Last week I posted questions regarding the moon t-tops. I was wrong. These were an option item offered on the c3 by chervolet, not an aftermarket piece. I had noticed these moon t-tops had liners just like the factory tops and also the liner was held in tact with the same type plastic snap in that are also used on the interior door panels and the rubber trim is also the same like the regualr t -tops and dont forget the stainless steel trim on the outer edge and other hardware are the the same like the alignmet brackets. Because these were only an option item they are rare and the are just like the ones in the movie summer corvette, a regular t-top with a piece of shaded plexyglass in the center of the top so you can see out. The rest of the t-top is painted to match the car. Wow it makes one apperciate the custom look chevy did to the corvette in the 70's. I think these tops were only producded in 73-76. In 78 the first all glass t-top came out.

 

THIS INFORMATION IS OFFERED BY TRACY PERFORMANCE TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENT ROOF COMBINATIONS.

C3 coupe fiberglass painted T-Tops from 1968 to 1976 have 2 clamps, a chrome die cast front guide pin and a vinyl covered plastic headliner.

C3 coupe fiberglass painted T-Tops for the 1977 year only, have 2 clamps similar to the early tops, but have aluminum front guides instead of chrome die cast ones and a vinyl covered cardboard headliner like the later ones.

C3 coupe fiberglass painted T-Tops from 1978 to 1982 have 1 clamp and a spear in the back and have the vinyl covered cardboard headliner.

C3 coupe glass T-Tops are made for 1978 to 1982 Corvettes, but can be retrofitted to 1968 to 1977 Corvettes by removing the triangular shaped adjustable pin located in the upper rear door pillar, roof panel. They were made with LOF brand glass in blue, bronze, solorcool, and neutral tints.

C3 coupe aftermarket Moon Roofs were originally designed to go on 1977 Corvettes as an GM option that never made to to the option list. They were offered as an optional aftermarket item and are distinguished by a painted fiberglass border surrounding the glass inset. They were made in several combinations with 1 or 2 clamps to fit both styles of C3 Corvette roofs. They were originally offered with dark, silver, bronze, gold, and rose tints.

C3 coupe aftermarket glass roofs were offered with PPG, LOF, and Galaxsee brands of glass. A few versions of aftermarket inexpensive Plexiglas T-Tops were also offered.

 

GM CONSIDERED the "moonroof" style t top but never ok'd them. After they were killed corporately, they were made by the aftermarket. /:\

 

the difference between a sun roof and a moon roof is relative to what time it is

 

I don't want to disappoint you, but moon roofs (trade name) were never a Corvette option from the factory. Your tops are aftermarket items. They were popular, but they were not Chevrolet.

All 1968-77 factory t-tops were fiberglass and painted body color. For 1978-82, the base tops were fiberglass and painted body color. The factory glass tops available for the 78-82 models were optional and cost you extra when you ordered your Corvette.

None of the clear Chevrolet tops were plastic. All were tempered glass.

 

Richard,

The tops you describe were never offered by GM as standard or optional equipment on any Corvette. As noted above, the only see-through "moon roof" type tops ever offered by GM were the 78-82 glass tops. These first came out in April 78 as standard equipment on the 78 Pace Cars. When Pace Car production ended in May, they became a regular production option (RPO) for the balance of 78 and all 79-82's (the bronze tinted version was standard on 82 Collector Editions). These can be identified by the single handle latch mechanism, they're entirerly made of glass (either tempered or laminted, depending on the year), the glass is trimmed on all 4 sides by a black rubber (not stainless) trim and the inside has 4 grained, black plastic corner trim pieces, but no headliner or provision for one.

The tops you describe sound like a popular aftermarket top marketed by a company known as "Moon Roof Corp.". If my memory is correct (a big if after many years of beers), similar tops may have been available from a company named Saratoga Tops. These first came out in the mid 70's. They were of the 68-77, 2 handle top design and were made of fiberglass with a tinted acrylic plastic "window" in the center of the top panel. The biggest drawback to these was that you needed to have them painted to match your car. About the same time, a company by the name of Thompson came out with an all acrylic see-thru frameless and trimless top called the "Astro Top". These were available in a variety of different colored tints and are still available today from Thompson Astro Tops, in 2 piece or a solid one piece top.

Chevrolet did have plans to offer a clear top in 77. The 77 sales brochure descibes the following, optional "New glass canopy roof panels. Deep tint reduces sun glare". There is no indication that these ever made it into production.

It is quite likely that some of these aftermarket tops made it onto new Corvettes as a dealer installed option. This would be especialy true of cars sold by Corvette oriented dealers of the time, such as; Barlow here in NJ, A.D. Anderson in Baltimore, McDorman in Ohio and Ed Rinke in Mich., among others

 

I have the Moon Roof t-tops on my '78 Silver Anniversary

 

This post was originally written in 2009, Several replies have brought it to my knowledge regarding the options to the 77 moon roofs. First and far most since 2009 I have not responded to my own post because over the years corrections and facts were presented to acknowledge the moon roof were not an option offered. Anyhow what I do not understand is why forum members continue to attempt to chastise and repeat the same information in a different option of words.