cutting a hardtop..

[ferals_m38]

Hi, ive recently acquired a '85 Nt hardtop to convert to a lightweight farm buggy, basically a Big 3 seater 4x4 quad..

part of the job requires removing the entire roof and upper body to about the same height as a soft tops tub (got the hard top for a price that i couldn't replace it with a soft top for) and id like to know if there is anything in the pillars i should look out for while cutting, like fuel tank breathers ect?

i did consider swapping out the hardtop body for a soft top tub, but i haven't been able to find one that will cost me less then what i payed for the entire suzi..

any advice or suggestions would be great!

[greg]

allow me to be the first to say:

"keep looking for a soft top tub"

if it's for a farm rig, you'll probably end up with one (less windscreen, doors etc) for approx the cost of a slab.

that said, there are no wires or hoses to look for when cutting in the b pillar area other than the seatbelts, and perhaps the interior light wiring.

The windscreen will be a nightmare to sort out.

[86slowsierra]

allow me to be the first to say:

"keep looking for a soft top tub"

if it's for a farm rig, you'll probably end up with one (less windscreen, doors etc) for approx the cost of a slab.

that said, there are no wires or hoses to look for when cutting in the b pillar area other than the seatbelts, and perhaps the interior light wiring.

The windscreen will be a nightmare to sort out.

x 2

do you even need a windscreen? if you are handy with a mig then go for it. just cut and fill in the holes, its a farm buggy after all.

[ferals_m38]

thanks to the replies so far...

ive just put an ad in the forum wanted section and ill give it a week or so before i take up the grinder on the poor old thing..never know..someone may have one laying about that they don't need!

otherwise ill have to start posting ads in the bits for sale for everything from windows to washer bottle!

[joeblow]

Hi, ive recently acquired a '85 Nt hardtop to convert to a lightweight farm buggy, basically a Big 3 seater 4x4 quad..

part of the job requires removing the entire roof and upper body to about the same height as a soft tops tub (got the hard top for a price that i couldn't replace it with a soft top for) and id like to know if there is anything in the pillars i should look out for while cutting, like fuel tank breathers ect?

i did consider swapping out the hardtop body for a soft top tub, but i haven't been able to find one that will cost me less then what i payed for the entire suzi..

any advice or suggestions would be great!

nooooooooooooooooooo.............

[jimbo jones]

Hi, ive recently acquired a '85 Nt hardtop to convert to a lightweight farm buggy, basically a Big 3 seater 4x4 quad..

part of the job requires removing the entire roof and upper body to about the same height as a soft tops tub (got the hard top for a price that i couldn't replace it with a soft top for) and id like to know if there is anything in the pillars i should look out for while cutting, like fuel tank breathers ect?

i did consider swapping out the hardtop body for a soft top tub, but i haven't been able to find one that will cost me less then what i payed for the entire suzi..

any advice or suggestions would be great!

nooooooooooooooooooo.............

X2 another hard top die's

[Gwagensteve]

[ferals_m38]

don't feel sad...

this Suzi will still be maintained and looked after, it will be trailered too and from the farm on a nice comfy trailer about 8 times a year, without the indignity of living outside for the rest of its life, it will live in my garage safely away from the elements and only really cover about 500km a year..

i don't look at it as "murdering" a tin top...i see it as giving a otherwise derelict Suzy a new lease on life, new paint, and a life away from the salt air that was starting to give it sheet metal cancer!

better then being sent to SimsMetal, that was the poor little things alternative fate according to the former owner!

[A1]

Geez yas aint gunna like what I have so far done to my new TT ........................


cut it up .....

[crackatinny]

is that the cheap 1 from ebay?

[Ausi fj]

I have just started today to do the same with a sj40 1lt. I am cutting of everything above the floor pan and building a roll cage. This will be an off road buggy for my kids. love to see photo's of yours once it is finished.

[Gwagensteve]

i don't look at it as "murdering" a tin top...i see it as giving a otherwise derelict Suzy a new lease on life, new paint, and a life away from the salt air that was starting to give it sheet metal cancer!
!

No, you're turning a suzuki that could have a new lease of life into a derelict. Hard top tubs have NO STRENGTH in them once the roof comes off. You'll end up with a loose, rattly, unregisterable mess and within 12 months it will be at simsmetal anyway, or rottong in a paddock. I've seen it way too many times. 90% of these chops aren't finished.

Steve.

[ferals_m38]

obviously some of you guys feel rather strongly about me taking a grinder to the roof of a suzi...

fair enough too, if i put myself in your shoes..(ive owned early model Holden's amongst other makes since the late '80s...seen many a restorable car scraped out..because it was conveiniant).

i will assure you, the shell is rusted, the roof gutters, in places are just chicken wire and bog, as are the bottom corners of the "A" pillars, the only way this little tin top is going to see the road again is with a large cash injection or a new body shell...

I got this vehicle to fill a purpose, it had to be small enough to be transported on a 5x9 trailer and strong enough to get myself and a passenger or two about properties over some reasonably rugged terrain, with minimum fuss and maximum reliability (and parts availability), with enough equipment to have a comfortable stay and get some hunting done..im not some young fella that doesn't know what hes doing in the workshop either and i want a well finished product at the end of my efforts...i do not half do things and if a project is not worth doing properly, its not worth doing at all.

as i mentioned in a post above, im quite happy to swap all the hard top bits i have for a usable ( not perfect) soft top tub...

im on a deadline, so the cutting starts next Friday...maybe someone needs doors and other bits more then the shell!

[Ausi fj]

obviously some of you guys feel rather strongly about me taking a grinder to the roof of a suzi...

fair enough too, if i put myself in your shoes..(ive owned early model Holden's amongst other makes since the late '80s...seen many a restorable car scraped out..because it was conveiniant).

i will assure you, the shell is rusted, the roof gutters, in places are just chicken wire and bog, as are the bottom corners of the "A" pillars, the only way this little tin top is going to see the road again is with a large cash injection or a new body shell...

I got this vehicle to fill a purpose, it had to be small enough to be transported on a 5x9 trailer and strong enough to get myself and a passenger or two about properties over some reasonably rugged terrain, with minimum fuss and maximum reliability (and parts availability), with enough equipment to have a comfortable stay and get some hunting done..im not some young fella that doesn't know what hes doing in the workshop either and i want a well finished product at the end of my efforts...i do not half do things and if a project is not worth doing properly, its not worth doing at all.

as i mentioned in a post above, im quite happy to swap all the hard top bits i have for a usable ( not perfect) soft top tub...

im on a deadline, so the cutting starts next Friday...maybe someone needs doors and other bits more then the shell!

Your project sierra sounds exactly like the one I am currently cutting up. If it is full of rust , why not. It will make a good buggy. that is why I am using the sierra.

[grimbo]

as mentioned earlier the one big massive problem you will have is once you cut the top off the body will be a floppy piece of crap that will basically fold in on itself. You will have make sure you brace the heck out of it before you cut. If you build an internal frame work that cross braces from the b pilars and forms a square back to the tail gate which attaches to the body work then you might be ok. The windscreen will be a bitch to sort out unless you just run a full cage and mount say a poly carb screen directly to it.

There is no sacrilege in cutting up a hard top but to make it usable and safe it will take a bit more than just getting out a grinder and cutting bits off

[Pyrotech]

Hard top tubs have NO STRENGTH in them once the roof comes off.
Steve.

you shouldnt have this issue, should u Dan??

[ferals_m38]

well....

ive agonized over what i am going to do with the hard top Suzi, and after removing some of the interior trim and seeing clean daylight through the seams of the inner guards (hidden from external view by the rubber flares), on top of the other dodgy rust repairs visible to blind johnny on the outside of the shell and seeing how little thin metal is there for me to cut, and then reinforce i know how im going to attack this project..

im sure a few more road going sierra's will benefit from the parts that im removing from this one (keep an eye in the for sale section!) and once i get started on the real work, ill start posting some pics...

its going to be light but strong...ill keep ya'll updated as it progresses!

[Guy]

Buy a few tubes of sikaflex auto stuff (metal glue) Great stuff to bond those floppy panels to something tougher and stop em rattling.

Post pics.