Corolla Convert!

[SLO-030]

I reckon it looks pretty good, Id own it.

 

not my cuppa tea with the roof up but meh, plenty of sunny days in summer :dance:

 

Props to ya Vic :)

[seabiscuit]

Good to hear it's going back on the road!

 

I think it is a pretty cool little rig. Props for doing it properly!

I'm buying a half-done KE20 convertible... Basically the roof is cut off and a few

panels welded onto the holes that were opened up when it was cut

 

Good luck with it.

[JiP]

Any pics of it now??

 

I'd like to see a 2 door KE30 as a convertible myself. The boot lid is flat. I think it'd be able to take the hardtop doors too.

[Convert]

Thankyou all for your encouragement,

 

I agree that the top up shot of the car looks a bit average. There arn't many soft tops that look good with the top up. The car is meant to be enjoyed top down. The only way to get the right shape is to have a hard top.

 

It took a week of experimenting to finally make a pattern for the bows so that when the roof is down you can still seat 3 adults in the back. As I said before we spent very good money with the best tradesman to ensure a good job. The roof is made from Mercedes Benz material and did not leak a single drop. This time around we need only need to replace the plastic windows, as they have gone yellow with age.

 

When the car had the roof still attached, if you jack up the front right hand wheel till it clears the ground, the passenger door was difficult to open. Now, with the roof off and the chassis installed you can jack up the same point till BOTH front wheels are off the ground and you can open and close the doors as normal.

 

There was a shot in the magazine where the photographer was on the ground and low down. The car looks at its best from this angle in my opinion. I have an enlarged framed shot in my office and I still like it all these years later.

 

I love that it is a sleeper. My wife surprised many young rev heads at the lights when the 'Rotary got busy'.

 

My son and I are looking forward to going for a cruise one day soon. The last time he was in it he was 3 and in the baby seat in the back with his sister.

 

Vic

[drc_ke20]

take a pat at the back VIC!well done on the conversion,its nice to see that you still have this car and for sure its gonna turn heads again like in her young days.i don't think your car deserve a negative feedback`s and mind you when you started with the car what options do you have back then,that time is was a rota, turbocharge 3k or sigma engines available in your hands,like what you said your car surprise young rev heads at the lights and then see ya!time and effort pays off all i can say its one of a kind and its a classic!post new pics of the car once you put her on the road again pls.......!actually your son is driving this car now not you LOL!!cheers Dexter

[philbey]

Awesome! I love the fact that the original owner still has it and is rebuilding it! Top work.

 

As for the KE10 choptop getting around, that only looks shit because of the paintjob.

 

Rather than a soft top, you could build a Carson style removable hardtop?

 

[KE30_KE35_KE55]

Can you please post some pictures of the chassis modifications .

[Convert]

The chassis is completley hidden.

 

I removed the door sills from the rear of the front guard to the front of the rear guard. Inside I laid I think 4 steel rectangular pieces starting with a piece

of 6 x 3 then 4 x 2 etc till I created a half round beam. Everything is stitch welded (mig) to avoid twisting.

 

I had the sill remade out of a piece of 3 mm plate rolled into the correct shape. There is a foot in the inside of the rear guard. A 6 x 4 member is welded to the member inside the sill vertically behind the door striker plate. (I had intended to make a removable roll bar but it came in handy to locate the retractable seat belt reel). From here there is a member welded at right angles across the top of the rear guard and through to the boot where I fitted another member behind the rear seat. This facilitated the need to relocate the fuel tank rearward by about 3 inches.

 

I think the reason the car handles so well is that it has most of the weight is down low and at the outside. Also, the gearbox is the heaviest bit of the drive line (which is toward the middle of the car) and the engine is buried into the cross member.

 

Of course the car had to be inspected by an engineer, and he said that with the increase in tyre width it had a better braking ability than the original specifications.

 

I might still make a removable roll bar, as the scrutineers at a track, won't let us run without one. When I was at Eastern creek they made me keep the top up.

 

I know that the top creates drag as at speed you can see the roof ballooning up.

 

My estimation is that no roof might be worth as much as a second down the quarter. It certainley feels more stable without the roof.

 

Vic