If you pop-off your t-tops you will see that trim peice on both sides, each held in by 3 screws. Do I have to remove the t-top weather stripping to get that peice out?

The reason why I ask is the metal on both sides is rusting and just looks gross. Is it 1-peice or 2 peices? And does GM still sell these peices?

Thanks.

 

The center filler piece for the t-tops is one piece and is held in by 10 screws and some adhesive/sealer crap on it's underside.

4 are hidden under the weatherseal (see attached image). There is around a 94% chance you'll get the weatherseal off w/o damaging it.

 

Good, I have a 3% margin of error then. Anything over 97% and I would've simply let it rot.

 

you might as well replace your weatherstripping...the piece is rusting for a reason. Water is getting trapped under the metal and rusting it. I've pulled these pieces off of junkyard cars and found water trapped under them, and it hadn't rained in like a week.

 

Yeah, I picked up a mint rust-free one at a yard last week for $2...talk about a steal!

 

I have the same problem with my car and I just purchased the new metal piece. However, I am afraid to remove it because of potential rust underneath. Is it common to see rust under this bar?

 

And the reason is due to the design. It's not the w'strip fault either.

If you look at the design, the t-bar filler/trim (or whatever you want to call it) is composed of more that one piece of metal and rivited together. Even though that is not the flaw, it helps with the decay.

No matter how well the seals work, where the tops tuck under the center bar (that shows on the topside), water will get underneath/down there and go... where ?

While the t-top seal is supposed to seal against this seepage... over time & the seals shrinking, fate happens.

This is where the C&C tops having a 'gutter' have a mild design advantage over OEM tops.

Just my opinoin though...

 

That's a good reason TO remove it. If you have the new piece, pull the old one off and make sure there isn't any rust. If there is, fix it before it rots out. You don't have to make it pretty since it is covered. I pulled one off of a parts car with so much rust on it that I thought for sure the car body would be rusty underneath, but all the goop they put on at the factory and the original paint protected it and it looked new, so you probably don't have anything to worry about.

 

Now what about that bar that the t-tops slide under. I dented it accidently trying to take the trim peice out. Is that part of the top of the car?

 

Take another look at the pic that deadbird posted. It's all 1 piece.