razrwild

Searched but didn't find anything on it. I'm interested since I'm planning on the top being off most of the time, doors are getting cut up to remove in the next couple weeks, so the only thing left is the roof over the front seats. Any ideas as far as the windshield needing added support? I'm thinking of making it a 2 piece deal and leaving some of the roof there like most vehicles but I'm not sure of the measurements of other cars, going to hit the junkyards to find out soon unless someone knows where I can find a website with top dimensions. My truck does have a sunroof so I'm figuring on bolting (no welder or knowledge of how to weld) in a center bar for it to support the t-tops. For removing the doors I'm thinking of cutting the hinges from the bolts to the front bottom edge so that I'll just have to loosen a couple turns and then pull the doors up and back to remove em. If this works then I'll just have to loosen the bolts and not worry about the alignment of the doors

My99

I would strongly reconsider hacking up your roof. You have very limited support as it is in case of a rollover by having a huge hole in your roof to begin with (sunroof). If you hack the sides out, you'll have very little structural stability in the roof of your truck. Off-roading and general handling with be substially hampered. If you roll the truck, the front seat occupants would likely be smashed.

razrwild

I don't really think about the rollover since I don't wheel too hard. Probably what you guys consider a class 2 trail at the very most. Wheeled around in probably 10+ trucks for the past 8 years (bought cheap, destroyed, resold with honest listings) and haven't even been in an off camber enough situation where rollover is even a thought. I mostly just play in the mud but I was figuring on keeping the steel nearest the doors and adding a center crossbar just to leave some reinforcement to the windshield frame. How would it effect my handling and offroading ability aside from the rollover?

My99

I cannot speak from experience as to how the modification will affect your wheeling, as I've never tried such an extreme modification.

From my experience with cars however, a fixed roof is the preference for performance. This is because (aside from added weight because of increased structural support) convertibles are simply less rigid than a fixed roof, and it takes away from the handling. I'm referring to cars that are primarily fixed roofs but are also available in drop tops. IE - Eclipses, Mustangs, camaros etc. There are great sports cars that are built as roadsters (only) and these are a different story.

I would imagine this principal would spill over to our current discussion. On the trail suspension flex is good, but I can't see what good could come out of increased body flex. And given what you may be driving on out there, you could put some serious strain on the body.

Regarding my roll-over comment, it was aimed at the on-road use of the truck. If you use it on the road, you unfortunately are not the only one in control of your destiny. I can certainly speak from experience on that one.

Perhaps others that have built more extreme rigs can pipe in regarding the significance or hacking the roof.

razrwild

appreciate the feedback nonetheless and it looks like the project is scrapped, the drawbacks you mention as well as my lack of fabbing skill is going to keep me from doing it for now

ewong

Back in the early 80s, there were a ton on companies in Cali that made convertible kits to remove the roof.

They disappeared by the 1990s.

My *guess* is they all had liability issues....

Go find some old copies of MiniTruckin from 1985 ish and take a look at the various project trucks and ads.

That will give you a good idea on they way they mounted the roof panels.