T-tops, a discussion

XlexusTech

Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2022
I've never been a fan of T tops, they serve no functional purpose for me and only cause problems with leaks. I know others love them and
some people find them desirable. Full disclosure I am looking to buy a solid roof car but have found a car that checks all my boxes but has T-tops.
Pros and Cons Why avoid or seek out a t tip car?
 
I've never been a fan of T tops, they serve no functional purpose for me and only cause problems with leaks. I know others love them and
some people find them desirable. Full disclosure I am looking to buy a solid roof car but have found a car that checks all my boxes but has T-tops.
Pros and Cons Why avoid or seek out a t tip car?
Here is my thought......
It hasn't checked all your boxes because you dont like t tops😉
I can tell you this I set up a car a while back for someone who had an idea of what he wanted but didnt like t tops.
It was a pro touring set up that had 0 ground clearance......
he hated cause( it didnt drive like a buick and drove like a Corvette)
Car was beautiful though and I converted it to and street hooking setup that drove really nice for a t top car,no washing and not too stiff.
The car turned out to be everything he wanted driving and powerwise also was a multiple show winner.
He ended up selling it lol
The reason he really didnt like the t tops and wanted a hard top car😉
We get 1 turn here friend
But what you want and enjoy the shit out of it😎
 
First GN I ever drove was a t top. Although they were heavily shaded the sun blasted down on me through them. Not good since I was balding. Everyone I ever knew who had them or a sunroof any length of time eventually got leaks. Never understood why anyone would cut a hole in the roof of a car.
 
First GN I ever drove was a t top. Although they were heavily shaded the sun blasted down on me through them. Not good since I was balding. Everyone I ever knew who had them or a sunroof any length of time eventually got leaks. Never understood why anyone would cut a hole in the roof of a car.
Eventually?

They leaked brand new.
 
Just curious, what are all of your boxes?
86 or 87, clean body, original Drivetrain (modified OK but numbers are important) Limited to no rust, minor repairs need is oK just no major issues. Solid roof preferred, no salvage titles, PW and door locks preferred but not mandatory. Console buckets .. No junk.. budget 15-25 K
 
86 or 87, clean body, original Drivetrain (modified OK but numbers are important) Limited to no rust, minor repairs need is oK just no major issues. Solid roof preferred, no salvage titles, PW and door locks preferred but not mandatory. Console buckets .. No junk.. budget 15-25 K
Well that's not asking much except maybe the budget. I thought it would be more like a designer series with roll up windows and...etc. When I purchased my car I was looking for a hardtop GN and ended up buying a limited with T Tops. My first GN had them so it didn't bother me. I get people all the time commenting on them, usually about the car they owned back in the day that had them and that they were awesome. It's getting hard finding anything in that price range these days though. Good luck and hopefully you'll find the right one.
 
Get what you like. I don’t like t tops on GN’s but wouldn’t buy a 3rd or 4th gen F bod without them. If I was in the market though and a nice t top car came along I certainly would consider it.
 
$15 - $25k... Well, that may be difficult. But things are looking grim with now a 75% chance of a recession in 2023 because of the current administration expertise. :cautious: So just hold on. Many cars may be for sale soon.
 
$15 - $25k... Well, that may be difficult. But things are looking grim with now a 75% chance of a recession in 2023 because of the current administration expertise. :cautious: So just hold on. Many cars may be for sale soon.
I follow the big auctions and BaT online pretty well. Cars in the 20K range are pretty plentiful. I jut missed one that was on Bat and local to me.. went for 20K like a month before i started looking..
 
First GN I ever drove was a t top. Although they were heavily shaded the sun blasted down on me through them. Not good since I was balding. Everyone I ever knew who had them or a sunroof any length of time eventually got leaks. Never understood why anyone would cut a hole in the roof of a car.
I just drove my Ttop Ttype all over South Carolina in a hurricane and they did not leak a drop. TBH I am actually amazed about that! Especially since it is a frame off car and I had all that shit apart when I restored it 15 years ago. I have, and continue to, tweak it to cut down wind noise and leaks and over the years have spent a lot of time messing with it. While it is really good it is still no where near as tight as a hard top car and if I was building for serious racing I definitely would not want Ttops.

I do love cruising the car with the tops out on a nice day and getting a tan on my bald head lol!!
 
A GOOD body shop can piece a Regal solid roof in place of the leak tops. Better yet find a custom shop that has chopped tops before, no problems for them.
A guy that I apprenticed with in 1970/72 did 19 truck tops for an insurance company! They shipped from Chicago and were loaded on the top deck of the train cars to Southern IL. and didn't clear a bridge. The first one or two went slowly, but by the 4th or 5th one, we had it down really well! GM supplied the new tops, with the "legs/ pillars" down to near the body. All were sold as new by central IL. dealers that were probably unaware of the repairs to them.
That gave me a bad taste for GM products for years! It also led me to purchase a 1972 Gran Torino Sport COPO car with the Boss 351, same color as Clint Eastwoods in the movie, but mine had 15x7 Boss Mustang wheels and G70-15 polyglass Goodyear tires, instead of the 14x6 with F70-14s. I still have pics!
Lots of cool drivetrain stuff too. Manual/automatic C6 trans, shift kit, 3000 stall convertor, 9" 3.70 posi, hi rise intake with 780 carb, 2 1/2" dual exhaust with crossover, and "sport" mufflers.
Wish I still had it.....
TIMINATOR
 
A guy that I apprenticed with in 1970/72 did 19 truck tops for an insurance company! They shipped from Chicago and were loaded on the top deck of the train cars to Southern IL. and didn't clear a bridge. The first one or two went slowly, but by the 4th or 5th one, we had it down really well! GM supplied the new tops, with the "legs/ pillars" down to near the body. All were sold as new by central IL. dealers that were probably unaware of the repairs to them.
I was the regional service mgr at that time, in that zone. {Zone 47}. I don't recall such an incident ever happening.
I can assure you that had corp legal known of that bullshit being pulled, there'd have been a real shitstorm!
Even what's called "minor damage" from rail car, transporter wrecks were destroyed while I/we watched.
Those trucks had other issues we spent tons of money on, too.
 
A few only needed the top skin, but most needed the window frame and most glass too. I wondered at the time if those were supposed to be sold thru regular channels, or? There was a contract for all of them, and he bid on it. According to the owner, an insurance company paid for the work, I saw the large( for that time) check, but that was 50 years ago and I don't remember what company paid it. Damaged trucks came in one or two at a time, and were driven out as finished by someone that did sign for them.
In about 1980, An acquaintance bought/ repaired about 20/30 defective/returned carburetors that were factory mis machined from a local (here) retailer, and repaired them.
Some were returned to them to sell as reduced price seconds, the others were given to him as payment, and he sold those to friends, or at the Long Beach or Pomona swaps as used customer returns. He tested them before return or sale on our dyno mule. The one he gave me ran perfectly on my wife's car for years.
Since u were the rep. where did u live? Had to be somewhere close back there.
In about 1975, there was a theft ring that stole engines/trannies brand new, usually Ford, that were cut out and stolen from vehicles shipped by rail from Chicago to the southern IL. area. Supposedly they were off loaded when the train was stopped for switching somewhere. There was a guy that I worked with then at a major equipment fabricator that sold several engine/trans sets to my coworkers.
Can't trust anybody ...
TIMINATOR
Older and less trusting.....
 
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