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I don't really get why people want a removable hard top. If you want a coupe, buy a coupe, if you want a convertible, buy a convertible. I have a 90 convertible and the top is never up unless I get caught in a sudden unexpected rain. The only exception I can see is if you live where winters are mild but still cold enough the hardtop may make sense. Of course if you have a good convertible top and a working heater that would work too. Just saying.
I like keeping the extra cabbage in my pocket. Verts are notorious for a large up charge. Yet my roof comes off and stores in the hatch, voila, convertible!
For me its pure aesthetics. The hard top will never come off.
The look is not common in the C4, you don't see it every day when driving around, especially in pre 89' verts.
And there's the extra rigidity and less "roof rattle". The hard top bolts to the car in 6 places (it has it's own inner "halo" where you would normally find a b-pillar), the vert has a large X-brace under the car...and sure, the bolted soft top frame adds yet another form of cross stability/rigidity.
In my case, I'm just having fun building my car, how I want it
In my younger days I looked for an auxiliary hardtop for my '90 roadster with no result locally. Shipping cross country was cost prohibitive.
Now in my old age, the only way to enter the vert is with the top down. I'm done with the hunt but I agree with mark 970, the look of the h'top on a vert is cool.
1. It's safer especially when racing
2. If you do not garage the car, the convertible top will not last long outdoors.
3. It looks better vs the vinyl top up.
4. More secure......
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19-'20-'21-'22-'23-'24
NCM Sinkhole Donor
I had a 1989 Convertible for 24 years, bought it cause I wanted to drive top down. A couple year later at a car show, someone comes over asked me if I wanted a hardtop already painted to match the color, and for FREE! He wants it out of his garage. I told him thanks, but I took it, just sit in my garage cause I don't have use for it.
Never regretted!
In my younger days I looked for an auxiliary hardtop for my '90 roadster with no result locally. Shipping cross country was cost prohibitive.
Now in my old age, the only way to enter the vert is with the top down. I'm done with the hunt but I agree with mark 970, the look of the h'top on a vert is cool.
I can definitely agree that with the top down it is much easier to get in and out. You damn near need to be a contortionist to make it look easy with the top up!
I have an 89 convertible that gets driven all year, the hardtop goes on in November and comes off in March. If you only drive your car on sunny days then I guess there is no need for one.
Think I've had my 77's T-tops off once in the entire time I've had the car since it became mine. Never took the Targa top off my 86 since I've owned it. When I was younger I'd take the T-tops off one of my TA's, stopped cause my buddy kept kicking the radio when he jumped in w/o them.
Just not something I really care for, and with Michigan weather you always gotta worry bout sudden changes or theft of anything you wanna leave in your car around here.
1. It's safer especially when racing
2. If you do not garage the car, the convertible top will not last long outdoors.
3. It looks better vs the vinyl top up.
4. More secure......
I doubt that thin fiberglass piece adds much safety. I may be wrong, but I doubt that's gonna hold the car up if it somehow flips.
I will ad. It, it looks better with the hard top on than the soft top up to me.
When I have my hardtop on, the profile reminds me of a C5 Z-06. I really like the looks, but will be the first to admit its a real pain to take off and on.
I doubt that thin fiberglass piece adds much safety. I may be wrong, but I doubt that's gonna hold the car up if it somehow flips.
I will ad. It, it looks better with the hard top on than the soft top up to me.
I agree, i'm sure its possible to flip just about anything, and ive seen a few C4 cars upside down, But the low center of gravity on these cars make it unlikely, unless your downright crazy with them. I think having nothing between your head and the pavement makes me a lot more cautious ..haha
The B pillar bar (halo) that is in the hardtop is the same as the one in the coupe. The only difference is the mounting of the halo is done with brackets and bolts but the same strength as coupes. Hence with the hardtop properly in place and the convertible cross brace the body is stiffer than the coupe. I will have to check body makeup panels but I think the cross body panel behind the seats in the convertible is also different to add stiffness when the hardtop is not in place.
You won't be surprised to hear that the new hard top's skin is made of fiberglass—like the body of the Corvette itself. As you'd expect, though, it's a more sophisticated piece than the Corvette roofs of the good old days. Computer-age technology has enabled the engineers to design a top that's an integral part of the Corvette's body structure, not just an attractive weather-protection canopy.
Developed by droptop specialist ASC, the hard top is both good-looking and strong. The latter trait derives from the top's composite, sandwich-type construction. The meat in the sandwich is a steel-and-aluminum frame and a helping of polyurethane foam. The bread slices are the inner and outer fiberglass skins. Once all the ingredients are assembled, they're popped into a massive two-piece tool and heated like a giant grilled-cheese sandwich until they cure.
The hard top locks in place with nine bolts; before it can be attached, you must first lower the soft top into its well.And the hard top is so stout that it easily meets federal rollover standards for fixed-roof cars. It also improves the convertible's torsional rigidity, so much so that the hard-top-equipped convertible body is fifteen percent stiffer than the coupe's. That's a noteworthy quality improvement, because excessive body flex contributes to the squeaks and rattles that plague the Corvette. If there's any shortcoming to the new top, it's price: the suggested list is $1995, which helped push the sticker of our well-equipped test car beyond 41 grand.
I agree, i'm sure its possible to flip just about anything, and ive seen a few C4 cars upside down, But the low center of gravity on these cars make it unlikely, unless your downright crazy with them. I think having nothing between your head and the pavement makes me a lot more cautious ..haha
That's I teresting info.... Assume that only applies to oem hardtops?
I would think so. Speedline is the only aftermarket top that I can think of off the top of my head, and I doubt those have all of the internal reinforcements of the factory top.
05-28-2021, 10:20 PM
Removable Hardtop.....why?
