Was wondering if I cut the top off of a Hardtop 88, would there be any structural/body integrity issues to worry about? or would i need to add in frame/body supports..? if wondering why I would want to cut top off... well, I had a tree fall on the car recently and crush the roof in and some other minor damage. since it is probably beyond my body repair expertise and budget on this car.. thought it might be cool as a convertible or 'open top' car... more towards 'open top' since then I would only have to due minimal body work at back deck area.... what do ya think? { i'd send pics of damage, but still having a little trouble getting pics up... files too big or something still..}..

 

Evil trees, you know more people are killed in the rain forests by trees or limbs falling on them than any wild beasts, wars or diseases?

Try it and see what happens, nothing to lose at this point.
Most convertibles have boxed frames and still twist like crazy. You don't need doors with a 'vert so weld them shut and it should be okay.

I did a few like that back in high school and there were some sagging problems, especially on the spare doors. You are probably correct about frame and body bracing, before any cutting. There are a few top notch fabrication guys on here that could answer that question, not I said the cow.

We called them hootenanny cars back in the day.

 

Convertibles used a different frame that was reinforced to make up for the lost stiffness. Your open section C-channel frame is not designed to be structurally adequate with the roof off. In particular, torsional stiffness will be a problem, resulting in doors that don't close properly.

 

My coworker lost his brother last year due a dead tree falling on him...
They were both casually canoeing down a river along the shoreline up in one of the northern states on vacation.
I am not joking this time, it was a really freak accident.

 

While by no means in the same category as your co-worker's loss, there was a pristine 56 Chevy for sale at Carlisle last year. The car had something like 20K or 30K miles on it and was completely original. The car had been stored in a garage. A massive tree fell on the garage, destroying it and flattening the roof of the Chevy. Even the frame had been bent.

 

Yeah, aside from my '58 being damaged, a biker buddy of mine lost his house [2 story with Bsmnt] to a large tree... landed on the ridge and flattened all the way down to foundation, actually cracked the foundation beyond possible repair... funny thing he had his H-D parked in Bsmnt ... house destroyed, TV and other personal property gone, and one of his cars damaged parked in driveway, H_D made it out with a small ding in the gas tank from a 'twig'/small branch... he said when the tree was cut away and debris was being cleared, there sat his bike.... He was extremely happy about That ...
and one off my neighbors had a large tree fall on his Brand new F550 SD {used to tow 5-6 cars on a trailer...}, he only had it a Month... it looked like a horseshoe [front end touching back bumper....really]
so considering other people's misfortunes with falling trees, I didn't quite feel so bad about mine.

... well I guess I'll have to do some researching on strengthening the frame/body properly before I decide to cut the top off --- the other option I was thinking of going with --which is probably crazy -- is to cut the top off, remove the trunk area add a bed, and turn it into a 'truck' -- I go the idea from Hemming's CC. I guy had turned a large '50ish Buick sedan into a truck {... like Ranchero style} and used it to haul parts from salvage yard etc,.. for his other project cars..anyway it looked cool in the Mag.. - it is only a thought at the moment.