I am considering turning my 88 firebird hardtop into a convertible....like the ones that were made by a few companies back in the 80's for the 82-84 t/as. as far as chassis stiffening goes do I need anything more than a cross brace where the typical one was made in place of the back seat in the aftermarket 82-84 convertibles, going from the left to right side of the car welded in place of course with steel tubing, and then subframe connectors? Has anybody done this mod before?

 

IF YOU WANT A VERT WHY DONT YOU JUST SELL YOUR CURRENT VEH. &BUY ONE?SEEMS LIKE ALOT OF TROUBLE TO ME,BUT JUST MY OPINION

 

check out fatal88 and tpi383 both of them have done this. ask them whether or not it is worth it.

 

What you have to remember about TPI383's car is that he took a wrecked convertible and a good T-TOP CAR and cut the top off and moved the "factory" ASC parts over. So basically what he did was just re-create what ASC did when they built the verts. 02sixt says he wants to just hack the top off of a hardtop and call it done.

yes, there's tons more. you will need some type of cover that will enclose the area where the back seat and the rear hatch area are opened up. You will need to figure out how you plan to re-attach your upper quarters back to the inner body panels to keep what little rigidity that these cars do have. you will need to figure out how you plan to safely attach the upper seatbelt mounting points.

I have a wrecked vert chassis and would never disuade someone from wanting to do what I plan to do by building one, but I'm not sure if you are taking the right approach to this. This is a big mod that could ultimatly destroy your car beyond typical repair. Be sure you have it completely mapped out before you start cutting on this one...... Good Luck!!!

 

 

I'm only referring to the structural side of things, not the cosmetic after effects, I already know how to cover it all up and make it look like an original, what I was wondering is if anybody had done this, I've seen it done before but no steps were explained other than using sub-frame connectors, and the cross brace beween where the backrest of the back seat used to be. These are all welded in, but I was wondering if there are any other methods of reinforcement. I paid 500 bucks for the car so I dont care too much about wrecking it, but I know I wont I've got 15 years in autobody.