So I have a nicely painted mint condition t-bar to put on my TA, cuz my old one is completely useless and full of rust. I hadn't read up on the installation of it cuz I figured it couldn't be that hard....take old one off, put new one on. UH UH...it doesn't work like that.

I decided to take the headliner off to make it easy for me and to not risk ripping or gettin my headliner full of dirt and rust particles. Well as you all know, all the interior panels from the b-pillar back need to come off, as well as the a-pillar trim pieces. So in about an hour I have this:




and the rest of it piled on the roadrunner...



After that, I started on the bar. I will tell you this, if you want to replace the bar, you better be ready to spend some money, cuz yur gettin new weatherstripping. There is no way you can save what's already there w/o tearing it all to hell. It is not meant to come out in one piece.

So after ripping the weatherstripping in various places, I finally got it off of the rest of the body (which it was cemented to as well) and then noticed that I had a lot more rust than I thought I had.




So today I dropped it off at the body shop to have the rust removed, rust-proofed, primed, and painted, so I can put the new bar and weatherstripping in.

I'll be sure to post pics when I'm done. The bar itself was easy to get out...take out the 3 screws on each side, then 4 total screws under the weatherstripping (2 in front, 2 in back) and then just pry up to break it away from the foam adhesive pads and presto...it's off.

The PITA was getting all the little chunks of weatherstripping and cement out from underneath the lips where the weatherstripping sits. It'll be worth it to get rid of the rust now instead of letting it rot away...so hopefully I am doing the right thing.

-Josh

 

you wont regret spending the money now...

i started to get a leak in my ttops, so when i was getting ready to paint the car, i took the old rusty bar off, luckily i didnt have any rust underneath. then i spent the money on new weather stripping. now the ttops fit nicer and dont leak at all. dont hear any wind noise either. well worth the money spent

its just like anyother repair on thirdgens....a few dollers turns into major money

 

my question is why did you take all the back half of the interior out? I just repainted mine and when I took off the T-bar piece, I left the headliner on(understand you don't wanna rip it, mine is trashed anyway ) But i left the trim panels and everything in, with the exception of the A-pillar trim and the upper pieces at the front of the 1/4's, just had to take off the old w/stripping.

 

It's a little easier to take out the headliner board when the plastic interior pieces that hold the sail panels are out of the car. I just took out the two screws at the tops of those pieces to let go of the headliner board, and was able to get it out like that.

Still, it's a good idea to take all that stuff out if it's getting body work done anyway. Are they rust-proofing the entire unibody?

Hey cool, this is my 1337th post. leet.

 

HAH, ya i wish they were rust proofing the hole unibody....i had to take of those trim panels to get the headliner out. Once I got to the back part, I figured, well, i got this far, might as well pull the rest out.

Why? Because 1)I was bored, 2)I had never done it before, 3)I like the feeling knowing that everything is clean underneath the panels and carpet, 4)Hoping to find a build sheet (ya right), and 5)didn't want any overspray on anything that could easily be taken out...it will be easy for them to tape off the front half of the interior.

 

that's about how my camaro looked this weekend. Wish i woulda also been able to get new weatherstripping too

i bet it'll make you feel better knowing theres that much less rust to worry about.

brandon

 

Here's a thought... new chassis upgrade from Spohn or someone similar... aftermarket t-top bar! Think it would be worth it getting a stronger bar up there? It would be a hell of a lot cheaper than getting a rollcage.

 

I found mine under the driver side front carpeting under the seat. It's still there, too. It was stuck so bad, I had no chance of getting it off without destroying it. So I took a pic and left it there.

 

I didn't look there...I should...my luck isnt too good so i prolly wouldnt find it.

Started on the body work today....

 

looks good



ps, you dont have a stock gain control switch in your car do you ?

 

Thanks.....and as a matter of fact....