Looking For A Customizing Shop

[Mike Something]

I wanna get a T Top conversion done on my Z/28... Anyone know of any place that'll do it reasonably??

[NastyEllEssWon]

your better off buying a ttop car and swapping your d.train in.
ttops stock leak, i can only imagine an aftermarket set.
you can get a good roller for the price that a conversion like that
would cost. then sell your car as a roller in return

[ar0ck]

I highly doubt a shop will take on a task like that. Your best bet is reading up on the countless conversions done on LS1Tech. Theirs tons of good reads on their with step by step instructions and pictures.

[sweetbmxrider]

didn't someone post a link with a shop in PA that does strickly t-top, targa, and any other top ever made? i'm sure they could do it, and do it right! i'll search for the link

[sweetbmxrider]

here ya go! (http://www.eastcoastt-top.com/index.html)

[WildBillyT]

You might be able to talk Paul at RPM into doing this. I'm not sure if he wants the risk, though.

[Tru2Chevy]

your better off buying a ttop car and swapping your d.train in.
ttops stock leak, i can only imagine an aftermarket set.
you can get a good roller for the price that a conversion like that
would cost. then sell your car as a roller in return

All 4th gen hard top and t-top cars are built as if they were T-top cars. All the support is there, just have to (basically) cut the roof panel off, install the hardware, and pop in the new tops. Many people get the setup from wrecked cars and install them.

- Justin

[Knipps]

Wait til Paul (SmokingSS) is around, he'll gladly take a sawzall to your car :lol:

[Mike Something]

here ya go! (http://www.eastcoastt-top.com/index.html)
Just called East Coast TTop and they bluntly said "It can't be done" and "Take it to a body shop or something."

[NastyEllEssWon]

i never said it couldnt be dont, but just the fact that there are t-top cars
out there already it would probably be cheaper to pick up a 4th gen
shell and swap his internals in. take about a weekend of work, and it
probably wouldnt cost anything for you either except for time, because
you can make your shell money back off your original car.

i never said anything about structural integrity or not, but now that
were on that subject if you do find someone to do the conversion
a good set of sfc's will help out a lot...especially with the mods in your sig

[Mike Something]

i never said it couldnt be dont, but just the fact that there are t-top cars
out there already it would probably be cheaper to pick up a 4th gen
shell and swap his internals in. take about a weekend of work, and it
probably wouldnt cost anything for you either except for time, because
you can make your shell money back off your original car.

i never said anything about structural integrity or not, but now that
were on that subject if you do find someone to do the conversion
a good set of sfc's will help out a lot...especially with the mods in your sig

I was thinkin maybe I'd want brand new parts instead of dry rotted weather stripping and ttops that may or may not leak. Are you the guy I spoke to on the phone? He pretty much made it clear that that's not what they do. On the website it says "Installation of aftermarket Ttops", I figured maybe a conversion is what it meant, guess not. I have UMI SFC's and am pricing out cages now. Thanks tho.

[JL8Jeff]

I would keep the hardtop but that's JMO. I just ran out for lunch and sure enough my 2000SS dripped on me a couple of times.

[NJ Torque]

My car never had T-Tops. Can I have T-Tops installed now?
Unfortunately, No. There are no T-Top kits available & we know of no new T-Top kits being made for any car.

The newer T-Top cars are Factory installed only. If your car did not come with T-Tops from the Factory, then you might consider an Aftermarket Sunroof installation. Contact our Sunroof Department for details.
<<<<


From the site.


Also, my 98 just had a few drops too.

[sweetbmxrider]

yeah but a hard top can be t-topped. kinda gayy those guys wouldn't do it. they looked real reputable. good luck though. i'd stay hard top as well.

[WildBillyT]

http://www.dw-zone.com/t-tops/t-top.asp

[Mike Something]

Thanks WildBilly...

[69BirdX]

my t-tops dont leak :)
________
Teen video (http://www.****tube.com/categories/39/teen/videos/1)

[Tru2Chevy]

yeah but a hard top can be t-topped. kinda gayy those guys wouldn't do it. they looked real reputable. good luck though. i'd stay hard top as well.

I haven't looked at the site, but I'm guessing that's a generalized statement, not directed at 4th gen F-bodies only. Most cars would require too much custom work to convert, but the 4th gen F-bodies were all built as T-top cars. You don't have to cut any structural integrity out of the car in order to convert it.

- Justin

[ar0ck]

A quick search on LS1Tech for "T-Top conversion" Yielded this and much more:
http://turbochargedgm.net/camaro/conversion/

http://turbochargedgm.net/camaro/conversion/

http://i28.tinypic.com/3505t0i.jpg

12+ Years on my Z28 and not a single leak. Car was always stored outside.

[Mike Something]

Yea I get the idea, and there really isn't a ton of customizing involved. I woulda just felt better having a pro doing it, just for piece of mind.

[BonzoHansen]

yeah but a hard top can be t-topped. kinda gayy those guys wouldn't do it. they looked real reputable. good luck though. i'd stay hard top as well.
I haven't looked at the site, but I'm guessing that's a generalized statement, not directed at 4th gen F-bodies only. Most cars would require too much custom work to convert, but the 4th gen F-bodies were all built as T-top cars. You don't have to cut any structural integrity out of the car in order to convert it.

- JustinLooking from a shop owners viewpoint, my guess is a shop can't make enough money to warrant the potential risks involved.

A decent shop would likely insist on new GM parts, at least key parts like the weatherstipping ($500+? and the shop only makes like 10% on that). Then add what would be likely a minimum of 10-12 hours labor ($1200+? there is no book time to reference for this) plus paint ($1000? time & materials) I might guess a minimum customer cost would be in the area of $3000. Of which the shop might make $500 after costs & overhead.

Now, if they leak then that shop will never get that car out of their bays - it'll just keep coming back wasting hours of their time. The paying customer won't want to hear the OE ones leak too. Chasing a water leak can take hours. And I am not even getting into the potential liability of altering the structure of a car.

So no, it is not kinda gayy a shop wouldn't do it. I imagine if Paul or Josh saw this they might tend to agree. Sure it could all go easy & well and everybody is happy. But the potential downside is probably too much for a shop to want to take on, especially if this is a one time deal and not something they do on a regular basis.

[sweetbmxrider]

thats what waivers are for! why would you need paint? and i'm pretty certain parts pull more than 10%. i don't know exact discounts but we get close to half off list price.

i just thought it was weak that place, which seemed real reputable and all about ttops and what not, blew him off like that! i wouldn't want to hack up a roof and hope it doesn't leak, but if its your "specialty", i think it should have been handled a little differently.

[BonzoHansen]

thats what waivers are for! why would you need paint? and i'm pretty certain parts pull more than 10%. i don't know exact discounts but we get close to half off list price.
Not 50% off dealer parts - I'm not talking auto zone parts. Waivers? Please. I woudn't want to be around when the shops liability carrier denies the claim after it all blows up because the kid wrecked it. Again, I'm trying to explain why most shops would run away from a job like this.

[sweetbmxrider]

no, dealerhips give close to half. maybe its 40 or so, i dont pay that much attention, and not everything ofcourse, but most stuff would be way closer to half off than 10 percent. and i do understand what you are trying to address here, i'm just pissed at that shop for being so rude when they seemed so reputable. looks are deceiving.

[Tru2Chevy]

Looking from a shop owners viewpoint, my guess is a shop can't make enough money to warrant the potential risks involved.

A decent shop would likely insist on new GM parts, at least key parts like the weatherstipping ($500+? and the shop only makes like 10% on that). Then add what would be likely a minimum of 10-12 hours labor ($1200+? there is no book time to reference for this) plus paint ($1000? time & materials) I might guess a minimum customer cost would be in the area of $3000. Of which the shop might make $500 after costs & overhead.

Now, if they leak then that shop will never get that car out of their bays - it'll just keep coming back wasting hours of their time. The paying customer won't want to hear the OE ones leak too. Chasing a water leak can take hours. And I am not even getting into the potential liability of altering the structure of a car.

So no, it is not kinda gayy a shop wouldn't do it. I imagine if Paul or Josh saw this they might tend to agree. Sure it could all go easy & well and everybody is happy. But the potential downside is probably too much for a shop to want to take on, especially if this is a one time deal and not something they do on a regular basis.

No need for paint, and you aren't altering the structure......but the water leak potential alone would prolly keep a shop away.

- Justin

[NastyEllEssWon]

truchevy is right. no shop is going to want to warranty a job like that and no customer is going to be satisfied with leaking t-tops when the shop is charging somewhere in the ballpark of 2k. its just not a situation theyre willing to walk into. like its been said before even oem ttops leak...what makes you think aftermarket conversion isnt going to. That is something you cant explain to someone that just shelled out 2k for a car. Ive worked at dealers before. Ive also seen people buy open air vehicles (ttop-vert-moonroof-targa-removable)
and rework a deal with the dealer for hardtops because they cant deal with the fact that in reality id say 75 percent of OAV will develop some type of leak.

[Grifter]

Considering that I searched long and hard for a hardtop car and drove 1800 miles just to get one, you know my view on this topic.

[Jersyboyy]

My buddy is in school getting his master in electrical engineering. He has always love messing with cars and is currently working on a 98 mustang hardtop.
He is about 80 percent complete with the ttop conversion and custom body fabricating.
Im talking to him about doing a targa top coversion on my thirdgen. If you have enough money and free time you will find someone who is willing to tackle a ttop coversion. Just dont expect a warranty.

[Tru2Chevy]

My buddy is in school getting his master in electrical engineering. He has always love messing with cars and is currently working on a 98 mustang hardtop.
He is about 80 percent complete with the ttop conversion and custom body fabricating.
Im talking to him about doing a targa top coversion on my thirdgen. If you have enough money and free time you will find someone who is willing to tackle a ttop coversion. Just dont expect a warranty.

I'm not saying this to put down whatever skills your friend has when it comes to working on cars, but converting a 3rd gen hardtop to T-tops is hard enough. Going to a Targa top will require so much additional work (and weight) to stiffen up the chassis of the car that it really isn't worth it.

The 4th gen conversion is easy since all hardtops and t-tops were built with the T-top structure already in place - hardtop 3rd gens on the other hand, do not.

- Justin

[NastyEllEssWon]

yeah truchevy is right...the z28 i own is a hardtop and there is a 'bone' going through the middle of my roof where the t structure is. ill get pics tomorrow.