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Topic: Replacing the T-Top seals on my '75 Stingray

in Forum: C3 Body


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Replacing the T-Top seals on my '75 Stingray (1/2)
 7/31/21 5:08pm
BillHanna
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Cana, VA - USA

Vette(s):
1975 Stingray 71 350 engine Flat top pistons Sniper fuel injection Hyperspark ignition Vintage Air air conditioning Borgeson power steering box


Joined: 7/3/2016
Posts: 319

Replacing the T-Top seals on my ‘75 Stingray

After reading some reviews on replacing the T-top weather strip seals, it sounded straight forward.  The reviewer’s tale that I read said that the new seals fit perfectly, and the few screws that needed to come out came out easily.  Not in my case!

I ordered the new seals from Summit Racing.  I already had the black sealant from when I re-glued down the weather striping on my doors.

Stripping off the old seals was straight forward, but a bit tedious.  After they were ripped off, I pulled out the old plastic “T” fasteners from the T-top.  Then I scraped of the old glue from the T-top using a screwdriver and wood chisel.  Most of the four screws that had held down the seal at the front were rusted fast and I had to drill them out.  Then I removed the chrome trim that these were mounted in so I could remove the remainder of the the screws.  Some of these I was able to get out using Vice Grip pliers on the bottom side of the screws.  The rest I heated with a torch, doused in water while hot (a trick I learned long ago), then they came out easily.

After dry-fitting the new seals, I found that there were “T” fasteners in some places in the new seal but no matching holes in the T-top, so I drilled new holes for those.  Also, the original seals had steel molded in at the front so the four screws would not pull through the seals, but the ones I had bought did not have this.  When fastening the new seals, I tried to put screws in the pre-punched holed in the molding but the screws pulled right through the molding.  This is when I found out how fast the black sealant dries!  The seals came with four extra “T” fasteners, so I pushed these through instead of using the screws (I needed four more for both T-tops so I used some of the old ones).  The rest of the job was simply to lay a bead of the black sealant under the seal and push the “T” fasteners in the corresponding holes in the T-top.  The new seals did not seem to fit very well at the two front corners, but some extra sealant there seemed to hold.  I then installed the T-tops on the car and let the sealant dry overnight.

 

This was not as easy nor as well fitting as I had anticipated, but the job is done, and maybe now I can drive in the rain without a raincoat on. 






|UPDATED|7/31/2021 2:08:07 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|


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Re: Replacing the T-Top seals on my †(2/2)
 7/30/21 9:34pm
Adams' AppleLifetime Member
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Duncanville, TX - USA

Vette(s):
#1-1974 L-48 4spd Cp Med Red Metallic/Black deluxe int w/AC/tilt/tele./p/w-p/b/ Am-Fm/map light National/Regional/Chapter NCRS "Top Flight" #2-1985 Bright Red/Carmine Cp.L-98/auto Member: NCRS, NCRS Texas, Corvette Legends of Texas


Joined: 11/8/2003
Posts: 20126

🙄  Uh...what the heck is that??! lol



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