Topic: coupe to t-top??

[dredden17]

I was just wondering if anyone has attempted to take a TA coupe and turn it into a t-tops car. I have a 79 coupe and really wanted t-tops when I bought it but couldn't pass up the price on it. Now 4 years later I am nearing the end of my restoration and still want t-tops. My last step is a paint job and before I do that I am considering making it a t-top if at all possible. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks all!!!!

[Joker (§ir£Ðragon)]

Well there are two ways to go about it. You can get the Hurst parts off of a donor car and cut that into your roof. But they are even more prone to leaks than if the car had come with the Hurst tops. Or you can get a roof off of a T-Top car (preferably Fisher for their superior sealing) and swap the roof onto your car.

[eroc022]

if you do a roof swap its perfectly reasonable....thats how i did mine...or if you find a set of hurst tops with all the hardware you can cut them in yourself but you will need to reinforce the roof or the car could eventually break and twist

[Hitman]

I vote for the second way and do a roof swap on the car.  I have done it many times before.


Support the car:


Cut off the roof:


And put on a new one:

[logikfive]

Hitman, I'm curious as to why you opted to replace the whole roof on a Hurst t-top roof car? Considering the fact that is all Hurst T-top roofs were, in fact just holes cut into a normal hardtop roof.

[eroc022]

he will tell you that hurst re-inforced the roof and instead of making up new braces and having no clue what the roof will look like after one good stomp on the throttle or if it will stay straight after cutting...that its actually in fact much easier to replace the roof as where you put it back on is the same way the factory did it....and less room for a mess up there.

[Hitman]

yeah.... what he said.

[logikfive]

Hm, I never saw any reinforcements when I gutted a '78 T/A with the hurst hatches, and I pulled out all of the original parts to resell off of it. Where did they reinforce? The thing was as rigid as a slice of bologna once I removed only the t-top frames. Not saying you're wrong, but I'm curious!

The only reinforcements I found on this car when I parted it out was some spray-expanding foam sprayed in the two peices of roof sheetmetal (obviously a previous owner job). It was just sawzall cuts other than that. Unless I got an early style hurst roof, I can't remember if it was the first version or the second. I still have the frames for the t-tops from that car in the garage, but I sold the t-tops.



You can actually see how flexy it was in this picture:

[RENOVATIONS]

You make it sound like cake, Brett? Any tips?

[HughJass]

Yes, I would like some pointers as I just picked up a roof for $10, but I need the glass.
I would assume the car should be on 4 wheels, I have it on jack stands now.

[Joker (§ir£Ðragon)]

I would think if you have the stands in the proper places under the car (under the rear axle and the subframe near the lower control arms) then the weight distribution would be the same.

[HughJass]

Actually the stands are on the frame rails. I was thinking of putting my subframe connectors on before I do it.

[RENOVATIONS]

Yeah, I know the body needs to be stable and tight to eliminate any flex...I'm just curious on areas of the cut and attach points. Measurements, etc...   

 It just seems like a scary job to me as being off a hair would cause glass fitment issues, among other things...I'm sure those that have done it make it seem easy, just looking for general pointers

[Joker (§ir£Ðragon)]

You could always give it a "chopped top" while you're at it. 

[RENOVATIONS]

You could always give it a "chopped top" while you're at it. 

That might be the "accidental" result if I did it