Recently by Eric Peters: The Oil Change Co-Pay
The other day, someone reminded me about T-tops. If youre younger than 30 or so, you probably dont remember T-tops. But if youre older, no doubt you do.
For about 10 years beginning in the mid-70s and through the mid-80s T-tops (or T-roofs) were very popular. Camaros and Firebirds, Mustang IIs and 280Zs of that era and several others, too often had them.
It was a pretty cool idea.
The trouble was, these T-tops werent (usually) very well-engineered. In many cases, they were installed at the dealer level (Hurst was a major supplier at first). And what the dealer did was basically take a Sawzall and rough in the holes, then trim it up loosely and kind-sorta with chrome surrounds and weatherstripping.
Because the roof is a structural member of the cars body, cutting away much of the roofs structure did a number on the cars body integrity. The remaining and not as stiff anymore roof would flex. And the tops would invariably leak. Then, the seats and carpets would get wet.
Mold and floorpan rust ensued.
The factory-installed T-roofs were better because the roof section was reinforced and also because they werent dealer Sawzall jobs. But they still leaked and squeaked. I had one of each a 78 Camaro with the dealer-done Hurst tops (which can be IDd by their smaller size and shiny chrome trim) and later an 80 Camaro with the factory Fisher tops (which were larger and typically had black out trim) so I speak from bitter personal experience. The only way to keep the water out was by RTVing the things in place. And they still leaked because the frameless door glass these cars had didnt seal tight enough against the tops.
Anyone who had one of these cars had the same experience.The only way to keep the water out was to make sure the car never got wet.
Which is why you dont see T-tops much anymore.
Heres another: air shocks on muscle cars.
You know how today the big thing is to mount the biggest possible wheels on a car? Back in the day, the big thing was to get the ass end of your muscle car as high up in the air as possible. The idea was to emulate the look of a dragster you know, get the nose in the weeds. It it was also a cheap way to correct for saggy leafs and fix tire scrub.