cut the roof off a sedan - instant convertable

steve.zissou · 25-05-2011, 10:30 AM

I have an old Ls400 lexus that I was basically going to scrap - paint is odinary and has a few issues that would cost alot to fix for rego - much more than the car would be worth.

Then i thought, what about cutting the roof off. As per the dodgy photo shop i think it looks good. I would only use it for driving around the farm and visiting neighbours and down to the river - on private roads of course.

I know every one says as it is a unibody, if you cut the roof off it will have no streghth and will bend at the first speed bump - i am a bit sceptical. Has any on ever actually done it. I found a few people that have done it on smaller cars (323's etc) and they never had an issue (even jumping them off ramps). I could weld the doors but dont want to go to that much effort.

Also - i'll chop the exhaust and run straight pipes - the old lexus v8 sounds mighty nice once free'd.

This is not for the road - just a way to travel round the farm in style - better and cheaper than a golf buggy.

While i was in the mood i shopped a FG xr8 to a 2 door convertable

sanchoXB · 25-05-2011, 10:38 AM

I its not going on the road you could always weld some steel underneath to give it some added strength.

302 XC · 25-05-2011, 10:39 AM

Wouldnt the lexus be worth selling/stripping up for the V8
As many are chasin these
Then go buy some $200 yard hack to cut up

fmc351 · 25-05-2011, 11:36 AM

God Im glad Ford didnt build that.

Kryton · 25-05-2011, 02:14 PM

Engine/trans could net you an easy $1500 plus all the other things you could sell.
Dont see why youd want to hack it up tbh.

To the question though.
It will flex, bend and eventually snap in half - all for what?

RAREV8 · 25-05-2011, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davway

Engine/trans could net you an easy $1500 plus all the other things you could sell.
Dont see why youd want to hack it up tbh.

To the question though.
It will flex, bend and eventually snap in half - all for what?

I suppose that when it enevitably does, you could still wreck it out for the running gear and anything else that didn't bend........I know that you woill only be using it on private roads but bear in mind that the reson you couldn't use it on public roads is because it isn't safe, using it privately doesn't mean it will be safe to do so for your own sake but as someone else mentioned, weld reinforcements to it, weld up the doors etc and minimize the danger because it would be far more tempting to drive it in a "spirited" fashion on private land!

atec77 · 25-05-2011, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrckelley

I have an old Ls400 lexus that I was basically going to scrap - paint is odinary and has a few issues that would cost alot to fix for rego - much more than the car would be worth.

Then i thought, what about cutting the roof off. As per the dodgy photo shop i think it looks good. I would only use it for driving around the farm and visiting neighbours and down to the river - on private roads of course.

I know every one says as it is a unibody, if you cut the roof off it will have no streghth and will bend at the first speed bump - i am a bit sceptical. Has any on ever actually done it. I found a few people that have done it on smaller cars (323's etc) and they never had an issue (even jumping them off ramps). I could weld the doors but dont want to go to that much effort.

Also - i'll chop the exhaust and run straight pipes - the old lexus v8 sounds mighty nice once free'd.

This is not for the road - just a way to travel round the farm in style - better and cheaper than a golf buggy.

While i was in the mood i shopped a FG xr8 to a 2 door convertable

Being a mono you either have to add some steel under the floor and frame or weld the doors shut , if it's a 1uz motor then it's worth a couple of bucks with the auto

302 XC · 25-05-2011, 08:11 PM

You give me the lexus ill give you an old Nissan patrol for a roof removal project
They have a full chassis

2011G6E · 25-05-2011, 08:58 PM

Cut the rood off that without first bracing, strengthening, and putting a chassis underneath, and once you lfit the roof off I can absolutely promise you that you won't even be able to open the doors...and if you do, they won't close again.

Unibody or unitary construction cars are made as a shell...if you take away part of the stiffening shell it becomes a lot weaker.
You could get away with it in the old days when cars had full chassis, but not today.

The best way to get away with it, if it's truly only going to be a farm car, then weld up the doors with some good solid brazing, and put a roll bar across behind the seats. Be prepared to possibly shatter the windscreen though when the body flexes...

Falcon SXR8 · 26-05-2011, 08:48 AM

I chopped an old corona roof off behind the front doors to make it a ute not knowing anything and as soon as the cut was made through the roof it sagged in the middle about half an inch. So I had to weld up some roll bars at the back to stiffen it back up and it worked well still going strong.

**ebxr8240** · 26-05-2011, 10:47 AM

Add some chassis connectors...
Box section ...

**GasoLane** · 26-05-2011, 10:56 AM

Perhaps you should change the thread title to......

cut the roof off a sedan - instant collapsible

But having said that. Has anyone had a look under an Astra conv to see what beefing up has been done ?

steve.zissou · 26-05-2011, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 302 XC

You give me the lexus ill give you an old Nissan patrol for a roof removal project
They have a full chassis

not a bad Idea - PM Sent

aussie muscle · 26-05-2011, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

Unibody or unitary construction cars are made as a shell...if you take away part of the stiffening shell it becomes a lot weaker..

even the windscreen forms part of the shell.

either way, sounds cool. post pics if you do it, but 302XC's offer sounds like the way to go.

ea90gl · 26-05-2011, 07:05 PM

Reminds me of an XF i bought years ago when I was in the stupid phase, bloke cut the roof off for some kicks then decided to flog it off. Picked it up for $200, It had two weeks reg and I was driving it around for that time before it all got scrapped. You could really feel the body flex over bumps and so forth, sad thing is it was actually real clean and in fantastic condition with LPG before the actual chop job. One thing was certain, there was no way I'd do more than about 80km/h unless of course you love the feeling of the car your in about to dance off the road

Danny · 26-05-2011, 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ea90gl

Reminds me of an XF i bought years ago when I was in the stupid phase, bloke cut the roof off for some kicks then decided to flog it off. Picked it up for $200, It had two weeks reg and I was driving it around for that time before it all got scrapped. You could really feel the body flex over bumps and so forth, sad thing is it was actually real clean and in fantastic condition with LPG before the actual chop job. One thing was certain, there was no way I'd do more than about 80km/h unless of course you love the feeling of the car your in about to dance off the road

Isn't an XF like that anyway with its roof?