Stinger GT2 Convertable

[City Kia MVP]

Hey, guys. I need your opinion. We have an opportunity to build a 4 door Stinger convertible for SEMA. I would like some input and your thoughts.

 

[jazzdabb]

How would you handle the trunk / hatch area?

 

[P22Tyler]

I'd like to see it just because haha. How would you address the loss of rigidity from the conversion? Also what are you going to do about the rear hatch? Should be a very interesting build.

 

[RedCal]

Interesting! Targa I assume? (because I can't visualize a full drop top)

 

[City Kia MVP]

Great questions, the hatch would be gone and we would use just a portion of the trunk. We would use the OEM trunk lid.
We would re- structure the A & B pillar along with the full undercarriage, with cross members and tie into the excising workings for the door hinges.
Nope a full drop top. Eliminating the B pillars as well.
Where we will make the cut has been our biggest concern ?

 

[RedCal]

Seriously ambitious! gonna love to see the pics!

 

[robz32]

Why not make it a coupe, a-la Rolls Royce Dawn. Just sportier

 

[RedCal]

or suicide the rear doors

 

[TimT]

A couple, Rolls Royce Dawn style, sounds much more exciting and suiting for the body style I think! But no matter the final outcome, will be amazing to see pictures.
Hope that it stays classy and not too overboard with the exterior mods haha.

 

[City Kia MVP]

We gave suicide doors a thought for sure and even thought to eliminate the rear doors and make it a coup but at the end of the day both turned out to be way to much in $$ and build time. I will start to post some pics to keep everyone in the loop throughout the build. I will keep it classy for sure but pay attention to detail. It has to be SEMA ready by October 15TH.....

 

[SafetyPilotCal]

Plenty of "OEM-approved" aftermarket verts were made back in the 80s and 90s, I'd follow some of the tricks they did. The 90's W-body Cutlass Supreme convertible (Cars and Concepts) was one of them, the third gen Camaro (ASC) was another. In the Cutlass, for example, C&C welded in a support beam behind the back seat for structural rigidity, and that car has unique box beams running down each side of the car to compensate for the missing roof. If I remember correctly, they also added an additional door strike/pin for each door, although the Cutlass has significantly larger and heavier doors than a Stinger.

The Chrysler 300C Helios concept was a recent ASC (RIP) conversion of a sedan. On that car, they built a cross-vehicle brace to make up for the missing b-pillars and roof, but I cannot find a picture of the underside.

I'm really interested to see the progress on this!

Edit: More details on the Helios - https://www.motortrend.com/cars/chrysler/300/2005/chrysler-300c-convertible/

Granted, this was intended to actually be a production car at some point, so there's a lot of extra fluff in the design, but lots of interesting ideas.

 

[City Kia MVP]

Wow, great info. Thanks......

 

[GenesisG70]

Don't know how a convertible look on our sexy 4 door cars, for me whenever i hear convertible it brings old people vibes.

 

[Chark]

I think it would look cool to incorporate the aerodynamic humps behind the main seats. This BMW Zagato concept is the closest I could find during a short search. It needs to honor the Gran Turismo shape and genre.
http://www.unfinishedman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/BMW_Zagato-Roadster-2.jpg

 

[DevLF]

Soft top?

 

[City Kia MVP]

Yes for sure.

 

[westcoastGT]

I posted a video on this a while back , search .....convertible

 

[Travis Wills]

We gave suicide doors a thought for sure and even thought to eliminate the rear doors and make it a coup but at the end of the day both turned out to be way to much in $$ and build time. I will start to post some pics to keep everyone in the loop throughout the build. I will keep it classy for sure but pay attention to detail. It has to be SEMA ready by October 15TH.....

Are you sure Vegas is going to be "SEMA ready" by October 15th? Part of me doubts that SEMA will happen at all this year. I still would like to see your build though. What will you do about the window frames? Since it isn't a coupe won't it look weird with the window frames when the top is down?

 

[City Kia MVP]

Well that is the plan. I also have my doubts that SEMA will happen this year ?????? We are hoping it does and we are basing our time line on it. Great question. We need to replace all the glass and door regulators in the doors. The windows go up and down now but we need them to go up and back...the window frames will be deleted. So no window frames and no B pillar either.

 

[Travis Wills]

Well that is the plan. I also have my doubts that SEMA will happen this year ?????? We are hoping it does and we are basing our time line on it. Great question. We need to replace all the glass and door regulators in the doors. The windows go up and down now but we need them to go up and back...the window frames will be deleted. So no window frames and no B pillar either.

I hope it works out for you all. I think that will be a really cool to have such a unique Stinger build on display.