T-Top Swap

[banger68]

I know this has come up before but I'd like to get some more ideas/opinions. I'm getting a little fed up trying to find a rust free 86. If I had a good set of t-top doors that would mean just cutting the top. Has anyone looked at the a-pillars under all the trim and sealer? Are they the hardtop pillars? Are all the cuts on the roof? Anyone seen or heard what jigs were used at Cars & Concepts to do this? I would think if the rivits was replaced with welding some of the parts and taking some care would make for a much stiffer t-top car.

[CDNTurboZ]

I know this has come up before but I'd like to get some more ideas/opinions. I'm getting a little fed up trying to find a rust free 86. If I had a good set of t-top doors that would mean just cutting the top. Has anyone looked at the a-pillars under all the trim and sealer? Are they the hardtop pillars? Are all the cuts on the roof? Anyone seen or heard what jigs were used at Cars & Concepts to do this? I would think if the rivits was replaced with welding some of the parts and taking some care would make for a much stiffer t-top car.


Looking at my car it looks like they just cut the hardtop pillars down and riveted on those braces, etc. Even the doors are hardtop doors, but just cut down.

It would be cool to see a conversion being done though!

[afsautoworx]

why would u want to convert a car to a t-top. You cant buy the trim anymore, the seals cost over $500 if u can even find someone that has it. Windshield shops wont even touch the car because if they break the trim they have to pay for it. I have a t-top daytona that i spent over 4 hours just trying to get the left windshield pillar trim off and i finally gave up. Its really sad to see so many rivets, why couldnt they of just used screws. Arg, sorry for the rant. Just trying to say i hope u really want t-tops to go through all the trouble.

[banger68]

Getting the trim off is pretty easy once you know how ... and a glass shop hasn't put sealer all over the place. I have lots of parts for t-tops that isn't a problem. The t-top is just something I have liked but they always seem to be rusty up here. I have a couple rust free hard tops and was thinking maybe I could make a better t-top car. I'm just not sure on getting everything straight again.

[CDNTurboZ]

Getting the trim off is pretty easy once you know how ... and a glass shop hasn't put sealer all over the place. I have lots of parts for t-tops that isn't a problem. The t-top is just something I have liked but they always seem to be rusty up here. I have a couple rust free hard tops and was thinking maybe I could make a better t-top car. I'm just not sure on getting everything straight again.

That would be my biggest worry, getting everything straight again, I am sure its possible as guys chop the tops on older cars all the time, but I am sure there is ALOT of skill/work involved.