Clue me in on the t-=tops, I see people talk about sun shades for them? What, are they, clear glass, that the sun beats in on you? I've only seen 2 z's. They where on a lot and both had hard tops, that where black, I'm not familar with these machines, but if I get one, I want it to be right the first time, What is the best top to get? I'm not a top down kinda guy.

 

They generally have some sort of tint applied from the factory, some tinted glass, some dot-matrix. Regardless the sund does beat down pretty hard, 'specially if you have a black car with leather....good riddance.

 

love my ttops...had it in all 3 camaros.

the sun does get hot, but not much worse since they are tinted (tint or dot matrix as mentioned). the sun shades are actualy thin sheilds that come with the car that slip into the ttops to keep all sun out.
out of 3 cars i've never used them

ttops are nice, great for cruising and sexy for looking at. older cars will sometimes leak, but neither my 96 or 99 leak. there is also a question on less rigidity in the frame due to less roof material, but that is easily fixed with SFC or a roll bar

 

I think that more Camaros left the factory with T-Tops. I leave my sunshades in so no one can look inside of my car (theft purposes) and so it stays a little cooler.

Some t-top cars DO leak, be aware. Water will trickle down the top of my driver's window, but a small strip of electrical tape stops it and it's always reapplied whenever it needs to be. A t-top car will also have a slightly better resale value than a similar-optioned car with no t-tops.

 

In my old IROC, the t-tops leaked really bad. You almost needed an umbrella to drive it in the rain. My new car seals pretty good though. If I use the drive through carwash at work I will get a drip or two, but thats only because it uses high pressure jets to clean the car. Under a normal rain storm the car stays dry. Nothing beats takin the tops off on a nice sunny day though.

 

Thanks, that sheds a little light on the subject, I thought they might be prone to leaking, But since I've been keeping an eye out,seems most cars have t-tops.
Thanks,

 

Unless you're just pure performance, do NOT buy your F-Body without T-Tops... they MAKE these cars!

 

where do you put this layer of tape at?? cause mine do the same thing.

 

Apply about a 2-2.5" strip of electrical tape right over the gap where the rear of t-top's weatherstripping meets the door's weatherstripping, then tuck it neatly underneath the grooves with a butterknife, credit card or something of the like.

I've tried everything to prevents leaks and this is by far the best solution I've come across. The tape is less than $1 per roll (it's black by the way), it sticks well, and it's very inconspicuous. You'll only have to remove and reapply the tape when you take the t-tops off or when the tape starts to fall off due to having the windows open and it being on there for a while.

 

third gen camaros were not built as sturdy, they changed something about the way the unibody was constructed and held together that decreased flex in the 4th gens.

that is why over time (which is basically any 3rd gen) they tops leak more and more. not to mention the rubber gets a bit old and harder, not sealing as well.

i've heard a light coating of dielectric grease, rubbed into the rubber seals will help maintain their softness....

 

i have t-tops and would not trade them for anything. the t-tops are tinted but the shades are actually hard plastic panels that are covered with fabric to match the interior color. they stick to the t-top with double sided velcro patches.

i have mine on since i do not want the tops of the front seats to get hard ( leather seats ) like my rear seat top has gotten. i bought the car used and have treated the leather. it has softened up alittle bit but not fully.

i would get a car with t-tops, awesome looks

 

i just traded my 96 ta with ttops and got a 99 formula hardtop, and i always catch myself looking up at the roof. i cant say i had the ttops off daily, but enough to miss it now. ill most likely be looking into a conversion later. i wish we could do a targa(?) top like the vettes have.

 

I don't think the sunlight coming through the t-tops is much of a problem. It's not like its glaring in your eyes, it's just like having extra lighting in the car. Plus if it really did bug you, you could put in t-top shades. The rigidity is debatable. Even if we assume t-top cars are less rigid and you just have to have a rigid car thern you can get SFCs. Lastly, some do leak. The leak can be fixed with the above mentioned way (eletrical tape) or you can make the window go up a tiny bit higher to form a better seal.

Now that I have addressed all the haters comments....

T-tops are bad@$$.

 

Now that you mention it, I remember seeing a silver ls1 camaro on this board about a year ago that had the targa top conversion. It looked pretty damn cool.

 

i remember that one too
i actually think camaros look better with t-tops instead of targas
i think i might be the only one though

coming from both backgrounds, i'd have to say the t-tops get better with age (or worse)
the thirdgens like my rs, tend to leak more (i wouldnt even want to drive a 2nd gen in rain) but the 4th gens are surprisingly really good at keeping water out
i checked out a couple before i got mine and all of them didn't leak (my dad's 95 doesn't either)
i'm sure though that if you replaced the weather stripping on the older ones, it would help
part of the problem though is that the frame twists a little bit which will eventually cause more leaking that the old weatherstripping would

on my final note, i am certainly glad i have t-tops
they really do beat just having a hardtop (unless the hardtop was a 1le or something, i would definately spring for that )