i've been trying to decide on whether to get an lt1 car or an ls1 car. but either way, i was looking for one with no t-tops since i want to use the car for autocrossing and some straight line racing fun, along with driving to work every now and then. i have seen my share of leaking tops, noisy t-tops and also figured thats there has to be some added weight with them and some loss of strength in the body.
so with these hassles in mind, i was looking for a car without t-tops. only problem is that almost all the M6's i find have t-tops.

so - is having t-tops that bad??? should i just buy one with t-tops and just not worry about it??

thanks
tony

 

ttops are not that bad.

for the most part they fixed the leaking and the noise thing. and there is only a mild loss of ridgidity with them.

i'd say thow on some SFC....but that will likely put you in a different autoX class.

 

That is like asking black or white lol. All preference. I prefer not to have them. I have had a convertible, t-tops and hardtop, and I really prefer the hardtop, however I am looking at a car with t-tops, only because the T/A Ls1 doesnt come without them

 

I love my T-tops. I ran in ESP at an SCCA autocross a while back, and all of the F-body guys were running with the t-tops off (even lighter than a hardtop that way!).

 

I agree.... t-tops all the way. And I converted my car, the metal removed. is really not a "major" structural support.

 

Ive always thought T-tops were awesome.

 

The GM shipping figures show that T-tops add 12.3#

 

Are these shipping figures available online? How detailed are they? For instance, does it say how much more an SS weighs than a Z28?

 

T-tops are fantastic. I'd never own a F-Body without them.

 

The table was copied from the 1995 factory data, so the SS is not included. Obviously some of the numbers are not applicable to the 98+ cars, because of the change in engine weight, but body-related features like TTops are identical on all years. Look at the bottom of this page:

http://www.f-body.org/tech/tech.htm#FourthGen

 

Just the opposite for me. No t-tops.

 

I like the T-tops in a street car, but they're sort of superfluous on a "track" car. I bought the stock plastic roof panel off a guy who did a coupe-->T-top conversion, in the hope that I could make light weight replacements for the glass tops, at least for track use. Still working on it though.

 

it would be cool if someone made carbonfiber t-top replacements for track use or fiberglass. you could start with broken t-tops no glass and go from there.

 

I actually thought about doing it with my roof panel form my conversion but its a little beat up.


All honesty though, the weight difference between the metal removed, and the roof panel vs. a set o t-tops is neglibible.

I didn't actually weigh it, but I think the metal might even be heavier then the t-tops.

their is a decent weight difference in the weatherstripping though.


Either way the weight benefits is neglibible imo... Take a **** before you race, and you will be good

 

A thought I had was just keep the one piece and make it into a "fake targa top" Take the center bar out, and add the side pieces.