Targa Top Ratchet

The ratchet wrench for the Targa Top on my '87 is missing. They cost silly money here in Canada and when you add shipping costs to one from the U.S. ...they end up about $40!
It looks like they might just be a "star" type bit from some socket sets.

Is there an inexpensive alternative to buying a proprietary device?

Thanks, David

Go to Canadian Tire or Princess Auto and get a 2" torx t-40 x 1/4" hex drive or socket. With the 1/4" hex you can use any driver and they have a 1/4" T- handle that ratchets that I like. I also use a Black and Decker battery driven 1/4" driver which last quite awhile on a charge given the amount of use it gets.

Until I found an original socket/ratchet for mine, I used a regular Snap-On #40 torx, with a triangle-shaped "palm driver"...
You can use any #40 torx bit and driver....it doesn't have to be a "special" deal. I like the ratchet because I can get the top tighter than I can with a bit driver, or the triangle-shaped ratchet I was using. Then again....I never take the top off anyway, so.....

I'm trying to figure out how to add some of those red "remove before flight" ribbons to mine. Couple of years ago, I had the top out for one of those rare days when it's perfect and just set it in when I got home. Next time out at 50 MPH, I heard whomp and I'm sitting in sunshine. It launched 40 ft into the air like a funny car body after an engine irruption and I watched come down, upside down on the road behind me. Fortunately no frame damage. Message to self, always tighten when replaced! 

I have mine from a '92. I' ll give it to you. I't's a real POS. I never use it. Going after market is the way to go. 1/4" drive #40 male torx and a 6" extension. The one's from the factory were just enough to call it a "tool". Not quite long enough, and the torx was soft so it tended to round off. A stick and rock would have been more useful. 

I laugh when I see the prices for original wrenches on Ebay. They're not even chrome plated and rust like scrap metal. The Chevy engineers would have been better off working out a better way to change the tail light bulbs in my '87. What  pain in the kiwi's. That was my little project for tonight.

Thank-you VERY much everyone!!

I don't have my C4 on the road yet. Now that I will soon be able to remove the top... I can bring the top home and epoxy the crack in it for now. I hope to have the car "road ready" within the next month or so. For now I am keeping it at a friend's building about 45 minutes away.

Thanks again.... David

Hahaha... now I feel better!  

David

Less than $6.00 later and the top is OFF!!!

Woohoo!

Thanx again folks.  

David