SS#1531

iTrader: (4)

I have a 98 SS hardtop. Cleaner look which is nice, but I do miss the t-tops sometimes. My 94 Z28 had t-tops, didn't leak a drop.

CJDZ24_Z28

iTrader: (75)

I do own a t-top and a hardtop. Both are 98's. No problems with either

MR_M

iTrader: (5)

My formula is a hardtop. All my previous cars had sunroofs so it is different adjusting to a fixed roof and having no way to open it up. Especially with spring around the corner. I had no idea about how uncommon they are until i joined here lol. Now with that in mind, i rarely see any fourth gens without them. Or around here that is.

senicalj4579

iTrader: (41)

my last white z28 was a hardtop. It was a 1998

Benjamin Russick

iTrader: (1)

I ordered my 2000 Z28 as a hard-top and now currently own a 1998 T/A with T-tops...no difference in feel or handling. Had a 1989 Formula with T-tops, now own a 1991 Formula hard-top. Again, no difference. A set of $100 sub-frame connectors would hugely improve both regardless...

Red Orange 96

iTrader: (2)

Hardtops seem to be rarer in firebirds.... An Ls1 TA hardtop was never produced (1 pre production i think) & Ls1 formula hardtops are tough to find. Ls1 camaros seem a bit more equal in number, as do Lt1's.

As for rigidity, there is a post somewhere in Tech land by a 4th gen design guy who states there is no diiference in stiffness. It was designed as a t top car. Having owned both, I dont notice anything. Good shocks cure the rattles.

Hardtops are way sexier imo, especially in body color, and i would look for one as a race car.

I settled on black, hides the tops well. And driving around without a roof on a nice day is just plain great.

NOS LS1

iTrader: (3)

Hard Tops make better Racecars... !!

pewter2002

iTrader: (4)

I had a ride in a friends' '85 t top z28 years ago and WOW! I really loved the whole open air thing w/o being a convertible, which I don't like. I decided that my first car would be a t top. I bought a low milage, 10 year old z28 HO 5 spd t top and I loved it! The tops started to leak slightly a few years later. About $140 for new GM weatherstripping and $80 to have them installed with #3M Adhesive at Apple Auto Glass (warranteed for life!) and it was like BRAND NEW. Actually, the new stuff looked to be an improved design with water channels molded in. Needless to say, when I ordered my '02 SS there was NO WAY I could order it WITHOUT t tops! This car is for pleasure use only and I think the roofs have only been ON a handful of times. Come to think of it, my '84s' roofs were off most of the time also (with heat going in the fall etc). For me, a Camaro HAS to have t's!

Ruthless909

iTrader: (19)

I loves my T-Tops.

2k2cam

iTrader: (2)

My old '02 V6 had T-Tops. I took them off maybe 5 times in the 2 years I owned it. It's a pain having to take them off, put them in the trunk, and then when I park my car put them back on. There was also a small leak at the front driver's seam of it. My SS is a hardtop and don't mind it one bit. Some days though, I do miss the T-Tops. Not enough to cut into my roof though.

BrianSF-GA

another hardtop here...definitely a stiffer chassis. Weld-in SFC (sub-frame connectors) will make it that much stiffer. If it was not going to be primarily a drag car, I would have enjoyed a t-top car more on the street.

ramairetransam

iTrader: (18)

My 99 formy is a hardtop and i looked for quite a while to find a 6 speed non black hardtop formy . I love the trans am look but i hate t tops so much i couldnt deal with it . Now 6le makes a targa top that can be painted to look like a hardtop which would have been nice when i was looking at buying .

dannyo210

iTrader: (1)

My Z is hardtop. stripped model too, crank windows and manual door locks.

LS1W66

Ordered mine Jan `98 and it's one of 556 Formula Hardtops built in 1998,
Fewer still with a 6spd.

dee99gt

iTrader: (3)

I sometimes wish mine was hardtop. My ttops have started leaking during heavy rain. It is nice in the summer time with them out.

chaman

iTrader: (5)

I really smile when someone says that a "hardtop" is stiffer....really? have any of you really looked at how these cars are built?? That hardtop you mention is a piece of PLASTIC over the structural skeleton of the car. You take it out and you will see this for yourselves. The "holes" for the t-tops are already there! The plastic roof adds **** to the stiffness of the car. Said stiffness is in your mind. Both cars (t-tops and hardtop) are exactly the SAME.

BOONEY7750

Love the T-Tops, they do not leak at all on my 99. I agree with Latch. Those guys with hard tops can tell yourselves whatever you want, but if you if you take that thin roof off you are looking at T-Tops, no structural difference, look at the threads adding T-tops. If you are worried about stiffness get some Sub Frame Connectors. These are Unibody cars and all of them are pretty flemsy without something underneath. Mine only had 20,000+ miles when I got it and I could tell a huge difference from the SBCs. If the body flexed that much becuase of T-tops, the tops would shatter during a good burnout.

babbage1109

iTrader: (11)

Looking up t top conversions or hardtop conversions it's two pieces of stamped metal holding that hard top roof up. Nothing structural

blk95formula

Love my t tops in my 99 and they dont leak a drop

Mumbles

iTrader: (5)

This hits the nail on the head.

As does this.

I'm amazed a guy with a T-top car would say this. I'm sure you've had your Tops out on a warm summer night. Nothing sexier.

This is just my opinion and you are entitled to yours. I'm not trying to start an arguement.

My Firebird is Black as well. Never thought about how it hides the fact that its a T-top car, but that's a good point.

And to those of you who say T-tops don't leak, blast water directly at them while at the carwash. They'll leak. Hell, you could probably even get water in a Hardtop car if you were to do this. It comes from these cars not having full frame doors. Its just one of those things you have to deal with when you own an F-body.