I had questions regarding the possibility, practicality, and potential of modifying a hardtop TT to create a targa. I know some cars are designed in a way that the hardtop is actually necessary for stability in the frame, so turning one such car into a targa would make it much more dangerous to drive, and weaker in the event of a crash. My questions are:

1) Given the curvicature of the TT, is it even possible to remove a portion of the hardtop in such a manner?

2) Is it a practical modification? Will the stability of the vehicle be affected? Will the hardtop, when reattached for enclosed driving, be secure enough to not fly off if I have the windows open? etc, etc.

3) What is the potential of this modification? What would it look like? Would it look like rubbish, or would it be nice?

I ask because I'm a hair under 6'1" tall, so I don't get much of a view of the sky from the TT, what with the smallish windows and all. In my previous car (2001 Honda Prelude), there was a nice sunroof that I could open up to feel the air and get some sun, which I enjoyed. I was disappointed that the TT didn't have one, but I could also see why it would have been difficult to provide one. I'd like to feel the air and the sun again, if possible, and this seems like the most practical way to do it.

Thanks!

 

It's been done. IMNHO it's not such a good thing to do. Go for a professionally installed sunroof if you feel the need.

 

I second that. Looks neat, but youre removing structural rigidity. Roadsters are beefed up thru the remaining body, removing the roof from a coupe w/o beefing up the rest is bad news.

 

Hm. Yeah, I thought that might be an issue. I didn't know for sure, but I felt pretty confident in assuming the roadster had more structural modifications to increase stability and strength. And about the sunroof, how difficult would installing a sunroof be on the TT because of the curve of the top? Has a sunroof been done on a MKI before?

 

You should just get one of these.
http://www.seriouswheels.com/pics-20...-1920x1440.jpg

 

I should get one too, who's paying?

 

The SFC Newport 18x28 will work.

 

ok, for those who don't know, the strucure of the roof is cosmetic at best, second, its very doable, i did it on a dyi. there arethree very important things to remember when doing this, the front seal is the most important by all means to prevent lift, and second, you need to attach the rear down with quick release pins. third is that the biggest head ache will the inside trim. go to a good body shop and tell them what you want i and it should be around 1500 ish for them to do it. also wind noise isn't bad at all at highay speeds., oh, the roof pannel fits nice side ways with the seats down. its easy to take off, but more of a bare to put on, about a minuet from the outside. i could take it off under 20 seconds, which was better the my friends honda de sol "sp"? also get a quote from audi on the replacment cost for the roof pannel and the headlinner, the roof pannel was around 500 ish from memory.http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2052/...c2383f.jpg?v=0

 

I was waiting for you to comment on this thread, probably could have even posted for you, that's pretty much what I expected. (not an attack, just a prediction I was right about)

Without an actual engineers write off on the the condition of the structure (hey, I believe XCLR8TT is an engineer), I'm gonna stick with my original thoughts on it. I still believe it plays more of a role than you think. Maybe not noticable in the short term, but you don't know what effect in the long run.

I've said this before, it looks cool, and definately gutsy to take a saw to the car like that, but I'll pass on that mod.

 

I think the sunroof isn't a bad idea...schwing's looked pretty good:
http://public.fotki.com/ttschwing/su...nroof_install/