now i know that summer has passed adn up in jersey here, the prime t-top season is gone....but that means its time to prep the car for next year.....now heres an idea ive been thinking of for a while now:

what a folding t-top...make it so that instead of the glass, its canvas, you pull it out tight and the metal frame will snap into place stretching the canvas tight....it wont be as perfect at keeping water out of the car as the glass t-top, but it'll deffinately help in that you dont need to lug around the glass ones and you can throw these on if it starts to rain all of a sudden....

i was thinking about going to a junkyard and salvaging two t-tops, and using that as a skeleton....what do you guys think?

-brian

 

sound kinda like a system they use on trucks. The truck has a sun roof but it's material and runs on a track and bunches up at the back.

only thing t tops leak anyway so if it gets worse... well hope you have a natural disaster clause in your insurance. lol! but if you like it then do it! sound like lots of machining and such, maybe buy a couple of sets.

 

something I always thought it would be cool (but would require an immense amount of technical engineering and experience) is having "sliding t-tops". The way it would work is that, first, the t-tops would have to be a bit smaller, maybe secondgen size and you would slide them toward the center "t". Also to make them a bit bigger, maybe having 2-piece sliding action t-tops sorta like _ _ closed and = closed....

 

All of these ideas seem more suited to someone doing the targa top thing. The stock t-tops fit just fine in the back of the car, unless you're carrying a whole bunch of crap with you.

The car wasn't really meant for hauling a lot of junk. There just isn't that much space, unless you take the rear seat out.

Doing a targa top is actually pretty easy. It's proper re-enforcing, and figuring out how to make a custom targa top and how you're gonna fit it in the car, that's hard.

Mathius

 

well i dont quite haul anything, its just my sound system is back there and with a 2000 watt amp and 2 10" subwoofers, i'm afraid of possibly cracking them if they sit on top of anything lol

 

my t-tops rest above 2 12" Kickers being pushed by a 1000w amp. I have yet to crack mine. But I normally lay a layer of blanket between the box, the 1st t-top, and the second t-top

 

see, i've already blown my alpine type R's just to show ya how much i like loud music lol but also another reason i have thought of these t-top things is because sometiems i'd rather just leave them home haha, and just bring these and not have to worry about the tops at all

 

these all sound like awesome ideas, u kno what these ideas would be perfect for.. if pontiac brought back the firebird.... like instead of having to take off the top, u just press a button and they both slide back.. into the roof.. this would just mean a slightly lloner roof, a slightly smaller t top and a slightly smaller hatch... some1 should get these ideas to pontiac lol.... newais just wanted to throw my two cents in.. and was wondering if anyone has any custom t top carrying cases or anything of the sort (im not talking fabric, but more of an enclosure)

 

They were available in the late 80's. I used to see them for sale in the back ads in several magazines,like Car and Driver,Motor Trend,etc. This was discussed a couple of years ago on this site. I think several others remember the ads also, but no one knew who made them.

 

I dont see the point. My tops are always in the car anyway. But, Im also always into new creative things so if you think you need them, go for it!

 

I've had a similar idea for about two years now. It's hard to explain it, but it would work if it wasn't so bulky.ou're onto something with the canvas idea. As for being water tight, boat covers made of canvas are great. Only issue i see so far is hiding those ugly snaps if you went that route.

 

lol i dont really think i need them, i just was always thinking there must be an easier way to deal with the t-tops, i mean theyre bulky and heavy and sometimes a pain in the ***....but then again, i am really lazy too lol...i havent started on the project because it needs a lot more planning and rightnow im trying to fix my blown up transmission lol, and itsnot much fun

 

Just popped into my head! Some sheet music stands have an accordian style metal back. Maybe something like that would be thin enough, attatched to the canvas, you could fold it down and pop it out, toss it in the back seat.