Grimlock

I am looking to purchase an early C3 in the near future ('68-'69 are my preferance), but its been a long time since I worked on a C3 (over 15 years). Back then I had an opportunity to work on a good friend's '68 and '69 roadsters. I have never had the chance to look up close at the removable roof pannels on a C3. I do seem to recall hearing that these were problematic.

I want to know if these have issues while in place (leaks, rust, etc)?

And does removing the roof pannels periodically exagerate these problems?

Thanks in advance!

LT1driver

my experience and what I heard over the years was what caused them to leak was never taking them off and then all of sudden using them and leaks occured....as of today, I have never had a c3 (70-73) leak on me, I have had several starting in 73.

Dragonwycke

I have a set of the 'vintage' glass tops on my '74- no leaks. The tops are just a rigid as the stock T-tops, which don't leak either. It's all about the gaskets and keeping them clean.

early shark

Grimlock,

I've owned 3 70's, 3 71's & 2 '72's. All coupes. The factory assembly workers were all over the place when fitting the removeable tops to the roofs.

In a Corvette News issue for 1971. There is an article that shows by illustration the EIGHT different adjustments that can be done to properly get a top panel to align and seal correctly.

I have ordered NOS weatherstripping for some of the cars in the past and spent some time adjusting the fitment of the tops to the roof. With patience and new sealing weatherstripping (factory pieces, not aftermarket) you can accomplish a nice fit and seal.

I have my roof tops on and off the cars constantly, as I like this feature a lot! Sometimes I only remove one side. This hasn't caused any issues for me.

Red70vette

Like any 40 year old piece of equipment unless it is properly reconditioned and maintained it will have problems. The T-Tops offered on 68 corvettes where revolutionary in their time. The design worked well but like a previous posters noted they were not always adjusted properly comming out of the factory. The same holds ture today. New weatherstripping is applied, old weatherstripping deteriorates, wrong adjustments are made, and a variety of other things happen to affect the fit of the T-Tops.

They came be made to work flawlessly. If you know what to do. That being said they are great especially the 68-72 cars with removable rear windows. They afford all the comforts of a convertible with the practicality of a coupe. I don't find leakage an issue as my car has not seen rain in the last 7 years.