The Batman

iTrader: (4)

thats basically what i was thinking too...but if you bought the donor car, you could basically build the entire chassis and top while your current car is still driveable...idk tho. its one hell of a project. like i said, it took me about 2.5 years working on the car 3-6 hours everyday.

if you go with this idea it will be totally worth the investment. I need to get back to my fathers house some time and dig around for some pics of my car. I miss that thing damn shame what happened to it tho...

i would keep the spoiler at stock height, gives it the wedge look...it took forever to find a shop in my area that would cut glass. most places wont guarantee any part of it. ive never seen the windshield out a 4th gen, i know that towards the top theres a black area. i wonder whats under there. If you are in need of some extra clearance to see out you may be able to cut out some of the steel in there and modify the headliner accordingly.

i dont know, my head is scrambled with ideas about this project. i sat out in my garage and stared at my poncho for awhile last night trying to answer some of my ideas and questions about this project. youve got me going a hundred miles an hour here

wabmorgan

I was thinking about your project earlier today as well.... I also think a "donor" car would be the way to go. It will leave you car in tack and leave you the time to work on the build without being in a rush.

1995blacktattop

iTrader: (2)

its actually a clear 1/10 scale RC car body (i dont have one, i just found that pic online)

can be purchased at link below for $40 (the ricer spoiler on there i think is one of 2 you can use, either that one or the stock one)

http://www.rc-tradingpost.com/hpi-po...clearbody.html

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, I like this car a lot. With a vert, I won't even mess with the top until all the suspension stuff is done. I'd like to reuse the front roof latches as well as the whole trunk, etc... I may have to cut a notch out of the front of the trunk lid so I can make the roof shape slope back. It would be pretty badass if I could mod the factory vert top to make it work on the chopped top. It would probably be easier to just make the one piece top.

Anyway, I need those freakin folks to call me back. They act like they don't want to sell the car. Damn. I'm going to hound them.

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

That's not necessary, remember that the seating position will be low and I'll be looking over the hood. There's enough glass there to see out of. Stoplights might be hard to see, but that's easily fixed. Back in the days of external sunvisors there where prisms called traffic light veiwers. Here's a link if your curious. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...d.php?t=222545

I'm not really sure how I want to treat the top edge of the windshield.

1. I can build a strong tube frame behind it and attach the roof to it and then just black the very top edge out.

2. Leave smooth glass there like some folks do. Just run the A-pillars and not connect them across the top.

I sure would hate to crack the windshied through chassis flex. Choice 1 adds a lot of safety. Hmmm, I don't really know right know.

Whatever donor car I get I think I'm going to build it like this. Strip it down and set the body on the concrete slab I have in my backyard. I think it's flat enough. Then I'm going to mark my cutoff line which is pretty much the bottom edge of the doors. I'll cross brace the door jams and the inner sheetmetal structure so it holds it's shape. Then cut out the floor and everything below the line. Then set the whole body right on the ground just like it will be when the suspension is dropped.

I'm going to build it as I go along. I'll find the best location for the frame rails, then build them and install them so they are on the ground as well. I want the entire bottom of the car flat (well, the cockpit area anyway). Then I'll start to add the flat floor.

Anyway, I got to get the donor car first.

I also figured out a way to build a pushrod front suspension that moves the shocks/springs inboard and places them in front of the engine. It's a cool design and allows me to lay them down at a 45* angle. Meaning I don't have to buy shorter shocks.

I drew this up last night. If there are any engineers following this thread, tell me what you think of the design. I still don't know what material to make the tubes from. I want to be sure they don't twist and act like torsion bars. Hmmm, maybe cut up an aluminum drivshaft? Maybe 1.5" solid steel rod? Thick wall chromoly tubing? I'll work that out later.



It will look kind of like this. Excuse the crudeness.

slowbrakiller

iTrader: (10)

cant fit bigger wheels? well, just make the car smaller

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

That doesn't make any sense. Not funny either. Can you please delete it.

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

I've been looking at some other convertibles for top ideas. What I could do is build a faux convertible top. Instead of a solid fiberglass top that lifts off and has to be left at home, why not make a fiberglass top in say 4 sections and then cover it with padding and top material? The flexible material would act like hinges and let me fold the top down flat(er) so it can be stowed in the back. In order to make the roof sections nice and solid when up, I may have to attach some braces across the hinge areas. It would not be fast to put up or down, but it's better than getting stuck in a rainstorm with no top. Know what I mean?

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

Just to refresh my memory.

I'm considering swapping out my 19x10 front rims for some 18x10 ones. I'd still be able to fit the 14" rotors I want. Hmmm, just a thought. I think reducing the overall diameter will better help the car preportions as well as reduce the wheel well height a little.

Damn, the current front wheels just fill in the wheel wells perfectly. Maybe I should consider 20" rears and enlarge the well just slighty for the perfect fit.

I'm very picky about getting the overall look and stance just right.

Maybe keep the 19" rears and run a slightly taller tire? I think some 345/35/19 Viper rear tires along with a higher wheel well might do the trick.

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

OK, I played around with a few different wheel size combo's to see what looked best.

First up is an 18" front and a 20" rear. These sizes do exist.



Next is a more radical 18" front and a 22" rear. It might be 23", but it's hard to say. I don't think these rims are available any bigger than a 20" so these don't exist.



Lastly is the current 19" 19" combo, but with a taller rear tire.

chaman

iTrader: (5)

I like the 20/19 combo the most.

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

You mean the 20/18?

I tried 20/19, but you really couldn't see much difference.

99Bluz28

iTrader: (35)

I like the 19/19 w/taller rear tires.

Cts-Voodoo

you can go lower than that..

body drop, bags, chopped top, shave down the ground effects to flat. I expect lugs to tuck if people make claims like lowest in the world.

Heres a shot of my old caddy... (no photoshop )

more pics..
http://www.streetsourcemag.com/ViewO...Profileid=9778

Vicinity

iTrader: (7)

Looks like ghetto stickies. Lol.

chaman

iTrader: (5)

Yeah I meant 20/18, sorry.

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

35" tall is low! Not even 3'!
The engine is the real problem. If it was in the back I could go lower, but I still want to be comfortable and not be laying down like an F1 car, you know?

Tire size becomes an issue as well. With the top off it will seem even lower. I personally think I'm at the limit with my current design. Stand next to a yardstick and see how tall 35" is.

Cts-Voodoo

Dont get angry, I wasnt insulting. I was merely saying you can go lower if you wanna get really creative with a plasma cutter, sawzall and a welder. Heh and 35 inches is about 3 inches below my inseam.

I like the canteliever front suspension setup, in fact, you can actually mount them entirely flat if you need to provided the angle for the suspension link side is close to a vertical angle. The more the angle drops from vertical, the higher the spring rate will need to be, as well the shocks will decrease in effectiveness, etc.

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

I'm not mad, but I think I'm at the limit. I don't want to notch the windshield for the engine to stick up into.

I've always wanted to do a mid engine conversion, but the LS1 would have to mount horizontally to fit. I don't have the money for a tough manual unit. The impala and gran prix have 5.3 v8's powering the front wheels, but they are auto's only. Probably cost a small fortune as well.

Here is the limitation.


Anybody have a good side profile picture of a T56?

Cts-Voodoo

Yeah forgot about the engine being pretty much the lowpoint of that things front end.. Well you could always fab a full sheetmetal oil pan for it and slap on a skid plate, but yeah I see where youre going as to level of work per inches gained. Of course with the chop if you lay the windshield back a bit when you do it, you might be able to retain most of the stock mounting... dont listen to me, youll be fabbing on that thing for months lol.