The 1st gen Viper has no top, so side windows and no rear window. I'm thinking of doing setting my z51 up like that.

I've seen some conversions to targa top which show the front window moldings required for a finished look.

I'm not sure how to get a finished look on the hoop without splicing in a coupe panel...I'm wondering if there is an easier solution if not attaching a targa top.

What challenges would you forsee removing the rear widow....any recommendations on how to fill the gap?

 

What would be the function of this???

Gen-1 Vipers were widely criticized for that same reason, and also demand around 10K less in price for it. If you are going for lightweight, it will only do you justice up to about 80mph before the truckish coefficient of drag caused by removing all the glass actually slows you down.

Believe it or not, the COD of the coupe is so much lower than the FRC, that it can actually achieve higher speeds (all gearing being equal), even with 50 less hp. The shape of the FRC top causes a turbulence zone behind the cab. The shape of your hatch glass on a coupe makes the car more "slippery" in the air stream. If you remove it, not only will you have the worst buffeting you have ever experienced, but it will also cause a violent turbulence zone at freeway speeds. Say goodbye to ever keeping any reciepts, sunscreens, paperwork, rags, or women in your car.

It's your money, and your car, but you will lose performance, and degrade the value of the vehicle as well. If you are looking for lighter options, lexan, and polycarbonate windows are availa le from sources like 5starcarbodies, or exoticmuscle.

 

business case:
I want a convertible because they are more fun to drive in nice weather. With a hard top, and surrounded by glass, it is less fun to drive. More fun > less fun.

cost:
my c5's resale value is already nothing. 80% of Nothing still equals nothing. I don't plan on selling it (partially because it is already worthless), so resale value isn't really a factor. Buying an actual convertible (which has significantly higher resale value) and swapping over all the performance parts would be costly in terms of both time and money...and it would have no hoop for safety. Removing parts from my existing c5 would be relatively inexpensive.

performance:
if you are correct in saying that performance degrades > 80 mph, that is fine with me. I rarely drive that fast. I'm not into drag racing or road racing and don't want to get speeding tickets.

road noise:
this I am concerned about....not the wind itself but the possibility a resonant frequency. Do actual convertibles have a resonant frequency issue? Has anyone tried removing the rear window of a c5 to see if it creates a resonant frequency? If the trunk causes a resonant frequency, it could be closed off.

women:
my female companion already hates the c5 because she gets scared....so I'm not concerned about it.

Other conerns:
washing the car would be a pain

 

Everything has a resonant frequency. However, design greatly effects the severity, intensity, and timing of the effect. Asking your coupe to perform in a similar manner as the convertible, is an exercise in futility. It was not designed for this use, so it will greatly magnify any inherit design flaws, as soon as you begin removing majorly improtant aero parts, like the hatch glass. It's like asking your Suburban to get 40mpg...it just isn't designed for it.

Your roll hoop on a coupe is going to act like an air foil, only backwards. What is going to happen, is the air from the top is going to hit the flat fwd end of the hoop, and have nowhere to go. Where it will mainly go is down, and straight back. When combined with the high velocity air that made it over the hoop, which is now being fed back into the car behind you under low pressure (caused by an abrupt drop off, with no smooth surface for the air to slide off towards the back), right about ear level is where the two wind fronts will collide, causing an ungodly level of buffeting, and right on the ear.

The drop off behind the passenger compartment in a Z06 (being more severe than a coupe) causes a low pressure zone where the air just whips around, because it has no transition surface to slide nicely over. What it does, is hit the back deck, and stop, causing a low pressure zone.This low pressure zone causes drag. Now, take out that glass, give it a sharp stopping point, and a cavity (space inbetween the hoop in the car) to boot, and now you have wind hitting you from behind. Remove the targa top from this equation, and the air goes all f#%& up all around you, which is going to drive you nuts I'm assuming.

I'm no dummy, I deal with aerodynamics daily working for Boeing, have 3 degrees, 2 of which are in hard sciences. I have also built several race cars, have made my own aero parts for all of them, and my father (whom I work closely with) is also an engineer working at the same place, so I know a thing or 2

I guarantee this modification will turn your car into a surface streets only vehicle.

 

Buy a miata. ��

 

Haters gonna hate.

https://www.corvetteupgrade.com/prod...ch-conversion/

I liked the look on the C4, and I think I would like to look on the C5. Personally, I think the C5 styling most closely resembles the C3 styling, which had a speedster rear (no hatch).

But, of course, there are those that will give you every reason that this is stupid, and then put chrome Corvette letters in the bumper, and Z06 emblems on a coupe, or 20" wheels and claim they make the car faster. If performance was the only concern, we would drive Aerial Atoms.

 

Ya see, the nice thing about physics, is that it's fact, regardless of what you believe. If I was thinking about doing something to my car that's a major undertaking, I would appreciate someone explaining the science to me. Just trying to help a fellow enthusiast here.

 

Interesting. Looks like you would still have the halo though killing the look

 

You see, the problem is not that you are wrong, you just do not posses the ability to listen.

OP said thier car is a cruiser. I said, I like the look.

Let's, for argument sake talk about your plastidip. Extra weight.
Your wheels, increase the moment of inertia.
Your marker design, extra weight, hell can you finish it before it fades?

You are making arguments as if OP wanted a dedicated racecar. OP, does in FACT not. OP wants the open air feel of a convertible, but wants to retain the halo, and does not care considerably about performance, because he feels he has enough.

You see, I have a degree in mechanical engineering. I am a patent holder, multiple times. I, unlike you, have the distinct ability to listen to what the customer wants and determine a solution without taking a giant on the voice of the customer.

Erik, you seem to have forgotten back when so many people were poo pooing your marker art car idea. Are you just taking an opportunity to get a dig in?

 

Look dude, I was not trying to call you out. Ok, maybe I was bein' kind of a ***** with my wording, I am sorry, but don't dish it out if you can't take it; your comment was clearly an attempt at me in the first place. Plus, I believe I do possess the quality to listen. Case in point, AFTER I went through the effort to explain in detail, something I happen to know a lot about (I have a person in my family that has a gen 1 Viper, and it happens to be my dream car), I responded to his second post (which only then did we know more specifics about the application) in which he expressed concern about the wind issue...and my response rendered both an answer to the question, and the reasoning for it. Which ALSO happend to be something I know a lot about.

There is nothing worse then doing a mod to your pride and joy, that you end up regretting (like lowering all the way on aftermarket lowering bolts, without modifying the stock shocks). If I can help a dude out before he does something that I know scientifically will make him regret it, based on supplied criteria, then I'm gonna give him the best tools I can to make an informed decision. That is not a dick move in my book.

More science for you as a side note. Forged, one piece monoblocks are the lightest type of wheels, and I lost 7lbs of rotating mass on the back axle alone going with those wheels. The general consensus is that every 1 lbs of rotational weight you remove, is the equivalent of losing anywhere from 5-10 lbs of static weight. Somewhere along the line you can calculate that 120-150 lbs of static weight will be identical in performance to 15-20 BHP gain. When I paint a whole car in plasti dip, and then peel it, 3 gallons of liquid turns into 1.6lbs of product.

So yes, you are technically right, it does add weight. But in reality, it is purely aggregate it is so infentesimal. Let's just assume the front wheels lost just as much weight, so 14lbs in rotating mass. 14lbs rotating mass will be worth 70lbs AT MINIMUM of static mass, and could even be 100lbs static mass, or possibly as much as 140lbs!...the plasti dip weighs a few grams. So really, who is being petty...

So why don't we just drop it? We are not here to pick fights. If you feel the desire, the offtopic/politics section is the place for you. They are easier to put in their place there, they don't have many facts.

 

I thought about that....well maybe not a miata as much as an mr2 spyder. Problem is...owning powerful cars has ruined whimpy cars for me. i know miata's and mr2's are "fast momentum" cars...and lots of people say they are fun, but it just doesn't do much for me.

I don't like the styling of miata's. I looked into what it would take to make an mr2 spyder powerful and it wasn't cheap. Apparently the stock rotating assembly in a 1zzfe engine isn't durable, they don't come stock with an lsd and performance parts are expensive.

 

Interesting...made for a coupe instead of a z06/z51 but still interesting. Know anybody with this kit? I'd like to hear feedback on road noise.

 

lets say I left the rear window in...I'm still not sure how to trim out the hoop (halo as you guys call it) without splicing in part of the panel of a coupe. Has anybody done this before? Any ideas how it could be done?

 

The Pontiac Solstice has classically elegant lines, is made in America, and the GXP model can be upgraded to make 300bhp with little more than a GMPP canned tune, and a full exhaust. Now you've got the good gas mileage, cheap insurance rates, same manufacturer, a similar power to weight ratio, and the ability to blow the doors off Miatas, just like the C5

I always loved the design of the 90's turbo MR2's. They had one as a lot vehicle in my high school, and it was my first access to one. They are pretty snappy too.

 

Shoot, I have seen a guy in WA that has a coupe targa top, spliced into an FRC top section. If I see him around I will ask him about his conversion. It was OEM quality in appearance, so it has been done. His setup also completely hinges up, the whole top, it is trick. I'm pretty sure all the top bits are interchangable from where they mount to the tub, from coupe, to frc, to vert.

 

I mean they kinda already made these cars as a convertible. If you worded your argument of simply adding a hoop onto a convertible car, you'd probably get less crap. I've actually seen convertibles that did a molded in FRC roof, that allowed a solid roof panel to be installed. If you did the 'same' and knocked out the rear window and filled it back on the inside so that it really did mimic a Viper; aside from some extra wind buffeting, drag will be minimal over a convertible; especially without a window in place.

Air doesn't just drop as soon as a hole is introduced, otherwise my car would be like driving a giant scoop with the targa roof off. YES, it does have an effect that I've noticed at speed, but it's negligible to the normal user ~ .2ths or so, much like having your windows down at the strip.

If you DID take the route described, you could still use a roof and the only challenge would be to create a removable flat rear window. Allowing total normal use of the car.

 

 

If your resale value on your c5 is NOTHING. (Your words) This car must be a pile of crap. Nothing to me means zero, nada, nothing, o. Is it drivable? If it is, how can it be worth nothing?(Again, your words) I'm willing to bet somebody would give you one dollar for it. A one hundred percent profit and then you could buy a real roadster.

 

If I did something similar to this:
http://www.geocities.ws/cizekma/Z06Vert.html
Without the soft top and left the structual part of the halo in place, I wonder if road noise would be terrible. If I could find the trim parts off a salvaged convertible already painted the same color, it would be low cost.

here is the targa top diy:
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c5-general/3416643-frc-z06-targa-conversion-diy-how-to-3.html
I'm assuming having a body shop splice and paint would be pretty expensive.

3rd option...I can buy an actual convertible...maybe with high mileage and with an automatic trasmission for $12k. Then drop the chassis out the bottom and swap with my z51. Then I could sell the z51 as a high mileage auto for $10k. This sounds daunting without a lift and costly to have someone else do it. Also, I don't like the idea of no roll protection, so I'd have to do something about that.

4th option...I can buy an actual convertible with low miles and a manual transmission for $18k. Pin the crank and start swapping components: supercharger, ic, clutch, lt headers, sway bars, end links, springs, shocks, wheels, etc. And then pay $500 to get it tuned. Then I sell my z51 for $11k. This seems like it would be very labor intensive and the car cost delta is relatively high. Again, I'd want to add some sort of roll protection.

 

I'm curious. If you are not looking for a race car or a street racer and you rarely go over 80 mph, why would you bother swapping out any of those components? Just sell the Z51 for what you can get for it and buy the vert and start driving.