Making a convertable stronger
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Making a convertable stronger
Hello, i have a Triumph TR7 V8 convertable, other than buying a FHC is there a way of strenghening the shell to help reduce the flex? Any ideas?
FHC??
I guess its the same with any convertible, you will have to beef up whatever chassis is there and or the sills. I have seen a few done by striping off the outer sill and putting box section in and then putting the outer sill back on. This keeps a stock look and can be quite effective if there is enough room. Another one I have seen was the inner and outer sills were re-made from heavy gauge steel and welded in to replace the existing ones. This requires a fair bit of metal forming skill but is very neat when done and the sills will never rot out again
Another one I have seen was a Capri with an Aston convertible kit put on. This simply had box section welded inside the car along the inner sill. It didn't look very nice but it did the job I guess.
I guess its the same with any convertible, you will have to beef up whatever chassis is there and or the sills. I have seen a few done by striping off the outer sill and putting box section in and then putting the outer sill back on. This keeps a stock look and can be quite effective if there is enough room. Another one I have seen was the inner and outer sills were re-made from heavy gauge steel and welded in to replace the existing ones. This requires a fair bit of metal forming skill but is very neat when done and the sills will never rot out again
Another one I have seen was a Capri with an Aston convertible kit put on. This simply had box section welded inside the car along the inner sill. It didn't look very nice but it did the job I guess.
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ian.stewart
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A decent full roll cage would work wonders, but if you dont want to go that far a rear hoop and door bars running from halfway down the hoop down into the footwell, you cold put a kink in the door bars as well to allow for easier access, or even X type door bars tied into the top of the scuttle and floor, then back to halfway down the hoop and into somewhere like the rear inner arch
THE SMOKING GNU
12.604 with an old boiler of a RV8 and no gas
WHY are there so many IANS on this site???????
12.604 with an old boiler of a RV8 and no gas
WHY are there so many IANS on this site???????
It is an age old problem, the issue is that without the windscreen, A pillers roof panel and rear quarters and both doors open, all that is stopping the thing folding in half are the transmission tunnel, sills and floor pan. With the doors closed it ain't much better! 
It really depends how far do you want to go, If you are not planning on putting the roof up or driving slowly in the rain then weld the doors up, stick a 12Gauge by 1.5" CDS tube between front and rear bulkheads at the top of the doors, with a nice bit of 3/32th spreader plate on the ends, add a diagonal in 1" 16 gauge to the sills at the bottom of the doors and the fore aft tube at the top of the doors. That should stiffen it up alot!
you could try just
deapening the sills behind the doors and shorten the door frames and use the skinns to cover up the deaper sills, but alot of work
otherwise it is a case of what Ian sugests
Or try and create a load path through the transmission tunnel, beef up the bulkheads front and rear by builing a frame out of tube and plate and double skin this by adding a second bulkhead pannel to each, then increase the size of the transmission tunnel by as much as you can and frame it in tubing (think TVR backbone chassis) and tie it into the double skin bulkheads but a pig to do and it would shink the cabin.
Mike
It really depends how far do you want to go, If you are not planning on putting the roof up or driving slowly in the rain then weld the doors up, stick a 12Gauge by 1.5" CDS tube between front and rear bulkheads at the top of the doors, with a nice bit of 3/32th spreader plate on the ends, add a diagonal in 1" 16 gauge to the sills at the bottom of the doors and the fore aft tube at the top of the doors. That should stiffen it up alot!
you could try just
deapening the sills behind the doors and shorten the door frames and use the skinns to cover up the deaper sills, but alot of workotherwise it is a case of what Ian sugests
Or try and create a load path through the transmission tunnel, beef up the bulkheads front and rear by builing a frame out of tube and plate and double skin this by adding a second bulkhead pannel to each, then increase the size of the transmission tunnel by as much as you can and frame it in tubing (think TVR backbone chassis) and tie it into the double skin bulkheads but a pig to do and it would shink the cabin.
Mike
poppet valves rule!
