would you race a t-top car or would you weld the roof solid?

this being a teoretical question let's assume at first car is stock and will go through mods as time and money allow.

if you would race it as is for a while, at what point would you weld it solid?

thanks

 

Been racing one for 20 plus yrs.

 

well with a name like that I will take your advice LOL

Thanks.

 

First of all, what type of racing? Street? Track?

 

track but on street legal nights. "stock" at first than mods to follow.

at some point down the road would be a track only car.

 

I'm prety sure down the road you're gonna have to put in a roll cage.

 

As you get faster you have to get SFC's, rollcage... Ive seen these cars break out T-tops, back glass, and eat rear-ends like candy if you put too much power and do not take steps to get it ready to handle that extra power.

 

Never lost a t-top in my car. It's nice to take the t-tops out while working on the car. Even with a full roll cage and the t-tops out, it's hard to get in and out.

 

been going 10.7s in a T-top car. SFC's that are welded to the pinch weld of the rockers though. The car is stiff and no cage either, but the cage comes this winter as my home track is losing their sense of humor about it.

I've never read of, or seen a T-top fly out that was "latched in"

 

lots of guys with t-tops, my old car is still raced at the track and he has never popped a t-top. or rear glass.

 

I have for 12 years or so. Started off all stock body, chassis, suspension running 14's, then just got faster and faster with mods. With each set of performance mods came chassis/suspension mods to match it.

Weld in sub frame connectors when it was a 13 second car, roll cage when low 11 second car. Now running 10.60's

 

thanks for all the input guys. looks like a ton of info.

yes I did plan on putting SFC's and a cage in eventually, was just wondering if basically the body would end up getting flexed or tweaked due to structural weakness in the roof if I did any "racing" with it before the cage went in. which would also mean before any high performance engine went in etc.

 

I've been racing a t top car for 10 years running. Like alky said, it's super easy to work inside the car with them out. Plus i can drive my car in the box, and crawl out through the roof. I'm dreading putting a halo in...

 

The first thing I had to do when I installed a stripped down steering column was to install a removable steering wheel so I could get out. With the original tilt column, it was easy but the column added 10 pounds to the car.

When putting the car into the trailer, I have fiberglass doors. I take off the drivers door and hang it on the wall then drive the car in. Makes getting in and out much easier. Without a halo bar it wouldn't be so bad but squeezing between the halo and door bar is very restrictive. If I had the funny car cage attachment, it would be even harder but that's not required until you hit 8.50 in the 1/4 mile. Depending on the body style, many people with funny car cages go in head first then spin around inside the car.

As for structural strength of a t-top, it's probably stronger than a hard top because of the extra reinforcement down the center but I've also cut a lot of that out since the full cage keeps the car from flexing. I swapped out my original glass t-tops for some lexan ones to shave off some weight. I then painted the underside of the t-tops black to keep the sun off and painted the flames on the outside to match the car's paint. All my windows including the rear are also lexan.

This isn't a car that can be kept outside or used in the rain. It's a full track car.

 

whoa there getting way ahead of where I am thinking...LOL


someday it would be fun though

 

The best thing to do is just get out and race no matter what kind of car you want to drive. The majority of all drag racing is bracket racing. Speed means nothing. A slower car gets a head start and both should cross the finish line at the same time which never happens. A 15 second car can still beat a 12 second car so everyone has an equal chance of winning.

Going faster costs money and not everyone can afford that. Go to the track to see what your car will run. Do improvements to make it more consistent. Some of the slower cars at the track can be the hardest ones to beat since they normally can run the same ET on every pass.

 

I would look at many other things before I got worried about the tops. Just make sure they are latched good!

 

Exactly!!!!
Done plenty of solo1/road race with just custom subframe/chassis brace and a roll bar, 400+ hp, 500+tq and never had any issues with the t-tops.

 

BTW;
I just ordered a pair of custom carbon fiber T-tops!!
I'll post pictures once I have them.

 

have several with my hands in them with ttops. anything from 12 second to 8 second cars. once the cage is in there, it really doesn't make a difference.

 

Does that mean dragstrip?

How tall are you?

Structurally, once you start doing serious stuff to the car it doesn't matter. The reason it might matter is clearance, if you put a full cage in the car the halo/side top bar has to go somewhere, and with t-tops that means either under or inside the side plastic trim on the t-top, and if you're tall you're head is up in there.

I asked this question before and I know that AlchyIROC answered and he's fairly short (I believe around 5'8"), I don't know about some of the others.

I don't believe that anyone races a t-top car with a full cage that is over 6' tall.

 

kenny hanna has a ttop car, with full 10 point cage put in by jeff moyer. kenny is 6'6". clearance is amazing, and his ttops still come out.

 

A touch over six foot here also and run an 8.50 cage I installed also. Ttops still remove also.


The halo bar did end up being low but is ok for me when in the car.