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I am going to attempt a conversion on my 92 Camaro.
I know people are going to ask so here it is, when I bought my car I really wanted a third gen AND I also was in dire need of a car. So I settled with a t-top.
Over the past 3 years, I must have taken the tops off about 6 times. Sounds hard to believe but it is true.
I have a donor car already for my project, it's from a 91 RS and I want to hear what some of you guys think, and also get some pointers on metal shaping and so forth.
Last edited by LittleFranks; Sep 7, 2015 at 10:45 PM.
The first thing everyone is going to say is why not transfer your car guts to the hard top shell?
Swapping roofs is not exactly beginner metal work.
The answer to that is,
I picked the donor car up for $300 from a local guy who completely destroyed the interior & the fenders / quarters to fit 26 inch wheels. So there's about 2 inches cut out of the fenders and quarters. Also, a lot of the mpunting holes inside the car for the interior are cut out. His plans where to "modify" the stock interior to put 8 speakers from the back seat to the truck.
So with that said, I took time of the floor pans and other pieces for rust repair & i thought it would be easier to just swap the roof instead of killing myself with fixing the donor car
good luck to ya, personally I would just sell my current car and buy a hardtop car. but to each their own, I would research and know exactly what you are doing before you start, it is going to be a huge task to do it right.
good luck to ya, personally I would just sell my current car and buy a hardtop car. but to each their own, I would research and know exactly what you are doing before you start, it is going to be a huge task to do it right.
I do have the car listed for sale on the forums, only asking $3000 for it.
Here's the link : https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/camaros-sale/723663-white-t-top-92-a.html
I won't be trying this conversion for a month or two, or if someone is interested in the car. I want to make sure I do a lot of homework on what changes need to be made when doing the conversion and all that other crap.
I have seen this done and don't have the link. But basically the guy measured what he needed from the hardtop to cover just the ttop opening. Cut out what he needed from front to back. You have to remove the tbar and weather stripping of course but not the sub structure under the tbar. It was there on hardtops too. Then line it up and use something to keep it in place, spread out your welds and take you time to avoid warpage. The nice thing about this is you do not alter the structure of the car, you just add metal. I have heard of people cutting from post to panel but that would suck.
I am either going to do this patch thing eventually, glue the stupid tops down or get rid of the car. I can't stand those stupid things.
this is not that hard to do depending on your experience and capability along with tools, welder, etc...
if you really want to do this "right" you should do it from the a pillar weld points to the seam braze point on the rear pillar
the front a pillar has the roof section to the body section spot welded about half way up the pillar... drill out all the spot welds on both sides.
the back has some interior re-enforcement plates that you need to again drill the spot welds out and remove, you can then cut across the back pillar
do the same on your donor car (front will be exactly the same, rear cut larger at first and then trim to fit)
make sure to weld some temp bracing inside before you make your cuts so the body stays true... measure, measure, measure before you cut! not really that hard but also requires attention to detail
you can see the details of the rear portion of the replacement in my rebuild thread...
I have seen this done and don't have the link. But basically the guy measured what he needed from the hardtop to cover just the ttop opening. Cut out what he needed from front to back. You have to remove the tbar and weather stripping of course but not the sub structure under the tbar. It was there on hardtops too. Then line it up and use something to keep it in place, spread out your welds and take you time to avoid warpage. The nice thing about this is you do not alter the structure of the car, you just add metal. I have heard of people cutting from post to panel but that would suck.
I am either going to do this patch thing eventually, glue the stupid tops down or get rid of the car. I can't stand those stupid things.
All I lack is a donor roof and welder.
That's awesome ! I got this whole conversion idea from a performance magazine I was reading and he cut from the rails half way down the windshield to the back. If I can get away with doing what you said, it should make this project so much smoother
this is not that hard to do depending on your experience and capability along with tools, welder, etc...
if you really want to do this "right" you should do it from the a pillar weld points to the seam braze point on the rear pillar
the front a pillar has the roof section to the body section spot welded about half way up the pillar... drill out all the spot welds on both sides.
the back has some interior re-enforcement plates that you need to again drill the spot welds out and remove, you can then cut across the back pillar
do the same on your donor car (front will be exactly the same, rear cut larger at first and then trim to fit)
Wow.. Your restoration had me hooked. I couldn't stop reading !
That's an amazing project man.
I definitely am subscribing to the thread so I can go and take a peak when I need the help.
I dont get it.... Why not just spend less than $10 on a can of rust converter? Stick a wire wheel in your drill to get most of the rust if not all of it and then spray it with the converter? Put some new weatherstripping on and be done with it? No more leaks if done correctly!!!
A T-top car will always be a more desired car if the car is in any kind of decent shape. A t-top car converted to hardtop is a sure fire way to kill the value instantly and is destined for the junk yard, not to mention its a hell of alot of work for nothing IMHO
I have seen this done and don't have the link. But basically the guy measured what he needed from the hardtop to cover just the ttop opening. Cut out what he needed from front to back. You have to remove the tbar and weather stripping of course but not the sub structure under the tbar. It was there on hardtops too. Then line it up and use something to keep it in place, spread out your welds and take you time to avoid warpage. The nice thing about this is you do not alter the structure of the car, you just add metal. I have heard of people cutting from post to panel but that would suck.
I am either going to do this patch thing eventually, glue the stupid tops down or get rid of the car. I can't stand those stupid things.
All I lack is a donor roof and welder.
Don't do this, all that guy ended up doing was pho-king up two cars. Do it the correct way or find a different car. You'll thank me later.
It's really not that difficult if you've ever clipped a car but it is definitely not recommended for someone that doesn't have experience with structural repairs on a unibody.
Don't do this, all that guy ended up doing was pho-king up two cars. Do it the correct way or find a different car. You'll thank me later.
It's really not that difficult if you've ever clipped a car but it is definitely not recommended for someone that doesn't have experience with structural repairs on a unibody.
Well don't forget that I do have my car posted for sale / trade at the moment so that I don't have to destroy a good car. If she doesn't sell in a few months then I'm going to strip it, do (most of) the rust repair myself and maybe convert to hard top. Who knows, at the time I maybe just keep it a T-top and just have it worked on And fixed by people with much more experience in chopping cars up and putting them back lol
What I would do is take a bunch of high quality, daytime photos of your car, get it cleaned up super nice, inside/outside/engine bay. maybe even a nice little walk around video of it running and what not.
I would then update or create a new post for selling you car, I don't think your 3k asking price is too far off, as long as you are flexible some on the price. I'm not sure what the market is like in florida, but I don't see why you can't get close to what you are asking for the car.
My friend converted this car to a hardtop. Came out great. He added some extra bracing along the pillars as well. If you are up for the challenge go for it man.
