Chopped Ram

[71SATELITE]

Anyone out there ever make a pickup truck into a converable. I have a 77 Ram 1/2 ton shortbed I'm working on that I'm trying to go off the beaten path with. I am not trying to make some low riding fag wagon with an exaust that sounds like a pissed off bumble bee. Just something a little different. My questions to the are these, would the cab top being removed be able to support a big blocks torque, or would it allow the frame to felx to much? I have heard a lot of storries about those early T-Top cars having severe leaks over time due to the body flexing under the torque of an V-8. Last question is where could you get a soft top for something like this, and how would you want to chop the top of the cab at the windshield and doors to fit the top. All comments and tips are a welcome reply. A little technical advice would go along way. Thanks.

[40Coupe]

I can give you some advice on this but this kind of a job is not for the faint of hart or the inexperienced. Because you can turn a nice cab in to junk in about five min. You would have to reinforce the cab. I would run a suport from B piller to B piller. This suport Would run around the back of the cab. This would also give you something to start with to finish off the back of the cab. Because you don't Want to have a sharp peice of sheet metal sticking out in back. I would roll some metal from that edge down to the support. This will give you a nice flat surface to mount your removable top. Another area that I would reinforce is the B piller itself. The B piller gets all of its strength from the roof of the cab, so when you cut the roof off there is no stringth from side to side. So when you shut the door the striker will move So you need to reinforce this. I would run some tubing from the top of the B-piller to the foor. Weld the tubing to a falt peice of metal then plug weld it to the floor. This should take care of the flex in the back of the cab. the front of the cab you should not have to do anything with because all of the strength is in the fire wall. Now This is the part that is hard to explain. When you cut the roof off I would cut the back of the roof straight with the top of the door. When you cut the front of the roof I Would stay about an 1" more or less away from the windshield. This area will also have to be finished off with metal. You will also need to build a mounting surface for your top. Now for the doors. I would cut the doors clean off at the top. Save the front of the window pillers you will need them. I would then finish off the doors in back then the front's. This maybe hard to understand but this isn't an easy project. To make the side of the A pillers look right you will have to put the front of the window pillers back in. But they will not be atached to the door. This will be like hard topping a merc. So you will also have to get rid of the window channel. Because if you shut the door with the window up you will shatter the glass. This is not easy. Thats how I would do it. As for the top. I would make my own. I would not take on something like this if you have never done it before. What I would do is take it to a street rod shop and have them do it.

Oh yeah if you should do this Support everything before you cut anything off. This way you won't put the cab back together wrong.


Good luck,

40Coupe

[71SATELITE]

Wow, thats what I call technical advice. Well a little history, the cab is already screwed otherwise I would'nt embark on this project. Which pilliar is which, and what is a pilliar, not to sound stupid but the only dumb question is one not asked. Welding I can do, me and my mig will knock that out easy. I fully understand when you explained the front over the windshied and the doors, but can you break down the supporting a little more barney style. I catch the jist that yes their has to be a support across the top (door high) of the back to keep the doors shutting and opeing properly. Please elaborate on the pilliars, sorry for the ignorance but normaly I'm the mechcanical guy. It does'nt have to even be close to show quality just a toy. Thanks for the help.

[40Coupe]

Okay, Umm..............A piller holds the roof up. The A piller attaches to your windsheild. This is the easyest way I can explain the b piller Lets say you have a 4 door car. The first piller would be the A piller (Attaches to the windshield) then behind the first door and between the rear door would be the B piller. But in the case of a pickup cab the B piller would be behind the door. The window pillers would also be the same. Front A rear b. The supports are very easy. All you need to do in back is take some 1"x1" tubeing and bend it to the conture of the cab (Inside) YOu could make this flush with the top of your cut and weld it into place. THat would be the easyest way to finish the back of the cab but I would run another brace below that one for more strength . YOu should also run one or two supports to the floor in the rear of the cab. These brace's can should be welded to your brace's on the b piller. Umm the B piller brace should run from the inside of your door jam to the floor. At the top of this brace you should also make a sheet metal plate to the conture of the inside door jam and weld it to the brace then plug weld it the the inside of the door jam. At the bottom of this brace a piece of sheet metal should be made to the conture of the floor that should be welded to the brace and the sheet metal should be plug welded to the floor. This brace should be made out of 2x2 or bigger thin wall tubing. Be carefull when you weld sheet metal don't weld mor then a 1/2" at a time and move your welds around. Don't weld in one spot. Or you will really screw things up.

hope this helps,
40Coupe

[71SATELITE]

Thanks, that was everything I needed to know. I plan on getting back to this project after my vacation to the desert with Uncle Sam. Thanks again, I'll let you know how it turns out!

[volare360]

unlike a car
a truck has a frame to hold it
so cutting off the top shouldnt make a truck any weaker
of course getting the doors to close all the time is the trick
you have to reinforce the cab
in a car you have to reinforce the whole car
rustangs have a weak overall body to begin with-I know alot of coupes and GTS non Ttop have flexing problems
comenaros-stronger,but they have alot of problems with creaks/groans ect with the bodies to begin with-when you get a Ttop they just flex more
and when you flex-you get seals that wear-hence your leaks




40coupe--you must have done alot of chopping and channeling



sounds like a kewl project
I have seen a couple convertible trucks-non dakotas even
and they do look different
I have never seen a dodge done tho
all chebbies

[Doug Wilson]

People are overlooking something here... all the mid-'70s Ramchrgers had removeable tops. RCs are just Dodge pickups with an extended roof. That means that it works fine to take the top off a truck. You might even use some of the metal from an RC to do the change - like an RC windshield frame , an RC metal top - maybe shortened to make it removable from your pickup, and RC gaskets for where the top attaches. This is not a half top, like Broncos and the chebbie equivalent - the Dodge RC tops go right to the top of the windshield.
Also, JC Whitney used to offer convertable tops, with hardware for RCs - if you did some cutting and sewing with one of those, it should work fine on your truck.

Good luck - I'd like to see how this turns out.

By the way, I bought an '89 Dakota 4X4 convertible new - wish I still had it. It was triple back with a 5 speed.