true. But I have no idea where you'd get the right formed steel. That would be the best way to get the kind of ribbing you need.

B

 

Some u channel steel, or even box section, then hack off one side to make it a u channel. They have stuff called purling, which is like a c channel. Flat plate wont help at all.

 

Indeed, flat plate doesn't help, which is why you need ribbing. the plate is just to connect the ribs together. And, in fact, you can get the same effect with U channel, as you point out. Depends on what's available to you.

B

 

Yea, what I havent figured out is lateral support. An x brace is gonna be tough to do on our cars.

 

Maybe a herringbone pattern of U channels under the pan.

B

 

If you are serious about this i can put you in touch with a guy who has done this to a few cars and has not killed anybody...it is possible, so dont listen to these guys, just do alot of research...and be careful. mazda used to make real targas (not just adding fake panels and spoilers) for customers...so it is entirely possible...im torn right now...i have a completely stripped chassis...and i dont know if i wantt o make it a 'vert a targa or a super lightweight street car ala the porsche 911 carrera RS...but good luck!

 

They haven't been telling me it can't be done, just telling me i was an idiot for wanting to use fence posts to hold my car together. I re-read my posts and realized how redicules that sounded.

 

No, Mazda didn't do any FB verts or Targas.

 

yes...it wasa dealer option...if you want i can introduce you to a friend of mine who worked at mazda durring the early 80's and did this...mazda had a kit and everything avalable...it can be done, and was done. so dont say it wasnt or cant unless you have something to back it up.

 

Different companies or people have used various reinforcement strategies. Mine was made by a company in FL and has less reinforcement. It never had any problems or excessive flexing but it is driven very little, and very gently. Avatar seems to have put more thought into it so I would suggest following their example.

 

I will call it.



Now you back it up. Hearsay from a "friend" doesn't count.

If you can prove you are right, I will admit it. Until then,

 

I have to agree with him, i dont think mazda did anything like that. Maybe a local chop shop or something... Only thing mazda put out as a targa was the fake band looking thing. IMO looks like crap.

 

 

why do these people think, because a dealer may have had an option of targa, vert, real wood center panel, 15 inch wheels on an 79-83, or several of the hundred or so items you could get the car with new at the dealer like leather seats in a car that has cloth that it came from the factory. does the word aftermarket come to mind? at all! please excuse me people from CANADA but 4 out off 4 that have expressed the view that the car came from the dealer that way so it must be factory have been from canada. I mean come on get a clue! just cause dad or mom or any kin or friend may have purchased a rx7 new at a dealer with something on it does not mean its factory. as for factory parts included in a targa or vert dealer option; 1)the interior frame braces from 79 that where on the inside of the car under the storage bins. 2) there was a couple of body stiffening braces that were from mazda motor sports. 3) mazdaspeed also had a small 4 point roll bar. 4) in 1980 some of the old cosmo convert parts where still available. these are some of the parts commonly used in some of those conversions but they where conversions not factory. most of the verts and targras that where sold at dealers got sent to cali for the conversion even ones sold in japan. O 16581 72452 5
there is more bracing needed than what I mentioned above and more then is shown in the pic at the start of the thread. to get a better idea look for info about the old rx7 club project ultma.

 

Your friend is not proof of anything except that you have a friend.

Mazda never offered a real Targa.

You are the one makeing a statement that is known by the masses to be false. So you are the one that should show proof.

If there was a Targa offered from Mazda it should be fairly easy to find a picture, article, or some kind of info about this car on the web.

But it won't be easy because Mazda never offered this option.

Mike

 

Tsk tsk. Be careful with using generalizations. After all, you know what they say about salesmen... LOL...ahem

 

I'd like to see a dealer price sticker with the 'convertible option'.

 

>If there was a Targa offered from Mazda it should
>be fairly easy to find a picture, article, or some kind
>of info about this car on the web.

>But it won't be easy because Mazda never offered
>this option.


Whoa take it easy. Nobody said they came that way from the factory. First of all, it is not uncommon for dealers to customize cars. For example, there are new car dealers today that routinely install sunroofs on cars before they are sold. Second, it is NOT that easy to find many pictures, articles, and information on the web about the dealer installed options of 20 years ago. For example, the cars sold in the U.K. had rear seats, headlight washers, and other features not on the U.S. models. Some U.S. Mazda dealers sold and installed rear seats and sunroofs using Mazda parts, and installed air conditioning (again, using a Mazda kit) on cars which did not come from the factory with AC. Finally, my 1983 RX7 was originally sold new as a convertible. I have the addendum to the MSO to prove it.

 

So cosmicbang, you have a convertible 83 from the dealer? Nice !

Pictures? MSO?

 

Mazda never built a convertible or real targa RX-7 between the years 1978 and 1987. If one was sold by a dealer than it was modified by or through the dealer. Mazda had nothing to do with it.

Mike

 

Cosmic:

How's that rotary pickup coming?

B

 

>Mazda had nothing to do with it.

Do you mean Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd. had nothing to do with it? Not true either. In fact Mazda (North America), Inc. was selling them, through dealers.

 

Generalizations like that can get you in trouble....

play nice!

 

Yea, us CANADIANS are big strong beer dirnkign lumber jacks.. lumber jacks carry axes you know.. ohh and then there is the hockey players with their razor sharp knife type ice shoes and big sticks. WATCH YO SEF BOY! hehe

 

Back to the topic, anyone got any more info in reinforcement that HAS been done on a 1st gen, or any other similar conversion? Pics, blueprints, drawings?