Hey Gurus, got a question. I picked up a new glass targa top for my '92, and I'm not exactly sure what to make of the situation.

This is the one I bought: http://www.vettesupply.com/categories ... oofs-%26-Parts/New-Roofs/

Though it doesn't specificly say, it looks to be a Melrose top. I installed it yesterday (following these directions EXACTLY: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-te ... tly-install-c4-roofs.html)and my wife and I took the car out for a test drive. The most glaring issue was a significant air leak coming from the back of the passenger window. As the car was moving, my wife put her hand up behind her head and said she could feel cold air streaming in from the top rear corner of the window through the weatherstrip. Sitting at a traffic light, a delivery truck pulled up next to us on the passenger side and I could hear the truck idling almost as if the window were open a crack but it was fully closed.

After I had the top installed, I noticed that the back edge of the top sticks up a bit where it meets the halo. This is more so on the passenger side than on the drivers side...

Passenger:



















Driver:

















I should also add that within the last couple of weeks, I also replaced A-pillar and B-pillar weatherstripping. That said, with the solid top, I'm getting no wind noise / draft, but with the glass, I am.

Do any of you guys have both the solid and glass tops for your coupes, and if so, do you notice any differences in fit such as this?

Also, if this were you, would you be looking to return this item? I haven't notified the vendor yet because I wanted to bounce this off some other coupe owners to see if what I'm dealing with is really a problem or not.

You learn something new every day. From Melrose tech support...

"It is normal for the transparent roofs to sit a bit higher than the painted roofs due to the amount of pressure the perimeter of the lens can withstand in comparison to the fiberglass panel."

And...

"there is no need to be concerned about the corners as they will not affect the fitment."

They said it would likely take a week or two for the weatherstrip to amalgamate to the car.

Cool.

I dunno, that does seem to be sticking up unusually high on that corner. Have they seen the pics?

Yep. I had an e-mail conversation with them and sent them links to the pics. I even verified that they were able to open them and they said yes.

I was sort of thinking the same thing as their explanation when I first saw it. I figured whatever the material is they make the lens out of couldn't be bent much beyond what it is. Looks a bit strange to me too.

As long as I can get it air and water tight, I can live with it. My car originally came from the factory with both tops, but was separated from its glass top before I bought the car. I just wanted to make it "whole" again. Plus, have the clear top for cruising on cooler days.

That just doesn't look right. How is their warranty and customer service? Having an email record of your 'talk' with them is a good start in building a case if you need to.

Maybe the brackets could be adjusted some to compensate? I'm assuming that you've had your new weatherstripping compressed for a while with the solid top?

Quote:

The weatherstripping in the targa top would be the ones to seal to the top of the window and should seal properly right away. If I remember correctly there are no bracket adjustments possible for the rear of a targa top, but I might be wrong on that.

I question Melrose...

They had a open 'sticky' for bolt tightening sequence, on some other boards.

I posted in the thread that if you tighten the rear bolts FIRST, as he said, then you can pull the top REARWARD, and then the front bolt holes IN THE TOP might not align with the front bolts. Then you run the risk of cross threading the fronts, ESPECIALLY since you can't start the fronts with your fingers.

Melrose didn't like my 'recipe', as he called it...

Quote:

Actually the rear brackets are adjustable.

You guys got me thinking. I'm willing to bet I'm just dealing with a misaligned top. I think what I'll try is to take everything apart again, loosen all four of the plates, put the top back on and then get each attachment bolt started, but NOT completely tightened. I should then be able to move the top into complete and proper alignment. Then I can tighten everything back down and see how it goes. What I had done originally was get the rear attachment bolts completely tightened down, and then I tightened the rear plate securement bolts, and then I moved to the front and did the same thing. I had a BITCH of time getting the driver's side rear attachment bolt to grab ahold at first. It took about 20 minutes of serious pushing pulling and grunting before it finally took. So perhaps I just didn't have things aligned properly before I did the final clamp down on all the bolts.

Hope that does it! The new A and B-pillar weatherstripping can make it harder to install the top for a while, so that probably isn't helping any.

I tried what I said I was going to do, but found that even with all of the plates loose and the four attachment bolts partially started, the top really doesn't move much at all and where it sits is pretty much where it sits. I went ahead and tightened everything back down and I'm not in too bad a shape. The top still sticks up a bit on the passenger side, but I did get some improvement. The thing is my air leak is gone. I took my wife for a ride and she said it was a 100% improvement from the first time around. I could tell the interior was quieter right off the bat.

Unfortunately, it does still leak a bit when hit with a hose. Even though it looks perfect, I'm starting to think my A-pillar weatherstrip install isn't quite right. I've checked it and double-checked it. Even went so far as to partially remove it and seal both outer edges of the WS channel along the entire length of the top of the windshield frame with strip caulk and then reseat the WS. Water is still getting in from somewhere. It seems to leak with both tops, but a little more with the glass.

Ah well, I have neoprene seat covers that dry quickly. ;)

As long as you don't drive it while spraying it with a hose, everything should be alright. But then there's that driving in the rain issue or through a carwash. Here's the thing. My two Vettes and vert 911 all get a little water past the seals with a hose. I had such a bad issue when I changed out my weatherstripping on the 91's drivers door I had to swap back to the worn one. My drivers window would not go down with the new weatherstripping in place. It would bind. I went back to the old ugly stuff because everything worked fine with it.