Black_Seven

Hi, been lurking these boards for quite awhile just absorbing info and opinions; finally decided to register and start posting the other day. Anyways, I have been obsessed with camaros (third gens greatly preferred) basically since I was little. I saw a candy red 3rdgen Iroc burning around my neighborhood as a kid, and developed a love for them. I asked my dad when I was 7 what kind of car it was, I was told "camaro" and ever since that name has stayed in my head as the most amazing car I could ever get. I went through most of my teen years just admiring local camaros and learning more about them here and there, I've now been out of HS for 1 year and am looking at buying my first 3rdgen. I've looked around for a couple months and gone through a few, right now I'm looking at a 92 RS that I'm very interested in. I love everything about it, save that it has no cat conv and will need one before I can insure it. Only question is, I hear people **** and moan about T tops leaking all the time, and I understand that you can't get perfect ones. The car I'm about to buy has T tops, and the headliner already has evidence of some water damage, so they DO leak. I'm ready to accept that, just wondering just how costly it is to fully seal them/is it even possible to semi-permanently fix the leakyness of them?
Also keep in mind I live in Vancouver, BC (Canada) and anyone who knows anything about this area knows how god damn rainy it is here.

Basically I am wondering, am I going to be dealing with leaky t tops the rest of my life? Is there any sure fire way (money is no object when it comes to my car) to completely fix them from leaking?

My dad and I were chatting about this and he says he knew someone who actually got their t tops permanently sealed to the car just to end the leaks, effectively turning them into lame sunroofs that can't open.

Is there no other way?

hot92RS

The good thing about this site is the plethora of info on all items concerning these cars. do yourself a favor, do a search.

Black_Seven

I actually searched for this kind of thread earlier, all I found were a couple short threads from 2003, so I figured it would be better to just start a new one

Bull

iTrader: (5)

I own a t-top car. They can be fun...the four times a year I take them out to cruise. But, they do leak. To fix the leak, I bought new weatherstripping, and carefully and thoroughly cleaned out the channels before putting the new rubber in. Guess what...they still leak.

It's annoying, if you plan to daily drive the car and have a wet drip on your leg on a cold, gray day. Plus, the rust/mildew possibilities suck.

I'd still consider another t-top car, but hardtops are more appealing to me if I can afford another thirdgen. They squeak and rattle less, too.

Black_Seven

Yeah when I buy the car it's going to be my day to day car/work transportation, so from what I've heard I'm gunna try and stay away from T tops if possible

I H8 WWD

iTrader: (5)

There is a thread on here of a guy who bondoed the channels on the t-bar with a little ramp to make the water go straight to the window and down....came out great and said he even was able to go through car washes without a problem.....

I cant remember the thread name or guy, but he did have pictures of it...looked great and worked even better.

So there is a way to stop leaking with t-tops...just have to do some bondoing....in the right place..and you'll be fine.

Search something like 'fixed t-top leak' or something of the other.

ryan91rs

iTrader: (1)

mine leaked so i put some amour all on the get the seals soft and it does not leak anymore... until they dry up again.

86NiteRider

iTrader: (10)

I must be blessed. Not all T Tops leak. My 86 does not leak and is still on it's original seals. I don't do anything special to the seals or any part of that area. I do think that the factory T Tops are better than the aftermarket Tops and the glass tops may be better than the plastic/lexan ones but I have no facts on this, just observations from reading this site. I do agree that my T Tops has a lot more flex than my hardtop. Still that T Top car is so much fun on a 80 degree day. The hardtop can't match that moment.

jay_d

you can always just spend 250 and replace the seals, that should fix it for another 20 years.....

ryan91rs

iTrader: (1)

ha! i'll stick to armor all every three months.

Tmic87TPI

iTrader: (3)

keyword- should
I did mine and it only changed the place the leak came in, maybe I did em wrong, but my teacher who did autobody for a living says he would replace the seals and 6 months later they'd be leaking again.

jay_d

its a shitty design.....id be will to bet your leaking is coming from where your car flexed a lil and never flexed back.......you almost never hear of a v6 car leaking with new seals

Tmic87TPI

iTrader: (3)

if your talking to me its a V8... the V6 is hardtop. your probably right about it being from body flex though, hopefully not and me and my Dad did a bad job putting them in, cuz then I can fix it when I repaint it.

jay_d

since your car is a v8 thats what i would chalk it up to........new seals and some sub frame connectors should correct this.......... but my first camaro was a v6 car that i did a 350 swap on......they never leaked until i did a few hard launches