Question about fbody Convertible race cars???
07-04-2009, 12:00 PM
#1
Question about fbody Convertible race cars??? I have a quick question. Not sure if I'm in the right section for this or not but it's about convertibles pushing over 600hp. My boss told me that the fbody convertibles are not good to handle that much power since they are unibody - he said the car would eventaully snap because theres not support on the top and that's too much power for a convertible. What's everyone think about this?? What if your running subframe connectors - is that enough support. Who here has a very fast convertible??
07-04-2009, 12:25 PM
#2
He's right. But he's also wrong. As is so often the case, the answer is not black and white, unless you make the silly assumption that a person building such an engine would not also address this issue.
While it's true that convertibles loss torsional rigidity due to the lack of a top, the factory compensates for this at least to some extent (the exact degree I leave to an argument between mechanical engineers) by adding subframe connectors and crossbracing. Additional rigidity can be found by adding a strut tower brace to the front (and who doesn't do this anyway?) and by adding a rollbar (which, in the opinion of someone with 30 years of EMS experience should be the very first performance mod in a convertible).
One way of judging twist of this sort is to see how well the top and doors close. My TA closes just fine. My wife has a '97 Camaro convertible with the 3.8L. Hers is bone stock. And her top does not close nearly as well as mine, and in fact is noticably twisted. Her car is currently being gutted and this is something I will try to fix during the restore.
While it's true that convertibles loss torsional rigidity due to the lack of a top, the factory compensates for this at least to some extent (the exact degree I leave to an argument between mechanical engineers) by adding subframe connectors and crossbracing. Additional rigidity can be found by adding a strut tower brace to the front (and who doesn't do this anyway?) and by adding a rollbar (which, in the opinion of someone with 30 years of EMS experience should be the very first performance mod in a convertible).
One way of judging twist of this sort is to see how well the top and doors close. My TA closes just fine. My wife has a '97 Camaro convertible with the 3.8L. Hers is bone stock. And her top does not close nearly as well as mine, and in fact is noticably twisted. Her car is currently being gutted and this is something I will try to fix during the restore.
07-07-2009, 04:42 PM
#6
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my buddies 97 ss convert runs 6.19's at irwindale. no snappin the body in half. obviously you need a bad *** cage though..
i've seen this car up on the rear bumper.
i've seen this car up on the rear bumper.
