Are your T-Tops tinted dark?? What are your thoughts...tint or no tint?

 

I live in Texas. It's a must

 

you beat me to it Mark

 

all stock t-tops are tinted I believe.

 

i painted mine - even better than tint for heat control (in Texas also)

 

My stock plastic ones are very dark and the iroc ones I bought are slightly tinted. and to follow suit (in TX also)

 

T-top shades were an option... even better

 

T-top shades FTW!

 

When I ordered my '88 TA with T-tops the shades automatically came with the order. I was surprised as I had never seen these before. They came in a box and that's where they still are today up in my garage. The underside that you see when sitting in the car is made of the grey headliner material. The have a little bit of cushioning to them as I recall. The top side that goes against the glass is black. They are installed when you install the tops and just tuck in on all four side to hold them in place.

I've fit them once just to see how they looked, but never drove with them in as I like to see up through the tops which as mentioned above come from the factory already tinted (not sure what shade coefficient). In a more southerly location (than where I am in southern Wisconsin) these may actually be beneficial.

 

I also have a set and I would warn you that over time the foam padding between the cardboard and the headliner material will turn to dust over time (just like the headliners dent over time) . When I had my headliner done they reapplied the material to my t-top shades as well. They say it may start denting after 10 years like the stock ones do.

 

On my 86 the ttops have a somewhat blue tint to them. I also have ttop shades that I use all the time. I really like the shades, they make you feel like you are in a hardtop car.

 

I have the shades but they are starting to droop, at 6'2" they rest on my head, so I was thinking about tinting them as dark as possible. (Florida) I've heard some people hold theirs up with Velcro??

 

Mine has velcro on the inside corners near the t-bar. Velcro may have been added to mine but I really doubt it. You can get them reupholstered. If they sag I am sure the rest of the headliner has issues so when you get the headliner redone, just redo those as well.

 

Due to my t-top shades drooping I just took em out but my T-tops have a pretty dark factory tint to them anyways. When I re-upholstered my headliner in Oct I should have had em fix my shades I guess.

 

They may still have the material they used for your headliner. I got charged like 10$ more to do the shades as well..they look great and I use them when at shows.

 

I wish I had shades, but it's difficult to find a nice set in red, and I am not willing to pay silly money for them. My Tops are factory tinted, but I still find that the sun and heat bug me, so I am planning on having them tinted darker in the spring.

 

They're not that hard to make.I made a set for my C&C T-tops, which I don't believe ever had said option.My tops are tinted bronze, but as mentioned, shades FTW.

 

I need to get/make some shades, even with the tint in FL it gets hot. It also would probably help if I put A/C back in the car.

 

I recently purchased an NOS set, new in the box, since mine were missing from the car when I purchased it. It came this this instruction sheet, which shows the velcro dots. Are those the ones you are speaking of?

 

Here's a pic of 2 types of Thirdgen factory ( NOT C&C ) T-Tops:





The set on the Left is the style I've had/removed from just about efery Thirdgen that's been thru my yard. However- 1 of those cars had the set that is shown to the Right in this pic. I do not believe these are aftermarket tops,... they use the small mounting/locking pins and came off an 88 Camaro. ( don't know if they were original to that car ! )

I also took a pic of the ID info from each T-Top:

This one is the Mirrored tops I always find:


This one is from the non-Mirrored version:



Hope this helps ?!?!?

 

http://www.1aauto.com/1982-92-chevy-...=948077&y=1986

 

I have a slight problem with mine that black border that goes around the glass is only on my passenger side. The driver side has it but it only goes down the bar where the latch is. Does that mean the driver side is aftermarket? Can the black edging be removed i actually like way tbe driver side is more open glass seems bigger.

 

The black outer trim was used on factory tops till 85 or 86 I think. Pretty sure it was only used on non-locking tops but I could be wrong. My First Thirdgen was an 84 & I always liked having the border on them because I could stand the tops on the ground and never worried about chipping the edge of the glass.

If all 3 sides of the 'border' are not all intact than I might be inclined to remove what-ever is left so to have a smooth/even sealing surface to the weather-stripping. However; after being in place for 25+ years,... the weather-stripping might have formed to the trim and you might cause a poor seal by removing the trim/border. USE YOUR BEST JUDGEMENT !!

 

So do i have the wrong top i have a 87