impossible, stupid, or both?
 

Hey all, still new to these forums and my own 3rd gen iroc, I have a hardtop but I really love t tops, is there a way to convert it? Maybe a kit or something? Or would I have to fabricate it myself (if possible)

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

Find a good TTOP car and cut the roof off. Cut yours off and install TTOP roof.
Easy way, buy a TTOP car.

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

Hmm cut a roof off, I'm seriously considering that, gonna be time consuming to weld so it won't warp it, but it would really be a fun project to tackle

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

And who wouldn't want to ruin two third gens in one fell swoop! Seriously, sell yours to someone who loves hard tops, preferrably on these boards, and buy a t-top car, also preferrably from someone on these boards.

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

:yup::yup::yup::yup::yup::yup::yup::yup:

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

Again, just a thought, I like challenging projects, and I figured this could possibly make a good one

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

It probably would, but I love these cars, and seeing someone willfully destroy one hurts my feelings lol.

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

Lol I wouldn't destroy it, I love this car! And I'm pretty darn good with fab work ( welding teacher taught me alot) its definitly not somethin I would undertake if i thought it would ruin it/mess it up, its mainly just a thought right now, still not done planning out my restoration for the car, gonna have everything planned out down to the stitching in the :)

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

Don't the TTOP cars have more frame/chassis support due to the lack of roof? Similar to a convertible needing extra support.

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

nope. no extra bracing for ttop cars

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

SFC's couldn't hurt anyways. Last time I was at the junkyard a guy was buying a roof for the same project. I almost cried at the thought until I saw the car they cut it off of, I think the roof and the tail lights were all that were worth saving on the whole car.

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

I wouldn't tackle this without inner and outer sets of SFCs and a full cage. Better to trade this car for a factory T-top car.

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

I guess Cars & Customs doesn't exist any more. My '88 was a hardtop untill 1996 when the original owner had the C & C t-tops installed

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

the T-Top cars do have a stronger top cross member..... *source* my dad worked from 84-88 at a Chev dealer in edmonton :)

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

Define top cross member, and lets see some proof other than " my dad said"

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

Find a car in a wrecking yard with a "Cars & Concepts" after-market T-Tops.

Get out a drill and remove the rivets used to fasten it.

Cut your roof with a 45cm gap.

Rivet the C&C T-Top on.

The C & C T-Tops possibly have better bracing than the factory T-Tops and drain water better.

Search for info about "Cars & Concepts" T-Tops for third gen bodies.

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

Okay smart guy, take the head liner out of any T-Top car and look in between the rear hatch glass and T lids and compare it to a hard top, the top cross member is thicker there for stronger

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

There is a how to thread on here somewhere for converting to a T Top. The guy explained why he did everything the way he did and posted pics etc. It definitely is not and easy job though.

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

Have you ever had a time when you regretted starting a project on an already perfectly good car? I think most people on here have. They get bored with their current set up so they decide to change something just for a little bit of variety. Then it turns into one of those "I should have left well enough alone" or " Why the **** did I decide to do this" moments. This is one of those times.

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

If it were that much stronger, then it wouldn't flex nearly as much as mine and everyone else does, and not because my "dad" says, but because I've seen it flex, along with everyone else who has had one. Oh and for proof of no frame support on t-top cars, all you need to do is look underneath. They are identical. And for the roof? Well there are two giant rectangles missing from the t-top roof, so yes I'd say they were visually different that hard top cars lol.

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

I found one of the best threads on here for doing the conversion.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...-top-roof.html

It should help you out alot for the best way to do it. There are other threads sectioning the a pillars and on one they welded in another support pipe inside the a pillar for added strength. But this thread shows how to do it without sectioning the a pillar and be as strong as factory there. Worth a good read or two if you are considering it.

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

I've seen people do this. I understand WHY you want to do it, but I seriously think you should avoid it because once it's done - it's done. It's not like it will be a hardtop anymore (and I'm not just talking about the value necessarily - we're also talking about the structural integrity). If you want a welding project - take a t-top car and turn it into a vert or something of that nature since the 'foundation' at the factory was the same (if I recall correctly).

Hardtops are NOT easy to find around here. I vote selling it instead of hacking it up.

If you ever plan to sell it - DON'T do this; most people don't like custom jobs done, even if they're done right because it's usually "one of one" parts that were used.. something the average guy can't remake.

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

He paid for his car, let him do what he wants with it. Worst thing to come out of it is a higher value on our cars, and another person posting a partout topic, which again is beneficial for us.

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

Personally I'd just use the easy 2-step method. Quick, painless, involves no cutting.

You can probably do it one day, or maybe even a few minutes, depending on .... things.

Totally risk-free.

Doesn't damage any cars.

Should be pretty close to free; but that's up to you. You can spend as much as you want on it, or possibly even make money by doing it.

Ready?


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1. Sell car you DON'T want.
2. Buy car you DO want.

See, not so tough, eh??

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

Well, if you're cutting off the hardtop roof, then welding in a t-top roof, then that "top cross member" is going to be in the new roof assembly that gets welded in. So you're right, but it doesn't apply to the situation at hand.

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

I really appreciate all of the feedback, gives a me better idea of what I'm getting into, it'll be awhile before I tackle this project of I don't change my mind beforehand, my main concern now is building a hinged air dam, almost done with the drawings :)

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

So true. And probably the worst mistake most decent guys can ever make. It leaves you feeling sick for years after. No predicting when what will trigger the memory, and suddenly your day is ruined.

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

That sounds like a great idea. So will it be spring loaded?

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

Hey Dennis, where you at , I have an 87 IROC with T-tops and I hate them , they're hot they leak , I'm in Illinois

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

Diy I'm in Missouri pm me

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

DIY I'm in Louisiana, and gordiggz yes ill have a soft spring, I'm thinking about making the dam span the whole width underneath the car so I can make it slim and have more ground clearance also, gonna start making some out of cardboard soon to see how its gonna look

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

<----owner of C&C T-Top car. Will verify, NO extra bracing.

Also, C&C was an aftermarket conversion so Dealers wouldn't have had anything to do with the conversion other than selling a hard top car to a buyer.

My car was purchased in 89 as a hardtop and not converted till almost 6 months after its purchase. It was titled and registered BEFORE the conversion was done, I have the C&C stickers and DMV records as proof.

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

I didn't really read everything. But I was flipping through YouTube videos quite some time ago, and this guy converted his hard top car into a t-top but they did have to reinforce the car with steel rods in the bottom... A company in Florida does this for all sorts of cars & that's where I learned it from.. Just sayin. Ha, they do it because since you're basically missing your entire roof the car isn't as .. What's the word.. Stable? So ... Yea. Maybe 3rd gen camaro's/firebirds aren't like that.. Just thought I'd throw in my little bit of info.

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

And they just cut out the holes in the car for the T's. They don't just remove 2 different car roofs.

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

You cut the roof off a Thirdgen without bracing the chassis and you WILL end up with an accordian

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

Exactly what I'm sayin. I mean the car would be like a death trap to drive in without reinforcement. Even if you could drive it. I know I wouldn't.

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

It is easy to make it an accordian but I have cut a roof off without doing that. I didn't twist it but I would not reccomend any one else doing it. In my case the car was eventually being scrapped and I had well placed jack stands under it with blocking under the doors.

Once you put the new roof on it has been reinforced to a degree. No 3rd gens T Tops or Hard Tops left the factory with SFC's. All these cars have flexing. T Tops just have more. I have not heard of any major reinforcing for the Verts either. The floor and subframes are the same as far as I know.

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

If you talk to people who are doing roof swaps on cars they often weld in temporary bracing to hold the car to the same shape while they replace the roof.

On a stock thirdgen you simply cannot cut the roof off and expect it to maintain ANY sort of torsional stiffness, they are already weak as is shown by hard top B-pillar cracks. T-Tops don't show the cracks simply because the part that twists is the T-bar.

However, with true perimeter style SFC's you could easily cut the roof off the car and still have a stiffer structure than you did without. I'm not so sure about the non perimeter SFCs. Not saying you should go racing with that type of setup, but you could easily have a streetable car that wouldn't fall out of shape from metal fatigue.

Convertable conversions such as ASC added bracing, though it wasn't alot. It was however enough that SFC's are different between convertable and non-convertable cars.

Re: impossible, stupid, or both?
 

Thank you for clarifying on the SFC's for Verts. I did not know that. I learned something new.
What else I was trying to say was that after a TTop roof is properly swapped on (Key word being PROPERLY) that the car as a whole is very nearly or just as strong as factory in regards to flexing and safety. We all know it is very prone to flexing anyways.
As for the rest you just put in much better words what I said. In the example of what I did it wasn't sitting on its wheels. It may not have been specifically braced as such but was well supported to eliminate flex until I dropped it to the floor. It was also on a very level concrete floor. If it was on its wheels it would have been more likely to flex as the doors etc are not very structural in regards to torsional flexing. If outside the stands and ground could not be verified to be that level. All reasons for reinforcing before cutting a roof off.