thoughts on a hardtop conversion

[UNGN]

I'm slowly starting the modifications to my TTA for Open road racing and the thought of sustained speeds of 168 mph in a T-top car has got we wondering if I shouldn't just find a donor car and put a real roof on it.

What are fellow TTA owners opinions on this.

 

[j13smiley]

hardtop -> ttop.... not too bad.
ttp -> hardtop... i'd think that'd be a little tougher.

why not just add sfc (and roll cage if needed)?

 

[DaJoker]

Why not just buy a cheap V8 firebird and modify that one??? Probably be alot cheaper and easier on parts. Just my 2 cents.

 

[72firebird]

hardtop -> ttop.... not too bad.
ttp -> hardtop... i'd think that'd be a little tougher.

why not just add sfc (and roll cage if needed)?

I agree Ttops should be fine, just add SFC and a cage and it'll make it stiffer than a hardtop. You could take some tap or something and put over the seems around the Ttops if you wanted to help them from breaking up the air flow. That's the only real advantage I see to going to a hardtop car is that you won't have that little bit of drag from the ttops.

 

[Bird of Prey]

t-tops really suck at high speed.

went 130 mph another day, blowing and whistling like hell in there!

 

[gn1220]

Why not just buy a cheap V8 firebird and modify that one??? Probably be alot cheaper and easier on parts. Just my 2 cents.

I agree. Why destroy another TTA just to make a race car out of it?

 

[Quiky One]

I agree. Why destroy another TTA just to make a race car out of it?

Because it's his car and he can do with it as he pleases....Some race their's, some show theirs, and some people have them to look at. I have SFC's and the car is tight.

Jason

 

[72firebird]

Because it's his car and he can do with it as he pleases....Some race their's, some show theirs, and some people have them to look at. I have SFC's and the car is tight.

Jason

Yup, I'll be getting SFCs because in my opinion they won't hurt the cars value since it'll keep all the rattles out and the subframe from twisting or anything. I wouldn't ever put a cage in my car but to each their own. As I see it the more that are raced and heavily modified the more mine will be worth. However, if I had a high mileage car I would probably modify it pretty heavily.

 

[Razor]

Its always better to start with a low mile car to modify.. that way issues like electrical and weather strips are non issues..

Chop it up.. its only a car.. go have some fun.. big deal.

The less nice ones out there.. the more valuable the rest become.

 

[trophystock]

It's not a big deal as body shops replace roof skins all the time.

 

[UNGN]

It's not a big deal as body shops replace roof skins all the time.

I've owned a few cars that have their roofs replaced. It didn't seem like that big of a deal to do. Way easier than stripping the car and swapping everything to a donor, if you have a good bodyman.

I currently have subframe connectors and am going to cage it.

Aerodynamics and wind noise are one thing. The thought of a multiple rollover accident in the middle on nowhere in a t-top car, even with a roll cage doesn't thrill me. I would feel a lot better with sheet metal over my head instead of two panels that will more than likely be gone before the first roll is complete.

I also can't see how it would decrease the value of the car if it is done correctly. It will never be a 100 point showcar and if someone had my exact car for sale, but a hardtop, I would have paid at least $3000 more for it.

 

[UNGN]

I agree. Why destroy another TTA just to make a race car out of it?

I'll "destroy" it like I "destroyed" my 2+2

My dad and I used to be those guys where every nut and bolt had to be correct and we wasted about 20 years of our lives will only wrinkled skin (from afternoons of baking in the sun at car shows) and boxes of hundreds of trophies to show for it.

We have REAL fun now.

 

[dvernst]

I say go for it. Everytime I ever see a car that someone modified the right way it makes me jealous, so if you can make it a hardtop the right way go for it. Sounds like it will be a badass car when it's done.

 

[2QUIK6]

I know anything ungn does will not be a hack job, I'm sure when its done no one would know that it was originally a t-top car until they ran the vin# to see if it was one of the 39...I would imagine that a TTA fan would freak upon the sight of it that a 1 of 24 car had a cage put in it along with other mods