I pulled off the ttop weatherstripping to replace it and found the center ttop bar pretty rusty. I was wondering if I get it sandblasted and painted if it will work for me?




The channel the weatherstripping sits in is mostly alright. Just on the drivers side rear is it rusted away. It is not rusted through to the underside.




Underside looks good except where the pads were stuck to it.



I would just get a new one but they are hard to come by in the part of Canada I am in.

 

The rust is pretty bad on that bar. You should try to find a replacement. I found one on Ebay. You can also get one from Hawks in stainless if they ship to Canada.

 

You could use it, but I think you'd be better off with something less rusty.
I think when it's blasted you are going to lose too much of that badly rusted lip that is already missing chunks.

 

It's salvageable, but for the time and effort you could just as well spend a little more and get a new(er) one.

 

Is there anywhere other than hawks to get a new one? Ive tried on three different occasions to get a shipping quote and never got a reply.

The used ones ive seen on ebay are not in much better condition than mine.

 

Some of these have surface rust but all I did was type in "camaro t top bar" on ebay and these were in the first few:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/82-92-CAMARO-FIREBIRD-T-TOP-BAR-/201094373298?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Model%3ACamaro&hash=item2ed2289fb2&vxp=mtr
http://www.ebay.com/itm/82-92-Firebird-Camaro-TTop-T-top-Center-Bar-RUST-FREE-NICE-T-top-/251535230116?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3a90ab04a4&vxp=mtrhttp://www.ebay.com/itm/82-to-92-camaro-or-firebird-t-top-bar-/181235726670?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2a327db94e&vxp=mtr

 

My husband repaints the nice ones- not the ones all rusted out. He's a body tech by trade, so he knows what he's doing. Got one actually I was just about ready to list on eBay.
We sent one to Canada for another 3rd genner, and he was happy with it.
Normally I get $125 shipped in the US.

 

I would definitely toss that one. Too many reasonably priced rust-free ones left to put the time and money into bringing that one back to usable condition.

 

I am on the hunt for a bar in better condition.

 

If you're looking through junk yards don't bypass the rusty cars. IMO (and from experience), the T-Top bars are affected more by leaky seals/weatherstripping than road salt. One quick indicator is if the headliner is falling apart or not.

I agree on not using that one since it is the foundation underneath the expensive weatherstripping. I had even thought about powder coating one if I were in a similar situation. Either way double check that water is not getting in after the new weatherstripping is installed.