the metal on one of my t-tops is starting to fade, how do i restore it?

 

Same question here so i will subscribe to the post. ttt

 

I assume you are referring to the metal trim piece on the outer edge of the t-top panels? Mine are both pretty faded and since I am getting the car painted this year, I need to address this as well. At this point, I just plan on sanding/painting them unless someone posts up a better suggestion.

I have not yet tried to remove the seals on the panels, but does anyone know if they are easily removed from the glass? or are they bonded to the glass? If removeable, powdercoating may be a good option.

 

sand and spraypaint? did that on my old gta and it held up for 4 years while i owned the car...

 

I just did mine a few weeks ago

First i just left the tops on the car and masked it all off, which was easier than i thought it would be...then i sanded with 400 grit and 320 grit in the worse spots to speed up the process...then i sprayed about 4 coats of flat black spray paint, i did it to all the ttop trim as well as the rear hatch trim...pics...shes dirty so excuse the smudges on the trim and the old weatherstripping-next on the to do list...

 

2

 

3

 

You did the rear hatch as well? how did that come? Mine looks like it has some surface rust.

 

It came out exactly like the ttop trim did, it looks alot better but that whole ttop area still looks crappy due to the weatherstripping

 

I painted mine too.. Including the center part of the t-bar. But as far as I know those parts where originally powder coated.

 

HMM i never knew that, but yeah i did the center bar as well

 

Good stuff....

 

You may be surprised as I was to learn that those outer pieces are not metal. They are a molded composite of some sort. I only found out when I saw one broken on an otherwise excellent t-top recently at a pick-a-part.

Lon

 

I cannibalized a t-top once to get that outer strip of weatherstripping. It's some kind of really hard plastic, not metal. The only metal on those things is the lock and pins.