I also went to the local auto body supply store and purchased the special black foam stuff that seals between the braces and the roof. You can see the factory stuff in the photos.
T-top conversion....hmmmm....
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I guess I'll need to cut the roof off the donor car to see how things are put together.
I see what you guys are saying about pulling the skins and transferring everything over and I see that working for most of it but I don't see how I'm going to get away from cutting the front A pillars or even having to change the B pillars. Considering the T-Tops have the locking pin holes in the A & B pillars, I'd imagine those have to swap over.
Unless those are part of a second substructure that's just spot welded together and can be transferred over to my roof.
By doing it the way you guys are describing, what am I gaining? Is it stronger this way? Or easier to get the roof back into the same location as the original?
I see what you guys are saying about pulling the skins and transferring everything over and I see that working for most of it but I don't see how I'm going to get away from cutting the front A pillars or even having to change the B pillars. Considering the T-Tops have the locking pin holes in the A & B pillars, I'd imagine those have to swap over.
Unless those are part of a second substructure that's just spot welded together and can be transferred over to my roof.
By doing it the way you guys are describing, what am I gaining? Is it stronger this way? Or easier to get the roof back into the same location as the original?
Removing the roof skin is unnecessary.
Look at shotgun's pic here of the 1/4.
Two pieces of metal, an inner and outer.
You make a sleeve that slips inside the inner and outer pieces, weld it in place, drop the replacement roof in position, and weld it up on both sides. Done.
Same thing with the other two pillars. I've done it this way myself, and it couldn't be simpler.
Don't get me wrong, he did a very nice job, but it's more work than is needed.
Look at shotgun's pic here of the 1/4.
Two pieces of metal, an inner and outer.
You make a sleeve that slips inside the inner and outer pieces, weld it in place, drop the replacement roof in position, and weld it up on both sides. Done.
Same thing with the other two pillars. I've done it this way myself, and it couldn't be simpler.
Don't get me wrong, he did a very nice job, but it's more work than is needed.
dan2286 said:
LOL, yeah. Eventually.
Acutally I did call Hot Rod Air today about my HVAC switches. I shipped them out back in July for them to modify to control their aftermarket evaporator.
Turns out they either apperently had them finished and forgot to ship them or hadn't finished them yet because they slipped through the cracks.
Supposed to get those this next week finally!
The car is actually coming along pretty nicely. I'm just trying to do some research on the roof swap for when I get to the body work.
To be honest, if I could find a car around here with a decent roof, I'd probably just reskin the one I have as shown above.
But I have the T-tops...and... 🙂
Hi, Actualy I had an '86 cutlass with t-tops and loved it, anyways had to sell it for a personal reason at the time, and now I missed it a lot more since I've bought my 81 grand prix and I'm also planning to have my car converted to a t-top and many more to come
Do-it........do-it..........do-it man you probably won't regret it
as for storage of the removed panels don't worry they stay pretty much where you install them in the trunk and don't worry about the body flex I use to have a 383 strocker with about 575 hp in my cutlass and drag raced it, and as long as you keep them in place for racing you'll have no problems at all
Do-it........do-it..........do-it man you probably won't regret it
as for storage of the removed panels don't worry they stay pretty much where you install them in the trunk and don't worry about the body flex I use to have a 383 strocker with about 575 hp in my cutlass and drag raced it, and as long as you keep them in place for racing you'll have no problems at all
I also say go for it. If you have the means too do it. Eather way you do it, it will work. like i said take your time and do it right. keep use posted.
Well, its like one of my friends once said, "these cars were made by men, they can be fixed by men." Anytime I get a little leary or cautious about moving forward with something, I just think of that quote and dive in. 🙂
Thanks,
Thanks,
Andrew, it would look really trick if you did decide to loose an inch or two off the top while you were doing it. 
After all, sounds like you've got experienced help at your disposal...
After all, sounds like you've got experienced help at your disposal...
photos/displayimage-lastup-0-0.html One I did on my son's 78 T/A. Braced everthing before cutting off. Welded in scrap metal I had laying around for bracing. Angle iron in every window opening was welded prior to cutting old roof off. This helped locate the new roof. I had a factory one with COMPLETE a Pillars.
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