2 quick t-top questions
 

Hello all. I just got my first Camaro, it's a '94 Z28 with T-Tops. Just like I always wanted. The car hasn't been on the road in over five years, but it has been kept in a garage. It is in really good condition.

Anyway, I can't get the T-Tops off. Should the lock be in the verticle or horizontal position to allow the latching handle to move?

Also, how hard should one have to twist the handle to get the T-Tops to release?

I can't get mine to budge, with the lock in the horizontal or verticle position. Is there some sort of trick to getting these off?

Thanks in advance.

I think the lock should be in horizontal position, but without looking im not sure. As far as taking them off, mine got really rusty and became hard to take off. But once i got them off I took them apart and lubed it up real good and ever since then they come off extremely easy. I would just try cranking on it real hard to pop it off and then lube it up. Its real easy to do too.

Welcome!

I know with mine, you have to exert a little force. If it hasn't been driven in a while, they may be a little 'Stiffer.'

My biggest concern would be that I have them in the locked position, and put a little too much mustard on the release handle and end up breaking it. I don't want to have to find a replacement handle for those things.

So, if someone could verify for me if the lock should be horizontal or vertical (to unlock the T-Tops) then I can open up a jar of mustard and give it a go.

Thanks for the replies so far.

im 99.9 percent sure its horizontal to be unlocked but i cant look my car is covered under some couple feet of snow, when my tops are cold i have to physical push down toward the seats on the edge of the t-top and move the handle at the same time

Well, I got the passenger side off after a lot of mustard. It wouldn't budge at all with the lock in the horizontal position, so I turned it to the vertical position, still wouldn't budge so I went back to the horizontal position. I started to work it left and right for a bit and got it to turn about 45 degrees. Gave a little shot of spray lube on the back pin and kept working at it. Wouldn't budge past about 45 degrees. Changed the lock to the vertical position and the handle moved the rest of the way.

So I am guessing that the locks should be vertical to unlock the T-Tops (at least on mine), and I probably bent something inside the lock/latch mechanism. I won't know until I have a chance to take it apart and clean and lube it up properly. Didn't want to play that game tonight as it is starting to rain.

Anyway, the driver's side won't budge at all. Doesn't matter which position the lock is in. So I am guessing that it is rusted pretty solid.

Does anyone know of a way to get the interior trim piece off with the T-Top still on the car? I though that I saw a couple of small machine screws under the weather stripping, are these what hold it on?

jus shoot it with some pentration lube an let it sit over nite an hit it again when u try to open it. also try pushing down on the top . i take mine off from time to time an they still a pita to get open. lol

i dont think you can get the trim off without the tops bein off, there are two small screws under the tops where the pins go into the car to hold them down on each side

Well, I managed to get both tops off today. I had gotten the passenger side of earlier this week. But the driver side would not budge.

It is possible to get the handle off, and then pry the trim back to get access to the mechanism, with the top still on the car. Mine did not look pretty, completely rusted up and siezed. Sprayed some PB Blaster in there (made a mess) and got some vise grips on the stud that the handle is normally connected to.

Still took a lot of effort, but I did get it to finally release. After I got the top off, I took the trim off the rest of the way and completely disassembled the mechanism from the top. It is now in a rust killing bath and should be good to go sometime tomorrow (hopefully). When I reassemble, I am going to use a lot of wheel bearing grease to keep everything sliding nice and smooth.

Thanks for the help on getting these things off. I had no idea how badly they were each rusted.

Oh BTW, my locks need to be in the verticle position to unlock the tops. Not sure if this is how they all need to be or not.