its amazing how many people say their tops leak so im out to prove im not the only one with good tops on my 18 year old car.

 

Well mine did leak, but after some adjusting and silicone they dont leak anymore. I love my t-tops so much, also they keep me cool in the summer, a/c is broke for now..

 

Md can you give a little more detail on what you adjusted and siliconed to fix yours. Mine leak but the gaskets to look all that bad so I would rather fix what I have then buy the new set especialy being that its like $200 or more now.

 

Mine leak, but only after a while in very hard rain. I still like them

 

My car likes to leak from mystery positions. I took the horizontal plastic piece off that is between the tops and the hatch and it poured water out on me. I look in the tops, no water. Hhhhmmmm. My foot wells in the front also like to get wet. I think that is from the hvac vents collecting water though. I have never seen a third-gen that didn't have wet insulation under the carpet in the front of the car. I'm on my third one now.

 

Mines still holding up good after 13 years. Could be because I never take them out.

 

Mine leak. But my car also wasn't cared for too well in the later years before I bought it. The metal plate between the t-tops has massive rustouts in it. I have new weatherstripping and a good center plate that I'll install after I do the bodywork and paint...
Rob

 

Adjusting is basically done by taking the the plastic trim pieces off that go around the pin holes of the t-tops. there is 2 philip head screws in each trim piece. just take off the nessasary trim to adjust, for instance my t-tops only leak in the rear on the car so i took off each rear side trim piece; note when doing this the t-tops must be taken off. Once the trim pieces are off and the windows up, losen the bolts once on each side of a pin hole and there should be a metal lever piece that pushes against the rubber weatherstipping that in turn pushes against the window to make seal so water does not run from the t-top weatherstrips down between the window and body into the car. With the door closed try to push that lever as far as it will go to make it push against the window. that solved most of my leaking. secondly i gently took a flat head screwdriver and pushed away the weatherstripping where the t-tops go on top of away from the body and put alot of silicon across the entire rear from window corner to window corner. you are just supoose to separate the lip of the weathering stripping from the roof metal (you know the weatherstripping you rear across the rear when the t-tops are on. I typed alot and i dont feel like typing anymore today. If this makes any sense , or does not make any sense please say so i dont want any body messing their t-tops up any worse.


Make sure when adjusting not to make the t-tops clamp down to hard against the weatherstriping, they need to fit snugly but not where they cant flex or move alittle, a good test to see if they are adjusted right is wit the windows down and on a level surface, with the t-tops on a clamped down take both hands and grasp the edges on the t-top right next to where the pin goes into the holes and wiggle up and down gently, the t-tops should onlywiggle alittle like their floating around in the rubber.

thats how i stoped all my leaks, i just some testing here and there and looked at my car after every rain to see where the water was and came from, over about three weeks. All it cost was some of my free time and a couple of dollars for silicon.

 

Mine does not, but the window does.

 

I have had my car since 89. Its an 1987. It has never leaked. I still have the original weatherstripping. Its probably because the car is a 2.8L and never had the body stress that the V-8 cars did. I have heard the torque twists the body and causes stress cracks in the t-top cars. That and most people don't silicone their weatherstripping often enough. When you drive around with them off they get even more sun exposure and dry out.

Best thing to do is to get subframe connectors and replace the weatherstripping. Then keep it siliconed with Black Magic.

 

i would never have a camaro without them.
they are too cool!!!!
biker

 

i have an 84 and no leaks (knock on wood)

 

Mine is an 88 and so far no leaks. I have only had it for 7 months. Hope they hold up. Thomas

 

Thanks MD, for the most part that made sense, I guess part of it was I never really looked the the weather stip that close to see that it could be adjusted like that. Im sure it will all make sense when I go out and actualy see what your talking about.

Oh yeah, leaks or not, gotta have the T-Tops, just not a summer car with out some kinda of removable top.

 

Mine only leak when in the highpressure car wash, or when you hit it with water from a hose just right.

ANdrew

 

My t-tops are aftermarket. Havent leaked one drop yet. I just got some new t-top lining a week ago.

Heres a B4 shot. Its all fug*ed up.





After shots.



Looks lots better.






I wish my car was a hard top. I'd rather go for a stiffer chassis instead.

 

My tops don't really leak--but I wish I had a hard top.

 

I will never go back to a hard top now. Mine dont' leak, TAKE GOOD CARE OF THEM AND THEY WON"T LEAK

 

Mine leaked when I first got it, the only time it will now is if it rains for about 24 hours straight... which has only happened once so far this year.

I've had good success with permatex ultra black, it blends in with the colors of the car pefectly, you don't notice it at all, and it dries to a nice hard rubbery gasket material. I ran a bead which i then smoothed all the way around the front gasket from down by the rear view mirrior on one side, up across the top, and down the other side. Make sure t hat you seal up the area around the ends of the top bar. Doing this made a world of difference, because even though mine had new gaskets when I bought it, they still leaked pretty good.

What you really need to look for is gaps in the gasket that allow water to trickle down inside the body. It'll come out, sometimes not right away, in weird places, leading you to try and seal up areas that are actually holding fine. This gets annoying because you keep trying things and they don't help. Been there done that. My tops leaked in the corners, but the water was coming from the middle bar.


I'm gonna borrow a picture from borlazo6 here. The Tops are aftermarket, so I'm just using the pic for a positioning reference. Look for gaps in the gasket where I'm gonna circle here. Sealing those gaps up, if it has them, will really really help. Those liners that go over the top look like a good idea, GM should have done it like that!

 

mine did, i used vasoline to make the rubber swell and form a good suction. lets just say petroleum jelly isn't just for **** sex anymore! hahahahahahaha sry that was gross

 

my t-tops dont leak ... 84 camaro

 

hump more girls in the car and they will leak.

 

That's why the factory manuals all say don't do that...
Rob

 

ATOMonkey Mine leak in the same exact spots as yours. Is your middle piece between the t-tops rusted? Mine is and I think that might be the proplem. If you come up w/ anything to fix it let me know.

 

I hate T-tops.

 

Now my car is 15 years old and I have the original stripping. NO LEAKS THANK ***. the horror stories i have read on this board are unreal. Damn I love my T Tops. The best thing to have on a warm summer day. No hiding in my car with the AC on. Oh I can't anyway because my car came with AC delete as a option. Also makes our cars look sexy and sporty. Okay i know we are giving up performance but you can't have everything. I'll sacrafice a little performance for sex. Will you?

 

My '92 has the original weather stripping and doesn't leak at all....

my old '84 used to leak alot but I just took all the window stripping off and put clear bathtub caulk under the weather stripping, and it never leaked again!

 

Last night it rained hard as crap for a few hours, windy and everything. When got into my car for work in the mourning i did not see/feel any standing water. , but however when i started the car and moved forward a cople of drops hit the back passengers rear seat. So i think i need some silicone where the t-top pin goes into the hole. I think 5 drops of water on the rear seat is not bad at all considering how much water came down.

another important point is that just because on my car the front does not leak, doesnt mean it lets water in, the front could let water in and then work its way to the rear and thats all happening under the rubber weatherstipping/ and the center bar thingy.

It just takes time, i am glad i just did not go out a buy new weatherstripping. if the rubber is in good shape, u just need to adjust the t-tops and put more silicone in certain places to stop the leaks.

 

Mine still dont leak

 

I have the same problem that one or two of you guys mentioned about water coming into the car from the trim piece that goes across over the rear seats. I haven't fixed it yet, but I found where the leak is coming from. In my case, water is coming in between the body and the bar goes between the two tops. I don't know how to explain it in words, but HrdRockA4305 posted a pic with it circled. Water goes into my car through there, then runs down to the back of the car over the headliner. If and only if it rains for a long time, water will accumulate on top of that plastic trim piece over the rear seats, and when you move the car, it falls onto the seats.

As far as water in the footwell, I had that problem recently after putting my car up on ramps for about 3 weeks (long story). If you go up to your car and try to look in through the little grill that is between the wipers (its easier w the hood open), you will see that a few inches under the grill there is some sort of caulking there from the factory. On my car, some cracks had formed right there. I loosened the grill and applied some black silicon to the cracks, and the leaks stopped.

 

My 84 camaro had the same problem...it was leaking from the top which ran down the plastic trim peace onto the rear seats...this particular vehicle had the rear window wiper and above the hatch there was the nozzle where the window washing fluid shot out, which is where it was leaking from....so if you have the rear window wiper (which almost no one does) you should try checking there....

 

Y'know, the seals on my car aren't in great shape, but the t-tops haven't leaked yet (and I've been caught in a couple of nasty storms). I think there might be a small leak above the driver side window but it's hard to tell if it's a leak or just water that ran in when I got in. The back seat is always nice and dry though.

 

I think mine leak.

But I feel it's a fair trade-off. Although I am going to look into using some sealant of some type to seal out the water.

 

Another long rain and just a couple more drops that got in, my passengers side let some rain in when i moved forward to go to work today. I look as i left my parking space and the water came in between the under where the pin locks down the t-tops in the rear corner. I think i need some sealant around that area.

I think some where on that t-top water works in way in and fill up somewhere inside in , so it doesnt leak any water when its just standing still, it all comes in when i move foward and when i do that i rushes from the t-top undereath the pin (or around that area) and drips into the seat a alittle bit. So right now i am fighting that leak but that's not bad at all verses what i had before. Its weird that only that side leaks now.

T-tops are great, cant live without them, takes time to make them stop leaking.

 

Mine leak badly! It doesn't help that I live in the land of perpetual rain! My next 3rdgen is gonna be a hardtop. They just have a cleaner appearance anyway IMHO. I'll probably miss the t-tops during the summer though.

 

well describe the leak: where does it leak or where does it appear to be leaking from? how much water in what places in the car? what have you done to try and stop the water?

we can try to help!!

 

Where did you get the new center beam? I didn't know it was replaceable. Mine has a fairly big rust area on it too.

Mark

 

you can buy used ones off of ebay, search under firebird t-top, or camaro t-top, t-top metal, ttop tri.

 

I also have to admit to having good tops on my bird, mine have never leaked. i've been a proud owner of the bird since 1995, it's an 89.

 

mine dont leak at all, and they are still original. not bad for an 89. they will leak if you put water pressure on them like from a hose or at the car wash, only where the seals meet, but it can rain all day for days and they dont leak.

 

i have a 91 and they haven't leaked yet....not even when in heavy rain......and we get a LOT of that down here...
BUT.....my windows leak.

 

Mine dont leak, but man do the squeeeeeek.

 

Mine leak from going to the car washes, but when driving normally, they are fine.
It will most likely get progressively worse until I beef up the suspension on the car. Yeah I get some squeaks and rattles, but I think that's to be expected with the motor I swapped in.
So far no body problems, but I should get that done too. I'm more concerned about my rear-end gears right now, and they will be done first most likely.

 

Ya mine only leak in the car washes.....they're fine in the rain

 

mine leak around the windows. it sucks when your driving in the rain and you get get out of your car with wet spot s as if you walked to your destination

 

mine slightly do, but only while the car is sitting still in a heavy ran. and i have a car cover for that.

 

ATO mine also leak between the hatch and the T-Tops.. i think its coming from the rear hatch.. IF you know of anything lemme know.. i have my headliner out and im waiting for rain to check it out.. But i also have a leak at the rear... It fills up my rear ditch with water.. i think the spoiler holes are leaking or something.. gotta check it out.. post some ways of fixing the leaks!

 

When adjusting the (stock) t-tops, do you want to adjust them tighter or loser than they were before in order to stop leaks and rattles? Iv'e tried everything and can't get rid of the rattles (driver t-top) and leaks (pass. t-top). BTW, the weatherstripping is new. Suggestions? -89IRO

 

No leaks here, and all the previous owners of my car must have been retarded because there is so much $hit wrong or fixed half assed. I think part of it is luck, however, my windshield seal leaks, so I still have wet seats and floors. DOH!

 

I bought my car about a year ago. My T-Tops have never leaked. What people don't seem to realize is that there is a trick to lining them up so that they don't leak.