Buying a "Used" C5 Corvette Transparent Roof
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ธ.ค. 2020
- Buying a Used C5 Corvette Transparent Roof. I always liked and wanted a transparent glass top for my C5 Corvette. I found this C5 Corvette transparent roof for $300 on Facebook Marketplace. I do plan on sanding the transparent roof down as the Lexan has begun to fail and craze. Stay tuned for those videos.
Thanks for watching and don't forget to follow me on Instagram and Facebook: / yellowvette04
/ yellowvette04
#c5corvette #transparentroof #glasstop
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2004 C5 Corvette - Millennium Yellow
BTR Stage 2 Cam
Texas Speed 1-3/4" Headers
Texas Speed Catted 3" X-Pipe
Billy Boat Bullets
Complete Street Performance Tune (386hp)
Blackwing Intake - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
I forgot to mention during the video, but I picked up the top for $300. Let me know if you think this is a good deal or not. Also, what was your process for fixing your transparent top? Thanks for watching
$300 seems to be average for a used top. In the Southern California area.
I kept looking at others around $400-$500 and they ended up being in the same condition. I had to keep walking away, so I can accept a little work to get this one right for the price i got it for.
$300 sounds fair
Your dad is so cute! God bless him👍🏼👍🏼
Thanks. I told him not to stand there bc he'll be in the video and he said "should I moon everybody" and I said please don't lol.
YellowVette04 😂😂
Great to see you back driving the car!
Only been 2 weeks and it felt like an eternity lol. Actually gave me a headache since I wasn't used to driving it lol.
I did mine earlier this year. I ended up doing it by hand even although I thought using a machine would be beneficial. You really do need to use quite an abraisive paper to start with to remove the coating. Even after the damaged surface is removed the material seems super hard to sand. The only answer is having every grade of paper and going lengthways with one grade and then widthways with the other. You can then see any scratches from your last grit of paper. Obviously wet sanding. I found myself constantly wiping/drying as I went to see how the sanding was going. I have to say it did take time and was hard work. I did it over the course of around a week doing a couple of hours a day of sanding. I opted to have the panel coated with clear lacquer by a bodyshop when I got it smoothed to (I think) 800. The clear brings the panel to a completely translucent finish. In hindsight I maybe should have kept going with the sanding but in my opinion it was a LOT of work. It might be the clear coat used but compared to my C5's glass, the panel looks very slightly yellowed. I think the clear coat or adhesion promoter may have caused this effect. Overall I'm very pleased though. The clear coat route will give the panel a hard shell of protection which is partly why I opted for that. A person must note keeping everything super clean too. You DO NOT want to sand any new scratches in as you go!
Great tips and I appreciate the input. I haven't decided which route I'm going to take yet. I was leaning towards clear coating it and I have an uncle that has quality clear coat that I can use. Like you said, I just need to remove the top layer and once that's done then I can stop sanding at 600/800. OR I can keep going to 2500 then compound/polish and put expel over the top. If I didn't have an uncle gracious enough to lend me his supplies and equipment, I would do the latter but it's more work lol.
Good stuff glad you grabbed one
I need to do it as well... I think you should come over again, we will wrap your halo too!
I think this time I'll tell you how to do it and you can have your own arm fall off lol. This is gonna be tiring but worth it in the end... hopefully 🤣
Very cool video, thanks for sharing
My mind can't wait to start this project, but I don't think my arm is looking forward to it at all lol.
I'm jealous! Still looking for one for my 99 Torch Red beauty. Made a huge difference!
I love the transparent top. Drove around today with it on. It was cooler out, but perfect with that top. I can see it being too hot in the summer, but that's what the body colored top is for.
I understand wanting the top for the sake of having the pair. But I'm hunting for a body color top for my C4. It's the grass is greener argument. Personally, looking forward to getting into the shade on those hot Oklahoma summers.
Can't wait for seeing what you figure out as for the proper sandpaper & compound for cleaning that up. Lord knows I need to take it on myself.
Keep up the great work!
I hear you about the hot summer days. I'll probably switch to the body color top in the summer, but we'll see. I know they sell sunshades for the C5 top, so I'm sure they do for the C4 top.
Good buy. I haven’t been in a corvette without the transparent top but I’ve always thought it would be a little claustrophobic. I look forward to the video of you refinishing it.
It's nice and dark with the windows tinted and body colored top, but I'm loving the transparent top so far. Kinda weird seeing it blue, but it brightens up the interior.
My car came with both tops, and I have the same defect, I'll wait to see how your going to fix it and I'll go from there.
Hopefully it'll come out good with just a few bucks and elbow grease.
I have always wanted one for mine too! Now you have the best of both worlds haha looks good brother!
It totally changes the driving experience and I love it. I like the darkness of the tinted windows and solid top, but that extra light is awesome. Especially during colder weather. I'll see how it is when it's upper 90s out, I may not feel the sameway lol, but that's what the solid top is for.
@@YellowVette04 yeah, the summertime I'd probably use the solid one haha
With my 77 i put on Glass tops and 80. Makes a world of difference. Now my 2000 doesnt have one...why? Because its a convertible. Love the glass tops
It's a fair buy. I picked up my top for $500 that was flawless. Like you I have a 02 MY vette with both tops now.
That's a great deal and wish I found that lol. I've been looking for awhile and all the "mint" ones were $900+ and beat up ones around this price. Hopefully with just a few bucks and time, it'll look great again.
@@YellowVette04 I'm not seeing any of those priced at $900 selling. The seller of mine had his priced high like that but wasn't getting any firm offers so I put my offer out there and he said "come and get it". 3 hour drive each way but I got a tune in the same city while I was there so it all worked out. You can refinish yours to near perfect just with enough armstrong grease. I have seen a good write up on Corvette Forum.
Mine has the same spider-webbing, I'm excided to see your video on how you restore this. BTW I think $300 was a steal 👍
Hopefully it'll come out good. If not, it's another $350-$500 to send it in and get new lens. Which doesn't sound too bad either lol
Great price bro. I can remember looking for a 2nd roof (transparent) and they were $600 and. Up. Great find
That's the price I kept seeing, so I was a little worried about this one. Hopefully it'll come out looking good after a long sand and buff.
Nice. When I bought my car it came with one, but I would like to find the solid version in my paint color. The main reason being parking at work. There are no trees or shade and the interior gets VERY hot in the summer. It would be nice to have both.
I agree about the summer heat. I'll probably switch to the body colored roof in the summer. I know they sell sunshades for the C5 roof, so that might be an option. I'll try it myself when the summer comes.
Yea mine is faded and has marks. Looking forward to seeing results of re finishing
Should be a fun little project. I might curse a lot during it, but that's the beauty of editing lol
Any update on this?
Mine has the same going on but I can live with it. Does it ever crack all the way through or just cosmetic damage? That’s what I’m concerned about
I have this same issue with my transparent top. Thought it was a lost cause and would have to just get a new one... Hoping this could be a solution? Looking forward to the next videos on these. 😀👍
I've seen others do it and it comes out great so we'll see 🤞
$300 is a great buy. Wild to see all the comments of people who have the same issue and more often than not it’s the passenger side that fails. Makes me wonder what was wrong with the assembly line these things came off of.
I was chatting with my uncle who has done a lot of body work and other things in the past and he said the same thing about the assembly line. I'm going to now it down as we discussed and polish it out. Then I'll see how it holds up being outside all the time and then I might clear it down the road. We'll see how it all goes, kinda like an experiment
@@YellowVette04 I took mine to a few body shops. None of them would clear it. They said they would have to sand it to rough it up in order for the clear coat to have something to stick to and so then the top wouldn’t be perfectly clear anymore. Not sure if they were full of sh*t or not and just didn’t want to do a small job. One of the shops recommended to wrap it in expel clear film which I didn’t think of. That could be an option for you to protect it from the weather. Without that lexan protective coat it is more prone to scratches, water spots etc. (but not as bad as I expected).
Not sure how true it is or isn't about the clear. I would think it would self level and finish off nice, but what do I know lol. I like the expel idea, but I'll need help as we already saw what happened when I tried wrapping the roof lol.
Make sure Dave the roof don't fly like others.😁
Oh I know. Hopefully you didn't jinx me lol, so far 5 years and I never forgot.
Nice pick-up. Should look great once you fix it.
I'm hoping. Little elbow grease will get it there
$300 is a steal i got 2 after becoming apart of the FRC (flying roof club) both for $200 each these roofs go for 1000+ for a new one
Very true. Hoping this will come out looking pretty dam good for just a few more bucks and hours of elbow grease lol.
I’m not sure how much extra work would be in the route of extra sanding. You would think maybe not too much by the time you’re at 800+ but I’m not too sure. I’m afraid my memory of it was that it was hard work! You’ll get there though!!
I'll get it there. With the 2 kids taking up most of my time, I'll only be able to work on it a few hours at a time anyway.
I definitely want to get a transparent roof at some point.
I had the want for a long time and finally bit the bullet.
Yeah Buddy. Start sanding. That thing will come out sweet. I know another TH-camr did a bunch of videos on his. Can't remember his name. Haha
I remember watching those back in the day. That mini series is why I actually subscribed to his channel. He should do more vids lol
@@YellowVette04 i know. I need to get on it.
i literally had my glass separate from the frame at 90MPH, so i now have a hard top until i find a targa to replace mine
Oh wow that's crazy.
Make a quick video of weight difference
Good idea. I'll post it up tomorrow since I have the livestream tonight
You were dying to take it back out lol
Oh yea I was. I wanted to get the top before he sold it to someone else, but I wanted to test fit it to make sure it fit good too.
Boy, sanding and Lexan used in the same sentence just doesn't compute! FWIW, I would experiment on one of the side edges close to the driver or passenger side window with maybe 1500 or even 2000 first. Once you scratch the Lexan itself I think you're done. Keeping this in mind, if you screw up a section that I just mentioned, you could always do what I did and mask off and just paint what would like side-rails, or you cold wrap it with yellow matching vinyl. If you had to do that, then you'd experiment/learn how to use knifeless tape. Now that I think about, isn't there a smoke vinyl that you could do the whole roof in? I actually applied a limo tint to the interior of my see-through and I can still through it on a bright day and I get the benefit of a lower temp in the cockpit. Anyway, I did the painted side-rail look with my C6 GS, but of course I have body-lines to use for the masking process and then ending up with painted side-rails.
Lastly, keep your A/C hooked up. You're not losing any seat-of-the pants performance. Just turn the A/C off if you want every tiny bit of hp available. That way you're not driving the compressor. Plus it's always a good idea to run the compressor periodically, otherwise you run the risk down road of it totally failing. To replace it will not be cheap and/or if you decide to sell and get yourself a "real" Vette, like a C6 manual,🤣, it will help with your sale. It's always good to be "cool" you know.🤭
Save the Wave👋
Very common issue for the C5 transparent top to degrade after all this time. Must have been an assembly line issue that hopefully they figured out by the time the C6GS came around. Surprisingly there's a lot of info on the forums about sanding the top and getting great results. Some sand and then polish it out and some add clear coat. I may do both over time, but for now I'll just sand and polish without clear coat and see how it lasts. I use the AC when it's 86°+, I find that to be the spot where the roof off is just too hot lol. I was thinking of tinting the inside of the roof, not just to reduce light for heat,etc but to also match the tint in the rest of the car. We'll see as time goes by.
Well that's good to know that guys have had success with sanding, but are they telling you the details of the process. I still think you've got to conservative to start and start w/2000 grit No matter what, I would tint the interior of roof.
Apparently the top layer is really hard and strong, so in order to the crazing out you need to get rid of the top layer. Guys start with 400 and some even start lower at 320. I may do a test sections on the panel for video and information purposes: 400, 1000 and 2000 to see what the impacts on crazing is
400? 320? RYKM!? I had no idea the top layer was that hard/thick. Yes, please do your usual in depth step-by-step detail on this project. is this something you'll be able to do in the house, or will you have to wait for the warm weather and do it outside?
You hit me with another thing I had to look up lol. You're more up on the times than me. I'll be doing it in my basement hopefully during January. Just gotta fit it in with the family stuff, which is easier said than done
I love my clear top but in the summer time your gonna feel like a ant and your top is a bad 3rd grader with a magnifying glass lol
Lol I'm gonna try a shade and if that doesn't work I'll switch to the colored top for summer. Or just run no top like I mostly do anyway lol
Lol I just found this out today. I put the solid top back on asap. The wife didn't look happy ither. That beach sun is a killer.
@@mrdashin8323 lol yes it is
did you ever repair this panel?
I haven't. Life got busy and took me away from the car the last few years. I will be doing it, just don't know when
I bought my clear top from a guy for $550. It was in mint condition. He originally live in Arizona, so he never used it. I actually don't like it. I probably will resell it. Good luck with your sanding. I have read that it's a bitch of a job.
That's a good deal for a mint top. I kept finding people out that way that advertised mint, but it wasn't much better than what I got and still needed to be sanded down at some point. I hear it's tough and tiring, but with the kids taking up most of my time I'll only have a few hours here and there so it won't be too bad. I say that now haha
Did you do anything about it?
Not yet. Been busy with work and life, but hopefully soon.
I say just get it wrapped a similar black and call it a day.
That defeats the purpose of the transparent top lol
@@YellowVette04 Yeah but it would eliminate the constant fading one time and done...also, you wanna roast in the sun lol, hot as hell with the sun beaming through anywayl? You like seeing the sky or something?
Did you watch the video? Lol I still have the body colored top if I wanted to swap it back during the summer months. I also drive frequently with the top off just so I can get some sunlight in. I rarely use the AC, it robs horsepower lol.
@@YellowVette04 Yeah...shit id just leave the colored top one on year round personally.
👍
Yea they spiderweb so easily. When I bought mine the roof was peeling and spiderwebbing so I set out to re-clearcoat it. My first job was way too thin and was already messed up within days. Second job i did much thicker and it's held up for months now. It has spiderwebbing again just like yours, and the color isn't as black ad it should be (slighly greyish looking). Also the edges were generally the worst kind of like yours. I beleive I just need to give another fine grit sand and it could be looking much better :)
Your's looks really good overall though I probably wouldn't touch it if it were mine. You will need to be really careful to not accidentally make it worse.
I've talked to a few people from the forums who did it with success, so I think I have a game plan. Of course anything can happen lol. Back up plan is to send it out to get new glass.
@@YellowVette04 I have faith in you though!
Thanks!! I'm pretty sure I'll be OK, just have things I need to take care of in the next week or so and then I'll be able to start sanding her down.
We have the Same color c5s ill take your yellow top lollol
Lol looks like you have a Z, but I'm keeping both tops.
I have not had mine out since may :(
Did you get the slave fixed yet?
@@YellowVette04 unfortunately not we've been focus on looking for a bigger home, as you know another baby coming, car is sitting in my garage on trickle charger since may was when last started the car :(
What happened to your original was is not yellow?
I still have the body colored roof in yellow. I may switch to it in the summer heat, but we'll see.
@@YellowVette04 I wish I had the blue too
Clear makes it more hotter
They sell sunshades for the clear tops. It should help.
I hope this summer we can all get together
what is your exhaust set up? no offense that sounded kinda brutal while you where just chugging on the free way, I couldn't never deal with that exhaust, Long tubes ?
TSP Headers, TSP catted xpipe and Billy Boat Bullets. It wasn't bad when it was just that setup, because it only droned bad at a certain RPM. BUT then I put a BTR Stage 2 cam in and now it's brutal all the time like you said lol. I need to change out the Bullets for something with a muffler and will at some point.
@@YellowVette04 yeah im not one for loud exhausts but that drone really sound pretty rough too me