Hey guys, so i got my car for 300 bucks a while back... was originally gonna get a chevy nova... but found her and fell in love. anyways

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v106/FuzzyStyle/IMGP1375.jpg
what the hell is it. I know its a 173 v6 sport coupe automatic... but the top is like... what? is this a custom job, I dont think its the worst thing in the world.. but id of course redo it
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v106/FuzzyStyle/IMGP1376.jpg
but where the hell would i go to have someone do this...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v106/FuzzyStyle/IMGP1378.jpg
and please dont just say sell it and get something new

any help anyone?

 

"what the hell is it. I know its a 173 v6 sport coupe automatic... but the top is like... what? is this a custom job, I dont think its the worst thing in the world.. but id of course redo it"

That would be called a hack job.
I reccon they wanted a vert.
That's ridiculas.

 

LOL rednek engineered Targa top!

 

Ummmm well all I can say is Ummmmmmmmmm? I realy dont know what to say...might be able to salvage some good parts from it and recoupe some of your $300 loss? Another option would be make it a convertible. Its forsure not an option....my guess is maybe it was T-tops and the center bar rusted out or something and some hillbilly engineer seen a porsche targa and tried to well Ummmmmmmmm

 

looks like a cheap targa top

 

whoa! I've never seen that before. Looks like a vinyl-like t-tops. very interesting...

 

I can probably find a upholstery place to remake the ugly piece and then it probably wouldnt look so bad..
Cause the car runs great (cept a little rich)

I call this the dustbowl
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...e/IMGP1380.jpg

 

Ummmmmmmmmmm no try to fit some T-tops in there!

 

good idea, im probably gonna look into that

 

Does the car have SFCs? Do the doorsopen and close? How are the door gaps?


Give it a few months without SFCs. It'll sag and droop, until the door gaps close up, from driving.

If done RIGHT, targa tops are cool. Unfortunately, they never are done right.

 

well is the "ttop bar" even there? it deff looks like a ghetto rigged targa top to me....dont think it would look good refinished either..part it out and see how much of that 300 u can make back imo

 

yeah, doors dont close first time and theres no SFCs, that is my 3rd thing im gonna do.. prob not gonna part it out.. checked out a few body shops and looking at talking to a few people to either converting it hard top or putting a t-bar in it so i can use t-tops.. right now its just a open space.

 

i was just going to suggest that you convert it to a hard top. if you love the car dont get rid of it, dont part it out. i would say for structural integrity though since the car looks like it has been through h**l, cut the rest of the top off and weld on a hard top. i know the $300 deal though that's what i paid for mine.

 

yeah, thats what i was planning on doing.. thinking about either doing targa or t top thou (first things first: sfcs)
I dont want a crappy job thou, so i have to find a good place

is there a way to reverse the damage done by the structure failing, like if I just get sfcs installed into it, will it be automatically like it was?

I also read somewhere that summit has some front structure arms or something, anyone know if these are worth it?

 

is the t-bar still there? the second pic almost looks like its there. maybe the guy lost the t-tops and rigged up the "vert" top. i assume the "vert" top rolls back or comes off? can we get a pic with it off/rolledback?

 

Looks to me like the t top bar is still there. Oh, and BTW, you can embed the image using the [IMG] code tags. Just copy and paste them from under the picture in your album.

I think your best bet is to go to a JY and buy a set of decent t tops.

 

The fun part will be, to be sure the car is straight and level, before you put the SFCs in. Don't wanna put them in, and then figure out you locked it into a "U" shape.

I suspect you'll hafta run a bar sideways under the front area, like under the front seats, then slowly jack it up, and ensure the doors open & close good, the body lines line up, etc. Once you get the SFCs, it'll be all good.

 

B4 my SFCs were installed, I had the bodyshop check to make sure everything was straight. I don't think straighting it out with a bar under the car is the proper way of doing it, sounds like the ghetto way, and this car has been "ghetto-ized" already. Do yourself a favor, and get it done the right way. All this is just hearsay, the car might be straight now as it sits.

 

A body shop is the way to go, yes. A bar is a home effort, better than doing nothing. I plan on having a shop check my GTA first too, before I do SFCs, even though it drives just fine.

 

That is a dealer conversion. Ive seen one other 83 firebird done that exact way. It even had the black trim piece at the back of the windows on the sail panels. Its a targa conversion, they were done to t top cars. However Im not sure which dealers did it. Hope that helps a lil.
Matt

 

So thats whats up with the top... Im leaning towards either a targa top or t top

what would be one of the easiest ways to get er done.. (note, ive never done any welding.)

and please, we've had enough people say part it out, no more. the day i saw the camaro sitting in a run down yard begging for help i promised to myself I would make 'er fast.

 

I stand corrected. The conversion was also done to hard top cars. Your car was a hard top. Turning it into a t top car would be an awful lot of welding and tons of very meticulous measuring. You would have to weld in the roof section of another car. This would include sectioning it in at the a pillars on the front and the sail panels in the rear. Id keep it a targa. Its unique.
Matt

 

so i should just have someone re-do the black top and leave it be? i dont mind that, i just dont want it looking like puke..

i'd prefer to have some deterrant from having someone be able to just slash it too..

 

Welcome to the world of jeep and other convertible top owners

 

wow ... My friend had a toyota pickup with one of those tops !!they were all the rage with the mini truck guys in the early 90's.
you got 3 options :
1) get a new roof from junk yard ( have it welded in ... $$$$)
2) fix the targa.. (probably not that expensive to repair)
3) cut your losses and forget about your $300 (part it out on ebay)

 

yeah, thx for the repsonses guys.

probably what im going to do is look into getting a new targa top... PROBABLY a custom hard one that cant be slashed, if that doesnt work... ill probably brave it out.

on a side note, anyone know where i can get some center caps for these rims

 

Take one rim to anyplace that sells tires, they can order the correct sized centercaps, although they might not be the correct brand centercaps, but they will be the right size. Ask them if they can order centercaps without any logo's. Or get camaro or chevy bowtie's

 

Take a junkyard car, cut a matching section of the roof out, fab some caps on the edges, and make it a targa hard top!

 

i was gonna say go to the junkyard and cut the roof off and then trim it to match and lock down. then bammmmmm you have a nice looking hard targa top.

 

Looks like that think leaks horribly O_O