T-top conversion....hmmmm....

[Stg1Regal]

FE3X CLONE

I'd say do it.

Don't worry about the glass being stored safely, it can be done... I have seen a couple of GN's at a Buick show or here on the net , they made a storage shelf/tray in the trunk to secure them, sat right behind the seat, both were stacked style one glass upon the other,and both used the T-Top storage bags.
However one just used bungy straps to hold them in, the other had some type of square rods drop from the top to the bottom kinda bent over at the top, so not to fall thru.

I've enjoyed mine in My 86 Grand National, when it was in its prime, now its a parts car, with a rusty rear floor, because of the T-Tops, now don't get me wrong... it happened (the rust) before I even got the car, I was to niave to really check it out to see where or if the rust started.

Now you got me thinking, since my current Regal qtrs are about gone, and the rockers are about gone, and the drivers floor has a big spot in it and the trunk... well a body mount came thru.
I do have a left and right side Full Qtrs and rockers atteched, and I could salvage the rear floor pans from my current Regal,,,, hmmmmmm.

If you do , don't pull one of my stunts, forget the T-Tops was at a car show close to my house, and didn't want the trunk or the back seat cluttered, so I left them at home...... mother nature thought it would be funny and give us a shower that wasnt in the forecast, luckliy my friend was there showing also and just happened to have a new paint tarp he just bought in his trunk, so a couple of correctly placed stones and the tarp, well disator was avoided. :lol:

 

[87ctls]

85olds4spd PM sent

 

[pontiacgp]

I love my T-tops.

I stand corrected

Any trouble with them leaking?

yes and I still love my T-tops...

and I'll love them even more when I install the new seals I bought... 8)

 

[454muscle]

...I've never known anybody who had them and was happy with them...

I love my T-tops.

I loved my T-tops on my first Grand Prix and I severely missed them in subsequent cars without T-tops. Current car has em and I freakin' love em!!!

 

[FE3X CLONE]

Well, I have officially scraped the T-top conversion idea. I was out pulling everything apart on the 442 donor vehicle so that I could see what I was working with. Considering the rest of this car was so ridiculously rusty, I figured the T-tops would be no different.

The center trim piece and passenger side trim piece were both rusted pretty badly. As in falling apart. However that's not a huge deal since these are reproduced now. Just would cost some money to replace.

Remove most of the inner plastic trim and the structure all looked pretty solid. However two of the screws for the passenger side trim were fighting me. Only managed to get one out but when I pulled that trim piece down, I saw the real damage.

From above I know it was rotted away as I could stick the screw driver through just about everywhere at the front corner. However under the plastic trim I could see that the A-pillar was almost completely rotted through. There was literally just a small rusty piece of metal holding the A-pillar to the roof. So even if I chopped the top off, the A-pillar would have just fallen off.

Oh well, now I'm on the lookout for a nice solid roof car so that I can steal its roof skin to replace mine. I think thats really the only way to go to fix my sunroof hole instead of spending countless hours trying to smooth out the roof, grind down the welds and get it all straight.

 

[454muscle]

Awwe crap.. that's sad to hear man. I know t-tops are not a very popular and very liked thing, generally speaking, but I was looking forward to seeing them on your pro-touring build. Chopping the roof is not the most efficient I suppose.

In my case I got lucky and in the beginning stages, I needed a donor car just for the frame and rear trunk floor pan (only those two things were rotted). Turned out the donor car was a solid t-roof car and it worked out perfectly, so I consider myself very lucky.

Yours is one of my favorites and I cant' wait to see the finished product. Should be awesome even without t-roofs

 

[monteboy84]

Oh well, now I'm on the lookout for a nice solid roof car so that I can steal its roof skin to replace mine.

I'll take a look this week, might have a good roof for you. It's on a junk race car, but the roof was never skinned and I think it's straight. You can have it free if you pay the shipping. It will still probably be cheaper/easier for you to buy local, but let me know if you have trouble finding one local and we'll work something out.

-matt

 

[FE3X CLONE]

I have changed the roof skin on my cutlass. It was not very difficult just time consuming. You will need a spot weld cutter, grinder with cutoff wheels and a welder.

What brand spot weld cutter did you use or prefer? I'll be picking up my new roof skin next weekend and will then start the reskinning process.
I've heard the Eastwood spot weld cutters didn't last all that long.

I also haven't seen how these work. Do they drill a small pilot hole all the way through both pieces of metal and then the outer spot weld cutter then just cuts the first layer of sheet metal to free it?

Thanks,

 

[Blake442]

I use bits like these...

They're a lot cheaper than Blair bits, and stronger too.

 

[gpexpress]

this was a good read. my 84 gp has a rusted roof. it bad. and i thought about replacing it with a t top roof or just findin a gp w t tops that has a great body on it
cuz t tops r great.