87 vert

#1

Hi, all. As a newby, I have come into possession of an 87 i convertable. I know, I know, it is not ideal but I have it.

I have reviewed the spec rules but need advice on how to handle the vert issue. Do I run it with the top up (roll cage below) or remove the top (aero issues) or what? I thought about welding a top on but don’t know about that either.

Constructive advice needed on how to proceed as I want to get the car built and on the track.

Thanks.

#2

Someone correct me, but I thought convertibles aren’t legal…

#3

Verts are legal. There are hard tops available(good luck). As long as the cage meets the requirements, have at it

#4

I looked at doing a vert before I bought my coupe. The coupe is more aerodynamic than a vert so will have a higher top speed. If you get upside down in a vert the top up could keep a lot of crap out of the car as you’re dragging across the ground, or parts of the top could snap and spear you.

Personally, I would sell the vert and buy a coupe or sedan.
cheers,
bruce

#5

leggwork wrote:

[quote]I looked at doing a vert before I bought my coupe. The coupe is more aerodynamic than a vert so will have a higher top speed. If you get upside down in a vert the top up could keep a lot of crap out of the car as you’re dragging across the ground, or parts of the top could snap and spear you.

Personally, I would sell the vert and buy a coupe or sedan.
cheers,
bruce[/quote]All verts run top down for safety reasons.

#6

How do I go about trying to find a top for the vert?

I seem to be a lucky guy.:slight_smile:

#7

craigslist, ebay, e30tech.com…Google hits:
http://www.google.com/search?q=E30+%2B+hardtop&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

#8

Thanks for the link. I will go to work on trying to find a top for the car as I think that is the best of several poor options to get the car ready to race.

I assume that I can then remove everything associated with the soft top from the car. Would that be correct and legal?

Thanks much.

#9

Rumor has it… Rev. Al is going to build one.

You may want to contact him and pick his brain (if you dare).

#10

Jim, I’m not aware of any other convertibles in SpecE30 to refer to.

If you haven’t downloaded and thoroughly reviewed the SpecE30 rules, you’ll want to before you make any decisions.

I gave them a quick scan, and all I saw was that 'verts are eligible vehicles. However, and those of us who’ve been drinking the Kool-Aid for too long all know this: "If the rules don’t say you can do it, then you can’t do it".

I can’t imagine why this principle doesn’t apply to soft tops.

Bottom line is you don’t want to assume anything, because that will only cost you time and money in the end.

#11

I am building one now…I have a factory hardtop sourced from Germany, still deciding on M42 or M20 powerplant. I have to really look at the cage rules…I am going to drive the car on the street, just like my spec e30 sedan…

Al

#12

Hows the weight of the hardtop Al?

You do lose stiffness not having a roof welded on too. :frowning:

#13

Glad to see someone else is going to do this as well. Since this seems to be an unusual issue, is it possible to get a rules ruling on removing the soft top and associated parts? It would seem that adding the hard top would "replace" the soft top so it would be OK to remove it as one doesn’t need both of them.

Of course, logic is not always required here. :slight_smile:

Cheers.

Jim

#14

on the left hand strip, click Contact Us, Series Administration, Carter Hunt … he doesn’t always see all the posts.
cheers,
bruce

Jim wrote:

[quote]Glad to see someone else is going to do this as well. Since this seems to be an unusual issue, is it possible to get a rules ruling on removing the soft top and associated parts? It would seem that adding the hard top would "replace" the soft top so it would be OK to remove it as one doesn’t need both of them.

Of course, logic is not always required here. :slight_smile:

Cheers.

Jim[/quote]

#15

Thanks. I will do that.

Jim

#16

nasaregistrar wrote:

[quote]leggwork wrote:

[quote]I looked at doing a vert before I bought my coupe. The coupe is more aerodynamic than a vert so will have a higher top speed. If you get upside down in a vert the top up could keep a lot of crap out of the car as you’re dragging across the ground, or parts of the top could snap and spear you.

Personally, I would sell the vert and buy a coupe or sedan.
cheers,
bruce[/quote]All verts run top down for safety reasons.[/quote]

Sean:

If the top must be down, per NASA, does NASA allow a hard top? I know that the hard top is required in Spec Miata but is that a class thing? The Factory 5 Cobras don’t have a top…

We will make an official ruling on this but we want to make sure we’re not doing anything that doesn’t comply with NASA.

Carter

#17

I will ask Grumpy this weekend. SM has added hard tops as do some of the other cars. I do not see why it would be an issue. Those things are probably very expensive and IF I had a ragtop, I would spend the money on a nice cage, OR if the car is in good shape, sell it in favor of a tin top

#18

Let’s all (Grumpy, Chris, you, and me) discuss it this weekend at VIR.

Thanks,

Carter

#19

Carter wrote:

[quote]Let’s all (Grumpy, Chris, you, and me) discuss it this weekend at VIR.

Thanks,

Carter[/quote] Sounds good

#20

We discussed it this past weekend and the NASA folks are ok with either the hard top or going topless. You might have (or want)to wear arm restraints but that’s a safety issue that is controlled by NASA.

We’ll discuss the removal of the softop and its hardware and will update the rules if needed. Until then, unless it is specifically mentioned in the rules, it must be left as it came from the factory.

Carter