I know that a guy by the name of Al Dooley of Pacific Avatar used to make 1st gen rag tops. But I think the last one that he did was back in the late eighties. Does anyone still do this? I have an '83 GSL that just sits in the driveway with blown front apex seals. Thankfully my wife found another one for me to drive.
Anyway, I wanted to totally strip the driveway queen right down and create a convertible with mods galore. Are there any blueprints/ plans or ideas on how to do this? I know that there would have to be cross members added.

 

Nick at Rotary Reliability and Racing in Santa Ana, CA was involved in the development of the Avitar 1st Gen Vert. 714 839-8018

The key is the additional undercarriage bracing you have to add to make up for the body rigidity lost when you chop the top off. Yah got a whole lotta work ahead of you if you do it right. But, you'll have a 1st Gen to brag about afterword, no doubt.

Good luck.

 

i think mariah motorsports also used to do them

 

MUCH MORE CONVERTIBLE INFO

 

that looks nice, but way to much money

 

Agreed. After my Cosmo conversion, my next project will likely be a 91 Vert with a 20B & Haltech.




(or maybe just a 13B with Good Boost)

In the long run, I gotta have one of each Gen.

 

hey. that's at marymoor park in redmond!

 

Is that in California as well?
What I'm really looking for I guess are the actual nuts and bolts of doing this thing myself - along with the help of a local autobody shop to do the welding. The only thing that I know is that an X-shape cross member has to go underneath the car; extra U-shaped member that goes around the rear hatch from shock to shock; and a modified trunk lid from a 626 to replace the rear hatch.
California is just way too far to drive as I'm near Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

 

yah. mariah is in california...
it could not hurt to give them a call though, or drop them an email.. possible you can get some more information that way..

good luck on the project.

 

What's the best way to find their number and e-mail? In Canada we've got 411.com to find people and businesses but I don't know how to go about this for the U.S.

 

www.mariahmotorsports.com

 

Thanks for the e-mail address.