T-Top Conversion
 

Hey guys. It's been awhile since I last posted something. Hope everyone is doing well and having a good holiday season. It's about that time to put the f-bodys away for the season I guess for some of us. Anyways point of my thread......I have been curious to know more about doing a t-top or even a targa top conversion on my 93z. Does anyone know a good spot in the North Jersey area that does this kind of work? A good body shop or even more of a specialty shop. Also, has anyone done this on their cars and throw some pros and cons at me too. I'm curious to see if it is worth having done. All I have heard about doing the job is that it will cost at least $1000.00 and that the f-body cars that came out of the factory NOT t-topped do not have the body structure or support as a factory t-topped car. As in, having my car turned into a t-top or targa top would require alot of support welding and addition pieces to be taken care of and installed.

Thanks for your help and info everyone and if any information I mentioned is wrong, please do correct me!

Giovanni

My e-mail is G.Araneo@gmail.com

i thought i heard that f-bodys all have the t-top body/structure to start with, and the hard top is made from that. except for the convertible of course...but im probably wrong here.

Im pretty sure all 4th gens are all structured the same and its simply a matter of getting it all cut to factory specs along with parts. Its defenitly been done. One of the members from North, Omar with the White Camaro, had a conversion done on his car and if you saw it up close you wouldnt have known the difference.

gio, have you dropped the headliner to see what exactly is there? i know the roof clips on 4th gens are pretty much modular. so i can't imagien it woudl take much more than finding a good t-top roof clip from someone and having it installed.
if there is any increase flexibility in the body from it i am sure a good set of subframe connectors will be plenty to make it stronger than it was before anyway

First off, dont even try a targa top, itll never be right and with any decent power the car will be a pretzel in a few days.

As for hardtop to a t-top, I will be doing a ttop conversion on my 94 z28 over the winter.

ALL 4th gen hardtop and ttops have the same basic roof structure, 3rd gens are completely different. In 93-02 all camaros and firebirds(exc converts obviously) have the main roof support in the center, Have you ever noticed the headliner is lower in the middle? Anyways the conversion is pretty straight forward. First step involves cutting away the composite top roof panel along the windsheild and the groove which seperates the roof panel and sail panel top. once that is cut away, you cut the outer roof rails. Now you will be left with the basic t top roof structure. Supposedly all the bracket holes for the ttop mounts are there already and you just take all donor parts from a ttop car and swap them over. including both side weatherstrippings w/the retainer rails, the ttop mounts, center divider, and headliner. Then all you have to do is drop the ttop panels in place and you're done. I may have made this sound easier then it is though. I DONT suggest the average person try this. Depending on how smooth my 94z28 conversion goes, i will consider doing 4th gen ttop conversions for about $700, and that would include all the conversion parts. As for chassis flex it is equivalent to that of a factory ttop car. In the end, the only noticeable difference between a factory ttop car and a conversion is the rear roof groove by the cut, it will drop straight down, ttop cars factory have a little lip, but the average person would never know that, besides, the ttop rear roof panel is available to purchase if you want a swap to be exact.

hijack, how much different would it be to do on a thirdgen?

it is much different for a 3rd gen, since there is no center roof structure on the hardtops, easiest way IMO in that case is to do a complete roof swap from a donor ttop car, basically cut the roof at the a and b pillars and replace it. not an easy task, but possible. next summer me and my friend are doing just that on his 81 formula so he can have ttops.

converting a thirdgen is a really bad plan.
the entire roof section is different from the top of the windshield glass to about an inch in front of the hatch hinges.

hey - thanks for all the responses - my comp wasnt notifying me or thread replies - anyways, well, i hope your t-top conversion goes real well, and if it does, and you want 700 to get teh parts and do the job, then i'd be interested - i remember someone awhile ago telling me teh structure on a coupe and ttop are dirrernt form factory, but i always wondered why teh headliner was setup for a t-top even on a coupe.....as for structure, well, i already have weld in subframe connectors installed.....anyways, i will ask a couple body shops around my area that i know and trust and see what their take on teh subject is.....

This guy has a lot of pics of a 4th Gen T-top conversion:

http://www.dw-zone.com/

Click on "My Firebird Formula", go to the bottom of the page and click on "T-top Install Page".

http://dw-zone.gotdns.com/t-tops/drv_roof_gone1.jpg