[maxsideburn]

Well my first post on these forums. I'm part of several automotive forums that are dedicated to the type of cars I own, but I felt that I should join some place that was a little more about cars in general.

Anyway, first post, something crazy. First off, yes I know that generally sawing the roof off of a unibody car is bad, bad, bad. But let's just say for a moment that I really, really want a convertible (or t-top/targa), but can't afford one. I do; however, have a 1990 Honda Accord coupe sitting in my yard that I think would look interesting topless.

1.) Well obviously just sawing off the roof is not an option. From what I understand it would make the car's structural integrity comparable to a cup of Jello. But what if the doors were welded shut? Would that make ANY difference, of would the whole "sawing off the roof" thing just be totally unfeasable?

2.) T-bar style. Let's say I removed the metal frame around my windows, cut most of the roof out, t-top style, then had some metal welded down the middle under the headliner (because I know that thin metal won't do anything to hold anything up by itself)

3.) Targa style. Now let's say I remove everything from the windshield to the back of the doors, that would leave me with something that resembled a targa top. Now I know this would leave the car nearly as wobbly as the "saw off the roof" method, but it should still help with stability just a little bit since the rear part of it is still intact. However; I know that the biggest structural problem would be the car wanting to "fold" in half. So what if I were to have some little 1" diameter metal rods or something welded in to cross the gap, you know one above each door, like a support. It wouldn't be totally open top, but should help a lot with structural issues.

4.) Huge motherforking sunroof. Now, seeing as how most things will negatively affect the integrity of the car I came up with one final solution. What if, instead of hacking away at any pillar or supports I just took a sawzall to the middle of the roof, you know, the part that's just sheet metal. In essence I'd be removing all of the thin roof metal, but leaving everything else. This wouldn't be nearly as fun as a convertible/targa/t-top, but it would definately open up the roof without doing much to harm structural strength. This option would also be the easiest to fabricate a top for. I could simply make a canvas rectangle the size of my roof, possibly with some sewn-in ribs with plastic or metal supports for strength at high speed. I could then attach the whole thing to the top of the car with either button-snaps or industrial velcro.

Well those are my ideas, and yes I'm determined to have an open-top car by this summer, lol, one way or another. I've got the Eagle Talon TSi AWD that I'm spending money on, so no money to waste on a real convertible, unless I could trade the Accord for one, which is unlikely.

So any insight would be helpful. Also if anyone here has actually done a roof chop before I'd like to know how your experience with it was.