I posted this earlier and no one replied, so I thought i would try & re-word it.

I just bought a set of the Acrylic T-tops, this weekend that were cracked really bad. Ssince I work for a place that makes Windshields & windows for Airplanes out of the same material. There might be some hope for those of you out there who like the plastic tops, but yours have gone bad.

WHO would be interested in replacement plastic for your T-tops.

John

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G O D BLESS AMERICA

http://www.3rdgenformula.com
87 Formula 5.1 TPI Auto Modified (Yellow/Black)

87 Formula TPI (5 Speed) Yellow/Gray STOCK

14.8sec 1967 Buick Riviera
1990 Buick Riviera (driver)
83 Camaro
83 T/A

[This message has been edited by okfoz (edited November 21, 2001).]

 

Not me. Onece you go glass you never go back.
Kinda like smokeing crack haha just kidding.

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89 Formula Firebird
Red with T-tops
5.0 305 FI
Soon to be a 400small block

 

Clear? Not even tinted like the windshield?
I dunno about that.

Would they be lightweight, yet scratch resistant?

 

I could make them "Clear" like the windshield, or any other color you wanted, even Blue, Purple, Red, or Neon yellow, unfortunately unusual colors could get really expensive quick Because I do not normally carry them in stock.

Your windshield is a really light tint of green and I have that color as well. Or I have a really dark Gray that would be close to the original color.

Stay with me I have yet to do this, and would need to make the tooling. I am just trying to find a market base for these and whether or not it would be worth it to make.

Since Acrylic is kind of soft & would scratch pretty easily, I will have to find a way to scratch prtect them, we have the stuff to do it but never messed with it. So yes in all intents & purposes they will be scratch protected. (as of this writing).

PhantomChamp, Keep in mind that The acrylic (aka Plexiglas) T-tops would be for those that already have them. It MIGHT be possible to convert your T-tops over, but it might be difficult.

The reason I actually picked them up was for their weight, I wanted something that was lighter for T-tops. I will not use mine all the time, just when I want to Drag race (you have to keep them on for that)

John

 

It'd really depend on the price and how close to stock they come. If they aren't indistinguishable from stock then I probably wouldn't be interested.

 

OK, lemme get this right, if they are the same as or different than stock you would be interested??

They would be the same as stock If I can make them, BUT you would have some choices in color. Clear, lite Green (close to normal glass on cars), Lite Gray or Dark Gray would be available.

I was thinking a nice set of lite Green ones would look different than anyone else, I have covers to block out the sun anyway.

 

You have my attention okfoz I am VERY interested.Would like for them to appear to be smoked,just like the plastic ones i have on my car now.Keep in touch and let us know how it is coming along.Thanx.

Brent

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Toys currently owned:
-91 MPFI Firebird
-97 Grand-Am GT
-96 Extreme Sonoma
-91 Suzuki GS500E
-89 Z28 Camaro(under construction)
-89 RS Camaro

 

I have plastic tops, and would never even consider glass ones. If I had a show car I might be interested in new plastic, but since I don't really care what the tops look like, well you know.

 

My tops are heavy enough that I've almost dropped them a few times. Especially when it's hot out, those damb things burn my fingerprints off! I thought maybe lighter, heat resistant modern technology plexiglass t-tops would be easier to deal with.

 

Probably yes, they might not get so hot, because Glass condutcs heat a little better than plex.

BUT you still need the plastic ones to start with, because plex is NOT stiff enough for a direct replacement. The Plasitc T-s had a metal strip on the front & rear edges to give it extra stiffness.

John

 

The "plastic" t-tops were also made from Lexan, not Plexiglass, if that makes any difference...

 

I formerly had a 1984 Transam, ,and then
acquired a 1991 firebird.
When I got the 91 it had the lexen tops
or whatever the hell its made of..
they suck.. almost zero visibility out
of them, they had gold glitter in them.. very getto (YUK)
I swapped the tops with my 84..
I like glass..

I like to be able to see through them
clearly..

 

Why didn't any of GM t-tops come with metal tops the same color as the car? They could actually use the roof metal to do it. I like to be able to see thru the roof, but I just don't see what would be wrong with a metal roof whether it has T-tops or a sunroof or a periscope hole.

 

PhantomChamp,
You could probably etch & paint your T-tops to body color. Actually thinking about it I have to use a razorblade to remove paint from Glass it would probably stick pretty well. You would have to be careful with them though.

Jason86Z28
I used to think that the all the plastic T-tops were made from Lexan aka Polycarboanate. but when I got these Tops I noticed that there was a decal on both of them calling them acrylic, aka Plexiglas.
On the top I notice that they are hard-coated with something called Leximar, which I assumed to mean they were made of lexan. But apparently leximar is the hard-coating they used.

Bluebird
That Gold glitter you are speaking of was more than likely the plastic breaking down, it looks kind of glittery, its called crazing. Unfortunately the life expecatncy of Plexiglass is about 5 to 7 years of hard use and alot of exposure to the suns UV rays. If you take good care of your tops and keep your car garaged, Plex can last a long time.
I know of Windshields in airplanes that have lasted more than 20 years and they are made of the same material. Typically I would expect the average life of plex would range from 10 to 20 years, depending mostly on the exposure to the sun, and how well it has been taken care of.

John

 

As Jason pointed out earlier, Some of the plastic T-tops were made of Lexan as well as afore mentioned Acrylic.

I will also be making the lexan tops as well.

Eventually

John

 

Will you make them domed like the GM ones are? That is the reason i picked up some glass ones. Anything over 60 MPH and the wind noise was terrible.. i even adjusted them to no avail. If they are flat i am interested. Also, i don't think that mine have the metal border. It's only sheetmetal so i don't think its structural.

 

The slight shape helps with stiffness, so yes they will be "domed" your Glass tops should also be "domed".

After looking at this set of tops, I am beginning to wonder if the noise most of you are hearing is coming from the sheetmetal strips on the front & rear of the tops that help stiffen them. It MIGHT be possible to fill the small gap between the plastic & the metal strip with the use of some silicone to seal them. This would more than likely help cut down on some of the wind noise, IF in fact that is where they are being noisy.

John

 

That's strange, I have no noise.

 

You may not, I hear mixed reports about noise, somepeople like you claim to have no-noise. I am just theorizing right now I do KNOW that if you have gaps between the metal & plasstic there would be wind noise.

 

My (92) Lexan tops are very noisy (wind) and are totally spiderwebbed with small cracks. I'd be very interested in a set of replacements.E-mail me with more info when you can
Thanks,
Rich