1960 Hardtop
 

Does anyone might know where can i get a restored white and red hardtop for my 60' vette?
the only one i found is on ebay from crane corvette but this David dude is a very 'special' guy to deal with.

Thank you

another forum member has recently purchased a hardtop from Crane and he is not happy....

Bill

Check LarryP's added in the parts for sale dated 2/13/2018. I will attempt to post the link.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...d-hardtop.html

That's a bit of change but it depends on how badly you want it....
You may find a cheaper one that needs a lot of work or is a bit tired....

Frankly, you may discover (like me and many others) that the hardtop novelty quickly wears off and it becomes a ceiling fixture in the garage....

Funny; I have two friends with nicely restored C1's with hardtops who describe theirs as cumbersome garage art. My 61 was originally a dual top, but after observing their reluctance to use them, I'll probably never take that expensive plunge for what will become a decoration.

…..unless you have a/c :D

Bill

Somewhere on/in my '60 there is a soft top. It's been years since I've seen it, though.

I love the look of the soft top when it's up but the visibility afforded by the hardtop is just soooo much better.

haven't had my soft top up, or the hard top off, in 9 years... I'm sure somewhere under the deck lid is a black potato chip that used to be a top...
Bill

Don't seem like too much to me . They are very expensive to restore . I've seen some asking as much as $6,000. for one restored right ." If you want to play , you have to pay "

Yup, I got a hard top with my '60 when I bought it. Owner before me had the car for 25 years and never had the top on it and neither have I. It hangs on the wall in my hangar.

That price is a bargain! You don't say how long since the top was restored by GW, but they charge $3800 to restore a top and the backlog is 10-12 months. If if looks as good as it appears, it's a great price. Used tops that need rebuilding or at least plexiglass sell for $2000-2500 normally.

Personally, I think a C1 looks best with the hardtop installed. Then with the top down. And, finally with the soft top up. I wish that top would fit a 61/62 as it would be gone.

BH

I haven't had the hard top off of my '62 in years. It's a quieter, more comfortable, and better-looking car with it than without it.

I almost never take mine off.

I guess it depends how you drive the car. Top down over 35 MPH you get lot of buffeting, soft top up at highway speeds is really annoying.

HT at highway speeds is quiet, comfortable, good visibility, and no buffeting if you have the cowl vent open and the side windows down.
Most of my driving is open two lane roads over 45 MPH.
Doug

I'm totally the opposite: I installed the hardtop on my '61 over two years ago and haven't taken it off since. The car looks much better with it on, and drives tight. In addition, it has plenty of visibility and headroom. I was going to get a soft top frame and have a soft top made ($3200+) but now, probably not. If I want to go topless I'll hit the button on my '67 GTO convertible or simply lift the top off the '61. Bottom line, I feel the '61 and '62 cars in particular look better with the hardtop installed.

Another vote for the hardtop. Try it, you'll like it. A quick hardtop story: My Fawn Beige 1962 was an original 2-top car, but when I bought it the hardtop was not with the car (not uncommon). I started to look for one, not being sure if I would like it or not. I finally located one in Pennsylvania a couple of years later. This guy had four or five C1 tops, and said this was the nicest one he had - good paint, new white headliner, nice, clear plexiglass and polished stainless. Everything was there - all the mounts, bolts, etc. I asked him how long he had had the top, and he said "Damned near forever. Can't remember I time I didn't have it." I asked him why, if it was so nice? He said, "Well, it's an odd color. Nobody seems to want it." You guessed it - Fawn Beige. He sent me a ton of photos, and the top did indeed look great - so I told him I'd take it, and went down with my little pick-up to get it. On arrival, I found the top to be even nicer than advertised. He helped me load it, and after a night's stay in PA, I headed for home - calling ahead so one of my grown sons would be there to help me move and mount it. Now, we all know that each one of these tops is "a little different", and all them usually take considerable fiddling around with to get them to fit correctly. My son and I lifter the top out of my truck, walked it up to the car, and engaged the windshield header latches. As we carefully lowered the rear of the top down to the deck, I warned my son that it was probably going to take some maneuvering before we would be able to get all the bolts in. I no sooner got the words out than he said "My side's tight. All bolted up" So was mine. Everything spun right on, and the top fit and sealed great. The color match was perfect. How can you beat that? Well, here's how (maybe). I later wrote to the NCRS to find out where my car was originally delivered, and they certified that my car was delivered new to Washington Motor Company in Abingdon, Virginia in February of 1962. I also knew from tracking down past owners that the car spent most of its life in Western New York, and that's where I purchased it. If you looked at a map and drew a line from Abingdon, Virginia to the area of Western NY where I bought it, that line goes right through the small Pennsylvania town where I bought the top. Coincidence? Maybe. But then there's the way the top fit my car - I have never seen a C1 top go on that easily and fit so well, right off the bat. Never. And finally, there's this . . . the plexiglass windows are date-coded correctly for my car. So, is it possible that this is my original top? Many owners sold or otherwise disposed of their removable hardtops over the years. I would say the odds of recovering my original top are pretty low . . . but who knows? It sure makes for a great story.


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...155f9d721a.jpg

I have mixed feeling about the debate. I DO like the looks of the C1s with the hard top on and the top down--they look like completely different cars. I think with the hard top on they have a very Mercedes/European look to them.

When I bought my 2 top 57 I planned on driving the car year around with the hard top on in the AZ. winter. However, they tell me that the soft tops need to be put up and latched once per month to keep them from shrinking so that doesn't work out. For people in this position I would strongly suggest you install a cloth top rather than vinyl as they say the cloth ones do not shrink.

I took care of my dilemma by buying a 65 coupe for my winter driving and am just installing a vinyl convertible top on the car for emergencies. The plan is that the top will only be up in the garage to keep it from shrinking.

Found this. Seller says he'll take $2,400 for it. It's perfect for me except I'm not in shape to drive from TN to get it.
https://hartford.craigslist.org/pts/...738355704.html

That's about as good as it gets, IMO. You could have it shipped....there are options.

At 73 with Neuropathy and a light checkbook, this will be my "the one that got away" story

A soft top with modern Haartz Stayfast material - like the new Jags an BMWs have, you can leave the top down for years without damage - you sacrifice originality though...

at 75+ I don't let neuropathy slow anything down, except walking....

:cheers:
Bill

I have 3 vettes.. all have both hard and soft tops.

• The 59 came with both tops. Car looks I feel much nicer with the HT on. But I like top down driving and putting the top on / off is a PITA.. so that top is relegated to garage art. BTW.. my avitar you can see the 59 with the top on.. as i mentioned... I do think it looks much nicer with the HT on.. nonetheless... as most attest, they (it) has been relegated to 'garage ceiling art'.
• The 67 I bought a restored top from a super nice gent here on the forum. Top was professionally restored by one of the 'name' restorers in PA (I forget the name). That top is pretty much garage art also, but I feel It adds to the car to have it. Also, based on my purch price, that ref link to a top seems pretty pricey.
• The 62 is a restoration in process (I have a thread on this on the forum). The top for that.. I see tops all the time on CL in the $800 - $1200 price range. I picked one up that is quite usable 'as is' for $900. My labor is free.. but new rubbers, rear plexi, etc when I do dismantle it, strip, and refinish it, I will be into it for about $1600 and it will look pretty darn nice. One thing about doing your own top... it is a very manageable project that does not need a lot of space or a spray booth (simple sheet plastic 'booth' set up in the garage works fine). Again.. .this roof too will likely become garage art.

So, with a Hartz top I don't have to worry about storing the top in the bay for months at a time? This is great to know, as every time I read these soft top shrinkage threads I am concerned. Soft tops up, even when just parked in the garage, really detracts from the looks of these cars IMHO.

BH

Our '60 came with both tops. The hardtop is pretty much on all the time. It has probably been off twice that I can recall in about 25 years, so not too often.

Kinda like the look of the car with it on too....

The original soft op is there and from does have a split in it...

I bought the 56 in 73, and the previous owner had sold the hard top. Back in 76, I had to pay an outrageous price for a hard top-------------$625. It needed paint, rear window, side windows and headliner. So I ended up with about $1000 invested in it. WAAAAAAAAAAAY TOO MUCH money for a hard top!!!!
This summer I had it off for about 2days--------------first time in several years it had been off. I pulled up the soft top to check its condition. It had shrunk so much that I could not fasten the rear latches--------------so I put it back down and there it will stay.

This is the 56 when I bought it.
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...s/100_1704.jpg


TODAY
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...s/100_0756.jpg

Back in 1975, you could buy a used hardtop, or a complete, but probably needing work, FI unit in a box, for $200. I was offered both. I needed to do otehr things to my car with my limited funds at the time. At that time, i was told finding phenolic injector blocks in good condition were a challenge.

Doug

It looks like Photobucket is back for free, but with their splash on all the pics?
Doug

Yep, that is correct-------------------BUT-------------------------if a picture has been uploaded to Photobucket, and a copy was not saved for yourself, you CANNOT download that picture for other uses. Once on Photobucket------------------it's locked!!!! And I don't like that. If a person puts a picture on Photobucket, they they should be able to download it!!!

I have a 1960 that came with both tops and both need restoration, I fully intended to sell the hard top as I never see myself using it.
this thread has made me rethink that, I have to say the look of the hardtop on looks great

I saw my first in the flesh Corvettes at the drag strip.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...2366f1fe15.jpg
My first loves looked like this.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...8409bf649b.jpg
This is my 60 with my $2250.00 eBay hardtop.
The old gassers were beautiful to a young man, and they all had the hard tops on. I never take mine off. I live in a cold climate anyway and the car just looks correct to me with it on.

well just let me know if you decide to sell then.
Thanks
Avi

Very interesting. How did they do that? I should be able to copy an image from my computer screen, onto my computer. I see trying to copy your PB image gives me a jpeg file with 0 bytes in it.
Doug

So you could not open it once it was copied/pasted to your computer screen, correct? Me neither!!!

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...53b7da9986.jpg
Just put mine on over a brand new Black Stay Soft Convertible top.......I laid the soft top gently with cotton towels in between folds just like my Dad used to do......I guess I'm more concerned about the Soft Top!!!! Probably should sell the Hard top, but..........

Both cars are great! But, that black gasser is outstanding. What a look! That would be a ball on cruise night. :D:D:D

I downloaded the photo of Tom's red '56 with no problem - got the 262kb image with the Photobucket logo on it; there's no way to get rid of that logo. Here's the image:


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...030e5bdef3.jpg

My Win 10 machine will not download the photo. I tried saving it several ways, it either does not show up at all as down loaded at all, or shows up as a 0 byte corrected file. Another person i asked was able to download it on his MAC laptop without any problems and even downloaded it without the Photobucket splash by using a direct link to PB instead of from CF.
Doug