Targa T-top [Merged 7-7] T tops targas conversion

[MitsuReaper]

Originally posted by Ryda85
ok guys..i found a shop out in jersey that sed they can targa an eclipse for around 3500-4500 bux...they have done it b4 and have showed me sum pictures..everything looks good. they make ur car a targa...put supra latches...6 point cage...x brackets under the car...some more bars under the car...and front and rear strut bars..wut u guys think?

thats it.. im selling my car..

Me: "oh well dam.. nobody has a targa eclipse.. let me be a moron and make mine one.... "

Others: "Im doing it!", "Its done!" "Love my targa!"

Me: "Custom targa DSM FOR SALE - Selling to buy hard top, so I can be unique.."



---
6-point/unibody cross member... Sounds like my setup..
Who are these fools

Id also like to see a picture..

 

[MitsuReaper]

Ok. After seeing like 50 posts about targa tops.
I figured I would put "my" .2 cents in.. Being a Targa Owner and all.

For People that want to try to do a Targa themselfs:
Dont.. run away.. Get it out of your mind.
You dont know what your getting into.

1G's and 2G's have different door/window setups...
2G's dont have a door seal around the window.. Like the 1G
So 2G's are easyer to Chop... 1G's require more work...


I did my Targa myself.. I had no help, no faqs, nothing from anyone, besides a couple friends that also had no clue like myself.
So all fabrication had to be thought up, and planned.
Basicly what I had to go threw was..
figuring out where I wanted the targa placed on my roof.. how far from the windsheild, how far from the back of the B-Pillar.
After finding this out, I marked and cut the roof. (Dont ask with what. If you dont know what you should cut your roof with, YOU SHOULDNT BE DOING IT.)
After cutting the roof, I needed to make a way to put it back on.
My roof had the power moonroof in it.. So insted of filling that whole in i decided to make a fiberglass top. Which is very light weight.
Then i needed a way to fit it back on, so that the windows sealed, and the roof sealed water tight. I used rubber seals for the roof... (Dont ask where.. Find out.)
Then I had to come up with some type of latch system.. I went threw about 5 different setups before finding the setup that sealed tight and looked the best.. (look doesnt really matter, as with the roof on I dont care what it looks like..)
Then I had to stiffen the car, which I built a 6-point roll cage, designed a unibody crossmember, and other support around the car.
My targa "IS" finished... I am still not happy with a few things, I will work on those later..
But as you can see, there is ALOT of work that goes into it.
Dont ask me for help, or how I did it, or to write a FAQ about it...
Im not a Targa Master type person, I did research, and planned and worked to figure mine out.. If you want it bad enough you have to go threw it also.

The Donts:
Dont ask me for Targa Help.
Dont ask me for info on my Targa..
Dont ask me what latchs I used.
Dont ask me for pics of my latchs.
Dont ask me for pics of the finished product.. They will be up soon.

www.google.com <- A whole world of information ... use it.

If you want help on anything else.. Sure let me know.. But im getting tired of all the Targa questions.. I didnt do mine for looks or style..
I did it to be different, and I like convertable/targa cars..
Im to ugly to own a convertable, so I opped to chop the top.
If you want help on fiberglassing.. You can read my faq here:
http://www.247undertakers.com/fiberglass



For the people that want to PAY to have their car Targa topped:
Go for it. if you got 4-6 grand to blow cutting your top off, your a moron and deserve to get rapped.
The total cost for my project was about $130 - For all parts needed, all materials... This includes the cage and supports....

Now.. I hope this helps people... so everyone can STOP posting more Targa Threads... THERE IS ENOUGH ALREADY.

Can I get an AMEN!.

-Reaper

 

[GordieAwd]

Does anyone know who to do a Targa Top To a dsm 94. My roof caved on me from snow. SO I going to putt a Targa top in just need the deails

 

[rubbersidedown]

Originally posted by GordieAwd
Does anyone know who to do a Targa Top To a dsm 94. My roof caved on me from snow. SO I going to putt a Targa top in just need the deails

! that's some heavy f'n snow. I rolled my car over upside down and it layed upside for a few hours and i was able to pound out the few/small dents w/ my fist.

 

[ceniack]

anyone have any pics of the targa conversions?

 

[Airpoppoff]

ask DSMED he has a targa laser

 

[GordieAwd]

i got it no prob.
I bought Supra Clips for the roof, Made a cross member for the bottom. Now my only question is what do the hell do i coer the top with. When I cut off the top. So when it rain I dont get wet. I thinking of making a Plastic mold one or just straight fiberglass. Any suggestion???

 

[Laguna739]

I think mitsureaper has a targa also, and that guy knows how to do some really nice looking body work, id ask him for his thoughts

 

[greathuskie]

dont ask him because he gets it all the time you will only be bugging him

 

[Noglory]

I wanted to kno if it were possible to make a 96 eclipse gsx have a targa top....i think it would be a great idea to make a great car even better...but i dont kno how the targa top goes on and off...like the supra...if any one knows anything about targa tops and would let me kno....that would be great...or if any one has any input on this idea....i mean if u can put different things from other cars on a dsm...y not bring it to the next extreme........l8a

 

[AWD_ENVY]

Andre did this....

http://www.twingles.com/ideck/

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[black9d1tsiawd]

Andre did a really nice job on that, but the basic fact is that the life of the car has gone down because of that.


Here is some basic info on the targa top-

1. Costs tons of money,
2. Tons of Time
3. Chasiss problems, - As u kno u own a UniBody which relies on other panels for reinforcement, a unibody is a strong chasiss but when u take off cross members/the roof or any important support u have problems. What kind of problems? Twisting the chasis which wil happen if u targa ur car and not make up for that loss of support.

There is a few ways to make up for that loss of suppoer, a extensive Roll Cage/ Adding New/More Cross Members to the bottom Chasiss.

The fact is that THE CHEAPEST i can imagine u getting this done would atleast be $2500 if u did it urself and had all the tools and time.

But getting a shop to do it? Iam thinking at least starting off at 5,000

Good Luck!!

Also, my idea is that a roof scoop that is functional, why? hell if I kno, but its just a idea and would cost 1/3 of what a targa would cost.

 

[tlnpwr]

that looks HOT. but i would be worried if it began leaking. i put a pop up sunroof in my parent's old 4runner and that started leaking very soon after.

 

[Sinner]

when I was at wyotech there was this kid that did a targa top on his stealth, he welded in a subframe connector and some other supports in his chassis class and after he had it all cut out and ready to be painted he told me the total cost involved just to pay for the materials was somewhere between $200-$300.

 

[black9d1tsiawd]

u wanna kno why? Because 99.9% of all tools/materials are free at the school. They have more pull n access then like 90% of other schools besides uti.

and fyi that cant be possible, unless he didnt re-paint his roof.

 

[Defiant]

I wonder if you'd be better of attaching a coupe's roof to a spyder.

 

[black9d1tsiawd]

probally not, taht would cost even more

 

[Sinner]

Originally posted by black9d1tsiawd
u wanna kno why? Because 99.9% of all tools/materials are free at the school. They have more pull n access then like 90% of other schools besides uti.

and fyi that cant be possible, unless he didnt re-paint his roof.

you don't need any major tools other than some cutting tools and a welder to do the basic work hell I could do the same thing in my garage and the materials are not free they over-charge you for everything to make sure that they won't lose money. yes that price was before the paint as I stated.

 

[black9d1tsiawd]

ask andre how much it cost... ;-) ask mitsu turbo how much its costed.

;-) k thanks

 

[icuinmyrearview]

ok as a friend of andre's (outside of the tuner forums..he lives about 10 minutes from me) all i can say is that things seems to have been a headache from day one. he did the targa top himself around the start of last fall, and about 2 weeks ago, he just changed the roll cage again! i think he's finally got the right setup this time, andre's mini-supra looks pretty insane(actually has the whp to back up the supra look) but i wouldnt recommenc attempting this on your own unless you know what you're getting yourself into..it's very very involved and takes alot of time (managered to hear"sorry guys, can't come out, still workin on the roof" more than a few times from dre. not to mention all of the time he spent in reducing weight was all for not once the roof was done..seeing he just added almost the same amount of lbs in piping to reinforce the chassis..what i can say is thing...he probably paid about 80-90% less than what it would cost to have a shop do it (ahh the advantages of owning a mig welder in ur garage)...good luck to the few of u with 36" balls ready to cut off ur roof

 

[top_end95]

what kind of roll cage does he have???

 

[icuinmyrearview]

he has a custom...or as he would refer to it "drespec" roll cage, i know that his first attempt at the cage was usuing hollow aluminum polls(similar to fencing ones) i know he recently changed to a sturdier type of pipe, and it seems to be holding pretty well, he also has reinforced the chassis with connectors just about anyhere u can put them, as well as some chassis tube foam in select locations

 

[MitsuReaper]

.....

 

[top_end95]

does anyone know how a shop would charge to do the targa tops on our cars??

 

[ProJectEclipse]

yea i know a shop that could do t targa top for ur car, its called FinishLine in New jersey they did my Targa Top and Supra taillights too. visit www.bmtranny.com talk 2 them they'll hook you up cuz my car is there and its done doing the targa top on it, couple thousand dollars though

here check out my ride...Main gallery 1st car

http://www.dsmtuners.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=9471