280zx targa top?

[Austenp405]

<prepares to be extensively ridiculed>

Ok, I've been tossing this idea around in my head for a long time now. It started when I had a 300zx with t-tops. I was thinking about cutting out the center divider, and making it a true targa top to do something really different. Somewhat like this:

 

 

Now that I have a 280zx the urge to operate on the roof is coming back. 1) Can it be done or has it already and 2) what would it do to the steering/chassis flex of the car. Would adding a 4 or 6 point roll bar help offest some of the negative effects?

[Dan Juday]

I don't know of any successful targa top conversion to a Z. We've talked about it here before but nobody seems interested enough to pursue it.

 

I like the idea but it has significant challenges. And other than the "Wow, never seen that before" factor, what does it gain you over t-tops?

 

Frame reinforcement is obviously the first issue to confront. Twist and flex. A roll bar that does not connect the rear shock towers to the cowl (like a four point that stays entirely behind the passengers) will do you no good. But if you install a full race 10 point cage what is the point of a targa top? The idea is to "open up" the car. A cage dose exactly the opposite.

 

No, to do it right all the frame reinforcement needs to be hidden in the floor, sills and tunnel. If you are serious about pursuing this you should contact John Washington of Reaction Research. He sells a couple of kits for the S130, a convertible and a Daytona Spider replica. He would have excellent info on reinforcing the S130 frame without a cage.

 

Good luck, and welcome to Hybrid.

[SHO-Z]

I1 have built a 260z convertible and there is some flex in the body even with added reinforsement steel. I installed 1x2" tube stock the length of the cockpit next to the existing frame rails. I reinforced this with angel braces through the floor. As road car it is fine but when I push it you can feel the difference. I am planning to install an X brace between the new tube stock to stiffen it up torsionally.

It seams like the T-top Zs would have additional reinforcement from the factory to allow for the loss of steel in the roof and the fact that there is one center box section on the targa connected to the center of the windshield and 2 box sections on the coupe tied directly into the main windshield columns. This would affect the car torsionally more than lateral stiffness. One ting to remember add all of your reinforcement before you do any cutting.

[Austenp405]

I agree that the advantage over t-tops is not all that great, but it's worlds ahead of the solid roof I have now, as far as style goes. As far as the chassis goes, I was even thinking about going as far as a fully boxed frame. If not that far, maybe some way of running some bars along the doors to tie the front to the back.

Sho-z.. the last line of your post is good advice. I probably would not have thought about that.

 

As you can tell I'm still very undecided and FAR from taking any actions, and will probably back out because I like taking corners too much. I was just considering the feasibility and figured no one else knows about taking a scalpel to Z's like you guys do.

[Guest 305240]

Heck, do a little dress up and enjoy both worlds. I run a targa band with the T tops on my 81 turbo. I feel the targa band just finishes off what Nissan forgot. Those pillar post trims are crying for a targa band in my opinion.