB9 five speed hardtop iroc is a cool car and for 1500 bucks i would try it out and see what you think. There are plently of people on here that prefer hardtops (me) so if you want out later im sure it wouldnt be too hard.

I will admit that the hard top is much more solid of a car, My 87 bird was a hard top it did have less rattles than my 91 z but i am still a fan of both cars and will drive either. BUT i do like having a dry seat to sit on when it fricken rains here!

I'd say hard top. Less of a chance of some idiot trying to steal them. Btw, which 305 in the IROC? Tuned Port or TBI?

305 tbi.







the other one i dont have pics of but its to repair this one.

I say stay with the t tops its perfect for when you are cruising in places

Eh its a bit beat up. But even I could handle that and I'm new to all this. Well I don't think I could do that rear quarter panel but..

All the cool kids have t-tops.

You can convert a hardtop to a t-top

like said above t-tops leak and there ugly

If you like t-tops, why should you be talked out of them for a hardtop you don't want ?

Unless you can come up with actual force to twist the chassis x amount of inches numbers, one style is no stronger than the other. Just saying a hard top is stronger because it 'feels' like it, isn't proof of squat.

Buy the car your heart desires, it's you money you're putting into it.

They do, it's called leave the t-tops on during the winter, essentially hard top, jk!! Seriously, I've owned both an 86 Berlinetta hardtop and my currently owned 92 t-top, love the t-tops, can't beat the feeling in the warm months!!

I can't find the car my heart desires. I want an '89 IROC, with t-tops, 5 speed w/305 (only cuz they don't make them with 350). But haven't seen one for an affordable price to me, or local.

I have not had a T-top car until the project I am working on now. I asked a guy in our Pontiac club what he like about his T top T/A and he said " I like cruising in the summer with the a/c on and the tops off".

Is this true?

My dream car would be a black 1988 Pontiac Trans-AM GTA with a 5.7L engine, T-Tops and the digital dash. Either that or a well optioned Formula 350 with T-Tops. Either that or a 1989 20th anniversary Turbo Trans-AM with T-Tops and leather seats.

Why wouldn't it be? Unless you are recirculating air you reduce the effectiveness of the air conditioning, but you absolutely can get cool air through the vents with your T-Tops off. I actually prefer air conditioning with all my windows up. I take the T-Tops out occasionally for cruising at night, but generally speaking I normally prefer them to be left in. I just like the glass roof panels. I like looking up through them and I like how the car looks with the T-Top lines. It is just a personal preference I suppose.

disagree, if the structual intergrity wasnt any different then why does the t-top cars have more bracing?

because GM cant produce a car with an option that is deadly when the car flips maybe? that thin metal will be lighter but you know what hard tops arent as nice IMO, the great thing about my car IS the t-tops you can never beat riding with the top down OH! and girls love them come on now lol if youve got one, it works great as a mirror for them too lol my ex used to put her makeup on with my t-top on the way to class

Structural integrity doesnt mean jack for a stock car either, and if you wanna play that card, throw some SFC's on it

t-tops for the win.

You think so huh? That t bar does next to nothing. Take a shoebox and try to twist it with the lid on it (taped along the sides), take a similar shoebox and remove the lid and add a t bar if you like. BIG difference. Why do you think that GM used a Fixed Roof Coupe as the original C5 Z06 Corvette and not a T top coupe?

The t-tops dont have more bracing--only the convertibles do. I know I got lucky and bought a t-top that doesnt rattle.

The t-bar is metal..... the shoebox is courugated cardboard.... little difference, AGAIN! if you dont have a modified car, then dont cry about it. If you wana make a track car...then get a hard top, or put SFC's on the t-top car

and as far as the rattles i have never in my life heard a rattling t-top camaro/firebird. I have one, my buddy has an 89 GTA t-top, i know about 12 other guys with t-tops and no rattles so i dont find that an issue

You don't even understand the concept of the structural stiffness of a body, it doesn't matter if the box is cardboard and the car is steel. The same principles apply. Similar to how a tube frame is stiffer with body panels welded or pop rivited as a floor/transmission tunnel. The way old race car monocoques used to be made (and how the C5 and up Corvette have it also). It's because an open structure with even a thin steel plate spanning it is stiffer than without it. Significantly stiffer. You can add your SFCs to make the car a sort of full frame but stiffness comes from structural height, it's hard to get a significant increase in torsional stiffness in a single plane (corvette C4 convertibles have an X brace under the car to help with stiffness, even with it it's not all that great)

As for a race car, why is chassis stiffness automatically associated with a race car?

I see people adding stiffer springs, sway bars, shocks and what not here. Let me clue you in on a little fact. Adding stiffer components does not help a damned thing if the chassis is flexing like a wet noodle. Any car with a stiff chassis will have a better working suspension as the chosen damper specs and spring rates will control the sprung weight and not cause the chassis to flex.

i always liked the hardtop because of it having a more muscular look imo and unless the car is black the t tops stick out like a mad man. but both are still very cool none the less

Very nice analogy. I couldnt agree more with what was said. Ill just add that most years (not all cause i know certain years you could get one) you could not get the 350 with T-tops. I just did a search and couldnt find the thread. I think 87 and 88 were years in the camaro that you could get T-tops and the 350 since ive seen a few and know of some on this board but other years im not so sure.

a hard top car is quite a bit stiffer and has less rattles than a t-top car. I have both, my 86 is a t-top my 92 is a hardtop. I really wish the 86 was a hard top. T-tops are neat but loose interest after a while. They can be a bitch to repair and clean too.

PErsonally im a tall guy and t-tops work for me, i got in my friends 92 hard top when he got it, and my head almost hit the roof all the time, its not alot of extra room but its definitely a selling point for me lol leaks dont matter cuz i live in az so it rains like maybe a month outta the year at the most

well personally, i would buy an automatic t-top car with a 350 and to a 6speed swap.

I haven't had a car with factory t-tops so my experience may be skewed but after the fight I had with the C&C t-tops on my 91 GTA. Never again. No matter what I tried I could not get them to stop leaking.
Which is why my 87 TA is a hard top.

Well the C&C T-Tops are a different animal. Not that factory T-Tops are perfect, but I've had good luck with them.

hey not to start a fight here but I will post a few things that I have heard (probably read somewhere but I don't have the factual evidence handy).

#1. the c5 corvette was initially designed to be a convertible so saying they made the z06 with a hardtop because the convertible wouldn't be stiff enough doesn't make sense as to my knowledge there is no additional bracing added to a convertible (remember that the 3rd gen camaros and the c4 vette convertibles were afterthoughts not part of initial designs) that is a whole different animal as far as I know.

#2. as far as people saying they have a 1992 hardtop that doesn't rattle and a 1987 t-top that does or vice versa. You are talking about different cars here because (again no factual evidence but from what I have read on this board) starting in 91 or 92 they began gluing the body together as well as welding it so any 91 or 92 car will rattle less than earlier cars. I can somewhat confirm this as I had a friend in high school who had a 1987 gta hardtop and that thing rattled more than any car I have ever been in. Also as far as structural integrity I am sure (have no idea but it makes sense) that the hardtop would be a lot stiffer but who cares I am sure this is just a fun car for him.

#3. As far as the original topic (hardtop or t-top) a couple of points here I don't think he is racing the car. I don't think body flex is a big deal to him. So to go along with other posters here wait for your IROC 5-speed t-top car, it will show up eventually and you will be really upset if you find it in a year after you have already bought the hardtop.

Also another point to the original poster here, but what is so important about an IROC. You can take a '89 RS and make it look just like an IROC by changing the hood, painting the headlight buckets black and adding some stickers the only one that would know it's not a true IROC is you. The only difference might be when you try to sell it (if your honest and hopefully you are). Also you have all the parts there to make your t-top a 5-speed, just a thought don't know if you would want to do that or if you could handle a job like that but it would probably be cheaper.

op, since you want to be talked into a hardtop and out out ttops, ill say this:

T-TOPS SUCK BAWLZ!

my car is a 1991, under 80k miles, has subframe connectors, brand new GM weather stripping, and i hate hate hate my ttops. they are nice the 3 days of the year i have them off, but taking them off is a pain after a while, they leak - i dont care what anyone says they are gonna leak at some point, and they squeak and rattle like crazy. i see ttops the same way most on here see rear window louvers - out dated, stupid looking, and not really good for much!

if you want the open top feel, get a convertible.

I agree completely in a perfect world get a convertible. However I originally started out looking for a convertible and I have to say they cost 3 times as much probably because they are super rare compared to other 3rd gens. Also as far as seals go they will cost a lot more than a t-top car. But something to remember for all 3rd gen potential buyers if you want open air feeling (whether a t-top or convertible) there are rubber seals that stop these cars from leaking when the open air feeling is not desired (winter. rain, you name it) unfortunately in time rubber dries out and cracks and therefore lets water or wind or anything small enough to get into these cracks you want kept out will get inside the car. So if you want the open air feeling, unfortunately you will probably have the open air feeling more than you care to.

Also as far as t-tops being outdated I hate to say this but the whole damn car is outdated in every way performance wise the square body styling and interior. T-tops are a part of these cars and always will be.

I will stand on my soap box for a minute and say appreciate these cars for what they REALLY are; shitty build quality, shitty interior designing (quality wise) and a bodystyle that is so sexy that 30 years after these cars were designed we are all infatuated with them. To go along with that sexy body style is t-tops. Sorry if I offended anyone here but in my opinion these cars were perfect as they were (except for performance which I don't care what car it is, performance can always be better) but can we please stop the 4th gen dash swapping it just seems all wrong putting a cavalier dash (basically any dash after 1995 all looks the same) into these beautiful cars.

by the way just to stay on topic stay away from this car you want t-tops (obviously) stick with that.