When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Hi Richard,
This was a good long while ago. I have since sold my 2001 convertible and gone back into the c3 world with a 1970 coupe.
I did not ever do the FRC top to a spare tonneau cover conversion, but I did find a c5 top in Michigan, supposedly made to fit properly with no modifications. The owner of the top said it was "factory" and to my knowledge the factory never made these. I didn't argue, the $500 price seemed fair so I drove down after measuring the inside of my SUV and asking the owner for the outer dimensions of the top. By sheer luck, one of us measured wrong and the top didn't fit. The owner of the top really seemed shady and the top wasn't in as good a condition as described, so I passed and drove the two hours back home. At the time I was pretty bummed, but soon after I got an offer on the 01 and sold it without ever having purchased the top or having to go through the trouble of having it paint matched and tweaking the fit..
I believe the one I looked at was a Carravaggio top(sp) mentioned earlier in the thread. From those I spoke with who had them at the Corvette's America car show in the Detroit area, there was a reasonable amount of modification work to get the proper fit and seal without damaging the paint/deck of the car itself. Those factors contributed in abandoning the project.
The pic below is from an ad for another top, converted from a FRC. I do not know Dave and suspect he probably sold this top within the last 5 years, but it's a potential lead.
I will say this: my motivation to get one in the first place was to provide greater security, better highway travel with reduced road noise, and for the option of the other look. My convertible was babied; never saw rain, so that wasn't really a consideration. In short, the c5 soft top was so good (on that car anyway) that the road noise wasn't really an issue and never leaked (not when washed anyway). The problem with the hardtop for long trip travel purposes was that I figured my little wife and I would have to pull the top and take it into a hotel room if we wanted to explore wherever we were topless (the car, not the wife). Taking T-tops or a Targa top off and stowing them/it in the trunk or back of the car is pretty easy and convenient. Removal of these hardtops, for whatever generation vette (or Jeep or whatever), usually require 2 people and and a place to store them off the vehicle when not in use. Kind of a pain.
That said, they do look cool and are more secure (if you ever park in a place where the car is vulnerable). Best of luck in your endeavor.
interesting, I almost bought one of those back in the day.
They say on their web site that you can use it on the track-- never thought about that... I don't see how this offers sufficient protection, but I guess most tracks would just look at it as an FRC.
anyone have this? I'm curious what the differences are between it and the Z06 hardtop.
and curious if tracks would let you run HPDE/club events with this top without a roll bar.
Anyone have a link to the Carravaggio top? Also a few years back someone had cutoff a top from a c5z mounted to the c5 vert lid and said it worked.
Almost bought from him for $600 but I ended up passing.
These top definitely will not provide any rigidity to the car but I wonder how they hold up at high speeds especially if someone was to track with the windows down.
Still doesn't look the same as factory; don't know why they wouldn't use factory glass, seems it would be more cost effective, besides looking right(just my opinion).
Anyone have a link to the Carravaggio top? Also a few years back someone had cutoff a top from a c5z mounted to the c5 vert lid and said it worked.
Almost bought from him for $600 but I ended up passing.
These top definitely will not provide any rigidity to the car but I wonder how they hold up at high speeds especially if someone was to track with the windows down.
Truthfully I can see it blowing off at 150.
If you read the history of the FRC/Z06, the fact that the hood doesn't add rigidity is not an issue -- the FRC is built off the convertible, which was built to be just as rigid as the coupe. That's one (of other) reasons the z06 was built off the FRC -- it was a light weight as compared to the coupe, yet just as stiff.
Still doesn't look the same as factory; don't know why they wouldn't use factory glass, seems it would be more cost effective, besides looking right(just my opinion).
Maybe, but your point was that the windows are smaller, which they're not. whether they look as good as stock ... I'm personally not a huge fan of tor he FRC look , I was thinking of getting one just for HPDE or club runs.
I was just looking at the Smoothline website, maybe I missed it before, but the big window version looks pretty good. The window is still smaller, but doesn't look BAD. The Magnetic Red car they picture, even has me changing my mind about the color. I didn't really like the color before(on a Corvette, would look great on a 50s Kustom car) now I'm having second thoughts.
Some of the reviews I've read are older, maybe 10 years, or more. Perhaps things have changed, IDK. But the older reviews did have a lot of complaints, fitment, etc.
I also read some bad reviews from 10-12 years ago, but they are still in business, I don't think they would survive selling a high price point item if the quality was poor.
anyone that was making them back in the day are out of business -- this thread itself is almost 10 years old, and the op was having problems finding them back then. Try flea bay.
02-16-2022, 08:07 AM
