Targa Roof Bracket for 1990 Corvette Coupe: Is this one OEM?

[AV8R]

Can someone with a C4 or even better, a 1990 Coupe send me pictures of the targa roof bracket please?

The rubber inserts in mine are long gone and I went and bought a set from one of the online vette stores. Ive provided pictures below for reference. Well the problem is, the bracket in my 90 vette doesn't match the insert nor does it match the picture in the online store or catalog I get in the mail. So now I have these inserts but the don't fit my vette's bracket. Either these online stores are wrong or my vette has the wrong bracket. Can you help me?

photo-148.jpgphoto-147.jpgphoto-146.jpg

[AV8R]

Heres the roof bracket and insert out of my brother's 1995 coupe C4.
It is like those in the pictures I see in the online parts magazine.
So whats with the one I have, where could it have come from...
or is it correct for a 90 C4 coupe vette?

IMAG2145.jpg

Can anyone tell me about the one in my 90 Vette?

[Otter]

I have an 89, should be the same. I'll take a pic tomorrow after I get home from work(5 to 6pm edt). Took me a while to realize you were talking about the brackets under the hatch with the targa top off the car. One thing I have found, you can't rely on pics in parts magazines, you ask for a bracket, they will show most any bracket.

[AV8R]

Thanks Otter. I should have been more specific. Like, the targa roof storage bracket in the rear hatch area.

It would seem that there are different brackets for different C4 years.
84 -90: Like mine with just a thin rubber insert whose glue deteriorates and the insert becomes useless.
91-96 Like my brother's which has a slightly different bracket to hold the thick rubber insert (like pictured above) that can be removed and replaced.

Since the thin inserts are unavailable, the solutions that I can think of are:
a. switch to the newer bracket/insert
b. create/improvise thin inserts for existing old style bracket out of neoprene (wetsuit) or find some other 5mm rubber sheet to cut and paste.

Any other ideas?

On a tangential note...
While looking into this, and thinking about buying an acyrillic "glass" (plastic) roof; Ive realized that there are at least 3 different hardware placement differences for the C4 series. Its not one size fits all, not without some refit kits. Plus, the reason why most of the plastic see through roofs craze and crack over the years (some worse than others), is that the roof is actually part of the stability of the frame. So it flexes with the car, which affects the lifespan of the roof. I never had a sun roof, rather just the hard shell ones; so this was interesting for me to learn about.

[boomdriver]

do a search on fleabay for any common vette parts...then ID the seller and go to their online store. Call or email...there are plenty of C4 parts available..all yrs. Just have to know how and where to look. You can probably find the bracket assy for sale on fleabay, buy it now deal.

[AV8R]

So the issue is that there are more than one kind of C4 hatch roof support bracket and its rubber inserts. In my case, the 1990 (and older I believe) inserts are rarer than hen's teeth and cannot be found either at the common online Vette stores nor at Ebay (which Im quite familiar with). The two bracket types can be found, but only the newer (91-96) inserts, which are the same to be found at online stores. So, unless you want to swap out the old brackets for the newer style and then get newer inserts as well, there doesn't seem to be any inserts for the older bracket style.

What I decided to do was to have my wife buy a sheet of 3mm rubber foam from the local sewing store for a few bucks. I then cleaned the inner surfaces of the brackets, cut out some 2x3 inch rectangles, put in rubber glue into the brackets, and pushed the foam into the brackets. To keep them in place until the glue set, I wedged in another piece of the foam and pulled it out an hour later. The roof fits perfectly and snugly. Sure beats that wimpy and worn out odd shaped rubber insert that was in there from GM. Who came up with that mess should be quartered and shot.

The two pictures below show:

• the foam next to the OEM worn out insert laying on a Mid America catalog which sells only the newer inserts
• the 90 style bracket with the foam glued in place.

90vetteroofbracketinserts.jpg90vetteroofbracket.jpg

A very in expensive work around that should hold for some years to come. Scuba diver neoprene might be even better, but I couldn't find any in time for my vette ride to Calico Ghost Town for next week. Necessity is the father of invention.