87transGTA

hey guys, I just realized that my t-tops leak and I came across the idea of chopping the t-top roof off and putting a regular roof on it. The car is a 87 trans am gta, I just want to hear what you guys think about this and if anyone has done it befor, if so i would love to see some pics of it thanks in advance

AlkyIROC

Anything is possible with effort and fabrication skills.

Shift06

It'd be much cheaper just to buy new seals, and much easier to buy a hardtop car. But I am sure it CAN be done.

sleepsinshed

iTrader: (10)

Do a search. There's a thread here with lots of pics where someone went the opposite way; changing a coupe roof to a t-top. It looked pretty simple, but then I've never tried it.

Tehsocks

My car got previously converted from hardtop to t-top and i really wish the previous owner didnt. becuase the paint cracks at the 4 pillars every year.

Brennan

instead of cutting the roof off, is it possible to just "fill" in the holes? add some bracing get some metal to match the roof contour and weld er' up!

FYRCHKN

That is the way to do it.


...Or, just fork out a little cash for new seals.

sleepsinshed

iTrader: (10)

If you're talking about filling in the holes left by the T-Tops, that would probably be MUCH more work that replacing the roof. You'll never get the roof smooth enough to not be noticeable. This is the thread that shows how to swap the roof.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...-top-roof.html

Brennan

any bodyman worth his salt can weld in two patches to fill in those holes and make it smooth. seems alot easier to cut patches out of the roof in a ht car weld em in, skim with body filler, sand it and paint it then to swap the roof.

FYRCHKN

I've chopped a hot rod top or two in my day and I can tell you from personal experience that it's MUCH easier to weld in a couple of patches than to line up the roof perfectly so that the hatch, windshield, and doors/windows line up properly.

And like Brennan said, any body man that's any good can smooth it out. The same goes for whoever is welding it in. As long as you use the proper gauge metal and know how to weld sheet metal without it warping you're good to go.

madhatter

iTrader: (1)

yeah that would be me. its pretty easy to top a car and really could be done if you now how to weld, either way whether you top or fill it will take some work

JeremyNYR

iTrader: (2)

it would be one filler panel, not two. the t-bar trim on top would be removed. I'd cut the section of sheet metal right off of a hardtop 3rd gen. Taking a look at the structure of a 3rd gen hardtop roof will help a lot. There are already metal brackets over each window that you can drill the spot welds out of, cut the sheet metal roof while it's still attached to these brackets and then use the brackets to help you position the hardtop roof section onto the t-top car.

1991Camaroz28

my car had a sunroof and i put in a thick piece of sheet metal from the inside and some body filler on top. nobody can tell. you can accomplish anything you set out to do... but in your case the weatherstrip only takes an hour or so to change. converting the roof to a hard top is going to be a long and messy project. either way your going to have to change the weatherstrips around the window

KG427KG427

iTrader: (1)

sorry off topic but was wonder if 85-89 Camaro Fog Lamp Switch With Pigtail would work for my 1991 rs camaro (fog light)

JeremyNYR

iTrader: (2)

This is incredibly off topic! Start your own topic in the electrical or interior forum, it isn't that hard to do.

1Aauto

As a guy that's been involved with seeing type of a conversion done before (my fathers an auto body guy).This is a huge undertaking.

It would be way more involved and cost way more money than to just buy a weatherstrip kit to reseal your t-top.

If you convert the top to a hard top you'll need to really take you time cutting and measuring,there's going to be welding involved,priming painting etc.

T-top cars are cool and fun in the summer,I'd enjoy what you have.

Just my .02

Tony

kevmann

A good body person could do it. Maybe a dumb question but how hard would it be to just chop the whole top and make it convertible??? I am new to the forum but are there any kits out there you can buy for that. I would guess you would need a donor car.

MitchellDeMoor

I can't remember which issue it was (maybe someone could help me here) but there was a Car Craft issue a while back on how to reseal your third gen f-body so it would never leak again with professional weatherstripping and how to do everything. It was pretty usefull. I could do a search if desperate but I have every issue for like 7 or so years so it would take me a really long time to sift through them all.

chindo

um how about a Targa Top??? that would be nice. I have a sunroof in my camaro and it leaks like no other so instead of siliconing it up so it will leak again later im just gonna replace with some sheet metal. I have a 76 Trans am that i put T-tops on and you gotta do alot of measuring so you only cut once. its not that hard just a little scary and time consuming

Aerosmith

The old TV show Simon and Simon had a red third gen Camaro with a one piece removable targa style top...no center bar like on t-tops.

kevmann

Yeah althought its not a good one, here is a pic. There are other pics of the car out there but its hard to see the targa top. I bet a person would really have to do some reinforcing to make it sturdy.

Aerosmith

Yeah that's it. I would think that a good welded in set of sfc's would take care of it. on my t-top car they made it extremely stiff.

M3rcury

i'll trade you the roof off my 84 camaro lol...im doing exactly the opposite from you haha

87transGTA

lol would the roof even work off a camaro? cause i know the back side where the rear quater panel is diffrent

FYRCHKN

Yes, if you cut it at the factory seam which is towards the top of the B-pillar.

M3rcury

lol idk but i need to find a way to convert from coupe top to t-top

FYRCHKN

Trust me, if you sand all of the paint off of the the top half of the B-pillar, you will see the factory seam. On my car it was a line about 3/16" wide that had a copper tint to it. You have to sand all the way to the metal to see it though.

V6F1R3BRD

lol i found mine because it split...

Z28baynard

i was thinking about doing the opposite of you guys. does anyone know how hard it would be to cut the t-tops into a hard top? i know someone said they were going to do this also but did you and if so how involved is it? thank you

madhatter

iTrader: (1)

read my thread link listed below works both ways

regalracer

iTrader: (4)

Check this Blog out! These guys are doing just that.
http://team309cmc.blogspot.com/

a1990camarors

Hard? I dont think so its alot more simple then you would think people just run away and hide when the hear somthing like "swap a roof" "tub the car" it really isnt as difficult as they make it seem because theyve never done it before...
Just drill out your spot welds for the roof, take it off, put the new one on, re weld body work blam your done. Go to Madhatters post he goes into detail i think he was able to do it in a weekend too.

89Camaro89MI

iTrader: (2)

This, I'll call the best of both worlds.

If you wanted to turn the T tops into a hard top, you could remove the T tops and cut out the center pillar, then smash out the glass, and fab up a single solid piece that would span the length of the roof, using the original plastic lock pieces off your T tops. The weather stripping would just be the two parallel strips, easier to put in and maintain, and if you're going to take on such a project, why not end with something sweet?

you'd have to rewire the dome light, re do the interior ceiling (again - an excuse to make a custom job) and use some heavy steel (probably 16ga) and reinforce it so it didnt bend so much.

Then you've got a hard top that wont leak, and a T top ish ride when it's nice out. The theoretical hybrid roof panel wouldnt fit in your trunk, so you'd have to ditch it in your garage, but I'm fairly certain it could be done.

buell

If you could find that then please let me know as mine leak and i have replaced the weatherstripping!!!
Im still tracing out the leaks and filling in things to get it to stop but no luck so far. I was looking at a 4th gen the other day and realized that their weatherstripping is also around the glass so I may try and do the same to mine to see if I can seal her up good.
Anyone else think this is a good idea if done right?

artistic_cowboy

Ok, I'm seeing "do it yourself" hard top-to-t-top but if I wanted to have this professionally done in a shop, does anyone have a ball park cost? (I know it varies depending on shop but generalize for me). It's a 1991 Camaro RS with hard top.

madhatter

iTrader: (1)

that is a tuff one to answer but ill give you the generalist of ideas here. roughly 65 dollars and hour in labor. so the swap itself is like say 20 hours, plus body work another whatever, and paint and supplies. you would have to be close to atleast 5k. just my guess, although the hours that it took me to do may not be what a shop would qoute. one of the cheaper shops that i know quoted me 750 to respray my front bumper on my gtp that got hit. now that is just a respray, and some guys are spending 2000 to 6000 for paint jobs across the whole car depending on what is needed. now no one can give you an estimate except a shop. i will tell you that it will be more that you will want to spend. in this case it would be better and cheaper to buy a roller or do it your self. but i also know nothing about anything so take it for what you will. pm me if you have any questions about doing it yourself, but my thread is pretty self explanitory.

artistic_cowboy

I think I'll stick with my hard top...sigh. I don't have the energy, talent, tools or anything else to do it myself lol. Thanks bud.

KITT1983

iTrader: (3)

good luck on whatever you decide

BPWilliams

Just got done going from "T-tops" to a solid roof. I have a 1984 Z28 and actually got the roof off of a 86 Camaro. It was easier than I thought and if I took the time to do a little more filler work on the whndshield post you would never know it was swapped.

The rear on the inside has a flange with two screws that is what I used to aligh the back and the front I cut right at the top of the pillar. I used my F-150 and some rope to get it all straight and tacked it in place, double checked my dimensions and MIG welded it in place. Put a little bondo after sinking the welds with a ball-peen hammer and wala ... race car!

Mathius

A huge benefit to doing it this way is it allows you to maintain the integrity of the chassis better than removing the whole roof.

If you remove the whole roof you're going to have to weld in temporary bracing to hold the chassis straight or the whole thing could twist out of spec.

If you skin it the original t-top roof remains in place holding the integrity of the chassis for the most part as long as you don't go crazy crazy with the heat.

I would have two concerns about skinning it:

1. How hard is it going to be to match the factory channel for the window so that you can put weatherstripping there. Maybe it's easy, I don't know. I got rid of my camaro 6 years ago and don't remember what the area looks like.

2. Make sure you put in more bracing than just tacking in sheet metal. I would run some tubing from the a-pillar to the b-pillar and then skin the top and bottom of the area. That way your roof won't be super weak. I would also think long and hard about possibly putting in a cross piece in between. You could probably go with like 16 gauge and get away without doing that, but it'd be a PITA to work the metal and it obviously is nowhere near close to the normal thickness of the stock roof. You don't need a roll cage in there, but you also don't want your roof contour caving if some idiot leans on your car and any extra protection over your head is nice if you're ever unlucky enough to roll the vehicle.

Mathius

85TransAm406

iTrader: (1)

Good luck skinning that, you'd better be good with an english wheel and a pneumatic planishing hammer. Thats why any pro i've ever seen gets a donor panel or a new panel to install, the metal forming would have to be pretty darn good. complex curves like the roof would be harder than you think, especially a piece that large. Small panels, sure. A roof panel? Wow. You might as well be forming a door skin or something. Gentle curves are the worst to replicate, and the roof has a slight compound curve to it.

BigKeg

YOU HAVE A T-TOP 350 GTA, AND YOU WANT TO MAKE IT A HARD TOP....... ARE YOU MAD????? I have a friend that has a 305 t-top GTA, trade him cars then do his 305 to a hard top... I am new to this F body thing, but one thing that I hear a lot, when people see my T-top 350 irocz28 is WOW.. I hear that you had to order the t-top with a 350 that GM didnt just make them to make them. That is you would never find a new t-top 350 on a lot. Some one that works at autozone even told me that the only way that you could get a t-top 350 was to void your warenty out...But I dont know the hole story like I said I am new to this F body...