My 94 V6 has t-tops and one of them is original to the car. The tops do match, and the glass is tinted and marked "GRAY". Some kind of ceramic pattern is baked onto the interior surface of the glass. I guess it acts as a sunscreen.

SO I hit the U-Pull-It yard yesterday and find a bloack 95 Firebird V6. I got a few minor parts and I'm ready to walk away when *doh* I notice that it is a t-top car and the tops are there. With the whole car being black the tops didn't stand out.

I grab the tops and go home (you dont want to know how much I paid for both tops, LOL).

I test fit one onto my Camaro and it works fine. Then I sit in the car and look up. Wow, the new top is a lot brighter. Then I notice that the 95 tops are marked "DEEP TINT" and they do *not* have that baked-on sunblocking pattern. The 95 tops don't seem to be tinted any darker than the 94 tops.

Anybody know what the story is here? Did Camaros get one style top and Firefirds another? IS it a 93/94 vs. 95 and up thing? I'm curious.

The car was already plenty hot last year with the screened tops. You still felt like you were baking with the a/c blasting. The 95 tops will let in even more light so this should be interesting.

 

As far as I know there are 3 different shades of T-top glass, and no particular year had any one color. They all should have the ceramic coating on them. That coating helps protect the rubber seals from getting baked in the sun.

Massey

 

That "ceramic pattern" on your tops is what's referred to as Dot-Matrix, which holds back some sun.
1993 & 94 tops had that pattern. 95-up then went to plain heavier tinted glass: T-Tops

 

Camaro 69, cool, thanks for the info. It looks like the donor car being a 95 was a lucky stroke. The "clear" tops will be more interesting to use at night.

Massey, both sets of tops have the baked-on ceramic coating around the edges where the seals are. It's the center area on the 94 tops that has the pattern fused onto the glass.

I'll post some pics later.

 

I have never seen the dot matrix glass... that would look kinda strange.

Massey

 

You're not missing much. They're definitely not as nice to look through (obstructed viewing) from the drivers seat, compared to the clear tinted tops.

 

Camaro 69 is right. The partially blocked tops are kind of weird. You feel like there's a solid roof over your head. If you want t-tops, let the sun in. The sun block cardboard panels were optional if you were really worried about overexposure.

The "clear" glass tops make driving much more interesting at night. Here's the pic of 93/94 vs 95 style:

 

Some T-Tops came with removable sunshades, however mine did not, or the previous owner just never provided them...

 

The lady I bought Sarah from didnt even know the tops came off. She had the sunshades on the car and thought it was just the way the roof was made. She kinda freaked out when I opened the top of the car before I bought it. It was funny really. I have the sunshades and they are still in really good shape.

Massey

 

Ya the sun shades are amazing in the summer heat. You should try to find some.

Massey that's really funny. You think after a while she'd start to wonder why theres an extra key and 2 pieces of glass in the roof.