Convertibles- Are they really reinforced? Options

[nitemare]

I own a 95 GT Convertible. Little did I know when I opened the door panel, it had a sticker saying top was installed in california. I then found out all the celica's came oversees with hardtops- then chopped off in the states and made into a convertible. This sounds very shady. I have a tough time believing toyota actually reinforced the structure as well. Ive has so many problems with the "aftermarket" convertible. If I knew toyota outsourced this to some company, I would have never bought this convertible. The fact is was a hard top transformed into convertible makes me wonder how safe the car really is..

Can anyone confirm celica was reinforced??

[jgreening]

Wow. I have never seen a thread with so much misinformation - well maybe threads discussing the mr2t tranny for the 3s swap .

ASC stands for American Specialty Cars. The name was changed in January of 2004 from American Sunroof Corporation. It is a Michigan business. They did chop the coupe and make it a convertible and they did it in a California plant (Pomona, I believe).

I know of no federal requirements for chopping cars and making them convertibles. There are federal safety requirements that apply to all new cars sold including ones that are chopped by another company for the OEM. I do not know if the government regulates things like ridgity though - I would doubt it does.

There are no differences in the doors and there are no extra rails that are added to the bottom of the car. There were no structural modifications that were done in front of the lock pillar (where the door latches to the car by the lock). Most of the structural modifications were done to support the roof and to limit chassis flex.

The Saturn Skye and other cars like the vette, boxster, z4, etc were DESIGNED as convertibles. There was no chop job so the ridgity is better.

Finally, there is NO WAY that the A pillar is designed to hold up if the car rolls. The fact of the matter is that 6th gen convertibles were not designed as performance cars. So, if you do something crazy like swap a 3s in a convertible, please drive safely....

[madmods]

Wow.  I have never seen a thread with so much misinformation - well maybe threads discussing the mr2t tranny for the 3s swap  . 

ASC stands for American Specialty Cars.  The name was changed in January of 2004 from American Sunroof Corporation.  It is a Michigan business.  They did chop the coupe and make it a convertible and they did it in a California plant (Pomona, I believe).

I know of no federal requirements for chopping cars and making them convertibles.  There are federal safety requirements that apply to all new cars sold including ones that are chopped by another company for the OEM.  I do not know if the government regulates things like ridgity though - I would doubt it does. 

There are no differences in the doors and there are no extra rails that are added to the bottom of the car.  There were no structural modifications that were done in front of the lock pillar (where the door latches to the car by the lock).  Most of the structural modifications were done to support the roof and to limit chassis flex.

The Saturn Skye and other cars like the vette, boxster, z4, etc were DESIGNED as convertibles.  There was no chop job so the ridgity is better.

Finally, there is NO WAY that the A pillar is designed to hold up if the car rolls.  The fact of the matter is that 6th gen convertibles were not designed as performance cars.  So, if you do something crazy like swap a 3s in a convertible, please drive safely....
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Thanks J for straightnening some things up, especially about the pillar. I hope I never flip my vert. I cant agree with you on the rails in the bottom, cuz I got them. Its the piece where the sideskirt goes on. it looks like a piece of flat plate that has been welded on. i can't agree with you on the the door pillar where the latches are by the handle.