What would be the legalities of say converting a Sedan into a convertable?

It is something I have been thinking about doing for a while now and I would like to be able to drive the thing on the road...

Thanks, Evan.

contact your states road transport authourity and find out for sure.

Its a major job converting a 4 door to convertable and legals may be the least of yur worries.

Unless you're already in the business of engineering and have mates that can get that sort of things cleared it'd be a huge hassle. Convertibles are a heap heavier than sedans because of the extra bracing required in lieu of the roof. Sure it's possible, the s13 "skyvia" ute is an example - it's registered in qld and may look okay but it sure wouldn't be elegant.

As usual with conversions you're probably better off just buying a convertible...

Dad's a certifying engineer in NSW. One-off convertables are a huge pain in the **** to get certified, and basically the costs involved aren't worth it by any means. Need to go through torsion tests and the like, basically getting your car and twisting it in a big machine to see how well it stands up to it. So you may well destroy a car or two before getting it right...

Utes, on the other hand, are apparently an entirely different matter. With some good panel-beating skills, turning a wagon into a ute is quite doable, as the engineering side of things is apparently fairly sweet.

Bugga, I was just going to get the angle grinder out and then cap all the tops...

Looks like that idea is never going to get "street legal" status...

i think the best thing that can be said about this sort of thing.

If you dont know whats involved, its already beyond your capablities.

You need diagonal bracing everywhere. And a bar running behind the two front seats would probably be a good idea.

Here was my thread about it, family issues got in the way.
http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34742&highlight=convertible

Convertibles are a heap heavier than sedans because of the extra bracing required in lieu of the roof
I Beg to differ...the weight of the soft top compared with the metal roof....:doubt: As for extra bracing, wouldnt weigh as much as the roof would...

I Beg to differ...the weight of the soft top compared with the metal roof....:doubt: As for extra bracing, wouldnt weigh as much as the roof would...

Chop a roof off a sedan and try and use that amount of metal for the bracing. Convertibles also have heaps of junk like the motors for electric roofs etc. Soft tops will be a lot lighter than a hard top but they're still typically heavier.

http://www.redbookasiapacific.com/au/vehicle/specs.php?key=HOLD02MJ

http://www.redbookasiapacific.com/au/vehicle/specs.php?key=HOLD02LJ

Admittedly the astra convertible has a bigger turbo engine, but that wont account for a full 243kg difference.

I know 300zx's are another example of this, the 2 door 2 seaters come in targa and non targa, the targa being significantly heavier. They're identical cars except for the roofs.

Chop a roof off a sedan and try and use that amount of metal for the bracing. Convertibles also have heaps of junk like the motors for electric roofs etc. Soft tops will be a lot lighter than a hard top but they're still typically heavier
Haha mine is old skool lift it urself lol. Seriously I wonder how light I could make my car if I made it into a permanent hard top...

[QUOTE=RoGuE_StreaK]One-off convertables are a huge pain in the **** to get certified, and basically the costs involved aren't worth it by any means.

It not worth it.I used to work for a place that did VW bugs into softtop.I was the trimmer doing the top and inside the car.It a lot of work,not worth the time and money:nuts: