t-tops

[mediabandit]

anybody ever think about putting t-tops in their lumina Z34? i though of it last night while i was sitting here at work bored and remembering my '83 cutlass supreme brougham that i had t-tops in and got to thinking that it would look really sharp if i had them in the Z34. what do you guys think about that idea? talk about a custom Z then huh?

[SigEpCutlass]

I think it would be awesome if you could pull it off to be more like say a Camaro's T-tops.

[Rdrckt_92]

I have thought of it a couple times before, I think it would be awesome but it would take a lot of work

[Psych0matt]

what about a targa top? might be a little easier to do, since you wouldn't have the center bar. Just a thought. There's a guy on the J boards that has a sunbird with a targa top, and it looks cool, but kinda odd. probably since it's one of a kind

[mediabandit]

i would rather the t-top instead of the targa... i am going to look into doing this... i will let you guys know what i come up with and how much work and cost it's going to be. i think it would be cool as shit too.

[Psych0matt]

difficult? of course. cool? there are no words.

[Rdrckt_92]

I would think that t-tops would be slightly easier because you could use a 3rd gen f-body t-tops. Since the roofline on w-bodys, at least the gps are similar. A guy at work and I were thinking about doing it since he knows where to get the t-tops fairly cheap

[digitaloutsider]

For whatever reason, years ago, I thought about doing this to a GP coupe. I talked to a conversion company down in Florida, and they ended up wanting like $5000 for the t-top installation. No thanks.

[synistershadows]

personally i never liked t-tops or the targa tops i always thought they looked ridiculous. if your goa go like that leave it with the top or go top less. but thats just my opinion to each their own

[Justin]

The big problem lies in the fact that any t-top car ever has had frameless windows in the doors. That way the windows butt right up against the weatherstrip on the t-top. You would somehow have to make the windows frameless, then work on the t-top part of it. Theoretically if you found a Cutty vert and robbed the windshield pillars, most of the doors, etc, you could get away from the window frame, but it would be way too much work and way too much money.

[Psych0matt]

there was an s10 around campus my freshman year that had a removeable hard top, and what he did was cut the top part of the window frame and weld it to the top, and left the a pillar part of the *door intact.

 

*i think the a pillar was like that.

[1990lumina]

I think there is a guy on here 92GP that was doing something with his GP doors to make them pillarless, but I can't remember the full details behind it.

 

I think you'd have to reinforce quite a bit in a typical unibody construction to cut half the rood away, or not? I know the cutty's don't have roofs, but I'm sure there is a few extra things holding it all together??

[Dark Ride]

STBs would be a must

[mra32]

I'd say dont dot it, especially if you like the way your car rides. Doing t-tops, and even moreso targa tops would may your car's body much less rigid than it currently is(n't). This would make you have way more body roll in turns and probably make your car pretty hard to drive.

[mediabandit]

well thanks for all the input guys, i will take it to my bodyshop guy once i get back and see what we can figure out. see if it is feasable or not. i'll keep you guys up to date on it too. thanks.

[1990lumina]

Only reason I'd say no to it is the rigidility of the vehicle - and also safety. I mean these cars aren't the safest things on there to begin with - and then cut the top off of it and it'll probably fold in on itself in a bad crash. I think we've all seen the picture of Chris's white Z34 after his collision when the roof had that ripple in it - imagine if that structual support wasn't there anymore.

[mra32]

Only reason I'd say no to it is the rigidility of the vehicle - and also safety. I mean these cars aren't the safest things on there to begin with - and then cut the top off of it and it'll probably fold in on itself in a bad crash. I think we've all seen the picture of Chris's white Z34 after his collision when the roof had that ripple in it - imagine if that structual support wasn't there anymore.

 

Decapitation comes to mind

[mediabandit]

have to wait and see, if i do the roof will be getting re-enforced anyway. that is what we are going to figure out when i go see him, basicly chop and weld up a different setup so as to mount the t-tops and still have some sort of rigidity to the car. but it was just a though i had, so if it is not safe or way to much work then i wouldn't bother, but we will have to wait and see.

[jeremy]

I can't imagine t-tops looking good

[mediabandit]

I can't imagine t-tops looking good

 

really? i think they would look good, and it would definitely be a different kind of mod then anyone else has.

[jeremy]

it certainly would be different, but different isn't always a good thing.....I just don't see it working out properly. For it to have even the remotest chance of looking good, the t-top glass would have to go from the very front of the roof all the way back to the B-pillar. That would be one HUGE ass t-top and certainly would have to be custom. Anything smaller would look extremely odd, IMHO of course

[mediabandit]

well like i said we will have to see, when i get back next week i will start taking some measurements and drawing up some sort or rough schematic. i may have found an old broke ass POS Z34 today, so i will pick that up and use it as my test subject, that way i can plasma that one up and not have to worry about ruinning mine until i can get it to work out the way i want.

[ManicMechanic]

I knew a guy that put t-tops in a Vega....Worked out quite well actually.

[Stevo]

Based on my experience with RWD G-Bodied Cutlasses ... the T-top is only possible if the door does not require the header. The window does require the header and stiles in order to maintain rigidity. I think if you were to dig up pictures of my accident you will see just how important maintaining the structural integrity of the doors is a factor is saving your life. I'm surprised how strong the roof can be even with a moonroof in place. I haven't disassembled the car yet to see how and what the accident faired on the roof assembly with regards to the moonroof but the framing over that door is essential to the structure of the car.

 

When you move from a body on frame design to a unibody setup you endup taking what was just a light structure to one that is a full part of what used to be the frame. Windows and doors become more of a structure than a panel of sorts. Taking a slice out of the roof and leaving but a central post would require some insane restructuring as the body twists and the corners of the windshield have more movement with a central post being the only support above.

 

I'm not sure what kind of structure has been added to the convertibles but it would be interesting to see the drawings considering the body styles are all derived from the same design. To see where they added in places to compensate for not having full corner and rear windows with structure. I can only assume that (structurally) the interior of doors are completely different inside. They more than likely would compenstate for body twist.

[Crazy K]

I thought about doing it to a sedan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! just the front doors... LOL

 

the 88 verts were regular doors with the center top part chopped out. it looks WIERD.

 

whatever happened th 92gps car?