Ok, so what im going to be doing once I get some opinions from some people is cutting a HUGE square of the top of my roof in the 240 coupe. probably 2 inches in from the edges of the roof. i.e. a HUGE sunroof except for that the sunroof wont open but it will be a glass top. I thought this would be a really great and cool idea. I got the idea of it from sitting ina 350z in a car dealership lot. Would this interfere GREATLY with support? or could I cut it back a little and not make it so big? I jstu want like almsot all of my roof to be glass I think that would be a really cool neat thing to do. I can probably get all the weldein done for free all I need to do is get custom made class and get it professionally sealed once its all ready and tacked with welding. any ideas or comments? I really want this to get done.
Modified by RedRum240 at 6:00 AM 10/5/2004
Look at my current first ever project on a 240sx coupe
-
Ubernoober
- Posts: 539
- Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2004 6:51 pm
Re: (tm_kickz)
What do you mean by will it greatly affect support? You mean if you roll over in your car will the roof cave in? Well if you have the glass put in, it won't affect the strength that much, but keep in mind that the glass would shatter and you may be cut up like crazy. Nice idea though, but you could always just put a powered moonroof in and just keep the slide open, that's what I do, same effect!!!
ummmmmmm if i understand what your going to do i would highly suggest not to do it.
i work for an architecht and im studying architecture and i would definitely not going and do that. Not only are you effecting the way the roof is and but what your about to do is illegal. you need to go to town hall and get permits to do what your doing. also you need to have plans drawn up and you need things like a psl or headers to support the window in the place that its going.
if your seriously thinking about it, draw up your own set of plans and give them to town hall and see what they say.
a home owner has the right to submit a plan that is drawn by them not involving an architecht.
put cutting holes in your roof is like driving around with a flat tire, it just doesn't work, but depending on how you exactly mean it could be very possible.
i work for an architecht and im studying architecture and i would definitely not going and do that. Not only are you effecting the way the roof is and but what your about to do is illegal. you need to go to town hall and get permits to do what your doing. also you need to have plans drawn up and you need things like a psl or headers to support the window in the place that its going.
if your seriously thinking about it, draw up your own set of plans and give them to town hall and see what they say.
a home owner has the right to submit a plan that is drawn by them not involving an architecht.
put cutting holes in your roof is like driving around with a flat tire, it just doesn't work, but depending on how you exactly mean it could be very possible.
Re: Look at my current first ever project on a 240sx coupe (RedRum240)
this is for my car... not my cardboard box.... if I had to draw plans and go to town hall to get approval to do somthing to my car I would **** in a bag and tell him to have a field day.
Re: (matt6669)
the sun aint going to bother you?
Hi RedRum240,
I would highly recommend that you don't do it for a number of reasons, the most important being structural rigidity. Removing that much structural metal without any additional bracing will significantly compromise the torsional rigidity and stiffness of the whole body. Your car will twist a lot more and handling will be compromised as well. There is a reason convertibles cost more and weigh more than sedans and coupes: It costs more and takes more structural bracing to make the vehicle as rigid as a sedan and coupe without a roof and accompanying A-, B-, and C-pillars.
Second reason: Unless you live in Maine or North Dakota, you will have a very difficult time keeping the car cool and probably have to take measures to avoid sunburn. Good luck getting the groceries home without melting. Your A/C will be running constantly.
Another reason: As someone else said above, safety. Can you afford to put a shatter-proof glass over your head to avoid getting you cut to shreds in an accident? I doubt the rear glass from a truck is shatter-proof.
Another reason: Weight: Will your A-,B-, and C-pillars be able to carry the weight of the glass? Glass is a lot heavier than metal.
LAst, but not least: Water leakage: It's going to take a lot of very fine workmanship to avoid water leakage during times when the metal contracts and expands from the heat and cold. Do you want to deal with the rust that will follow?
Of all of these, structural rigidity is the most improtant I believe. You will have seriously compromised the handling capability of the car if you cannot or do not install additional bracing, which could cost a ton of money, plus who you gonna find to do it?
You will not have this car forever. If the mod doesn't go as planned, are you ready to give it away for nothing because of a mod gone-badly?
Too much risk for a "cool" idea if you ask me.
Hope this helps.
I would highly recommend that you don't do it for a number of reasons, the most important being structural rigidity. Removing that much structural metal without any additional bracing will significantly compromise the torsional rigidity and stiffness of the whole body. Your car will twist a lot more and handling will be compromised as well. There is a reason convertibles cost more and weigh more than sedans and coupes: It costs more and takes more structural bracing to make the vehicle as rigid as a sedan and coupe without a roof and accompanying A-, B-, and C-pillars.
Second reason: Unless you live in Maine or North Dakota, you will have a very difficult time keeping the car cool and probably have to take measures to avoid sunburn. Good luck getting the groceries home without melting. Your A/C will be running constantly.
Another reason: As someone else said above, safety. Can you afford to put a shatter-proof glass over your head to avoid getting you cut to shreds in an accident? I doubt the rear glass from a truck is shatter-proof.
Another reason: Weight: Will your A-,B-, and C-pillars be able to carry the weight of the glass? Glass is a lot heavier than metal.
LAst, but not least: Water leakage: It's going to take a lot of very fine workmanship to avoid water leakage during times when the metal contracts and expands from the heat and cold. Do you want to deal with the rust that will follow?
Of all of these, structural rigidity is the most improtant I believe. You will have seriously compromised the handling capability of the car if you cannot or do not install additional bracing, which could cost a ton of money, plus who you gonna find to do it?
You will not have this car forever. If the mod doesn't go as planned, are you ready to give it away for nothing because of a mod gone-badly?
Too much risk for a "cool" idea if you ask me.
Hope this helps.
-
Doomed2Walk
- Posts: 1083
- Joined: Sat Jun 21, 2003 7:39 pm
- Car: 2005 Subaru Impreza WRX STi WRBP on gold
- Contact:
You can't get sunburn. If he replaces where the metal on the roof was with glass, UV doesn't penetrate glass. He'll get really hot, but won't get burnt. I'm sure if he can design and fab his own panoramic sunroof, he can make a screen to cover it. Structural rigidity doesn't seem too bad, I mean my car has a moon roof :
: The new Quest and Maxima have 4 and 2 individual sunroofs respectively. The Scion tC has 2 sunroofs that takes up I'd say 30% of the roof.
: The new Quest and Maxima have 4 and 2 individual sunroofs respectively. The Scion tC has 2 sunroofs that takes up I'd say 30% of the roof.Re: (Doomed2Walk)
Sunburn: I beg to differ. There is a reason my left arm is more tanned than my right arm during the summer months. But this is a minor issue compared to structural rigidity.Doomed2Walk wrote:You can't get sunburn. If he replaces where the metal on the roof was with glass, UV doesn't penetrate glass. He'll get really hot, but won't get burnt. I'm sure if he can design and fab his own panoramic sunroof, he can make a screen to cover it. Structural rigidity doesn't seem too bad, I mean my car has a moon roof :
Structural rigidity: Your car's moon roof came with the car so it was already reinforced to begin with. Moreover, there is a big difference between a small sunroof or moon roof (covering say 25-30% of the roof) and an opening filled with glass covering almost the entire roof. The new Quest and Maxima you refer to come from the factory that way i.e. reinforced roof and bracing by design. They are not installed at the dealership or aftermarket. Again there is a difference between a Scion sunroof that covers 30% of the roof and is pre-reinforced from the factory and a sunroof RedRum240 is trying to install covering 90+% of his roof. To make matters worse, his car didn't come with a moonroof or sunroof to begin with.
Bottom-line: You will be removing a significant portion of metal that plays a significant role in the structural rigidity of the car.
Modified by youngturk at 4:09 PM 10/9/2004
-
Doomed2Walk
- Posts: 1083
- Joined: Sat Jun 21, 2003 7:39 pm
- Car: 2005 Subaru Impreza WRX STi WRBP on gold
- Contact:
I see, but couldn't he just reinforce the roof while he's adding the new glass roof? I'm sure if it's too big then it will still flex, but for a medium sized glass panel? About the UV going through glass, it's impossible, this is taught even in high school physics. The difference in tan could be because you drove with the window down and your arm rested on the door. I do that all the time so my left arm was a bit tanner also.
Re: Look at my current first ever project on a 240sx coupe (RedRum240)
yeah sounds kinda dangerous, but if you dont mind the risks and dont want a great handling car and can aford it it sound cool. however even if you add significant bracing to the roof to minimize twist the weight of the flass + bracing being that high up in the car would not be great for the corners. you would probably need stronger sways to counteract the increase in body roll, as well as some other possible suspention work to cope with the extra load. just more considerations if you go ahead, and if you do do this, take lots of pics I wanna see!
-
VCthuglife
- Posts: 87
- Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2004 12:08 pm
- Car: 89 240sx coupe
Re: Look at my current first ever project on a 240sx coupe (Red coupe)
If you are serious about doing this to your car, at least use lexthan or shatter resistant plastic composite