O 16581 72452 5

As everyone knows chopping off the roof will severly harm structural rigidity, because of this, i'm wanting to remove my door skin from the inner door and remove the window and power motor. After this i want to cut and weld in thick fence posts at the top and middle of the door opening horiztially then replace my door skin by screwing it to these posts. This seems like it will be a great way to stiffen up the unibody, but i'm no professional. I need some help.

Rx7carl

How will you get in and out of it? Avatar used stell reinforcing beams under the car to keep it rigid. There a diagram on here somewhere I saw a long time ago. Search for it.

MarkPerez

'Subframe' connectors ,carl . Gotta have'em !! they keep the car from sagging in the center, No 'fence post's' square tubular large sections that run from where the uni-body frame ends all the way back to the trailing arms. welded not bolted. a brace right behind the seats to connect the starbard to the port side, again large.
To brace the windshield, use flat steel welded to the,,i guess it's 'a' pillers and across the top of the windshield.
If one wanted to make a 'targa' top, a real targa the same bracing would be effective. I had a friend who 'targa'ed' a 74 capri, and it didn't take long for that thing to 'break' in half, he didn't brace a thing.

Directfreak

iTrader: (2)

O 16581 72452 5

I've seen those pictures directfreak, but i want an alternative. I didn't save the ones i found and were actually looking for them again, so thanks. I don't mind hopping over the door to get in, if my idea is feasible. After posting i realized a post across the top of the door frame and an X brace under that would be more effective. I'm just kind of wondering how well this would work, it's cheap and seems effective in my opinion. I was also planning on chopping down the A-pillar and using that as a brace behind the seats. Can i ask that you remove those pictures directfreak? I have the saved and they were helpful, i thank you for that, but they cause my computer to lag. I have 64megs of ram and 56k, it can't take that abuse.

MIKE-P-28

iTrader: (1)

Fence posts? I say just chop the **** out of it, and make sure you get a really really high PIP policy on your insurance.

bliffle

Fence posts are heavy but not very rigid. In any case, I think Xing under each passnger pan (with something better than mild steel fence posts) and a re-purposed rollbar behind the seat would do well.

I'm considering something like that myself, since I have an extra car.

B

82streetracer

iTrader: (1)

make it targa, that would be cool.

O 16581 72452 5

The fence posts i have in my yard seem to be very rigid, the poles however flex very easily. I can't think of any material other than that i could have readily available.

MIKE-P-28

iTrader: (1)

Angle iron maybe? You got a welder?

O 16581 72452 5

I'm buying a welder before i dive into this.

MarkPerez

Do you know how to weld ???? overhead ???? just in case you don't know this try 50-60 amps with 6011 rod
should be good for 'fence post's' Lol good luck.

O 16581 72452 5

I've only watched welding be done. I'm just buying a cheap $100 or so welder, hopefully that'll be sufficient.

Junia

Has anybody tried a T-top

DriveFast7

iTrader: (1)

Use roll bar tubing instead of fence posts. Saftey first!

O 16581 72452 5

I don't know where to pick up roll bar tubing.

MIKE-P-28

iTrader: (1)

LOL Ok yeah...

Get good insurance, and I hope you have a hospital near by. This is gonna be danergous. You damn well better make sure that chassis is rigid, or else you are gonna have one or moro of the following, 1) serious property damage, 2) serious injury , or god forbid 3) death from a uncontrollable car at high speeds. Man if you gonna undertake such an endeavor you are gonna have to have proper knowledge of how to do something like this, not to mention the proper tools, and you really really need the right stuff, or you are gonna have a dangerous piece of ****.

Directfreak

iTrader: (2)

I fully agree with Mike. Oh, and Get a 2nd Gen Vert. FB Verts don't look like they were meant to be.

O 16581 72452 5

I like first gen verts, i'll give it a shot and see what happens. I guess if i stop posting, you'll know what happened.

kuhlrx7

every one will say one of these ; poor bastard, what a dumb ***, its a shame, may he rest in piece. so like mike and alex said forget it and try some thing you can do with out hurting yourself or worse someone else.

MarkPerez

Hey !!! , Hey, !! (knock, knock) Hey, man. Listen to these guys. Theres alot more to-it then fence posts and just buying a welder,,,,really. There not just saying that for ***** and giggles. there telling you that because they give a **** for one thing, and your M.O. (method of operation) is not sound. Doing it half-*** may result in some real ****. Where-as doing more research about your idea will result in a much better way of taking on such a project. Safety !! doing the work itself. and thinking safety on the road.. GET-IT !!! Before you CUT anything,BRACE the underside of the car first,,,then cut.
Brace,cut. I hope you consider what has been said my friend.

Aviator 902S

A guy in Vancouver used to convert 280Z's into convertibles a couple of decades ago.
One of the procedures he used was to jack up the center of the car slightly prior to welding in the longitudinal floor-pan braces. This way, once the welding was completed and the jacks removed it was impossible for the center of the car to sag even a little.
He then constructed a deck lid so that a trunk could be fabricated into the rear. Bracing procedure for this was similar to the Avatar, and top was vinyl with a plastic rear window. No word on how leak-proof these cars were.
I asked him for a quote to do the same for my '81 GSL that I had at the time and he said $8000. This was in 1989. I'm guessing this would be more like $15,000 in today's bucks, so doing it yourself would be the only realistic option.
I'd think this can be done safely, but make damn sure you do your homework and gain the necessary expertise before undertaking this.

O 16581 72452 5

I surely wouldn't cut a piece of metal off the car before bracing was done. I'll take a trip to a home improvement store and see what i can find. I wasn't necessarily going to use fence posts, that was kind of a general idea of what i meant by posts, something that diameter.

DriveFast7

iTrader: (1)

This car has been around for over 8 years. I first saw it @ Buttonwillow Raceway Park IN 1995 with a 13b J-Bridge, 51 IDA wider tires and Tri-link Rear. The owner said there is no chassis stiffening in addition to the roll cage which is pretty basic. I looked all under it @ Sevenstock and underneath I did not see any bracing.

And you can buy roll bar tubing at your local race shop or metalurgy shop.

[http://www.urbanracer.com/gallery/ga...&imageid=70432

kuhlrx7

home improvement store. now this thread has to be a joke right? first there is no home depot type of store that you are going to be able to get the raw mats that someone would need to complete this type of project. If I remember right you are strugling through school currently. you do not yet have the engineneering training or talent curently to complete this job. buying a 100 dollar welder and never welded: I got to say WTF. go get some formal welding training. take some classes on metals and skiled metal working. then buy a real welder that can do what you need. buy a formal automotive structal anlyz program. learn how to use it. what am I saying this thread cant be for real. oh you could hire some old retired engineer to help you and hope he knows how to weld.