ok i've decided, my 88 rs camaro needs t tops... i'm tired of the hard top.
people have already tried to tell me to just get a new body but this one was my first car so i'm just going to try to convert it... and if all else fails...i'l just salvage the engine and get a new frame...,one with t tops.

i'm just looking for someone whos done something simmilar to give me some tips or possibly some other advice. or someone with t top experience, or somebody whose done seroius b ody work... i really don't want to mess this up

any comments suggestions or help would be massivly apreceated

 

A t-top car, as I hope you know, has less structural integrity--and, of course, there's the whole "my-t-tops-leak" story. Many members would say that converting is silly. Still, the car belongs to you. Search, as there's a thread concerning the whole ugly business.

JamesC

 

here you go man
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/fabr...nversion+top+t

 

hey thanks, its good to see i wan't the first one to come up with these rediculous ideas, yeah i know about the lesser integrity but its a v6, i don't really use it to race as is, and the leaks, well it'l be woth it for finally fetting the t tops i've wanted since i was like 10

 

How much experience do you have with bodywork? That is an important first question.

Thirdgens are dirt cheap right now. You could buy a project with t-tops already, and keep your current car because of its sentimental value.

I predict that you will regret the t-top conversion. They aren't that awesome.

 

yea i used to really want ttops but now i regret it if you wanmt ttops you can buy my z28 ttop car lol

 

i have a fairly decent amount of experiencewith body work, but i haven't done anything as major as this.
i'd love to buy another project but i live in ct and haven't seen any good projects with t tops with out a ton of rust or with a lower price.... if i could find one i'd probably just be tempted to do that
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how much?

 

While I may agree that transforming a non-T-Top car into a T-Top car may not really be such a lucrative project, I have to disagree with this statement. On those warm 70 degree summer nights, they are, in fact, that awesome.

 

and i agree which is why i'm lookinginto doing this

 

Personal preference, of course. I like them on those perfectly temperate spring, summer, and fall days/evening, too. But I have the tops on far more often than off, and in that position they just make the cabin noisy and present me with leaks and adjustment issues. Plus, they make the car squeakier because of the reduced body rigidity.

So, I say not that awesome to go through the work of scalping a hardtop car and grafting on a t-top roof simply to enjoy some wind in your hair on nice days. Easier to buy a t-top car with thirdgens commanding bargain basement prices.

 

i did it and it is pretty easy. you must know how to weld, i did a step by step write up on it with pics.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...tml?highlight=

have any questions, just ask

 

thanks for the thread, it'll come in more use than i could believe....not sure how i missed it

but i did have a question, how does the whole shaved gas can or door handles thing work? how do you do it and how do you get to your gas/ door that way

 

oh one more thing if you go this route where you are sectioning the a-pilars like in this guys post dont do it the way he did. if you look at what he does it is one straight cut and that is a big no-no. if you are going to section the pillars instead of removing the whole pilar like i did, you need to stagger your cuts. if you do it in a straight cut like he did, you are losing structural integrity. it is acceptable to section the a-pilars as long as you stager the cuts and spread them out buy a few inches. toping a car is worth it for those cruise nights, but it isn't something that you want to **** up. if you **** up you risk killing yourself and your passengers if the roof fails. like i said i am all for it but do it right. when some ******* hits you and you flip upside down and your passenger dies because you didn't do it right you wont live that down. take your time and ask alot of questions.
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i have a fuel cell in my trunk. i fabed up the rear so i could put a cell back there. to fill up i have to open my back hatch, then there is a fire wall door that that flips up so i can access it. the back of my car is completly flat with pannels that flip up so i can access it. so there was no reason for me to keep a fuel door

 

thanks i'd never really thought of staggering the cuts... and don't worry i'm planning on researching this project to no end before i even think about msking the first cut, like you said last thing i need is to have the thing collapse

and the sheved cas thing is pretty cool, but what about the antenna? i personally don't like mine? so how would you do that. and anyone know how the shaved door handles work?

 

i took the antena off and welded a patch over the hole and smothed out so no more anntenna. as far as shaved door handles no idea, i didn't shave my door handles, i think it is to much a pain in the *** not to have handles

 

i've done just about everything i could to make this car completely custom to my preferences, so i want to continue that.

i'm shaving my handles/ antenna
i'm going to convert it from auto to 5 speed

and i'm going to make it have t tops....

 

If you're going to convert it to something, I would make it a convertable. I love my t-tops, but if I was going to go through all the work to convert a hard top, that roof would be gone altogether.

Just a word if advice since you're obviously not changing your mind, buy BRAND NEW GM weatherstripping and get the updated version (from late 91 to 92 cars). I don't care what anyone says, the GM stuff is worth the money. Anyone who says the GM stuff isn't worth the money are probably the ones complaining about leaks after they're put new weatherstripping on.

 

not 100% sure but i am almost certain that GM discontinued weatherstripping for our cars, at least dealerships dont carry them anymore. please correct me if i am wrong. and hawks sells some good weatherstripping, no fittmant issues, and i have no complaints as of yet

 

I believe they are discontinued, but there is still stock out there.

 

yeah i'll definitly keep an eye out for the gm weatherstripping

and i've been in convertables and i've been in cars with t tops and i just prefer the t tops