allautomotive

I have been looking for a hartop since I got my latest corvette but have had no luck locally.
Today I found one which is a 2 hour drive to get to.
The top is off a 93 ruby convertible and he claims it to be a gm part and that he has all mounting hardware. Will this be a perfect fit for my 89?, what is a fair price to pay for it?.
I will still have to paint it but aside from that is there anyhting I should look for? Noticed its been for sale for a while and when we Spoke on the phone his price is $1000 firm.

c4cruiser

$1000 seems pretty high for a hardtop even with all of the pieces. The hardtop (RPO CC2) first appeared in 89 and over 1500 were sold at something like $2000 as a factory option.

The tops were made for GM by American Sunroof Company in Bowling Green. Convertibles were delivered to that company where the hardtops were installed on the car and everything was adjusted for proper fit. The cars were then returned to the Assembly Plant for finishing and delivery.

When I had my '92 vert, I paid a guy $400 for his hardtop (also complete) and it cost me $450 to have it painted to match my car. I would think that $500 to $600 would be a good price for a top in decent condition.

By "all the mounting hardware", does the seller have the heavy steel brackets with the 10 bolts, the convertible decklid protector pad, and the wrench kit? One thing to look for is the condition of the weatherstripping on the hardtop. Figure about $700 to completely replace the pieces.

Part of the wiring for the hardtop window defogger will already be in your car. The power lead will be under the carpet near the passenger side shoulder belt tower. Your car won't have a ground lead, but it's easy to make one. It attaches to the driver's side belt tower with a sheet metal screw.

F22

The real question is whether an 'Late C4' (91-96) hardtop will fit an 'Early C4' Convertible (84-90)?

allautomotive

The guy said he had all the hardware and decklid protector.
He told me the roof was a $3000 option when he bought his car and $5000 if you would try to buy it from the parts dept. I told him I didnt think so as i remembered reading this http://www.web-cars.com/corvette/opt...ptionyear=1989 .
He thinks its a good deal as "these go for over $1500 used".
Anyways the conversation started becoming one sided and I said I would get back to him.
If it fits I would be prepared to pay fair market value for it but what is that?

MyOtherCar

As with all original auto parts, as time goes by the supply of those parts lessens, and the price of those left for sale increase.

You are asking a question on this forum for which there is no answer, only the opinions of those who might chime in with their thoughts. You didn't even post photos or a link

Things to consider are, but not limited to:

condition, if it is restored consider how much jsut the weatherstripping cost.

condition of the glass and headliner

complete hardtop and all attaching hardware.

shipping

availability of others on the market

how bad do you want it

what will it do to the value of your Corvette if you have one.

c4cruiser

The guy is clearly blowing smoke. It sounds like he wants simply to get as much money as he can for it and expecting that prospective buyers aren't doing their homework.

Once the hardtop is properly installed, the convertible will actually be stiffer than a coupe. The hardtop contains a steel "halo bar" just like the coupe and the undercar X-brace is sonething the coupes don't have. My 92 with the hardtop installed was also quieter inside compared to the softtop. You lose some storage area in the back with the ragtop folded down and the decklid cannot be raised.

The factory hardtop was a GM-sold item only. Either the car was ordered with RPO CC2 or it could be purchased through a Chevy dealer. There is (or was) an aftermarket hardtop but it's only a fiberglass shell with no structural support. IIRC, those tops were half again as much as a factory hardtop.

These tops can be found for much less with some searching. Sure, a two hour drive is a big help as it removes shipping cost from the equation. You didn't say if you are buying in Canada or the US, but outside of the color combination when driving thru customs, picking up a top in the US could save duty charges.

Again, I think that $1000 is a bit too high. Did you ask for pics of the top, the weatherstripping, decklid protector, and the interior? All hardtops had a black interior. Get pics of the brackets and bolts too just to make sure he does have them.

But finding one that you can drive out to inspect and bring home mounted on your car can be worth some extra cost. Also consider that it could cost a couple hundred to have a similar top shipped (with a risk of damage in transit) to you.

The factory hardtop will fit 89 thru 96 convertibles. C4 convertibles appeared during the 1986 model year. Convertibles thru 1988 did not have provisions for attaching the heavy B-pillar brackets although there were kits available that were welded to the B-pillars. The brackets for the windshield mounts were different on the early cars so they have to be changes to match the 89 and later cars. I think that the rear decklid clamps have to be upgraded too; there is a nut welded to the bottom of the later clamps for the encapsulated bolt found in the hardtop rear locating pins.

Caboboy

This is generally true however I checked an 89 vert in the junkyard that had the old style decklid and therefore couldn't accept a top without modifications. Maybe it was an *early* '89? It didn't have the proper windshield brackets either


Correct for an earlier car (86-88). OP, the easiest way to determine if your car will take a hardtop is to look at your winddshield header brackets and make sure they have the captive bolt. Then double check your rear bezels for the welded nut mentioned above.

c4cruiser

Guess that the early convertibles could very well have had different components. I don't know the point during the '89 production run when the factory hardtop was actually offered. It would make sense that the brackets would change to be able to support the later model years.

Same with the encapsulated bolt in the windshield header. That bolt is needed to attach the front of the hardtop. Look at the round attaching boss on the pillar where the soft top clamps to the header. There should be a bolt in the hole if the car was built to accept a hardtop. There is a hole in the windshield header trim over the sunvisor. Look for a Torx T-40 bolt head.

anciano

I took the ragtop and frame out altogether to save weight and increase storage space. It only adds a couple of minutes to the hardtop installation which most of us (I assume) only do once a year for the winter season.

Or maybe not even that. I'm thinking very seriously of just leaving the hardtop on permanently. I wonder how many others do that? If they do it makes all the sense in the world to completely remove the ragtop.

texbudda

Just Fyi a new on from Ecklers is 1800 unpainted

http://www.ecklerscorvette.com/corve...1986-1996.html