Convertible Alero

does anyone know anyone who has tried to cut the top off of an alero. I have a 99 two door and am planning to do it but I want more information before I just start cutting. Overall I know what I am doing I just want info from someone who has cut into an alero so I know specifically what structural changes are going to be neccesary and what will just be wasting my time. any info or links will help


everyone talks about my dringing problem, but no one ever mentions my thirst.

[Vtolds]

Cutting the roof of with a saw will work but you should brace it up some so the car doesn't fold in half which has a small possibility of doing. What I would do is go and find someone who has done it on any car and find out from them about changing a coupe into a convertable. plus make sure you can get a top that will fit before you cut.

[smokinAMD]

Slight problem with that, our unibody cars get a lot of structural strength from the roof. I'm sure bdyman could fill you in more on that.

[sound_xtreme]

yea, if you actually do this it will ruin the car it end up very f***ed up since it is a unibody and all. if you built a tube frame good enough it could be possible

[AGT]

Are you going to chop the back pillars to the trunk?

I would think that if you wanted to cut your top, the best thing to do would be to reinforce the bottom of the car, which is what i think they did with the cavs and suns, though they aren't as heavy as the Als. But after you cut it, you gotta find the right top. And since the structural balance has been disturbed, i'd be scared to drive the thing over 45 mphs.

[AGT]

Good point Sport...The integrity of the entire vehicle is in jeopardy when you do a larger body alteration like that.

Not to be a downer, Goodles, because uniqueness makes for the best show cars. But the hassle of getting all that done or having your heart fall into your stomach everytime you hit a bump in the road out of fear that the car is gonna fall in on itself...............if it's gonna be a show car ONLY and you got the bux, go for it. But it's definitely not for your daily driver.

...........i don't think I am just going to start cutting.......... or use any duct tape. I had a couple of ideas for keeping the structural integrety of the roof. ON saleen mustand convertibles there is a semi roll bar giving extra strength to the frame, this is similar to the new gto convertible coming out in 06. I am trying to find the exact frame structure of the alero so that I can make the necessary adjustments. a complete tube frame is out, but I may build a frame to fit with the existing so that I do not lose any of the original rigididy. as far as the top goes, I plan on completly fabing a cloth top. Using the window rails as patterns ( and maybe even incorperating them into the top.). It is not a hard process, just time consuming. ..... i don't plan on this being strictly a show car. I want to drive it. show cars are for pusseys. if your not going to drive it. you shoulda bought a damn couch. so the job will be done right. I will post pics ( at least of drawings till I grow enough balls and save enough money to start cutting).....with all of my progress.

[mike2002]

are you serious? id do T-tops before a convertable, that would be bad-ass i think, on a razzi coupe.

if you really want a convertable, pay a business to do it. there's a company out there, carriage tops, or somthing like that....i remember them because they did a few cadillac eldorado's (92-2002 style) and they charged like $15,000 to do it, but they're hot cars....you need a few engineers to pull somthing like that off

I think this pic speaks for itself....and yes, OBVIOUSLY, it is possible lol.

I really didnt read any posts before this except the first 1 or 2, but I noticed that no1 posted any pics so here ya go! :thumbsup:

looks like a damn mustang if you ask me.......

That photo used to be on alero.org, but i couldn't find.

That's a CONCEPT car, not money out of someone's pocket. Numerous engineers and designers put that creation together, with an unlimited expense account. So yeah it's possible, but it'll be far from easy or cheap.