Has anybody done this before???
My thinking is all you'd have to do is weld in the upper metal piece that seals up against the top of the window and windshield. Then you just glue on a new composite hardtop piece.

I've always wanted a hardtop LS1 WS6 Trans Am, but good ole GM had to be some hardcore, t-top pimpin bastard, ramming them down your throat.

So do you think it would be easier(and cheaper) to buy a WS6 Trans am and convert the t-tops to hardtops, or just buy a hardtop Formula, and put all the Trans Am stuff on it?

And I know I'm going to get flamed on this, so if all you are going to do is post something hateful and non-constructive, STFU and GTHO.

 

it makes the baby Jesus cry....

 

i dont really know anything about this, but i deffinitly think i hard-top trans am would be bad ***. i'd imagen though that i'd be easyer to get a hardtop formy and put the trans am stuff on it.

 

hmmmm... i think you'd be better going the frankenstien formula route rather than trying to jury rig a top onto a T/A. i've never much like the idea of cutting up a car or welding **** on to one that doesn't belong there. that's just me.

 

On ebay, I have seen a fellow selling the entire roof clip of a t-top Camaro to someone who wanted to convert a hardtop into t's. I'm not sure if you'd find a hardtop roof structure easily, but it's possible.

 

I was the first guy (on the boards) to do the t-top conversion (a LONG time ago) and have done a few since...

It's not hard, but going reverse probably would be...

Here's your options, you decide:

Hardtop Formula:

Need a front bumper, ground effects, hatch and you're done.

Convert T-top Trans-am:

Need to find (or buy new, best option) a fiberglass hardtop roof (sail panels to windshield. Then put in the factory reinforcements (they go from the two points the t-tops lock, basically a hollow "bar" made out of layers of folded metal) and do it SO WELL that you can re-install factory hard-top weather stripping and a-pillars...

The fiberglass roof basically glues on, stick a hardtop headliner on and you're done...

I say if you're car shopping, get the Formula, if you already have the Trans-Am, go for it!

The work will be a pain in the @ss but you can probably sell your tops for the cost of the materials...

 

Lock the t-tops

 

im sure it wouldnt be hard to find a wrecked bird or camaro for a donor car

 

I'll talk to a body shop and get their opinoin.

The Frankenformula route would be expensive out the *** though. Front bumper, rear bumper, rear hatch, side ground effects, and a WS6 hood. Now I have to get all that **** painted, might as well just get the whole car resprayed(maybe a custom color). That sounds like a good way to blow $7,000 right there.

The Frankenformula might be a viable option to a guy who owns a bodyshop and buys a totaled hardtop Formula(how often would you come across one of those?)

 

W2W and Stenod have converted T-Top's to hard tops. Its a lot of work.

http://stenodracing.com/gallery/albu...5/DSC02197.jpg

http://stenodracing.com/gallery/albu...5/DSC02232.jpg

http://stenodracing.com/gallery/albu...5/DSC02235.jpg

 

Hubby did it on his 3rd gen back in 1989
before

after


now....LOL

 

Rad shorts, dude!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Looks like they glue a fiberglass hardtop roof on but I do not see the supports added (neccessary to re-attach weatherstripping and a-pillars on a daily driver)... obviously because it's a race car with a cage but nonetheless something for the post's author to consider...

 

it was 1980 somethin, in the world that i grew up in......skatin rinks and black trans ams......

um you might be the first person to ever go from a hard top, to a t-top then to a vert

 

I don't think the vert was the same car as the red Camaro.

 

It is.

 

The roof supports are something that you can purchase from the dealer for 15 dollars. Every car is made as a T-Top car and then they pinch weld the supports in. Door seals are also something that you can purchase. After that you have to fabricate a couple other pieces of sheetmetal. Then the top gets glued down after that. In the linked pics, we just set the top on the car. It's not mounted yet.

 

DERTY,
Does Stenod Performance do the t-top to hardtop conversion? Are you serious about the two braces only being $15? How much does the composite roof cost?

Also, could you please provide a quote for doing the whole job?

Thanks,
Jim

 

Ive always thought it would be bad *** to turn my 35th in to a hard top. But then again I've always wanted a hard top SS.

 

A guy that used to work over at the shop converted his black T-Top Ground Effect Z28 into a Hugger Orange Hard Top SS, i'll ask around and see how hard it was for him to do the conversion, i remember he had a couple of sealing problems but was working them out then he quit, i didnt get much of a chance to talk to him though