CF Targa W/Aluminum X-Brace**Gauging Interest**

[Jayhall]

I know it has been discussed before, and after a whole lot of talk and no action i decided to take some of my own. I have found a guy who is willing to make the mold, he knows of a few other guys who are willing to make the parts once the mold is made. I told him id get back to him in the new year with some numbers of how many people are intrested. To add my own touch to these, i am having them made with an aluminum X-brace. My idea is simple, X-brace w/ CF roof. Im going to look into a headliner being made for these also.

Im getting the work done by a professonal race shop. This wont be cheap. Im going to try and get the price to it around the $600 mark, but im planning to spend more if needed. Im going to have this done regardless of amount, even if i am only getting these made for myself and 2 others. I want to offer this great part to the community.

Any questions feel free to PM me and ill send you my phone number if you care to speak to me.

Im going to start a list. **THIS LIST DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE COMMITED, JUST YOU ARE INTRESTED AND GRANTED EVERYTHING GOES WELL, WOULD BE WILLING TO SEND A DEPOSIT IN THE NEAR FUTURE**15 people would get the best qualtiy mold avalable. If your intrested i would really appriciate a PM about any questions, or concerns you may have, regarding anything to do with getting these made, and price. Like i said, price right now, is unknown. I have an idea of what i would like to do for price, but i would like to keep that to those who are seriously intrested

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[suprahero]

mildly interested until more details are available.

 

[Mr.PFloyd]

can the xbrace be sold separately? I see it as the targa and x brace as 2 completely different things... Am i way off here?

 

[dugums]

can the xbrace be sold separately? I see it as the targa and x brace as 2 completely different things... Am i way off here?

This could definitely use some clarification.

Are you talking about an aluminum cross brace (i.e. something like a WeezlWing), that can be used to stiffen the car with the targa off + a cf "lid" that would be the roof panel to keep the elements out?

Or just one unit that is a CF top on an Aluminum frame?

 

[IJ.]

Title "fixed"

 

[Mr.PFloyd]

Get these guys to design a cross brace that fits with the targa on, OEM targa or Not, and i will buy one. CF targa is a little too much for my spending next year however.

 

[Jayhall]

Are you talking about an aluminum cross brace (i.e. something like a WeezlWing), that can be used to stiffen the car with the targa off + a cf "lid" that would be the roof panel to keep the elements out?

Basicly yes. The idea is this would replace the OEM roof. I want it to fit as well as a stock targa roof. Good enough to be a OEM targa replacment. Im hoping to have the X-Brace intragrated with the roof, so that the brace and the roof were 1 complete peice.

Get these guys to design a cross brace that fits with the targa on, OEM targa or Not, and i will buy one. CF targa is a little too much for my spending next year however.

One of my next steps in making this happen is to go and disect a targa, and see what exact design we use to make this peice. We may have to replecate the OEM targa exactly. In this case the outer shell will be CF, while any supports inside will be made of a thin fiberglass, which will replecate the steel insides of our OEM targas. In this case i am going to try my best to design an Xbrace that will fit in place. I really want to sell these two items as a 1 peice thing, but if someone wants an X-brace only i will not deny them a brace. I would be more than willing to have just those made for sale. Of course the CF targa replacement will also be avalable.


I hope this has helped, thank you for thr questions. Any more, just ask

 

[dugums]

I am definitely interested - I really wanted to be able to modify my WeezlWing for this, but the brace itself bulges a bit over the roofline - making it impossible.

I am actually just interested in having a brace that I can use with A targa. The CF targa doesn't really interest me all that much. I'd much rather see if this could work with a stock roof.

I have thought about this a bit though, and I don't really see how it can work with a stock roof. If you can think of a way, great.

That all said, if I had to purchase a CF roof to have the functionality I want, I probably would.

My main thoughts about it are as follows:

1. Targa braces (done correctly like the WeezlWing) actually eliminate targa flex a bit more than the factory roof (purely my opinion - nothing to back this up).

2. Not having to swap from targa to brace is a huge convenience as far as time and storage.

The only caveat for me here is that the roof attachment would need to be something simple. You would lose the convenience factor if it is going to take just as long to fully swap from a brace to the roof panel.

Anyway - those are just my very stringent requirements. I am sure there are plenty of other people who will be interested for other reasons. Some people just want a CF roof and not everybody got in on the WeezlWings - so you should have some people interested even if it does not work how I want it to.

Either way, I am interested to see what you can come up with.

 

[marc3]

i'm interested in this.but it has to be a 1 piece top!!

 

[TuRbOdReAmZ87]

^^agreed. I am interested also. :icon_mrgr

 

[steven89]

Im interested in the brace. Especially if it can stay on all the time, regardless of targa being on or off.

 

[Sawbladz]

I think if the targa gets made it should be able to accept the stock headliner. Without the headlined I think the inside of the car would look unfinished and would be noticeably louder than stock.

 

[Jayhall]

i'm interested in this.but it has to be a 1 piece top!!

thats the idea i am aiming for, and im going to do everything i can to make the brace intergrated with the CF roof. When making the roof supports out of fiberglass, i may be able to cut an X out and have room for the brace.

I think if the targa gets made it should be able to accept the stock headliner. Without the headlined I think the inside of the car would look unfinished and would be noticeably louder than stock.

im going to try and do this, but as of right now its still way to early to tell if this can be done. When i am having the molds made, i will definatly keep this in mind, and try my best to design the peice to accept the stock headliner. If not, i will most definatly look into getting some custom headliners made for them, that would accomidate the X-brace within.

Im interested in the brace. Especially if it can stay on all the time, regardless of targa being on or off.

I really like the idea of having the roof shell be a seperate peice from the brace and be able to remove the shell off the brace and keep the brace in the car. The only problem i see is keeping the shell firmly attached to the brace. My worry would be that the shell would fly off. As of right now i dont plan on going this route, but my next time to the shop, i will be running all of your ideas by him, see what can be done, and what cant be done. If we can come up with a way of making it happen, and its cost efficent, id be happy to put them into production

 

[steven89]

I really like the idea of having the roof shell be a seperate peice from the brace and be able to remove the shell off the brace and keep the brace in the car. The only problem i see is keeping the shell firmly attached to the brace. My worry would be that the shell would fly off. As of right now i dont plan on going this route, but my next time to the shop, i will be running all of your ideas by him, see what can be done, and what cant be done. If we can come up with a way of making it happen, and its cost efficent, id be happy to put them into production

Maybe shoot Rajunz a PM. Last I saw his, he has a brace thats on all the time and hes using a stock targa. Its kickass!

 

[Setheroo]

It has been a while since I have had my targa off, but I remember the stock targa being quite heavy.. once I even let it fall and hit my gf on her head.. because I couldn't keep it up in the air. So my main thought of all this is... since you are planning to have it made with CF... how much lighter will this targa end up being? I know its not certain right now, but an estimate would be nice.

Thank you, and I really do like the idea of both the CF targa, and the X-Brace.

 

[TurboStreetCar]

^^ sounds like someone need to start lifting some weights :biglaugh:

I think it would be cooler to make a Brace that stays and make the CF roof removable. it would make the car handle/feel the same regardless weather CF roof panel is on or off.

Though either way its too rich for my blood at this time.

 

[Mr.PFloyd]

im in for a brace. I remember when there was that very limited one made by the guy with the 1ggte in his car. Very cool idea.

 

[steven89]

Though either way its too rich for my blood at this time.

One of the reasons im in for the brace!


hahah someone needs to start working out some, the stock targa isn't THAT heavy! I mean, I manage to hold it with one hand under it and use the other to open the hatch to put it in.

 

[Jayhall]

Maybe shoot Rajunz a PM. Last I saw his, he has a brace thats on all the time and hes using a stock targa. Its kickass!

Thanks, im going to do that. Might speed up the process greatly

since you are planning to have it made with CF... how much lighter will this targa end up being? I know its not certain right now, but an estimate would be nice.

roughly, a whole lot lighter. I could have the brace made out of steel, but im going to stick with aluminum because i want this top to be lighter than stock, while adding stiffness to the car. I might have an idea when we reach the stage where we figure out what materials we are going to need. My CF hood weighs 11lbs. A targa is probably 1/3 the size of a hood? I am completly guessing but hopefully not more than 10lbs with the brace.

I think it would be cooler to make a Brace that stays and make the CF roof removable. it would make the car handle/feel the same regardless weather CF roof panel is on or off.

Like i said, i am going to discuss this idea with the guy who will be making these. If we can come up with a way to make the peices seperate, i will offer a roof with that option. My main idea is the 1 peice, but people will want the targa braces only, so once i get the 1 peice unit made, i will work on the braces only. Im going 1 step at a time, and i would like very much to get to everyones ideas, becasue to be honast, they are all great ideas


Another thing is, if the CF is more than your willing to spend, once the mold is made, i will also offer a fiberglass targa w/ aluminum xbrace. fiberglass is much, much cheaper. Only thing is you will have to paint it to match the rest of the car

 

[Adjuster]

Here is what you need to do.

1) Build the mold for the outside CF panel.
2) Build the mold for the inside headliner panel, also out of CF.

Fill in the middle with honeycomb aluminum with epoxy attaching the two panels with the comb between them. (Areospace construction, and very, very strong, but lightweight.)

Cost? About 10k per completed panel..... LOL

Other ideas?
Fill the panels with structural foam.
Build up the attachment corners around a steel/tube frame that allows for excellent attachment to the car, but is still light, and then fill the middle with the foam.. (Strong, and quiet.)

Just a few ideas.

Years ago, while working Security at Northrup, they were building panels for the "Tigershark" plane that never was bought by the AirForce. It was mostly CF and honeycomb alloy panels, and they would make two molds, determine the thickness, glue the honeycomb to one panel, then using a large CNC mill, cut down the honeycomb so it was the right thickness, then epoxy the other panel in place... You end up with a VERY strong and lightweight panel that was designed to control a plane that would see loads much higher than the ones put on it by our Supra.